Santa is always a welcome guest.
He's especially welcome when he shows up early. It might have been this photo that I posted back here - prompting the bearded-dude to provide a needed intervention:
My record-playing game got a nice upgrade to this charmer:
The sound quality is light years better than my little red player; this one has Bluetooth & even better, you can hook up a USB key & record albums to MP3s! This is amazing to me! My 80's Duran Duran albums & 70's K-Tel records (do you remember K-Tel compilations - the original mixed tapes?) have a new lease on life & it's been so much fun listening to them all.
Old records + making dinner + a glass of wine/sparkling water/hot tea in the evenings = heaven.
I love this is a suitcase style making it a literal snap to close up & move around the house or pack up & go. It's super simple to fire up & use right away, but it comes with a helpful instruction manual (read, so you can get full use). This player retails for $99.99 & I think it would make a fantastic gift for any vinyl fan - or, it might inspire you to collect albums -there are worse things to do with free time :-).
Do you still listen to vinyl? Now I need to get busy transferring my old music into the 21st century.
Cheers,
S
#1byoneBeltDrive3SpeedSuitcaseTurntable
I was able to purchase this record player with a generous discount (because Santa loves discounts!). All opinions are 100% my own.
Yes, I know it's the day before Thanksgiving (yay!) & my latest test/try will not really get a workout for another six months or so, but I'm ready. Ready for the onslaught of mosquitoes that will eventually be back & zooming around our heads before we know it - we'll be using these babies:
Have you seen or used these bracelets before? They are new to me & I really like the way they smell as they are made with lavender, eucalyptus, citronella (of course!), & peppermint oils. One size fits all; I have pretty small wrists & they adjusted fine for me:
Hey, freckles!
You can also use them around your ankles too, which would probably be a better fit for me as I do not have small ankles! I also like that the pack has a variety of cute colors:
Here are the great dets:
- They are made of microfiber & super comfortable to wear.
- Instead of wearing them, you can also attach them to a backpack/bag or baby carrier.
- They last up to 240 hours or 10 days.
- Store them back in their package or a sealed bag when not in use.
- DEET free & 100% natural oils - 100% non-toxic.
Note: You should keep these away from fire & electricity, out of reach of kiddos, & away from your eyes, please.
Each pack has 12 & they retail for $12.95/pack.
So, let the eating commence tomorrow & let the mosquitoes stay away next summer. Or something like that...
Cheers,
S
#selpHbalance
I was receive this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.
If you have a gluten-free or gluten-sensitive kiddo (or adult!) in your life here's a fun & different gift idea:
It's a GREAT Kids Snack Box & everything in it is gluten free, fun to eat, & most importantly - delicious. You might notice a couple of the bags are already opened (& empty) because I dove right in...here are/were some of my faves:
All snacks are kid-friendly - most from smaller, more independent companies - but, there are some familiar characters that kids will love as well:
I loved this box because I knew I could grab anything from it & feel good about it eating it. I often eat breakfast on the go & this box had lots of all natural protein bars & bites. I stashed lots of these snacks at my desk at work too.
I got to try new-to-me brands & products - the single-serving sizes are great as it makes it less expensive than buying a full-sized box of something I might not like. I also loved the value of the box. I could not believe how many snacks were included - it's a generous amount (30 snacks!) with lots of variety (my first photo doesn't do the box as much justice as it should).
This is a subscription box service & retails for $49.95/month so pick that kiddo you really like :-) but, there are a variety of options starting at $29.99/month. Again, I think this would make a great gift for a busy parent with a child that needs to avoid gluten - super convenient & fun & something to look forward to every month. Even if gluten isn't an issue, this box makes for an easy way to snack a little healthier.
Cheers,
S
#GREATKidsSnacks
I was able to purchase this snack box with a generous discount; all opinions are 100% my own.
Today was a hard one for me.
I did expect to wake up to different results & while I do respect opinions & views that differ with mine - I still find the whole thing baffling.
My brain can't fully process...anything.
I don't believe walls are a solution. Walls are easy; building complex & mutually beneficial relationships is difficult &...presidential.
I believe America has always been great. A lot of other countries are great too & yep, there are a lot of parts of the US that are not so great - "great" is too easy - we need to be striving for better.
I feel like "easy" won today.
I feel like hate won today.
I feel like "because I have a lot of money, I can do whatever I want - but, oh! I can also totally relate to you" (ha!) won.
I am also a little relieved for Clinton because at least (maybe) she can have a bit of reprieve from all this craziness. It was also very clearly documented that if she won, she would be berated for the next four years (go, team...sigh). And I do believe that reprieve for a woman like Clinton can only mean good things, better things for this country's future.
Do I think she'll ever run again? Probably not. But that doesn't mean she will not continue to fight for children, women, families & be a power of influence.
It ain't over!
And I really need a bagel, stat!
This past weekend (pre-Halloween weekend!) I was able to put together & test a plant stand. I love plants, but they don't always love me. See the half-dead ground cover in the green pots below - we planted them earlier this year - that chive is looking a little sad too:
And because we were on the heels of Halloween, I decided to use it to hold a bucket of pumpkin heads (they are solar lights!) - this is one of the buckets we turned into planters - so I'll be adding another plant soon/post-Halloween & move the buckets back to the backyard, here.
I like this stand because it can be used indoors or outdoors. It's a little big for my house for indoor use, but I also gave it a trial run inside:
Is that aloe looking a little sad too?
If you use it indoors, the feet have caps to protect your floors:
I love how easy this is to put together! No tools are necessary. The pieces ship like this:
Unwrapped:
(I swear the "smiley face" was not intentional & I only noticed it when I uploaded this photo :-)
You then unscrew the caps on each stand (four screws for each stand) & re-screw them into the "legs".
Easy!
Finished product again:
I did have one screw refuse to twist off - a wrench took care of it. It takes less than 15 minutes to put the whole thing together. My only complaint is that Amazon shipped it in a ginormous box & it had SO much paper padding. A bit overkill & I think they could cut that down with bubble wrapped pieces.
It retails for around $27 which I think is a great price - I also think it will last quite awhile as it's all made of metal & very sturdy.
Now I need some healthier plants or figure out how to green up my thumbs!
Cheers,
S
#plant
I was able to purchase this plant stand with a generous discount. All opinions are 100% my own.
