Last time I visited my rents, I pilfered mom's In Style magazine. As I mentioned months ago, I'm attempting to dress more my age and stop looking like the "before" picture of an Oprah makeover. Call it shallow, but it's done wonders for my confidence.
Anyway, at the back of these magazines they have a collage of a celebrity's top 10 favorite items/accessories/etc. that they simply can't live without. I thought it would be fun to create my own list. And I'm interested in hearing what products/books/accessories/misc. items YOU love. Come be frothy with me!
In no particular order:
1. Body by Victoria push up with invisible lace - Okay, this is like memory foam FOR YOUR BOOBS! The girls look fabulous in this thing and the invisible lace is quite literally invisible under T-shirts. I always buy Victoria's Secret bras even though they're expensive because they have a lifetime warranty. Honest. I have returned 4 year old, stained, bras that have slightly lost their shape without a receipt and they have taken them back. All you have to do is say you hand wash them. I do it in the shower to save time.
2. EOS Lip Balm Smooth Sphere -- I became aware of this product when my friend LitChick became obsessed with it. Because it is obsess worthy. It's not just the lip balm itself, which is smooth and lovely, but it's the container. Its so pleasantly ergonomic and velvety I can't stop playing with it. And I've had mine since Christmas.
3. Barkeeper's Friend Powder - the best cleaning product I've found for porcelain sinks and tubs. It's freaking magical. And like $1 a can.
4. Bucky Lightweight Eye Mask -- I think my MIL couldn't actually believe that all I wanted for Christmas was a good eye mask. So she took it upon herself to find the absolute best one around. And it is. The fabric is molded to stay off your eyelids and it fits so nicely. And most importantly, it keeps out the pesky light.
5. Fashion tape -- keeps things where they ought to be. I especially love it for button down shirts that pucker into gaping holes between the buttons whenever you sit down. Yeah. This fixes that.
6. Ginger People Baking Chips -- I bake like a fiend and these baking chips are just the right texture for scones or my ginger chocolate chip cookies. I like chopping them up into ginger dust.
7. The Mercy Thompson Series -- I am pretty well obsessed with these books. I read them in rapid succession last summer and when I ran out of books in the series I quite literally felt as if I had lost a friend. I know when I say werewolves and vampires, you may understandably have a mental block against the entire urban fantasy genre poisoned by sparkles and bad prose. THIS IS NOT THE TWILIGHT SERIES. I repeat--NOT THE TWILIGHT SERIES. For one, the protagonist KICKS MAJOR ASS--Vampire. Demon. Fae. Human. Mercy doesn't care. When she's not fixing VW's or pissing off the local alpha werewolf, Mercy is kicking ass. So much ass kicking!!!
8. Stop Staring Dresses -- No company knows the female figure like Stop Staring. Their dresses make me feel like a goddess. I like that so many of them have sleeves, are a true knee length, and still manage to make me look like a sex kitten from a 40s nightclub. If you're going to spend the money on a good dress, consider one of these. They're expertly constructed and there's amazing attention to detail on every seam. They're incredibly high quality. I think that one of the reasons I work is in the hope that I can save up to afford another one of these.
9. AVEDA Caribbean Therapy Body Cream -- Manages to smell like a sweaty jungle in a good way. It's intense, and the only moisturizer my delicate leg flesh can take post shaving.
10. Benetint -- Logan encouraged me to get this product because he hates, hates, hates lipstick. Benetint gives me color without anything sticky. I like it more than other lip stains I have tried because it's not too dark and it doesn't dry out my lips.
Anyhow, I've quite a Saturday ahead of me, and it may necessitate a shower. I really am genuinely interested in your top three random things that you love that I may purchase.
Your unique lamp from Aunt Fran? Well, if I can't buy it, don't fill me with envy.
8 comments:
Products I admire in every respect.
1. Oatmeal Squares. I may be biased because I just ate a bowl, but there's no denying incomparable marriage of soft and crunchy. I don't understand how they do it! It's the best breakfast cereal.
2. Gibson 335. The look, the feel, the sound. Oh, the sound. I sometimes wonder how my life would have been different if I'd sprung for the 335 all those years ago instead of my Ibanez GS. I love my Ibanez, don't get me wrong, but the 335 is a different breed.
3. Portal. I don't know a more perfect game. It's a first-person-shooter without the parent-worrying gore and violence. That's all been replaced with mind-bending spatial-intelligence puzzles. All with plot and character development so subtle yet engaging that you don't even realize it's happening until you're already in love. The only way it could be improved would be some kind of multi-player option for a more social experience. Oh wait. Portal 2 comes out in April.
1. My heat dish. As a person with very very bad circulation (toes are blue right now, and I am in my house wearing socks) I desperately want to be warm but almost never am. The only way I experience comfort for eight months of the year is by crouching in front of the heat dish.
2. Pearls. I didn't buy them, I inherited them. But in my opinion if you only have one piece of jewelry, have a string of pearls. I wear mine virtually every Sunday. Fake pearls are not the same and do not have the same universal appeal. It is very hard to find a string of fake pearls that look like real pearls in part because nothing does, but also because most jewelry makers seem to think that if you're buying costume jewelry you must want it to look costumey so they pair absurdly large pearls with chintzy looking chains. Tacky. I could get rid of every non-heirloom non-wedding ring piece of jewelry and not miss it a bit if I had the pearls.
