That Time I Was Finally a "dot.com"...

It happened. Finally.

Every few years I would go on a domain-sellling site and search for "laurenofalltrades.com" and see if it was available to buy. 

And then because it wasn't available, I would visit laurenofalltrades.com and see who/what was keeping me from having my custom url. I was laurenofalltrades everywhere else. Instagram, Facebook, Gmail. YouTube. Probably more I'm not thinking of. I couldn't be laurenofalltrades on Twitter because it's too long. But no one can be laurenofalltrades on Twitter. 

I settled for ".blog." Bleh. 

But then this year, I randomly checked for laurenofalltrades.com when I was reviewing a renewal of a different domain. And then it magically. didn't say. TAKEN. 

And it wasn't ridiculously expensive. 

So welcome, FINALLY, to laurenofalltrades.com! 

laurenofalltrades.blog links and bookmarks will redirect here for the next year, and then they will stop working. Sorry in advance for that. Although, it's unlikely you will be able to read this if you don't notice your bookmarks not working until its too late. Whomp. 

That Time I Decided to Recommend Products...

Since I started my YouTube channel and pretty much stopped blogging about my adventures, I've been struggling with what to use my blog for. I really like my blog and keep paying for a custom URL, so it feels like a waste to not be writing ANYTHING in it. 

Well. Recently I've come across some products that I was just hands down thrilled that I purchased, so I thought that could be something that I can impart to the world...

actionfiguresetc.com

This is a special message...

About a year ago... I watched something that referenced "actionfiguresetc.com" in a joke I think? Because of reasons, I had to look up if it was a developed site or not. On a whim, I then decided that people might mistype the URL and I bought "actionfigureetc.com" (note the omission of the "s" in "figures") and redirected the URL here. 

Today I discovered that I started getting page views from people trying to visit "actionfigureetc.com," managed to remember why.. but cannot for the life of me remember what the thing was that it's from. 

It's driving me crazy. I know. I did this to myself. It was a social experiment okay?

So if you got here because you just watched said thing, and are still reading this post, PLEASE let me know in the comments, what it is that we both watched. Yes. I'm expecting revenge comments with false information. I have no control over if you choose to do that to me or not. 

Sorry internet. I had to do it for science.

That Time That Hard Work Actually Paid Off For Me...

I did it. It only took forever three years, four months, and 16 days... but I am at last monetized on YouTube! 

I think it's actually impressive to have been able to get monetized that quickly, but it felt like so long and so much work. (SO much video editing)...

First I thought getting 4000 watch hours in a 365-day period would be hard. But then a couple of my videos did really well and I knocked that out of the park. 

So then getting 1000 subscribers became such. a. grind. There aren't really any good ways to get more subscribers than to make good content that is search friendly. Oh and by guilting your family and friends into subscribing on your birthday. 

But now it's done. And my channel brings me 1s of dollars per day. And I love it. 

Subscribe!:

That Time I Made Candied Ginger...

When Husband and I went on our first cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), he fell in love with one of their cocktails: The Matador. He loves it so much that we now have to get the drink package for every NCL cruise we go on. (Skip to end of the post for my Making a Matador video.)

When covid happened and our Alaska cruise on NCL was cancelled, I decided that I needed to make him one (or three) at home. This required possession of candied ginger. I realized after-the-fact that it can probably be purchased in a store. 

Instead, I bought fresh ginger and looked up a recipe. I found one by Alton Brown (from Food Network) who's recipes and techniques are spot-on. You can use his recipe for your ginger, or if you want my Amateur-Tips (like "pro-tips," but more like "hacks"), essentially the same recipe is below with said tips.

Let me know if you try the recipe and how you liked it in the comments!

Candied Ginger:

Ingredients:
Ginger
Water
Granulated sugar

Equipment:
Saucepan
Parchment Paper or cooling rack

Non-stick cooking spray

Kitchen scale

Directions...