Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Ekobrew refillable K-cup for Keurig brewers is on sale today! - October 29, 2011


The Ekobrew is my favorite reusable/refillable K-cup alternative for the Keurig single-serve coffee brewer. (That links to my review from a while back - it gets the most hits on my blog these days...)

It's on sale today on Amazon as a Gold Box deal - 36% off. This is a great deal for a great product.

And that link up there? It's my referral and affiliate link. I get a few cents if you click through and buy it. So there's my disclaimer so we're all open and everything.

Voila! Go buy it1 Enjoy!

(I also still very much love the Solofill as well - I alternate between them, though I lean toward the Ekobrew as my true favorite.)

Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Winner of the Renuzit Fresh Accents - October 20, 2011

The winner is commenter #2, fivelittlekittens. Congratulations! I'll get these out to you as soon as possible!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Doing Things for Me - October 13, 2011

Wow, it's October 13. That means my birthday is a mere month away. Buy presents! I'll be...closer to 40 than I was today.

So after four years of "but it's just baby weight! I'll lose it soon!" and "I'll probably lose it by breastfeeding" and "I'm sure I'll lose it after she weans" and before all that "I'm just getting older" and "I still really think it's fine to eat a carton of ice cream in one sitting" and all along "I really don't think I need to do anything special to lose weight," I joined Weight Watchers. I think I mentioned this before, but I'm going to ramble about it again, so bear with me.

Seriously, I was in denial. When I was in high school, I was a stick. When I was in college, I was a twig - a twig who walked everywhere, danced her booty off, and ate whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. I also started smoking (not ever a LOT of smoking, but enough - what a disgusting habit that was... imissitsometimes...) and of course then eventually I quit (it's been well over ten years - longer, I'm fairly certain, maybe even 15?). Things messed up with my already messed up metabolism, but I never altered my eating habits to compensate. If I could eat a full package of Oreos when I was 15, I could eat it when I was 35 too. And it all slowly slowly caught up with me.

So I joined WW. I know nothing of "the old points," I joined with the Points Plus system. And I really like it. And today I officially (unofficially I did this a few weeks ago on my own scale, but if we're using the same scale/clothing on/blahblah thing) hit my 5% goal. And the Wii Fit says my BMI is normal again.

I have a ways to go before 10% and before I feel like my old self again. But I can see a number just barely ahead of me that I haven't seen since my wedding (8 years ago, when I saw a nutritionist for a few months) and I think if I squint I can see a number that makes me happy.

I'm doing this for me. Nobody else. And after having to do most of what I do for someone else for four whole years (far more than I ever dreamed I'd need to do as a parent), it was time.

I'm also writing this for more accountability. Sometimes I keep quiet about things because I want the results to be a surprise or because I just don't want to talk about it. But if I say "I'm trying to lose weight" (whatever way I choose - WW is a good start, but I may switch to SparkPeople or MyFitnessPal or something else in a few months, who knows) then I am held accountable and people can remind me to stick to it.

Although I have to say, sticking to it has not been particularly difficult. It's partly the way the plan is structured, but it's also that I am ready to do this now. I'm still eating the same things (I believe I always ate at least moderately healthily) but I'm either eating less of them or I'm spacing them out or I'm just being more mindful. Also I am just really sick of not feeling the way I want to feel.

So. Maybe I'll even post a picture when I hit 10%. Maybe.

Now go enter my giveaway for some Renuzit Fresh Accents house smelly goodness things.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Renuzit Fresh Accents Review and Giveaway - October 12, 2011

Let's get this out of the way right up front and right here: Renuzit brand provided free samples of two Fresh Accents holiday air fresheners so I could review them. However, all of the opinions expressed below are my own.
(That will probably be obvious though.)
Renuzit Fresh Accents
I like good smelling things and I love it when my house smells fresh and good. However, I don't think I'm quite the target market for the new Renuzit Fresh Accents Holiday line. While I think they are very pretty, and they do smell nice (I was sent one each of Festive Snow and Winter Berry - I preferred the Winter Berry scent), they were a little too cutesy and Christmassy for my taste, and the scent was a bit on the strong side for me. Also, I like foody scents (I lean toward things that are more cinnamon, chocolate, vanilla - that sort of thing) and these were not in that genre to me. Maybe if one was scented like a holiday cookie...?


I have to say, though, that the packaging is very cute - look at that snowflake design! - but I prefer my good-smelling things to be hidden (my tart burner is tucked away in a corner, and I actually hate its design but I got it on sale and it's electric rather than candle-based and so I keep it hidden and OH I DIGRESS WHAT A SURPRISE), and these are more meant to be out in the open. I can't have things like this out in the open anyway, what with a kid who grabs everything and two very curious cats. 


In a nutshell, I just didn't click with these although I think they're fine. (They're never going to send me anything else to review, are they? Ha. That's OK. I'm learning!)


