The Ikea Virgin

Well....I considered doing my usual (as of late anyway) burning of the midnight oil and writing my daily adventures, but I was tired last night. Actually, I wasn't tired....I was flat out, tail dragging, eyes propped open, barely able to function, EXHAUSTED. So at 11:28 I curled up into bed next to the bear and the boy and went to sleep knowing I would just write Tuesday's entry on Wednesday morning.
So happy repeat Tuesday..LOL.
   So Amber and I decided that we needed to get some supplies for the daycare. The main item being pillows for nap time, no not our nap time although we would LOVE to do that...lol. No, this was a mission with real purpose. As of late we have had an influx of loving parents who have been bringing in pillows for their children to use on their cots during nap time. Very nice gesture and we wish ALL the parents would bring in pillows for their kids to sleep on. The problem however is that some parents are bringing in pillows that are full bed sized pillows. Again, a very nice gesture, HOWEVER....we are working with children under 5, most of which are smaller than the pillows themselves....lol. Not to mention the lack of storage space we have. We have ample storage for their things if they only have what they actually need, but we have no room for giant items and the other parents hate having to cram their child's items into a cubby that is bursting at the seams with another child's bed pillow. So after letters home to the parents and no co-operation we decided we needed to enforce marshal law. We will be sending all over sized pillows home and sending out another note to inform the parents they can either send in a travel size pillow for their child or for a few dollars purchase one from the daycare. Hopefully that will get the point across politely. 

Soooooooo we decided to go to Ikea to pick up some inexpensive yet nice travel size pillows. Well I have never been to Ikea before. I've seen the catalogs obviously and I have seen lots of things other people have purchased from there, but I've never been to the store. Partly because they are almost an hour from our house and really.....there just aren't that many stores I'm willing to go out of my way for. Christmas Tree Shops...well, that's another story. LOL So after driving a half hour and getting lost in downtown New Haven we finally found the store. I have to say, I saw a lot of stuff I really liked.....the furniture however, not so much. I would rather save up and spend a lot of money on a quality piece of furniture I can pass down to my children, than spend a little on a crappy version of the same piece of furniture that will fall apart and I have to replace every two to three years. So the furniture I wouldn't waste my time or money on, plus it just isn't really that attractive unless you're into the ultra modern Euro look.....which I'm not. They do however have a lot of nice accent pieces and home accessories that aren't that bad and a pretty good price. I saw a few decorative items I would consider.
It was fun though and I'll probably go back at some point for some small accent pieces, but I definitely don't feel as excited about it like other people I know.
Anyway, talk to you in a few hours when I blog about today's activities. :)

Frannie's Consumer Reports

Ok, so today I decided to do something a  little different.
I used to be friends with a woman that saw fit to not only share with me about any great shopping deals she found, but also about any new products she thought were worth my trying. Now on the surface that is a very nice gesture and I do actually like word of mouth recommendations and share them with my friends when I feel something is worth mentioning. HOWEVER, this chick became soooooooo over-zealous about her advice that it very quickly became horrifically overbearing, controlling and just downright obnoxious. She demanded that I not only adhere to her opinions, but any thoughts of my own on the items were quickly renounced as ignorant, therefore irrelevant and I was then hounded DAILY until I gave in and purchased whatever item it was. If I relented and didn't...she then took it upon herself to purchase it for me and present it to me at our next meeting as a "gift".  Now that just screams the term "true friend" doesn't it? NOT!!! Is it ay wonder that relationship was doomed?  ( Proverbs 21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop [on the flat oriental roof, exposed to all kinds of weather] than in a house shared with a nagging, quarrelsome, and faultfinding woman.) Thank God I DIDN'T live with her.....I WOULD have moved to the roof to live! LOL

ANYWAY!!!!!
To that end I was so turned off by that horrific experience with her that for a very long time I withdrew from recommending ANYTHING I thought was worthy of sharing out of fear I would somehow be percieved as even remotely obnoxious as she had been.
TODAY however I am finally going to break free of those old bonds and share my reviews on a few favorite items or product lines that I think are well worth passing on for others to try. WOO-HOO!!! Drumroll PLEASE!!! Oh and, FYI.....it won't bother me in the least if you disagree or have no interest in trying any of these things...I just thought the info was worth sharing. :)

CLEANING PRODUCTS:

1) Steinway Furniture polish. So I just recently went to Ocean State Job Lot and discovered some of this in the cleaning aisle. I needed some furniture polish anyway and for a little over a dollar a can I thought it was well worth trying. Not to mention I am familiar with the Steinway family name so I thought it might really be a good product. WOW was I pleasantly surprised!!! It is literally the best wood cleaner and polisher I have EVER used!!! I used it on my antiques and what a gloss it left!!! No extra work needed, just applied and wiped like I would normally do with Pledge which was my default product for years. However the differance was incredible! I was so impressed with the result on my good furniture that I immediately went to try it on our well loved and beaten up kitchen table. Immediately the wood grain that had been barely visible and hidden under layers of years worth of use suddenly popped out as if it was a brand new piece of furniture. GORGEOUS!! Definitely 4 stars!!

