Tips for stand-by flying

In the past three months that my husband has been a flight attendant for Delta Airlines, I have taken 16 flights. I've learned that standby flying can be a blessing (it's free!) and a curse (you may not make it where you want to go).

Here's what I wish I had known when I first began flying standby:

1. Do not attempt to fly overseas on a summer weekend. This is when everyone is trying to fly! The likelihood that you will make it on your flight is dramatically reduced. I'm supposed to be flying back from Germany right now. Instead, I'm flying back from Louisiana. Which brings me to... 

2. Remain flexible and have a back-up plan. I was so overly confident I would make it to Germany, that I had no idea what to do next when the flight I wanted was completely full. Thankfully I had bumped into my college best friend when we were both at the Atlanta airport, and that inspired me to follow him to my Louisiana hometown.

3. Only pack a carry-on. Never ever ever ever check a bag when you fly stand-by! Who cares that it's free to check a bag when your bag is stuck where you had a layover and you landed in your final destination?! So inconvenient. Pack light, bring only your essentials and carry it on.

At least this Delta flight serves Starbucks! And it has wifi! And I'm in Economy Comfort Plus! No complaints here. :)

Have you ever been stuck somewhere because your flight didn't make it? Comment below!

4 steps to kill fruit flies without chemicals

Don't judge me 'cuz I got a fly problem

I live in South Florida, which is a beautiful thing. However, it is not just all sunny skies and blue oceans-- there are also weird lizards lurking everywhere, which is fine... but what is NOT fine are the fruit flies that infest my kitchen.

I thought it was just me, and maybe I am a secretly filthy individual with garbage problems. But that just can't be true-- I clean a lot and keep things tidy. I promise that I dispose of my garbage and recycle in a timely fashion! Still, I had concerns, until my neighbor admitted that they are a problem for her, too. Maybe it is the warm climate? No matter what the cause, I want those fruit flies gone!

So I Googled how to kill flies without chemicals (because I am all about living as ToxicFree as possible-- I'm a rep for the Healthy Home Company! Chemical-free choices, y'all!) and I found a super easy way to get rid of them.

This fruit fly does not realize it's committing suicide-- DIE, FLY, DIE!

Here are the steps:

1. Pour apple cider vinegar (I used the kind from Braggs, which has the raw "mother" in it) into a mason jar. If you follow my blog, you know I love making salads in these jars! If you don't have vinegar, try red wine.
2. Create a funnel with paper and tape.
3. Put the funnel into the jar...
4. Add a drop of dish soap-- that breaks the surface tension so they can't just fly away, they drown (insert evil laugh).
5. Bonus points if you add ripe fruit!

These flies love fermentation, so they're attracted to the vinegar. 

eeeewwww dead flies

This may take a few hours, so have patience. I kept checking the jar the first couple of hours or so, and NOTHING WAS HAPPENING... so I was like, "Ugh, this must not work. Guess I'll have to keep swatting these dad-gum flies."

Then the next morning, lo and behold-- two dead flies! It gives me a twisted, perverse pleasure to keep counting the dead bodies I'm racking up. "You will no longer be landing in my green smoothie that I freshly blended, mwahaha!"

It is really disturbing to see just how many were floating around my atmosphere. All I can say is that at least I know there are this many fewer now!

UPDATE: After I posted this article, my friend Corey Greenwood said he tried it. Here's what he says about how it worked for him:

"I went to the store and got apple cider vinegar. I wasn't going to mess around. I made this and sat it by the kitchen sink where they were mostly at. Within seconds, two of them had already landed and were trying to figure out how to get down the funnel. Within minutes, there were five already inside. This is legit."

Corey's successful death trap for the fruit flies

What other ways have you tried to naturally combat an infestation? Comment below!