3. Kitchenaid. I love my mixer.
I hesitate to recommend hair products, mainly because everyone has different hair and mine may be the pickiest of all. I know that a lot of products just don't do anything for my hair and I imagine that could be true for others... but nonetheless, I love my Marrakesh Oil by Earthly Body. It decreases drying time by a ton, smoothes, protects, and smells divine.
2. Would have to be my hot pink Naturalizer flats. They are maybe one of the best shoe purchases I've made. Unfortunately, the suede has had a few unfortunate run-ins with rainy days, but they are still going strong and I love them more every time I wear them.
3. Aveeno Smart Essentials face wash. Smells amazing. Cleans my sensitive skin face without issues. Love it.
I have more. I may have to do a post of my own. This one rocked.
1) A well-constructed wallet from the Etsy seller Happy Kathy. It has a gigantic red poppy on it, with coordinating fabric on the inside. It's lovely, and it's perfect if I just need to run to the store.
2) The card game Lost Cities. It's one of the only card games I've seen that's intended only for two people, and the box is small and portable. We've passed many a boring night while visiting my parents with Lost Cities. It's not the most complex or intricate game, but it's easy to pick up and put away, or shove into a carryon.
3) The Deluxe Lapdesk from Barnes & Noble. No, really. It's wide enough that I can use a laptop and still have room for a piece of scratch paper, and it has built in fabric panels that can functions as a mousepad. It has zippered pockets on the bottom for pens and odds and ends, so I keep a pen, lip balm, cables, &c. while it's not in use.
4) Burt's Bees Res-Q-Ointment. It's great for my hands that tend to crack in the cruel Utah dryness. it smells of rosemary and lavender essential oils. It's also good to rub into ragged cuticles.
Anyway, that's four items. I could include a bevy of others, but here were the ones I immediately thought of. (Note that they were presently all within arm's reach or within my direct line of sight.)
Good post. I enjoyed the froth.
1. My Bernina. it is the best sewing machine I have ever had, and although it is nowhere near a top of the line machine, it is puissant and silent. I use it almost every day.
2. my piano. I don't even play it much lately, but I waited 40 years for it and I love it.
3. My red couch. it is always comfy and warm and has great lamps so I can read or spin or watch tv while curled up on it.
1. Birkenstocks - As a Floridian, sandals are a must in any case. Wear these for a few weeks and you won't be able to part with them. These are the only footwear I've actually bothered to take to a shoe repair place rather than simply replace them outright.
2. Sig Sauer P228 - I know you may not want to purchase a gun for whatever reason, but you can. It's hard to find objects like this outside of the realm of firearms. The quality was the first thing that struck me when I picked it up. It was solid metal. Not a polymer, not a chrome-plated hunk of plastic, but real, honest-to-goodnesss, solid metal. The fine ergonomics, the balance, the elegance and simplicity, and the ability to perform its task reliably show a lot of thought went into its design and fabrication. Not many things are made like that these days and it was hard to deny the feeling of quality and weight it had to it. Sadly, I no longer have mine due to a negligent gunsmith. The Glock that replaced it does the same task just as well but lacks the personality of the Sig.
3. Bocce Set - it's a fun and deceptively simple game that anyone can play with less than a minute of instruction. Cheap, fun, and easy - gotta love it.
1. Le Creuset. There is something about cooking food in enameled cast iron that makes it better. In particular roasts and stews turn out much better in this thing. I'm sure a Staub or if I decided to save money a Lodge enameled cast iron would also be a purchase I wouldn't regret.
2. The entire set of Bond movies. I'm a Bond geek, I accept it and will take all mocking that comes with it.
3. Viola olive oil or another good finishing oil. It just makes food better.
1. Nintendo (consoles and handheld systems) -- I own working models of every Nintendo console ever made (and most of the handhelds) and I've never once sold/traded any of the games I've acquired. I pre-ordered the 3DS the first day it was possible to do so. I have a large collection of vintage video games and systems from many developers, but Nintendo has owned my soul since I was 5 years old and always shall.
2. Asics Gel running shoes -- When I joined my high school cross-country team as a sophomore way back in 1995, I started off with a pair of hand-me-down Saucony shoes. The next season, I bought myself a pair of Asics Gel shoes... and 16 years later, it is the only brand of shoes that I've worn for my 5-6 times-a-week workouts. They usually last me about 2 years before they're worn thin, but the gel insoles are simply amazing.
3. Carmex -- When I started playing trombone in 6th grade, I was told that Carmex was the lip balm of choice for trombonists, especially those who played in marching bands. I soon learned why. Carmex is incredibly long-lasting, even in cold temperatures. Unlike other brands of lip balm, I could always use Carmex and play my trombone immediately, without any slipping of the embouchure. As someone who has literally BLED during cold-weather performances in my 6th grade through four years of college band career, this was a godsend. I'm rarely without a tube of Carmex.
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