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I've never heard of Keurig. I'll have to check it out!
I also LOVE Trader Joe's Mochi ice cream. *CRAVING*
I also love putting ingredients I have on hand into Allrecipes' search bar and finding something I can make without going to the grocery. Allrecipes has so many recipes that it's good for that, even if all you have is chicken breasts and cornflakes!
Now if I could only find a vacuum I love as much as you do your Dyson.
And here comes the good part...
Then I get up and make my one cup of English Breakfast Tea - same machine but I have tea Cups instead of his coffee cups. I pop my k-cup in and in seconds I have a perfectly brewed cup of tea. No waste. No pot to clean.
and here's the icing....
7 year old gets up - wanders in, grabs cup sticks it under - hits one button and she's got a cup of hot water - that she dumps a envelope of hot chocolate into and viola she's made her morning hot chocolate. No mess, no dangerous heating .. No Waste. No pot to clean up.
All of us use the same machine and none of us leave a mess behind, how can you not love that?
Some of my favorites are:
Homegoods. I think the company is owned by TJ Maxx; it's very much like it but ALL household stuff. Dishes, towels, bedding, mirrors, lamps, etc. and a HUGE assortment of decorating stuff. I'm there almost every weekend when the Halloween stuff comes out. The stuff is super-cheap and super-cute. They even get gourmet foods like chocolates, coffee syrups, cookies...you know, the little things you can try and feel like you're splurging but being thrifty about it.
Bath and Body Works. I can't get enough lotions, scented oils, air fresheners and other good-smellies. I hit 'em hard twice a year for the semi-annual sales and get a lot for cheap.
Jif peanut butter. My husband and I go through a few POUNDS each month, using it in protein smoothies, on toast or graham crackers, and right out of the jar with a spoon. That's right--I said pounds per month. Mmmm...
Here's something I don't like anymore: Pier 1. They changed the feel of the store a couple of years ago and I just don't like it. Or maybe it's because my local store got new management around that time and all the long-time employees quit. They all new me, not by name, but well enough to recognize me and know what I like. The new employees are CONSTANTLY on me, "can I help you?, can I help you?, can I help you?" Yes, you could leave me alone to look around! And quit following me like I'm going to shoplift. Grr.
Okay, I'm calmer now. :)
we also love trader joes and whole foods. Two of my favorite places.
They are light and refreshing with a few chewy coconut bits mixed in. Only 130 calories each which is so much better than a whole pint of ice cream... My husband says they taste like sun tan lotion, but he still eats them!
At first I was all like... PUH-LEAZE... how hard is it to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Only lazy asses would buy those things.
What I didn't realize was that they are not just peanut butter and jelly but are actually peanut butter, jelly and CRACK.
And I want that castle. Badly. I've seen it a few times at Toys R Us and sighed with longing. :)
What do you do to clean your Dyson? I haven't had luck finding instructions on how/what to clean, other than the big filter underneath the canister.
I just started looking over my Dyson soon after I bought it and noticed it comes apart pretty easily. Just look around it and you'll see all kinds of little buttons that allow different parts of it to detach and reattach. All of those detachable parts are places that stuff can get lodged in the vacuum.
The biggest (and grossest) thing I do is take the runner brush at the bottom of the vacuum out every few months and cut all the hair and debris out of it. That's a little more complicated, but still manageable. I unscrew the plate with a coin, pull the brush out of the thick rubber band, cut all the hair and debrisoff of it, then use a flathead screwdriver to get the rubber band back around it and put it back into place. When I first bought it, it made a horrible sound on area rugs when it was on the "carpet" setting. I looked on Dyson.com (which has a great "help" section with pictures) and realized it was because that brush wasn't turning properly on the rugs. Once I cleaned it out and reattached it, I never heard that noise again!
I basically clean it out every time it starts making that obnoxious loud sound on carpet. If you have a Dyson, you probably know what sound I'm talking about. That just means the rotating brush needs attention.
Let's pray for long coffee pot lives.
We bought a Melissa and Doug kitchen for the girls last Christmas. I was dreading putting it together with DH, worrying we'd end up fighting like cats and dogs over the process. The instructions were so.freaking.easy. Painless. Every hole was color coded. No fighting whatsoever. So easy even a caveman could do it. :)
If you love Melissa & Doug (we have their easel and it is amazing!!) Then you'll also love KidKraft, my daughters have this kitchen http://www.kidkraft.com/catalog/toys.asp?catid=... and all the accessories for it and they use it every single day!
