Teleflora’s Too Sweet Bouquet

This bouquet features delicate lavender roses and pink hydrangea in a sparkling silver cube vase. The colors will compliment her rosy glow at feeling so special. This is perfect for a traditional Mother.

Price: $49.95

Where to buy: www.Teleflora.com

Bath & Body Works Signature Picnic Tin Gift Set in Wild Berry Tulip

By buying a gift basket like this, you look like you spent a lot more than you did. This is pretty and the reviews of the Wild Berry Tulip scent are overwhelmingly positive. Includes a full-size Shower Gel (10 oz.), Body Lotion (8 oz.) and Fine Fragrance Mist (8 oz.) in Wild Berry Tulips and a pretty spring Scentportable featuring Lilac Blossom. This is perfect for a Mother who loves beauty products, but doesn’t  pamper herself enough.

Price: $35

Where to buy: Bath & Body Works and www.bathandbodyworks.com

Soap & Glory Do A Bubble Take™ Set

Again, rely on a gift item that’s been pre-packaged to overwhelm your Mom with love! This is for a younger Mom, probably someone in her 20′s or 30′s. The pink bag comes loaded – with a bubbly shower gel and full-size shower pouf, gloss-enhancing shampoo, an exfoliating body polish, their bestselling body butter, lush hand cream, and a refreshing moisturizing spray. Perfect for Moms who love beauty and who travel.

Price: $36

Where to buy: Sephora & www.sephora.com

ybf Luxe Lip and Lock-It Kit

This is for a glamorous Mom who loves a pretty pucker! The ultra flattering Prim Rose  lipstick comes with a sparkling, silvertone mesh bag perfect for a glitz-and-glimmer night out. There’s also a  mirrored keychain lip gloss locket that she’ll see and use every day.

Price: $26.80

Where to buy: www.hsn.com

I was inspired to this by listening to Dr. Wayne W. Dyer speak. He’s a Christian. And he has a book with a terrific title – Wishes Fulfilled: Mastering the Art of Manifesting (AMAZON.)

Here is a brief snapshot of the book:

This book is dedicated to your mastery of the art of realizing all your desires. The greatest gift you have been given is the gift of your imagination. Everything that now exists was once imagined. And everything that will ever exist must first be imagined.

Wishes Fulfilled is designed to take you on a voyage of discovery, wherein you can begin to tap into the amazing manifesting powers that you possess within you and create a life in which all that you imagine for yourself becomes a present fact.

One of the Amazon reviews says the book has, “Easy ways to change your life.”

I almost don’t want to show you the cover. It’s not that it’s awful… it’s that, yes, it looks very predictable. It looks like the cover of a book that an older woman vacationing in Cape Cod with her matching twinsets would go read. So… ignore it. I only show it so you can recognize the book if you see it on sale somewhere.

“Earth’s crammed with heaven.” – Elizabeth Barret Browning

He has another book called “You’ll see it when you believe it.” (AMAZON)

The same principle applies. Mind over matter!

Images:

• Wizard of Oz image: Etsy shop Ink & Lee
• I will achieve my goals – Clipboard: Etsy shop Maiko
• Amazing Things Will Happen: Etsy shop Mary Kate McDevitt

Note the gorgeous skeleton key art above the bed.

This soft blue with the cream is amazing.

Here is a warm-looking bedroom of romance.

This is a rich, beachfront lovely bedroom.

I love the look of this living room area, so I added it in.

Lovely bedrooms don’t get better than this, do they? Everything is soft and beautiful.

After having a chance to use the Slice Ceramic Mill, I’m ready to endorse it fully. I opted for the black and white option, so that I could easily tell between pepper (peppercorns) and sea salt. The design is by Karim Rashid.

SLICE Ceramic Mill - Black and White

Shaking out stale flakes of pepper is never good, you have to grind it to get the flavor. So when I say these are ergonomic salt and pepper shakers, it’s only because you might not realize you should be searching for ergonomic salt and pepper grinders.

