Things I’m Enjoying Lately

Every once in a while I post things I am enjoying. It’s a sort of product review meets gratitude list. This list is for stuff I liked in February.

I moved this month, so a lot of stuff will revolve around that (I’m talking to you chocolate, comfy shoes and Epsom salts!).

Lily’s chocolate – yes there is sugar-free chocolate that isn’t super dark. While I do love a bar of 85%, sometimes I want something closer to milk chocolate. Lily’s is sugar-free and sweetened with stevia! It’s a bit pricey, so I only eat half a bar in a sitting. Ahem.

Melissa and Doug Reusable Sticker Pads – I haven’t actually sat down to play with these. The enjoyment factor comes from watching my 4 year old play with these for HOURS at a time. I mean it people. I don’t know that a $5 toy has bought more play value. She loves the girly ones (princesses, fairies, etc) but they have boy-themes too.

 

Caveats: no good if you have crawling babies who might find the pieces and try to eat them. Also, Vic loses interest once the stickers get linty and don’t stick as well. She gets frustrated and wants to throw it away. But hello, at $5 each these are still awesome. They are wonderful for quiet time, encourage imaginative play and would be great for travel too.

Epsom Salts. My entire body still hurts. Apparently someone has been beating me repeatedly with a baseball bat. Or I moved last weekend. Same difference. Epsom salt baths are my crack at the moment.

Namaste home and order everything on Amazon. At the moment, I am still carless. And to add to the car drama, now our 15-seater (the former family car hubby has been using for work) is in the shop with a $2400 (at least – it’s a bit scary when the mechanic says “at least” isn’t it?) repair bill awaiting. Hubby has had to rent a truck for work. Good times.

Thank goodness for Amazon Prime, Prime Pantry and Subscribe and Save, otherwise we would have no soap, toilet tissue, pantry staples or sanity. (Because after a hard day at work I’m not asking hubby to run by the store on his way home.)

I also ordered nice, industrial quality walkoff mats per Don Aslett’s advice. (Because white carpet in the bedrooms.) I’m talking the ones that reside inside lobbies of office buildings and are designed for many people to walk across, many times a day (because I’m basically running a small corporation here…). These things are awesome. They literally suck all the dirt and grime off your shoes as you walk across them.

They weren’t cheap – $60 each, but worth every cent. Every day they become filled with dirt that wasn’t tracked into the house! But they’re easy to sweep or hose down. Don’t waste money on useless cutesy mats that make you trip, shed or aren’t big enough to clean a mouse’s boots. Get the good ones. They feel amazing on bare feet, stay FLAT under doors and the corners don’t curl up like cheap mats.

Pinterest. I mean it. I get so much value out of Pinterest. It works so well for me because it allows me to gain from other’s strengths. I have no talent for making things look pretty.

(I have a general theory about people that states that they are either good at building/designing/making things pretty OR they’re good at words. I’m a decent writer and speaker, so words are clearly my thang. There are very, very few people in the world that are good at both words and design, and those tend to be genius outlier types. Like my mother.)

I can search Pinterest to solve design and “look pretty” problems in my life. Such as how to organize my spices. Or lighten up a dark living room. Or dress myself. Or get others to dress me. Or lay a table for a dinner party. Or whatnot.

I never just browse Pinterest aimlessly. I go there with a specific purpose. It’s my new Google image search.

My latest board is “Tiny Office“. Because I have one the size of a shoebox. Not complaining. It just takes some sleight of hand to make it work. Pinterest to the rescue!

Are you following me on Pinterest?