Interview - Connecticut Cookie Company

A recurring theme at House to Home Organizing is a desire to move away from stuff and towards experiences. One can hardly think of a more enjoyable experience than eating a warm cookie. We spoke with Andrea of the Connecticut Cookie Company to learn more these local sweet treats.

What is your background, how did you get started?

Well, I've been designing in the fashion industry for over twenty years.  Baking was my "therapy" when I designed for Abercrombie a.k.a. "Aberzombie" when I was there a while ago.  Growing up (in Cincinnati, Ohio), my mom baked a lot using the vanilla extract from my grandma's hometown in Indiana. I was more interested in decorating cookies rather than baking when I was a kid. 

Cookies are in the title, what kinds and do you have non-cookie items?

Sure! First off, the foundation of the business is our pure vanilla extract. A 75+ year old recipe.  We also have: cake pops, edible cookie dough, coffee, tea, espresso, cupcakes, GIANT chocolate chip cookies, cakes and our signature "Quick fix brittle" (almond toffee britlle with Belgian Dark Chocolate Sea salt with graham cracker). Also, around Thanksgiving we have pies. Everything is made from scratch using our CT Cookie vanilla extract. 

You are based in Fairfield, where can people buy your cookies?

Our cookie shop is location at 2385 Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield. We're across the street from Trader Joe's and next to Lenox Jewelers. Two miles off the Merritt Parkway; five miles off 95. Our cookies can also be ordered on our web site:  CTCOCO.com.  You can see what we're up to on instagram.

Does anyone ever ask about custom orders?

Oh yes, we do A LOT of custom cookie orders for showers, weddings, graduations, corporate - you name it! We've done custom cakes and cupcakes for a few catering events. I would say the best custom order we've had to date was (sad story) one of our customers was dying from cancer. She loved our oatmeal raisin cookies (she even said they were to die for! ha.) she planned her funeral gathering around our cookies and had cookies and milk in her memory. Which we all thought was amazing! 

What do you suggest for someone with special dietary restrictions?

We do bake gluten free cookies, cake pops, brownies and edible dough.  Our facility does contain nuts.

I'm sure people are jealous that you get to work with cookies all day, what is it really like?

Ha, people do say that. We work nonstop and when customers come into the shop saying "it smells so great in here!" that makes it all worthwhile. 

What are some of your most popular items?

Chocolate chip cookies, our pure vanilla extract, edible cookie dough, quick fix brittle, cake pops and sugar cookies. 

Interview - Genius Scan

We have a lot of clients who ask us about going paperless and we have a system for that process. However, deciding what specific tools to use going forward can be challenging so we spoke with Bruno with Genius Scan about some options. 

For the busy working parent, what is the easiest way to explain what Genius Scan is?

We like to describe Genius Scan as a real scanner in your pocket. But in practice, it's more powerful than that: with a real scanner, you get a clean document. Then you need to get it somewhere. Genius Scan packs everything in the same app: in a couple taps you will get a clean document and export it wherever you need it.

More concretely, Genius Scan is super helpful to digitize a lot of everyday-life documents. For instance, you can scan documents for the school teachers, doctor's prescriptions … a lot of parents use Genius Scan to archive the family's important paperwork and have it at hand at all times.

Can I take a photo with anything besides my phone and does the physical size of my original paper document matter?

Genius Scan is available on iOS and Android, and is designed for both phones and tablets. The closer your can be to the document, the higher the resolution will be. So you will get super-high resolution scans if you scan a receipt or a Letter-size paper. If you scan a very large blueprint, the results might be less good. In all cases, it's very important to have a good lighting environment.

When I scan a piece of paper, where does it live?

The documents you scan are stored on your phone. Then, you can decide to send them somewhere. The most common option is to send it by email. But Genius Scan integrates with all the major cloud storage services, so it's very easy to archive your documents in, say, Dropbox.

Just recently, we also launched an optional service called Genius Cloud, which let you sync your documents between your devices and back them up. We recommend using it if your documents are important as it protects you in case you lose your phone, break it or accidentally delete a document.

How do I find what I'm looking for in my scanned paper?

Genius Scan lets you easily organize your documents with tags and Smart Document Names (you can name a document based on the city you scan it in, or based on a client's name). In the future, we plan to offer OCR services to let you search your documents.

What are the different types of Genius Scan and the fees, is there a space limit?

Genius Scan is free and fully functional. Just try it! You can unlock Genius Scan+ for a one-time fee of $7.99. This unlocks premium features such as the export to Box, Dropbox etc., Smart Document Names, automatic background export, Touch ID security. Last, you can opt for Genius Cloud. It's a subscription ($2.99/month or $29.99/year) which offers unlimited and automatic backup and synchronization for your documents, plus all the features of Genius Scan+.

