Heys, Britto "A New Day" Luggage

I have been coveting this luggage for a long time.  I love the Britto style of art and I think these are gorgey! So, I was totally excited about finding this piece at TJ Maxx... ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  It was still pricey at $139, but I had to have it and I bought it.

After using it a few times now, I realize that I am not in love with the actual luggage itself.  It's taking some time getting used to the opening in the middle thing and I don't think it packs as well.  It's fairly lightweight and I love the spinners and It's truly beautiful (of course it's already getting all scratched up... GR.).  There is a but, though... it's just not as convenient for actually packing.  I think when I get another suitcase, I'll go back to the open on top sort of thing instead of the clamshell style... but you have to admit it's pretty as I rush through airports!

BOBBLES!

I'm surprised it's taken me so long to review Bobbles.  I LOVE them... started using them in January as an alternative to those stupid squishy plastic bottles that all of the bottled water has gone to.  The cool part is that Bobbles have filters, so you can improve the taste of your water.  I will warn that just because there are filters, doesn't mean that you can filter out microbes from a creek or anything and it doesn't make all water taste like Aquafina, but it's helpful.

So, I've found them at Target - luckily on the mark down! But mostly I get them from Amazon and watch for sales.  It says you  should change the filter every 30 days or so, but I use mine like six months at a time and its totally fine.  THE MAN will not sucker me in to their money making scheme of short shelf lives on filters!

I have paid between $6-$12 for the actual bobble with a filter and I've paid between $5-$8 for the replacement filters.

I use four daily.  I have one of the large size (24oz) and four of the medium size (18oz).  I drink them all and more each day.  When I travel, I take them with.  Great for going on an airplane.  I leave it empty, then after going through security I can fill up at a water fountain.  You should totally get these.

I promise, you will love them!

YUM YUM YUM Dark Chocolate and Krispies!

Okay, THIS JUST IN! I JUST discovered that Hersheys minis is now including, get this, The dark chocolate mini bars with crisp rice... Yeah, it's like a Krackel, but with dark chocolate! I found one. I ate it. It was AWESOME. Maybe I should not be telling people this. You might eat them all. They are freaking good.

Bzz Agent Hooks This Bee Up With Tasty & Nutritious Snacks - WIN!

I think my favorite part of the Kashi Hummus Crisps is the protein and fiber. As a diabetic, it is hard to find snack foods that provide these and that is the only way to keep my sugars down. Yes, they have 21g of carbs per serving, but so do all snack chips and it is helpful to counter that with protein and fiber. So this is a win for me.

Compared with other chips, you really can eat more of them, so more filling and better for you. How can you argue with that? I've always found Kashi to be a top notch company that tries to put out products that are better for us and still tasty, so Hummus Crisps is another one of those success stories from Kashi.

Second, they do taste good! Definitely, these Hummus Crisps are not greasy and that's because they're popped. the sea salt and olive oil flavor is exactly what I like... although I did find myself thinking a step further and going vinegar and sea salt might have been tasty! I really want to try some other flavors.

I brought my bag to work so that I could get everyone's opinions and overall, most people really liked them. We're snackers here anyway, but we're always looking for alternatives to the unhealthy items we're normally noshing on. These were a hit with most people both for taste and nutritional value. There were a few that didn't like the taste and one co-worker said the texture was "weird". I wrote her up... no I didn't. To each his own. I had 4 people ask for coupons so they could buy them for themselves and I'm waiting to hear back if they found them. I've had trouble with locating stores that carry them, myself.

Overall, I love these and would buy them, even without a coupon. The one negative for me is that I cannot find them! I've checked my local grocery stores - even the national chains, Costco, Target... no luck. Lets get these guys out there where we can find and buy them!

Look at These Pearly Whites!

So, I just returned from vacation, where I decided to use Luster Premium White products to whiten my teeth. The truth here is that my teeth are jacked up. I have some that didn't grow properly, so one is missing completely and one is really small and so I have a lot of spaces... not so much crooked, but not so pretty. BUT, I did think that the one thing I can do, is go whiter. It just so happened that Bzz Agent had a campaign for Luster Premium White whitening system and I though vacation was a good time to do it.

The best part of this system is it's easy and flexible. You can do a power whitening by doing the treatment four times a day in three days or you can spread it out to two times per day in six days, or any combination of twelve times. I went with twice a day, except one day that I only did it once. It was fairly simple to do, you swish some liquid in your mouth and then you spit it out and brush on a gel that whitens your teeth. The gel is supposed to be active for 10 minutes and then goes inactive (or something like that)

Everything went well and I even tried to take before and after photos, but it's really hard to take amateur photos of your teeth. I believe that the product worked for me. I and my husband agreed that my teeth did look whiter, but it wasn't so significant that when I returned from vacation that people said, "hey, did you whiten your teeth?" It was very subtle. What I want to find out next is how often I can do it, because I think if I keep doing it, over time it should help.