The look of this grinder is very modern. It’s glossy and mostly white. That’s not entirely the look of my kitchen, but the usefulness outweighs everything. Plus, the more I look at it the cuter it seems. It reminds me of a frog with two big eyes.

SLICE Ceramic Mill - Chrome

You don’t have to use just peppercorns or sea salt, you can also fill this grinder with dry spices or herbs. It’s nice enough to be pre-filled, of course. (Score!)

The thing that I love (other than the luxury of having a pepper grinder that works) is that it’s so ergonomic. Reaching for it, holding it, and using it -it’s all aligned for your hands and it makes it easy to use quickly as you cook. That’s important!

So if you do like to use a pepper mill, this is an excellent product. (And if you aren’t using a mill for pepper, you really should consider it.)

Product features for this ergonomic pepper grinder

- Dual ceramic grinding elements
- Never rusts
- Large capacity
- For salt, dry spices, herbs & peppercorns
- Easy refilling

SLICE Ceramic Mill – Black and White ($39.99) | Also available from Amazon.

You may also select from the mill in Chrome.

Disclosure: I was sent this mill to review. These are honest opinions based on the product.

While the sleeve trunk sweater is cute, it can’t compare with something hand-knit! Here, you see this adorable kids sweater and there’s an elephant trunk in the front that was stitched and attached separatley. I couldn’t resist showing you guys. If you do know how to knit, I imagine this could be a pretty fun project to tackle.

Shopping haul videos are littered over YouTube and they revolve around two ideas. First, the person must have shopped quite a bit (5 items is a good minimum) and then they must be willing to show it all off. For most teens, this isn’t a problem. And even though I’m not a teen and I’m about to do some online shopping, I’m going to do it as well.

See, not just WHAT I bought, but how I decided upon it all.

I’ve actually been lucky enough to do a shopping haul to help promote the ABC Family TV show Jane By Design, where I bought several items – including a cute cat bed for one of the cats. (It was for ShopCat, but ShopKitty stole it. I’ve since replaced ShopCat’s bed with yet another…which is not the exhausting musical chairs you might be picturing has gone on.)

The first two items are for my Dad. He bought a new car (the first new car he’s ever bought!) and it has no ashtray. Unfortunately, he still smokes. (Boooo, I know. It’s not cool.) Anyway, he needs a car ashtray. There are two I was looking at. One is double the price of the other, though! Both have good reviews.

• Real Gear AT02490-9/3 Silver Solar Ash Tray $21.99, Amazon.
• Bell Automotive 22-1-39263-8 Ash Tray with Solar Powered Lighting $8.59, Amazon.

But then I found one with many more reviews (positive) and decided to get that one. This is the one I’d say is the best car ashtray to purchase, at least in terms of which one I decided to buy:

• WINNER: Car Mate CZ48A Black Solar Powered Ash Tray with LED Light, $11.49, Amazon 

Next up, a Baseball cap holder for Dad. I looked at reviews. Then I needed to decide how many caps I wanted it to hold. I didn’t realize that the “system” meant a world of difference, but luckily I read the reviews. I decided I wanted to get my Dad the “system” so it didn’t have to be attached to the back of a door. This way it could go inside of a closet. But Amazon only offered the system in 36 and 18. So I got the 18 one instead of 9.

• CapRack 9  (For door)- Baseball Cap Organizer (Black) – Amazon
• CapRack 18 – (For door) Baseball Cap Holder (Black) – Amazon
• WINNER: CapRack 18 (Multi use) System Organizer (Black) – Amazon

I’ve previously reviewed Vitalicious Vita Tops and LOVED them. So I decided I’d go buy some since they are healthy and filling for a quick breakfast with a big glass of milk. I preferred the chocolate flavors, and these have healthy brownies…so… yea.

• WINNER: Vitalicious Chocolate Super Sampler, 2-Ounce Units (Pack of 20), $28.60 – Amazon

I also needed something to hold my sheets in place. I found the one with the best reviews to be:

• WINNER: User-friendly Holder, Strap, Suspender, and Gripper for Your Sheets. Multiple Use Design. Patent Pending, $12.09 Amazon

I hope you enjoyed this shopping haul blog post. Muah.

