purrfect for fur

having two cats, both with light-colored fur has been problematic when it comes to furniture.  it can be near impossible to sit on the couch without getting up with a new fur coat.  we've tried numerous products to clean ali and lucy's leftover coat off of every upholstered surface in the house.

~a lint roller works, if you're willing to go through 15-20 sheets every time.
~the pledge fabric sweeper for pet hair works fairly well, though it's not mean for permanent use

finally i had had it and started to do research for a handheld vacuum that would work to successfully remove pet hair from fabric.  i discovered the shark pet perfect II hand vac that came with excellent reviews.  though the price seemed a bit steep, i found it on sale at kohls.  add in a coupon with some "kohls cash" and i was able to get it at a great price!

when it was delivered i couldn't wait for it to fully charge so i could test it out.  let me say how amazing this thing is!  our furniture has never looked so clean!  if you have pets i would highly recommend this product.

gadgets galore!

i love kitchen gadgets.  i really can't help myself.  recently i got this fantastic strawberry huller (you can use it for tomatoes too).

so when g and i talked about going to my favorite childhood orchard, i immediately began thinking about all the tasty apple recipes i could make!  of course i'll make teresa's tasty apple crisp, but i also want to make my grandma's yummy apple dumplings and homemade applesauce.  when i was young, i would help my grandma make apple recipes.  my favorite part was peeling and coring all the apples.  why, you ask?  because of this amazing gadget.

so to make my apple dishes of course i need this apple peeler/corer too!  as i was comparing the different peelers, i also came across this pineapple slicer.

g and i love fresh pineapple but it's always to messy cutting it up!  and we always seem to waste so much.  so this pineapple slicer (i highly encourage you watch the video, too) solves both of those problems!!

what is your favorite kitchen gadget?

fun apps!

i've recently started using some fun apps for my phone and computer:

instagram
instagram is a fun way to take and share photos you take with your iphone.  after taking the picture, choose one of the several filters available to change the way your photo looks!  then share with friends!!  i've snapped some really need photos lately and then instagram'ed them!

spotify
getting rave reviews in europe, spotify has finally made it's way the the US.  you can send them your email for an invite to this streaming music service from nearly every major record label!  search for your favorite artist, song, or album and then create your own playlists to playback whenever you want!  i highly recommend downloading this!  and it's free!!

download instagram and spotify today!!  what fun apps have you recently discovered?

tasty frozen treat!

if you have a costco membership, then you must buy these delicious frozen treats immediately!

yasso frozen greek yogurt

g and i happened to see them and thought they were worth the try.  so that night when we had them for our dessert, we were more than pleasantly surprised!  so much, in fact, that we went back two days later to stock up on some more (and a couple more bags of chip's!)!  only 70 calories and 6g of protein!!  the perfect healthy summer treat!

light as a feather

i'd been having some minor difficulties with my computer the past couple of months.  i noticed that it had been running a bit slower and it was harder to get it to connect to certain webpages, sometimes even the network itself.  i must say that i absolutely love my macbook and would buy no other product.  that being said, i think i got the bad apple in the bunch.  i had the hard drive replaced two times and had some other minor issues (that were thankfully covered with my apple care warranty).  recently i had an issue with the computer staying powered on unless it was connected to the power cord.  sure, it might seem like it's not a big deal, but it becomes extremely inconvenient as you must restart it every time it's unplugged, thus lacking portability.

it's a known fact that i've become an apple fanatic.  i've seriously owned nearly every apple product.  and i absolutely love every one of them.  knowing that i would soon be in the market for a new laptop, i started researching the various options apple provides.  as i said, i love my macbook, but it's a bit heavy and requires being taken out at airport security.  the macbook pro is very nice, but it too must be removed for security.  the macbook air is light, easily portable, and does not need to be removed from your bag to be screened at airport security.  i was sold...mostly.

it's true that apple products aren't cheap, but they're reliable and the workers at the genius bar truly are amazing and can fix almost any problem your computer (or any other apple product) is having.  though i would regularly peruse the apple site, picking out the computer i wanted and pricing it out, i knew that the time wasn't right.