2) Downy Simple Pleasures. I've gotta say, Ben and I have really fallen in love with this product line. For the small amount required to fragrance and soften an entire load, even an extra large load, it is well worth paying a little more for these products in my opinion. The fragrances are subtle, organic and long lasting. Not to mention so pleasing to the senses that it takes fabric softener to a whole new level. Our personal favorite is Spice Blossom Dare and our second fave is Orchid Allure.

PERSONAL CARE:

1) Garnier. It took me a while to get around to trying these products. I was a faithful Olay user and several other personal care products so I just saw no need to deviate from what I was happy with. Then someone gave me an exfoliant face wash from Garnier and I fell in love with it. Little by little I've been switching to all of the Garnier products and have been very happy with the results. From the hair care line to the skin care line...all of them have been excellent. I highly recommend them.

2) Burt's Bees Lip Care. Now I actually like all of the products I have tried from this company, but my faves that I always keep in my purse are the lip care products. They are all natural, smell nice and the results are easy to notice. The pomegranite lip balm is excellent and unlike standard chapstick it really heals and deeply moisturizes my lips. The colored glosses are very nice too, especially the shimmer ones. I have almost every color they make and use those instead of lipstick most of the time. The lip pots are nice too, but I don't use them as often only because with long fingernails I find it hard to get to the bottom of them without getting the balm under my nail. ICK. Other than that though, I highly recommend the products.

Well, I think 4 recommendations is plenty for one blog post so I'll save others for another day. Hope you enjoy the reviews and let me know if you try something here and like it too.

Shopping Buddy

So it's MHR Friday again....(for those of you still unfamiliar with what MHR Fridays are please click the title of this entry to be taken to Katy Lin's blog explaining it and feel free to join in the fun.)
So this week I was thinking what have I been the most thankful for about my Ben. It was pretty easy....My Husband Rocks this week because of being such a wonderful shopping companion to me this week. He isn't like other husbands that complain or brood or stay home. Although I have tried to get him to stay home before to spare him from boredom....he refuses to stay because he wants to be with me (insert shameless warm fuzzies here). Many times he will bring a magazine or book....but this time he just brought himself and helped me pick out things he thought looked nice and waited with me in the dressing room as I tried on things. At one point he even laid down on the bench in the dressing room and relaxed as I tried on things....thankfully there were no other women in there or he would have gotten some odd stares I'm sure. LOL.... but what a friend he is...for a man that is a die hard Marine and a man's man....he certainly knows how to access his soft and tender side when he needs to. Of course all the sales women love him...he jokes with them and makes excellent conversation....
Anyway...he made me feel so precious by his endless support and his positive, and fun feedback. So that's why my husband rocks this week.
Love you Bear!!!!! XOXOOXOXOXO

Shop Till You Drop

OY.....so the Bear and I got home about an hour ago...eh....maybe an hour and a half by now.... Anyway, we went shopping. We both desperately needed some wardrobe updates so we went bargain hunting at a couple of our favorite stores at the mall and had a BLAST!!! We actually decided to do it again this Thursday so we can go to the other store we love. We really do have so much fun together....and as I tried on things he went to get us Starbucks Frappuccinos and joked with the sales clerks. The store was EMPTY so what started out as a simple shopping trip ended up being a fashion show as the two clerks and Benny commented on the different outfits I tried on. He's soooooo supportive and has such great taste in clothes...I enjoy taking him clothes shopping with me.....he knows exactly what my taste is and also knows just when to encourage or discourage a choice if I'm on the fence about it. I ended up actually trying and liking some things I would never have gotten normally, some fun casual clothes for work....and some spicy unmentionables......that shall remain....well.....unmentioned. LOL
So anyway.....it's snowing.....and is supposed to continue until sometime early Thursday morning...which means.....no sprout central tomorrow!!! WOO-HOO!!! Of course I love the job....but paid snow days ROCK!!! Me and the mini Marine can sleep in and then hang out all day. Maybe I can remember to actually snap some pics of him going nutso in the snow this time!!! LOL.
SPEAKING of.....I am REALLY behind in posting to my Flickr account....hmmmmm.....maybe I can do that tomorrow too.
Anyway...ok it's late and that's all the excitement from today.....