I think Lean Cuisine makes really tasty, healthy meals. And since I don’t like to cook very often, frozen meals are a great option for me. And I’m picky, so I like to eat things that look pretty and taste delicious at the same time. (And on top of that, I don’t want to spend too much!) After one of my friends asked which Lean Cuisine Meals I liked the most, I decided I should make a list of what I think the best tasting Lean Cuisine meals are!

For all of these, I’ve eaten these at least two or three times. (For some, many more times than that.)

You’ll notice that I prefer chicken dishes over any other kind of meat, and I mostly like meals from the culinary collection that Lean Cuisine offers.

Culinary Collection

Beef Portobello
Chicken in Peanut Sauce *
Chicken with Lasagna Rollatini *
Chicken Parmesan
Orange Chicken
Sesame Chicken *
Sweet and Sour Chicken

Simple Favorites (Smaller Portions)

Cheddar Potatoes with Broccoli
Chicken Enchilada Suize *
Four Cheese Cannelloni *
Swedish Meatballs with Pasta

Spa Collection

Thai Style Chicken with Noodles

Market Collection

Chicken Fettuccine (Maybe)

*Denotes a favorite

The one thing I don’t like about Lean Cuisines is that they allegedly have a lot of salt. Being a processed food, this happens. Fresh food and fresh ingredients will always be healthier than frozen and processed. The website says, “The sodium amounts in Lean Cuisine entrees range from 340-700 mg. You can search under Products and Product Search> Browse by Nutrition for those with the lowest amounts of sodium.” While Lean Cuisine’s site is trying to play off how much salt it has, you have to admit there’s quite a bit – but not nearly as much as in other frozen meals.

Disclaimer: I was not sent any Lean Cuisines to review, I just wanted to put my information out there to help other men and women.

Eat it. Love it. Realize it is healthy and has almost no calories! Aaah.

It’s made with popcorn, salt, and sunflower oil. Somehow, this adds up to low calories but HIGH taste. It reminds me so much of movie popcorn (which I haven’t had in FOREVER because you know I’m not gonna waste calories on that – though movie popcorn is so delicious.)

And now you know why I love Skinny Pop. It’s so damn good it seems too good to be true. Or like an urban legend. But it does exist. Which is the best part. It’s real!

I’m actually a harsh food critic. I just said to my friend, Alix, “A granola bar without chocolate is insulting.” I mean, I know they’re supposed to be healthy but ugh, they have to taste good or I’m ignoring them.

It’s all natural. It’s cholesterol free popcorn. It’s gluten free popcorn. There’s no dairy, no nuts, none of that. It’s the perfect storm of taste!

THIS many positive reviews on Amazon can’t lie. You can get massive deals if you order packages of several at once. It’s like an online Costco deal. Try 12 generously large bags for $45 – the most popular option.

No disclaimer, I wasn’t sent any samples. I just buy this stuff all the time now.

Side Note – Celebrities Who Don’t Eat Sugar:

1. Selma Blair (nor gluten)
2. Gwyneth Paltrow
3. Kelly Osbourne
4. Yvonne Strahovski (though she had a birthday at the Sugar Factory)
5. Jessica Biel (while working)
6. Jewel

Leaving sugar behind is sad, so opt for high-quality stuff. I got to sample the Sugar Free Mixed box of Sugar Free Chocolates. And there were several strong winners in this box according to my reputable taste buds.

Here is what there was:

• Sugar Free Chocolate Peppermint Patties
• Sugar Free Chocolate Truffles
• Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cups
• Sugar Free Peanut Butter Squares
• Sugar Free Amaretto Truffles
• Sugar Free Caramel Squares

By and far, I loved the Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cups and Sugar Free Caramel Squares the most. The PB cups were the perfect shape, size and texture and I would gladly eat a box of these. There are also Peanut Butter squares, which are not quite as good and who knows why! The Caramel Squares have a different constancy than most caramel that you know, but they are chewy (a little softer than you’d think) and really good. There was the addition of salt on the bottom, which was really delicious. (Salty + Sweet is a good combo and you know it – or are you going to pretend you have never mixed peanuts with a bag of M&M’s?! Now that’s what I call gourmet baking! …Oh, maybe not? Heh!)