So if you like your house to smell and look festive, particularly if you decorate for Christmas, you might like these. They're very inexpensive - around $2 - which is a great deal for something like this.


And I have THREE free product coupons to give away! Yep, one of you gets three free Renuzit Fresh Accents Holiday air fresheners. Are you psyched? Get psyched. 


To win, just leave a comment on this post telling me which scent you think you'd like best (Festive Snow or Winter Berry). I'll pick a random winner in a week - on October 19, 2011 - to get three coupons. Have at it! Good luck!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Thrifting and booksale hunting - October 10, 2011

Ohhhh I love thrifting. I love it love it love it. Friday - three stores. Sunday - the half-price day of the biggest used book sale around (my favorite - I go every year). (Yom Kippur smushed in the middle. I went to temple briefly. I fasted for part of the day. I thought a lot about forgiveness and about what I want for the coming year. It was good.)

My cat wanted in on the action...



And away. We. Go!


I tend to go in order of stores, but this picture mixes two. FORGIVE. The glass on the left was from Goodwill. It was confusingly marked in yellow but actually tagged green, so it wasn't half price and was a WHOLE 77 cents oh no. The glass on the right was from Value Village and was 80 cents. That's my local beer festival, so I had to have it.


Detail of one of the glasses. It's all similes - sly like a fox, strong like an ox, that sort of thing. The pictures do not capture how wonderfully vintage it is. The images are gilded (still) and the frosting is stripey. It's a good thing.

So. Value Village was our first stop.


The book, which I've been wanting to read for a long time, was $1.50. The Dresden Dolls CD was 80 cents. I have it - I'm from Boston, I've been a fan for forever, yadda yadda. But 80 cents. I had to. It's the 8 Foot Records pressing and everything. It shall be gifted to someone soon.


I hope this fits me. I hope I hope I hope. $1.29. (I think it kind of looks like Missy Kulik's art!)


This is....too young for me (I am old) and just barely fits (I tried it on). BUT COME ON NOW. Cut me some slack. It is amazing and I love it so I am going to wear it. Possibly even in public. $2.29.


I mean really now.


This also may not fit. Or it may. I know I know. But it's a store that fixes Macs right near where I live, and I was amused to find it so I bought it. $1.29.


Back of shirt. I don't get it.


This is actually black, not awful grey-green as this picture pretends. $1.10 because it was the half price color, hooray.


Such a splurge. $3.29. Eek! But it's what appears to be never-worn Gymboree. In the kid's size AND she needs more sweaters this winter. Love.


Another sweater for her. $2.79 and so cute.

Goodwill was meh. I got the glass at the top of the post and these two books for the kid for $1.50 each:



(Fun fact - she had that ladybug book when she was eensy and it was totally her lovey and she'd cry until she could hold it. She also ripped it to shreds. I bought her a condensed version - FIVE little ladybugs - at Target not long ago. She was unimpressed. And so I bought this. STILL unimpressed. Kids. Sheesh.)

So then we went to the Humane Society store. All kids' clothing is 50 cents, and the two shirts for me were $1 each. And the book was 50 cents each and is destined for Paperback Swap, though I probably will read it first. Maybe...




(Look at me, getting brave about buying her dresses. This one and the one below will probably look cute with leggings. I think she has leggings...somewhere...)












(for me, Old Navy, way cuter than this picture makes it seem)


WAHHHHH. RIP Thrashers. This was a freebie from a giveaway night and I think it's a kid size but I also think it might fit me. Also WAHHHH.



And fiiiinally, the BOOK SALE. Because I totally need more books. (I don't. I'm done for a while. I SWEAR.) Green dots were $1, blue dots were 50 cents, red dots were 25 cents.


(That would be Lynda Barry. Stupid flash. I mean...totally my fault...)



The Brain Pickers says "The startling bestseller that strips the 'glaour' fro the publishing world...exposing some naked truths." I used to work in publishing so this greatly amuses me, but I'm sending it to a friend as a surprise. Unless she sees this. Then it won't be a surprise anymore.




I snatched this up so quickly a guy near me was like "Wow, you just found something you wanted, huh?" YESSSSSSSSSSS.


I almost didn't buy this but I just had to have it. It's from 1940. It's amazing. It is exactly what you think it is...


And then so much more.

Have a great week!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

The Winner of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook Software - October 1, 2011

Rabbit rabbit! The winner of the really cool My Memories Suite Scrapbook Software is...
Kristen G! The last commenter on the post - she squeaked in under the wire and look, she won!

Don't forget, even if you didn't win, you can get $10 off your purchase of this great scrapbook software AND a $10 credit in the MyMemories.com store by going to http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software and entering the code STMMMS76900 during checkout. Full disclosure - I get a small kickback if you use this code.

Enjoy!