the final straw was the battery/power issue.  it was then that i knew that sooner, rather than later, i would need to go computer shopping.  so, this morning i was checking out apple's site and pricing the macbook air with our company discount.  imagine my surprise when i noticed that the macbook air was updated with a new operating system and few other things...just as of yesterday!  wow!  i waited long enough to get the most up-to-date product?!  g and i already had plans to go downtown for a few things today, so we popped into the apple store where i asked more than a few questions to the product specialist and finally made my apple macbook air purchase!

i love it!  it's very nice!  so maybe this will be my regular blog motivator!

nom nom nom!

g and i went to costco today to pick up various household items.  going during the day on a weekday is the best time to go.  there are fewer people, shorter lines, and easier access to the samples on every aisle!  we tasted tangerine beef, a delicious artichoke and jalapeno dip, and then we saw these popcorn chips.  i have had something similar, but not this particular brand.  let me tell you, they're FANTASTIC!  at $4.99/bag it was hard to pass them up...obviously!

we chose the white cheddar (our favorite), hot buffalo wing, and sea salt.  the sea salt are a perfect tortilla chip substitue!

the girl offering the samples informed us that costco would not be selling these popcorn chips and that these were just a promotional item for the week.  she did, however, let us know that you could find them at whole foods!

with a purpose

how amazing is this product on etsy?  a wine holder for your bike!!  for just a little over $30, there's no need to weigh down the bag on your back with this practical wine transporter.  ride it to your picnic in the park, a friend's house, your favorite byob restaurant!  the advertisement boasts genuine leather and antique brass fasteners.  there's even a video here, demonstrating it use and durability.  my only question is, how will that bike ride be after enjoying that bottle of wine??

picture challenge: day 7

a picture of your most treasured item. 

sadly, my iPhone is my most treasured item.  i honestly feel incomplete without it. 

cute new kicks!

a couple months ago i was on an overnight in minneapolis.  since i was there for such a long time, i decided to venture over to the mall of america.  i remember visiting once before while on a college band trip and not really being too impressed.  it seemed like there were multiple versions of the store.  the main store, the outlet, etc.  but, seeing as i had hours to kill and there's not much else going on around the minneapolis airport, i chose to waste a few hours walking around the four, 1/2-mile tiers.  (plus shopping is tax-free!)

i wasn't searching for much in particular and chose to window shop more than anything.  one of my stops was at the DSW (designer shoe warehouse).  walking up and down the aisles, i spotted these babies. 

 cute and reasonably priced, i thought about snagging them.  but i told myself i didn't really need them and walked on.  before i even left the mall, i knew i made a mistake by not buying them. 

i stared at the picture several times and even looked for them at a couple other stores.  last week g and i went on a mini-shopping spree downtown and went into the puma store.  they had my shoes!!  i quickly grabbed them and asked for an 11.5!  sadly, they were left with two pair...one for tiny feet and one for gigantic feet. 

then, i was thinking about them the other day (is it sad that shoes were on my mind so often?!) and thought to myself, "hey, look on zappos.com!"  and there they were.  staring at me, priced well and available in my size.  i didn't even think twice about it and ordered them right away!!

my cute new shoes arrived yesterday in the mail!  i love them!!  the perfect springtime shoe! 

better than a cucumber

after running out of my last eye cream, i made my way into sephora to purchase some more.  while i really had no problems with the "hope in a tube" by philosophy or the eye gel by jack black, i asked one of the workers if they had any recommendations.  she explained that most eye creams are unisex, though i assured her that was not an issue!  she showed me the skyn icelandic relief eye cream.  she gave me a small sample and i dabbed it under my eyes.  the cooling sensation felt great.  she even recommended storing it in the refrigerator!  the cream targets puffiness, dark circles and fine lines and wrinkles!  perfect!!

though it's a bit expensive, i've found it to be well worth it!