The system also came to me with tooth paste samples. I did use one of the samples and I used it while I was using the rest of the system so I don't know how much the toothpaste itself worked. I know that I didn't care for the toothpaste because it's really thick... kinda gagged me, but I gag when I brush my teeth anyway, so there's that. I think this post has gotten way to personal, so I will end with, I think this product has real potential. I plan on using it more and my husband also has expressed an interest in trying it.

They Called Her The Girl Who Was Anti-i - THEN WASN'T

Well, I went to the dark side. I got a free iPhone. It's the iPhone 4. No Siri. I'm only going to admit this here. I like it. I really do. It's much easier to use than the Android mobile that I have for work. I'm not good at doing everything and I learn new things all of the time, but the truth is it works great and I'm happy. Don't tell anyone, but I cannot lie to you. The one thing I have NOT done, and don't know if I ever will, is use it with iTunes, which I STILL HATE!!!! Nothing has changed that. We'll see how that goes. Maybe I'll update this if anything ever changes.

Gee, My Hair Smells Terrific!

I am IN LOVE with Paul Mitchell's new(ish) Wild Ginger line of Hair Products.  First of all, they smell heavenly.  I mean, if you like the smell of ginger, they smell amazing.  Second they are made with Awapuhi protein rich products that give you strength shine and silky hair so their great for damaged and frizzy hair, but careful, careful not to over protein your hair or it can get funky!

My favorite product has to be the mousse or what they call the Hydrocream Whip.  It's super dense and not like a normal mousse.  You don't need a ton because of the density, but it doesn't weigh down your hair and it makes nice defined curls without the 80's "crunch" going on there.  LOVE IT.  I'm also digging the finishing spray.  It has some really great hold, but doesn't make your hair hard.

At first I wasn't sure about the shampoo because it seemed thick, then I realized I just don't need as much and it makes crazy amounts of lather!  I'm now using the shampoo and cream rinse regularly and once every week or two I use the Keratin Intensive Treatment instead of the cream rinse.  There is also a KeraTriplex Treatment that comes in little tiny containers and you leave it on for about 10 minutes, follow it up with the Keratin intensive Treatment for another 10 minutes and then rinse it all out.  I only do this every couple of months because I don't want to over-protein my hair and that stuff is PRICEY! 

I use the mousse to style over the Styling Treatment Oil.  The treatment Oil makes sure you got no frizz going on there and it smells yummy and really gives off a nice shine.  If it's not shiny enough for ya, you can always finish your look with the Shine Spray.  I love this stuff, too, but my spray applicator thingy stopped working!  Not so happy with that.  It's a very fine mist that leave a pretty shine all over your hair.  I hope to figure out how to get mine working again!

I've also used the Blow out Spray and tend to use that when I'm blow drying it all straight and I tried the Texturizing Sea Spray, but I hate it.   I am not a fan of texturizing sprays in general because I don't like how it makes my hair feel.  It's feels like I have dirty sea water in my hair.  Yuck.  But that is the only product I haven't liked.


Overall, I love this line of products and I highly recommend them.  So glad I branched out.  They are not the cheapest hair care products out there, but I'm really happy with them.  I've always been a Paul Mitchell snob in general, but the Wild Ginger is AMAZING.

Draftmark: The New Way to Drink Beer? No.

Bzz Agent hooked me up with a $55 coupon for the Draftmark System introduced by Anheuser Busch/InBev.  It covered the cost of the system, but not the $20 I had to drop for the refill.  The refills only come in Budweiser, Michelob Amber Bock, Bass, Shock Top Belgian White, and Shock Top Wheat IPA.  Not a fabulous selection, but I do like Bass.  Unfortunately, the Albertsons I bought mine at only had Michelob and Shock Top, so we ended up getting the Shock Top IPA.  For the cost, you'd think you'd get high end beers.  I can't imagine Budweiser drinkers dropping this kind of money for beer.

For starters, the Albertsons we went to in Clairmont had a piss poor marketing scheme going for this project.  First, the actual three boxes of the tapper system itself were just tossed on the floor next to a post.  I walked past several times before I even saw them.  Then the refills aren't even in the refrigerators, they are in the back and you have to ask for them, so I can't imagine anyone who wasn't specifically there to buy it would even know what to do.  It's terrible marketing.

Once I got the system home and the battery to the tapper charged, I put it together, loaded the refill and gave it a little time to make sure the beer was settled.  After about 15 minutes I poured my first glass and unfortunately ended up with a glass full of foam.  I waited a few more minutes and when the foam settled, I  re-poured that glass and a second and there was less foam this time.

After our toast, I have to say I was disappointed.  I wasn't a fan of the taste and don't know if this was related to the beer itself or the delivery system since I hadn't tried this beer before.  One thing I did note was that it seemed like it wasn't as carbonated as it should be.  Two days later, it seemed even less carbonated. Overall, I'm not a fan.

1. It's expensive.  I would never pay $20 for less than a 12 pack of beer unless it's excellent beer.  This is not and none of the available beers are flavors I care for.

2. I think it lacks carbonation.

3. There is no dating on the refill packaging so how do you know if the beer is even fresh?

It's not that it's a bad idea.  I could see instances where this would really be awesome, but it would need to have better beers and work better.  I don't think I would recommend.