Things I Love: Wilson Sleek Cell Phone Signal Booster

You all know I live in a fairly rural area and work in the city. I spend about two hours a day in the car. Those of you who have ever called me during my commute know that about seven or eight times in that trip I usually lose cell reception.

I decided to give the Wilson Sleek a try.

I'm typically a little leery of those "as seen on TV" products, but this is one that actually works! First of all, it's super easy to install. I took a little more time because I ran the wires all nice under the plastic pieces. I bought the goose neck suction cup thingy for my window because I don't really have a great flat spot on my dash.

I was amazed at how well this thing works! There is still one spot on my drive that I drop calls, but this does exactly what it says - it takes everywhere that there is signal and amplifies it. You can't make something out of nothing, so that one spot must have absolutely no signal (it's right when you're behind a hill, so I suspect that the signal gets blocked).

This has made my drive much nicer (now I can listen to music OR talk to people). If you do a lot of driving, this is a definite must!

Things I Love: Breville Espresso Machine

For my birthday last year, my parents bought me an espresso machine so I could start making my own white chocolate mochas at home. Not only has it been fun to play around with, but it saves me a little money (I love me some Starbucks, but holy cow, they're expensive!). Over the last year, I've gotten pretty good at making them (at least to my taste) and can even tell the difference between mine and Starbucks.

Well, a couple months ago, I noticed that when I was steaming the milk, it started putting out less steam and more stream of water. Definitely not what it's supposed to do, so I emailed the Breville customer service people. They were very helpful and gave me a couple solutions to try at home. They worked for a while, but then the machine went right back to spitting out water instead of steam. The customer service people told me they would hook me up with a new machine and sent me the stuff to send back my old one.

Here's the most amazing part. The machine I had was the 800ESXL, which is about a $180 machine. It's high quality, works well, but doesn't necessarily have all of the bells and whistles that the higher up machines do. Here's what it looked like:

Which is why I was completely surprised when Mike opened the box of my replacement unit. Rather than sending me a straight replacement of my old unit, they sent me the mid-range machine that costs $499!

This one has pre-programmed shots (a single shot and a double shot) as well as the ability to over ride that. It also separates the water spot from the steam spout. It comes with four different filters, depending on your level of espresso brewing expertise! Talk about excellent customer service! So far, I've totally loved the new machine (who wouldn't?!) and am incredibly happy with the level of service I received! It was so nice to work with people who were pleasant, willing to offer solutions and would stand  by their products when they were unable to fix them!

Things I Love: Amazon Kindle

Well, what started out as a simple cold, of course, couldn't just stay that way. I'm not sure why, but for some reason, I never get just the cold that everyone else gets. I end up with some whopper of an infection. It's odd, because in general, I'm a pretty healthy person! So, my virus somehow turned bacterial and I now find myself at home, hopped up on codeine so I can actually sleep. I went about an entire week of coughing my head off all night, so last night was blissfully restful! I only woke up a couple times and the cough attacks weren't very bad. The best part is that I actually felt like I really slept and got some rest!

The Amazon Kindle

In other news, using some of my birthday money, I bought a Kindle. Those of you who know me well know that I'm an avid reader. I love my Sunday afternoon reading a naps. Every night before I go to bed, I have to do a little bit of reading to help shut my brain down. I've always loved the feel of a good paperback book in my hands. Needless to say, I was a little skeptical of the e-reader trend. One of my biggest concerns was eye fatigue. Reading on a computer screen (like I do all day long) is a big strain on your eyes - the last thing I needed to do was add some more at night. Amazon has come up with a new technology called e-ink electronic paper. It mimics the appearance of ink on paper and reflects light the same way paper does (as opposed to flat panel LCD displays that back light to reflect their pixels, causing eye strain). Basically, it looks like you're reading a book. It uses 16 different shades of grey, so the one downside is that you don't have a color display. But when you really think about it, what book have you read that really needed color? The other added bonus is that you can continue to read in different light settings (like bright sunlight) that you would have difficulty reading an LCD screen in.

My second concern was the availability of books. At which point, I realized that when I can't find a book in the store, the place I typically go to order it is Amazon. I checked out their Kindle store to see how many books were available for download - they're currently right around 802,000 books. I suppose it will take me a long time to get through 800,000 books, so that issue is solved. Not to mention, the books tend to be a lot cheaper than if you bought them in the store (somewhere between $5-$10).

My final concern was that I just plain love having a book in my hands. I think I'm just a little sentimental that way. I am definitely one to embrace technology, but giving up books is something that is still a little hard for me. I think it's going to grow on me because I'm already loving reading the first book that I've downloaded (the new John Grisham book). As my mom said, our society as a whole is moving toward using technology and a paperless world, so why fight it?