Book Review - Sting- Ray Afternoons

Sting- Ray Afternoons by Steve Rushin

If you grew up in the 60’s and 70’s Sting-Ray Afternoons is a must read. If you are a millennial, it is a glimpse into the influences your parents had growing up. You will find yourself laughing out loud at the references to family life, and the daily routines. The book is a memoir set in Bloomington, Minnesota.  At a time where many moms stayed home and raised the family, Rushin remembers his mom being a clean freak. Always with a can of Lemon Pledge in hand and tossing empty bottles as soon as the last sip was taken. The title refers to the Sting-Ray bicycle. Desirable by children of that generation, you certainly were a “cool” kid if you owned one. The bike had a seat that resembled a banana shape and chopper handlebars. Get ready for references to a by-gone time. Kool-Aid was the drink all kids craved. Back then we didn’t know the downfall of eating too much sugar, and kids loved Chunky, Chuckles, Chiclets and Charlston Chew candy.  Many homes had a Zenith TV with just a few channels. “When mom snapped off the TV, the image would shrink toward the center, as if also disappearing down a drain. I would pass my hand across the warm surface of the screen. It would crackle with an electromagnetic force field, literally drawing me to it, the find hairs on my arm bending toward its bottle green glass,” writes the author.  Romper room was the show all kids watched. When Rushin receives a pair of “Romper Stompers” as a birthday present, he screams “just what I didn’t want!”  This phrase is throughput out the entire book, and brings a smile to your face when Mom opens her presents and repeats it.  Food references are true to the times. Who doesn’t remember eating Hamburger Helper, Rice-a-Roni, Lucky Charms and Wonder bread just to name a few. A perfect sandwich was 2 slices of Wonder bread with bologna and a slice of cheese. Once the bread bag was empty, the bag was used to cover your feet in the winter from snow and ice. Dessert was served every night and Rushin describes the top of chocolate pudding with perfect amusement. “we skeptically tap our spoons on its trampoline surface before rolling the skin back like the lid of a sardine can.”

You will smile as the author talks about the popularity of simulated wood paneling. From side panels on automobiles, wood-paneled furniture, wood panels on the walls in the basement, wood aluminum siding, and steak knife handles made to look like rotted logs, it was everywhere!

Kids collecting things were as popular then as they are now.  Some of the authors friends collected beer cans, some soda pop cans. Topps baseball cards were kept in Rushin’s Velveeta box in his closet. At the end of the book, the author thanks his mom for not throwing away his beloved Velveeta box which contained the keepsakes necessary to write the memoir.

Records were also the rage to collect. Most kids and teenagers had extensive collections. Maybe some of you have them still? As Professional Organizers we try to encourage people to reduce clutter and help them learn new systems to stay organized. At House to Home Organizing we help clients organize items that are meaningful, and to keep them stored in a safe place. Never do we encourage a client to toss anything sentimental that would lead to regret.

Clearly the book is about growing up in a time when technology was young and life was simpler. It is a trip down memory lane and laugh out loud funny throughout.  Rushin states that the heroes of the story are his parents, and what a wonderful tribute to them he has created.

The book contains little violence and is strong on love. A truly enjoyable read that transports you back in time!

Sting-Ray Afternoons: A Memoir

By Steve Rushin

Buy on Amazon

Please note: If you choose to purchase the book using our Amazon link, H2H receives a small commission designed to help keep our rates affordable. 

Interview - LEC Massage & Wellness

As one can imagine many of our clients are busy with work and children and therefore they experience a certain amount of stress in their daily lives. As organizers, we can help them take back control of their space, but we look to experts with different backgrounds for other kinds of relief. We spoke with Lourdez Castro, HHC, LMT with LEC Massage & Wellness about other ways to reduce stress. 

How did you get started as a massage therapist; what is your background?
My first real experience with massage was back in 2004.  I've gotten massage before that but only a few times and it was years in between each until 2004 when I was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. The cancer center I went to had an integrated program that offered massage and reflexology.  I had a few sessions during treatments and it made a difference for me.  I was less stressed about my treatments. When I was diagnosed again in 2007, I took full advantage of the program and had weekly massages during treatments and noticed that I was able to tolerate chemo sessions better and I was more relaxed and less tense. I realized that massage therapy was an organic, natural way to feel better.  It wasn't till 3 1/2 years later that I realized I wanted to help people feel better and enrolled in massage school, while still working full time. I graduated and was licensed in 2013. I finally quit my corporate job in 2014 to dedicate my time to massage therapy full time.  I started my own private practice in the middle of 2014 not really knowing much about starting a business but I wanted to massage as many people as I can.  I eventually started at a new spa, Ciel Eau, in New Canaan in 2015 as a massage therapist.  I still have my private business that I am growing  (for now it's a mobile business) and future plans to open an office space in the Norwalk/Rowayton area. 

What types of massages do you offer and why?

I offer different modalities, such as Swedish Massage (for relaxation), Deep Tissue Massage (relieve muscle tension & pain), Sports Massage (stretching & flexibility), Integrated Massage (specifically designed for you), Chair Massage (Corporate and Individual), Prenatal (relieve tension and relaxation for mom and baby) and Oncology Massage (soothing touch before, during and after cancer treatments).  All these modalities help you relax, relieve tension, help reduce pain, and helps bring your body back to balance.

Do you have a location or do you travel?

For now, I travel to my clients within lower Fairfield county.  I do plan on opening an office space in the near future. 

You must see people with a lot of stress, what is that like?
Most of my clients are people who work in front of a computer and busy parents with kids.  That is a lot of stress on a daily basis.  Technology has provided us with applications that make our lives easier but it also has provided bad habits that take its toll on our body, such as "tech neck", forward head posture from looking down on our phones all the time, which causes neck and shoulder pain to rounded shoulders and strain on our low backs from our monitors not being at eye level and slouching in our chair in front of our computers and sitting for longer periods of time. New parents also deal with low back pain from picking up the kids the wrong way and carrying heavy car seats and strollers. These are the major stress complaints I see in my clients. I love working on them and relieving most if not all of their stress after a few sessions and educating them on ways to keep the stress away.    

What are some things people can do to take care of themselves in between massages?
Being more aware of your posture during the day can help lessen muscle-tension build up. This way you can adjust yourself and align your spine, take a deep breathe and release tension.  Stretching your body, especially neck and extremities, helps keep you loose and flexible in between massage sessions. Having a clean healthy diet can regulate your blood sugar, fuel your muscles properly and give you more energy. Exercise helps build muscles and burn fat and keeps you lean.  Of course, the best compliment to all this is scheduling regular massage sessions with me.