As far as recipe sites go. I am IN LOVE with http://www.recipezaar.com I used to have the paid subscription..but found out after 2 years and letting my subscription drop that using it without paying for the added features was just as good.
I bought the dollhouse in part because parents who reviewed it loved it, AND said that when parts arrived broken (it comes with lots of furniture,) KidKraft's customer service was extremely helpful and prompt about replacing it.
The puppet theater was super easy to put together and had a lot of nice extra touches, like extra signs that let you make your puppet theater into other things (a Post Office, for example) and a place on the front of the theater where you can draw with chalk. They were nice creative touches to make the toy go even farther.
I LOVE this!! We are about to make a Target run, but I have to add a few things off the top of my head.
I am pale. Not the china doll, Nicole Kidman kind of pale, but the pasty, gross you out kind of pale. And since self tanners smell like BO on me, my husband has forbidden me from using them any longer.
I finally tried Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs. It is amazing. Wonderful. Glorious. It is waterproof, and I have tested that in a pool! (Just be sure to blot yourself dry! Don't rub or it will come off on your towel.) It is a little tiny bit time consuming (not too bad at all), but it is worth it to me to not scare children everywhere I go. My main piece of advice for anyone trying it is to lotion up first, and let it absorb completely. I have used this product on scaly legs, and it was disgusting.
I also like my Tassimo coffee maker, mainly because I'm the only coffee drinker in my house.
I love Method products. My favorites are the granite and marble cleaner and the toilet cleaner.
I can't wait for the 'don't like' list.
For cleaning products, I love Mrs. Meyer's concentrated cleaner and Bon Ami.
One thing I hate: I cannot find a brand of organic and/or cage free eggs in any of my local grocery stores that don't come in 3-part plastic packaging. Why don't they realize people most likely to spend the extra dough are likely to be environmentally conscious?
Lara bars.
Shout color catchers.
Flylady's RubbaScrubba.
Barilla Plus pasta.
Carmenere wine.
Trader Joe's Vegetable Masala burgers.
Cheddar-blue cheese.
DVR and On-Demand.
http://suburbanturmoil.blogspot.com/2006/11/cul...
Here I sat, thinking I was the only one in the universe that had heard of this FlyLady, clogging up my inbox, making me wonder when she would require a 27 fling boogie for her very own emails.
Oh and I get dressed down to my slip on flip-flops. That's got to count for something, right?
Still I will admit, I have learned a thing or two from her. My kitchen sink no longer sparkles every morning like it did for the first month, but it's been a good release to get rid of a good chunk of the clutter!
Also, for eczema (on baby's skin or yours) a must have is California Baby Calendula Cream which is now (angels singing) sold at Target.
Those are my best items for now, but they totally rock, so I feel good about the contribution!! :)
For clothes, I love prana.com. Everything is very comfortable. And although I can wear their products to yoga or when I'm running around on the weekend, some of them are also nice enough to wear to work!
http://www.lifeisgood.com/
Trader Joe's Cedarwood & Sage all purpose cleaner. love it!
Simple Green cleaning. Awesome b/c I have those janitor spray bottles and can easily mix up the strength I need to tackle any job. Since it is nontoxic, I don't worry about my kids getting sick from over use.
burp rags as dust rags.
Baby Blanket sun block. I have a daughter that is allergic to everything. In fact, Cailfornia Baby is the only wash I can use on her. (Saw that already), but Baby Blanket sun block super cheap and doesn't break her out. It's a godsend.
Baking soda's thousands of uses.
Lastly, Egg Whites. The kind that are packaged like Egg Beaters, but are only egg whites with no additives. I love them because they are pasteurized and I can add them to smoothies to boost the protein. I can whip them into fluff and stir them into cake mixes and pancake mixes in place of eggs and I get the fluffiest cakes ever.
And then I found Trader Joe's frozen avocado halves. Perfectly ripened so I can have avocado on a burger or in a salad anytime I want.
It's harmless (they say you could drink it, if you really wanted to. Not sure I'm that thirsty to try though.), and a small bottle will last you forever. It has about a million uses. Okay, only 1,000, but who's counting?