I give my new Kindle (in graphite, in case you were wondering what color I got) an enthusiastic two thumbs up!

Fantastic Jewelry

My fantastic aunt, Eva, (aka. "The Chosen One" - that's a whole other story) has delved into the world of making jewelry. We're not talking 1980's string some beads together and call it done jewelry, we're talking absolutely amazing stuff. She made me this necklace:

It looks amazing in this picture, but trust me, it's even more fantastic in person! She made one for my mom that has an edelweiss charm (the flower from Germany), a fresh water pearl and a Swarovski crystal:

Here's a ring that she's been working on... all real stones, wrapped in wire:

She also made a necklace for my uncle that has two charms that say "air" and "water" (he's a scuba diver and those are the two most important things) along with carved coral beads and a leather cord:

I'm telling you, it's stunning. If you're interested in a piece, send me an email or leave a comment and I'll make sure you get in touch with her!

I Love All Things Google

I recently made the switch to Gmail because I was having a lot of issues with my Yahoo mail. It's a completely different interface and, let's be honest, a completely different mindset. After the first few days, I forgot that I ever used Yahoo... Google is just that fantastic. To make things even better, they integrate tons of cool features:

• Blogging: Way back when, I started using blogger as my blogging site. It was confusing, hard to update and geared more towards technical people who liked playing with HTML code. I made the switch a couple years ago to Vox and was pretty happy with it, but while I was gone, Google integrated with Blogger and has made things fantastic. I'm so happy to be back. They've even created this really cool feature called the blogger dashboard that lets me "bookmark" my friend's blogs so that I can see when they update. I love it. Love it, love it, love it.
• Calendaring: Those of you who know me well know that I am not an electronic calendar kind of girl. I have always kept a paper planner, in which I log daily activities, to do lists, important numbers, etc. Until now. With the addition of my fabulous new iPhone, I now have officially moved to the wonderful world of all things digital. And I'm not looking back. The iPhone has a great application that allows me to connect directly to my Google calendar. The Google calendar is easy to use and I can color code things to make life that much easier.
• Maps: Google maps are WAY better than the other services out there that give you directions. They're more accurate and, again, I can easily pull them up on my iPhone. Don't even get me going on how cool Google Earth is!

I know there are even more that I haven't even begun to explore, but I'm super satisfied with my switch to all things Google. Honestly, it's like I sat down and said "if I were going to use technology for everything I do, how would I do it" and then, poof, it happened. What a cool world we live in!

Products I Could Potentially Love - Blistex Spa

So Eva got me going on the Blistex Spa. The only issue is that I purchased my first pack today and there are "three unique formulas" in each package and my lips haven't been quite dry enough to test them all.

These are three different kinds of chapstick designed to pamper your lips. The first is "uplifting" (that's the yellow one). It smells sort of citrusy. The second is "renewing" which smells like watermelon (green tube). The last is "relaxing" which smells like tea (blue tube). I tried the renewing one and I love it (haven't had to put it back on, so I think it really works!).

Here's Eva's review:
Blistex Spa Effects Lip Balms. Make sure you get the bonus pack at Target. It has the three flavors PLUS a limited edition one. http://www.blistex.com/Spa%20Effects.htm

In other news, the trip to Portland went well. It was rainy/cloudy the whole time and I was told that's the norm. Not sure if I could live like that! The nice thing was that we had an Oregon native with us who gave us the grand tour. In fact, she made sure to make it interesting for me - "Anna, that building is where the Trailblazers play". Definitely caught my attention!

Brigitte, Alyse and I saw "The Break Up" tonight. It was a really cute movie! Vince Vaughn can do no wrong. I thought the ending was a little weak, but I'll save that for my review. :)

I'm out!

Products I Love - Jergens Natural Glow Moisturizer

Thank you, thank you, thank you Adam and Eva for recommending Jergens Natural Glow Moisturizer to me! You see, this weekend I'll be houseboating with Brigitte and Amber, who both already look like bronze goddesses. Me, I'm white. Really white. So, rather than trying to "catch up" (which we all know will never happen), I've officially hit the bottle. Of self tanner, that is. I've been weary since "The Bahamas Experience" (self tanner + shower = streaky white girl). However, Jergens has come up with an amazing combination - it's tanner and it's lotion all in one. It works slowly (I'm on day two and starting to see some color) and you don't end up with it all over your clothes (or shower). GREAT stuff! Now I too can be a bronze goddess! Woo hoo, houseboat here I come!

The rest of the weekend (that I wasn't applying lotion) was pretty mellow. I went shopping on Saturday and just relaxed today. I took my first nap in FOREVER... it was so nice!