I didn’t love the peppermint patties because I don’t like any kind of peppermint patty. The chocolate truffles were okay, but I also don’t like the taste of amaretto so the green striped dessert was really pretty but also not for me.

This was a great way to taste an assortment. I definietly recommend the sugar free peanut butter cups and the sugar free caramel squares. If you like those other flavors, you’d likely enjoy them too.

Illinois Nut and Fantasia Chocolate makes gluten free candy, kosher candy, vegan, sugar free candy and organic candy. Whatever you’re voluntarily or not so voluntarily avoiding in your food, they’ve found a way to get it to you anyway.

And we have a giveaway!

Disclaimer: The chocolate box provided for an honest review.

As I walked away, debating this one curtain, I kept thinking bout how I’d always know the vibe of the curtains were Martha Stewart, and I’d feel hopelessly lame for it. Because what I want is something … kind of hip. I’m still young! What I want is curtains like an Anthropologie. They can even be from Anthropologie – but only if they’re on sale. I’m also interested in World Market, Pottery Barn, West Elm (although that’s a bit too modern) and Pier 1. Or anywhere if they look nice, really. But, I suck at making decisions. So I’ve come to you guys for help.

We’re looking for curtains like urban outfitters – curtains like pottery barn – curtains like anthropologie.

My room has green-blue walls and my style codewords would be: romantic, antique, cottage, artistic, sweet, warm, Victorian, french, floral, cozy.

What my room is not? Modern, Bright, Asian, Minimal,  Exotic, Stuffy, White (my current window treatments are white blinds and white sheers, so I missed the mark and have been lazy…because my previous look was very pastel/Monet/airy.)

Here are some curtains I like, with the one on the bottom right the Martha Stewart ones I almost bought:

• Taupe Accacia Curtain $44.99 to $54.99 – World Market, here
• Midnight Courtyard Curtain – Anthropologie
• Wandering Pleats Curtains – Anthropologie
• Neutral Luster Window Panel On Sale $31.96 Orig. $39.95 – Pier 1, here
• Brown & Blue Ombre Damask Panel On Sale $31.96 Orig. $39.95 – Pier 1, here
• Martha Stewart Living Floating Dahlia Panel $20 each – Home Depot – Good Review, here (Larger image here)

That last one is the one I almost bought. And it has this Black Tab thing which I guess means it helps keep light out (so I can sleep in, score.) But from far away it looks (and I know part of the reason is the wooden window in the picture) so hopelessly country dining room! My bedroom of luxury is not… a country dining room in the suburbs! But on the pro side… up close it looked better, it has great reviews, the material was good, the colors are right, and the price is perfect.

Update: I have actually found curtains that I love. They’re sold at JC Penny, where her line is. Oh, did I not mention who they’re by? Cindy Crawford. I know, I know, almost as bad as Martha Stewart, but these work as being simple without being boring, they’re cozy, they’re a little French, and they’re a color that doesn’t fight with my dark walls. While I never would have gone, “Oh, yes, I totally want to buy curtains that have Cindy’s name on them!” I actually find these to be very worthy of a look. Her entire collection has some really nice pieces that might make you think you’ve found curtains like Potter Barn stocks.

Each panel is normally $40.00 but I had a major sale advantage and got four for $20.00 each! That’s half off! Even I can do math that easy.

Cindy Crawford draperies wrap your home in an aura of luxury with the Palais grommet-top window collection. Available in Green, Rust, Shitake and Ivory. I opted for Ivory.

• elegant scroll pattern in sophisticated natural tones
• chenille fabric for a soft, rich texture
• lined for beautiful draping
• grommets are brushed nickel
• available in lengths from 63 to 120″