New blog for shopping tips/favorite things

Most of the search engine traffic I get on this blog is a result of searches like "initial jewelry for moms" and "favorite gifts." Therefore, I've decided to create a separate blog, The Shopping Guru, for sharing my favorite things/shopping tips. I just started this one, and will be adding to it very soon. If you'd like to follow that blog, please visit the site and select a method for following (e-mail, reader, Google Friend Connect). Thanks so much for reading!

Favorite Gift Ideas

I suppose this is a little late for anyone to actually use these gift suggestions for Christmas, but perhaps you can use these for future special occasions. Here we go:

My parents bought us the Sodastream for Christmas, and we love it! It is fun to operate and I like that it produces less waste. The sparkling water is pretty good, and is a nice healthy alternative for our family.

For the woman in your life, you can't go wrong with this Hobo International Lauren wallet. I have two of these and have bought them for a number of ladies, who all love their wallet as much as I love mine. Every time I use mine, someone asks me about it.

The same goes for my Lodis briefcase. I saw another woman with this briefcase and asked her about it. Since I bought mine, I often have people ask me where I got it so they can get one too! The one I have has a laptop compartment, which is nice. There are versions without the compartment.

For kids, I think you can't go wrong with books. A friend bought us one of the Llama books, Llama Llama Red Pajama. They are really cute. Another friend bought us You Are Special, which has an implicit Christian theme, but is a good story regardless of the person's faith.

For babies, we love our back to sleep bear - it was suggested by a mom friend and really helps get our newborn back to sleep.

For teenagers, give them money. Anything else, they will be disappointed!

For men, you can't go wrong with an iPhone or an iPod touch. These wireless headphones that allow you to watch TV without having your bed mate complain are also pretty cool.

For the geek in your life (sorry dad!), this wireless weather forecaster is pretty cool.

Happy shopping! I welcome any other suggestions you all have.

Another Reason I Love Trader Joe's!

I could go on and on about all the reasons I love Trader Joe's - the freshness of the food, the low prices for organic, the unique items (e.g., spicy dried mango or dried mangosteen), the cheap wine. But the best reason by far is their outstanding, boundary-breaking customer service.

I've told many of my friends the story of a time when I was in the checkout buying an unusual item, and the checker asked me if I had tried said item. I replied that I had tried a similar item, but didn't like it, so I was going to test out this new option. She promptly rang her bell and received approval from the manager to give me full credit for the item I bought previously - I had no receipt, no box, no proof whatsoever that I had ever even purchased the item! Further, she informed me that I could always ask a Trader Joe's employee to open any item and let me try it there in the store before purchasing! Wow!

Here is yet another story about their outstanding customer service - they gave a woman a free turkey simply because they felt sorry for her!

New Favorite Things - for Postpartum Moms and for Newborns

This book, The Second Nine Months, will make you hurt so bad from laughing that you will need an extra Percocet. The author is painfully honest and FINALLY provides a realistic perspective on life after delivery. Even if you had your child years ago, this is a must read. I think all new dads should read it as well. Heck, anyone at all would probably find it laugh out loud funny.

The Sleepy Wrap is my new best friend. It is the only way I have been able to get a nap during the day - I wrap my new baby in it, lie on my back, and we both catch some shut eye. Plus, it doesn't look quite as dorky as some of the other baby carriers.

I love, love, love this Yummy Tummy tank that my wonderful sister bought me. I probably never would have spent this much on a tank top myself, but now that I've worn it I think it is totally worth the money. It definitely minimizes the post-partum belly and is actually an attractive looking nursing tank. They also have non-nursing items that would be great for any woman looking to minimize the mid-section!

Leggings are quite forgiving under an oversized shirt or cute dress. I love the new modern take on the 80s stirrup legging (trust me, they aren't the atrocious kind that we tucked into our multicolored, fluorescent socks).

I love leggings with the bootie (also an 80s throwback) - this Nine West version is one of my favorites. When buying clothes is a less than desirable undertaking, there is nothing like a pair of new shoes to pick you up!

I love this nursing cover because it doesn't look like you are wearing a doily off your grandmother's side table.

More Food Favorites

Being at the tail end of my pregnancy (at least I hope the end is somewhere near!), I am trying to enjoy eating before I have to start working on shedding the weight. I thought perhaps I should add a couple more favorite things to my list:

If you saw my previous post touting the virtues of etsy (a wonderful website where individual artists sell jewelry, art, clothing, etc.) and also fell in love with that little site, than you might like foodzie, which is a site for people to sell their homemade goodies. Both sites are great places to find unique gifts.

My other favorite for today is chocolate infused with hot peppers. I know, I know, it doesn't sound particularly appetizing, but you must give it a try before you judge. My favorite so far is the Hachez chili mango bar

Lindt also has a chili cherry bar, though I haven't tried this one yet.

Anyone else a fan?

Initial Jewelry for Moms That Isn't Cheesy - Gifts for Moms

Note: I recently migrated shopping finds to a new blog, and you can find other initial jewelry recommendations there in a recent post.

We had a successful weekend selling about $300 worth of stuff on craigslist.  If we can close the sale on one more item, our grand total will be $1000!  So....I'm itching to spend money, and of course I want to spend it on something fun and impractical instead of using it for a household budget item.  That just doesn't sound fun.

As  mom, it seems I've been unable to resist a few of the cheesy mom things, like jewelry with my children's initials or birthstones.  I haven't bought anything yet because most things are, well, cheesy.  Or they are just plain ugly.  I ran across a couple of items that are really cute, stylish, and cheap!

Here is a necklace with one initial, but I would buy several of them (with different initials) and layer them.


Or you could go with this necklace, which has several initials on the same chain. 

This one has room for a little more information about the children.

This one would make a pretty cute gift for a new mom.

Speaking of gifts, I've been racking my brain trying to think of a good gift to send one of husband's friends.  She has sent us boxes and boxes of hand-me-down clothes for our daughter.  I know it is a hassle to box those up and get to the post office to send them, especially since she has two kids and a full-time job herself.  I have only met her once, and my husband isn't much help knowing what she would like.  Any ideas?

A Few of my Favorite Things

This post is a little off-topic, but might be a nice intermission piece after a series of more contemplative posts.

I have stumbled across a few new things lately that have made my list of favorites, and wanted to share:

As someone who tries my best to watch the nutritional content of our food, I've been on a quest to find natural peanut butter that doesn't have that disgustingly dry taste and texture or nasty separation.  I stumbled across a natural peanut butter (no hydrogenated oils, gluten free, no high fructose corn syrup) that doesn't require refrigeration, doesn't separate, and tastes better than regular peanut butter!  My favorite is The Bee's Knees.  The company is called Peanut Butter & Co and I was able to find it in our local grocery store.