I seriously can't believe that the triathlon is officially two weeks from today! I'm feeling pretty good about the distances, but I'm nervous because I've never done one before and I know it's going to be a lot different than working out at the gym or even biking/running by the river. I guess we'll just wait and see!

On that note, I'm off to read and go to bed. Good night!

Products I Love - Aveeno

Ladies and Gents, it's back, the latest edition of "Products I Love". So today was the first day I've worn a skirt in a while, so in preparation, I shaved my legs. Quite I feat, I know. Well, as much as I love the Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar, sometimes I need something a little more moisturizing. Today I rediscovered Aveeno. Absolutely amazing stuff. Put it this way, by the time I went to the gym tonight, my legs still felt soft and smooth with none of those little dry bumps. Great stuff! It's also good on your face in a pinch!

By the way, being the nerd that I am, I'm keeping a spreadsheet of how many yards, miles run and miles biked I'm doing in preparation for the triathlon. I'll be posting that on here as well... updating as often as I train. (look to the right for it)

I've also learned today that I have patience I never knew I had. Thank God for small miracles!!!

Today's Triathlon Training:
Biking: 10 miles

Things I Can't Live Without

1. Bath and Body Works Vanilla Lotion
2. Starbucks White Chocolate Mochas
3. Illuminations
4. Chocolate
5. Buttered Noodles
6. Any kind of pasta for that matter
7. French Fries
8. Target
9. Anything From Victoria's Secret
10. Office Depot

I invite you to share. It's like a Christmas list, only not...

Products I Love - Victoria's Secret Vanilla Lace

No, it's not underwear.

It's one of the best smelling body splashes ever created. They have a zillion different smells, but I love the vanilla lace. It's a very light fragrance, but it doesn't wear off very quickly like other body sprays. They also have the matching lotions, bath bubbles, salt scrubs (I love that one too!), soaps, etc. Fabulous. It also seems to go well with most perfumes because it's sort of a light scent. I wear with the Polo Sport.

I spent the weekend shopping. I spent too much money. I got a really great new bed ensemble... from the Eddie Bauer home store. They're closing so everything was on sale. I've always wanted a down comforter, but I'm deathly allergic to them, so I got the faux down. I absolutely love it! I also discovered a cool new store with Kati today. It's called New York & Company. They're owned by Express, but have much better prices. I got this great little burnt orange sweater that goes over a lacy orange cami. And two pairs of earrings for the price of one. Awesome!

Other than that, this week has been nice and relaxing. Just what I've needed. Work is going well... I absolutely LOVE it there! I'm settling in and finally beginning to take things over. It's very exciting and challenging! Finally!

Have a happy Sunday!

Products I Love - Sally Hanson Cuticle Massage Cream

Yes men, even for you.

This product is GREAT. It's formal name is "Sally Hanson Cuticle Massage Cream with Apricot Extract". Let me tell you, it works. It's a tiny tub or orange colored cream with the constancy of soft butter. You schmear it on your cuticles and nails. It not only keeps your cuticles and nails healthy, but it makes your nails GROW. And it takes care of that pesky dry skin around your nails. I have a little pot of it on my desk at work... when I get bored I just rub some in. You don't have to wait for anything to dry and it's not oily or greasy. Definitely a must-have.

Bird update: Little John Paul opens his eyes more and is getting louder and louder every day. my poor Mom... every time I call her I make her listen to him squawk! He's also starting to grow feathers - they're tiny little nubs, but they have potential! He's now 15 days old - around 21 days he'll be ready to take that first bold leap from the nest... I'm worried already!

That's all that's new here... TGIF!

Products I Love - Quench

Good morning!

So here it is, the first edition of "Products I Love". Tim was joking with me this morning, saying that it should be called "Products I'd Love Tim to Buy Me". lol

I've discovered a great lotion. GREAT. It's called "Quench" and is made by Oil of Olay. It comes in a funky purple bottle and is a fantastic moisturizer. It comes in "Normal to Dry", "Extra Dry" and "Sensitive". I've noticed that it has a little bit of shimmer to it... not enough to make you look twelve, but enough to get your skin noticed!

Here's the link if you would like to read more about this fantastic product! http://www.olay.com/cgi-bin/newusquicksearch.cgi?sku=us12062004_02

It's available at Target and Longs... a large bottle runs about $7 and a small one around $4.

And now, what you've all been waiting for - the baby update. There are three little babies now! Holy cow, they're so cute! I tried to get some more pictures, but they end up being all out of focus. This morning, when I took the cover off the cage, Brad (the daddy) was in the nest, feeding the babies! OMG, it was so cute! He straddles them and then sticks his beak in their mouth. SO CUTE!!!

That's all for today. Have a great day!