My 7 Favorite Things

My usual is to post my five favorite things, but since I haven’t done this in such a long, long time, I’m doing seven today. I hope you don’t mind.

① allen + roth Electric Fireplace - our new condo doesn’t have a fireplace, which nearly resulted in it not being our new condo, but we signed the lease anyways. And last week, we popped into Lowe’s looking to buy lighted garland, and wouldn’t you know that they had a bunch of electric fireplaces on display. Turns out those store displays really work cuz we bought one even though we weren’t shopping for one. See, my brother has an electric fireplace in his house, but it’s (over) 10 years old, so as you can probably imagine, it looks as crappy fake as could be. So when my husband brought up the concept of buying one a few months ago, I wouldn’t even listen to him. I mean, I have truly unreasonable high standards when it comes to living (as you’ve probably already learned about me). But, in the past 10 years since my brother bought his, electric fireplaces have come a LONG way. There are some pretty awesome units available these days, and we would have loved to buy a bigger one than the model below, but we have a specific niche in our condo where ours needs to fit. The one we chose fits perfectly, and we even use it as an entertainment center (which is not really what this model is designed for, but my handy husband modified it to be more TV-holder sturdy). And, yes, I know it’s pricey, but we’ve deemed it to be our dual Christmas present to each other, so that makes it worth it, right? Answer: YES! Love it!

via Lowe's website

②Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes – okay, I know this is not a new concept/product & I’ve casually bought them in the past when they were on sale, but recently I have really come to appreciate these things. I used to think that they were too expensive to use regularly, and so I only used them on “special occasions” (not that I had specific special occasions in mind). Most of the time, I even forgot I had them, and then they would dry out and become useless anyways. Yes, I’m an idiot. ANYhoo, I noticed recently that they’ve come down in price than when they first came out, and so I bought a 3-pack & made a conscious effort to use them more. And here’s what I found out: THESE THINGS ARE GENIUS! I mean, to have a fully-saturated disinfecting wipe available in seconds by simply flipping the lip & tearing one off is the most convenient thing EVER. I keep a container on the bathroom vanity (to wipe up makeup messes off the white sink as soon as they occur instead of waiting until the weekend – okay, every fourth weekend – to clean up) & one under the kitchen sink. I use them daily. No lie. Oh, and I’m not committed to the brand name of Clorox either. Lysol and/or generic products are just as good.

via their website

③ Charming Charlie – have you been to a Charming Charlie store lately? I never knew what I was missing out on until my friend told me about this place. What is it? A girl’s dream store, that’s what! They sell accessories in the form of jewelry, purses, scarfs, hats, clothes, and even some shoes, and each section of the store is arranged in blocks of color, which I didn’t truly understand how convenient the concept was until I experienced it first hand. My husband HATES when I go shopping here cuz I always spend at least $50, but, hey, I get a lot of good stuff for that amount. If you’ve never been, you simply MUST go to see what the buzz is all about. You can thank me later.

via google

④ Tinted Moisturizer – most ladies probably just use this stuff in the summer, but since I live in a dry desert, I use it year-round. I mean, I thought I had dry skin before I moved here, but I didn’t realize how dry my skin could get. It’s bad, people. Every inch of my body needs to be moisturized on a daily basis (yes, even there). And maybe for those that grew up in this environment, their skin is used to it, but for all Vegas transplants, it’s a real problem. And so, to help out in the facial region, I’ve switched from my regular foundation to my brand of choice, Stila Tinted Moisturizer (sold at Sephora). Yes, that’s right, it’s the base for the rest of my makeup, and a little goes a long way. And it’s helping me to combat the alligator skin. Yay!

⑤ Tea Bag Buddy™ at Container Store – Confession: I’m a hot tea drinker. Yes, I am really 84 years old. Trapped in a 30-something’s year old body. And I’ve been looking for a product like this for a long time. It holds the tea bag in place while steeping, allows you to squeeze the bag without burning your fingers, and holds the used tea bag afterwards. Oh, and it’s dishwasher safe, too. Click the link above to see a video of how it works (not like it’s really that complicated, but if you’re bored).

via their website

⑥ Dunkin Donuts® Coffee – I can only drink coffee on weekends, thanks to genetics. Don’t ask. Seriously, don’t. But my husband is really, really picky about his coffee beans. And, after trying all sorts of different brands, he (and I) have come to realize that, for the price & convenience, Dunkin Donuts is bomb dot com. You know, if you don’t want to stand in line for 3 hours at Starbucks and/or you don’t want to spend half your paycheck to have some exotic brand shipped to your doorstep.

via their website

⑦ Easy Holiday Window Decor – We’re hosting a small Christmas party at our house this year, and so I’ve been decorating for the occasion. Cheaply, of course. And I was needing something to add some color to the windows (we have white walls and white blinds – yuck!). I came across this idea on Pinterest and tried it myself. And you can’t imagine how cute it is in person until you do it yourself. And free! Well, that is, if you already have Christmas ornaments and ribbon. And my cats have (so far) managed to stay away from the potential balls of delight as well. Suh-weet!

via Pinterest

Bonus: Thomas Kincaid Nativity Garland Collection – this year I decided to buy a nativity set since we didn’t have one. And when I mentioned it to my mom over Thanksgiving, she immediately went up into the attic and came down with this set for me to take home. Turns out she bought it years ago and never even used it (she has plenty of nativity sets – weird, I know, but she’s a semi-hoarder). It’s actually designed to go on a mantel, with the garland hanging in front of the {beautifully-painted} figurines, but since my (new) mantel is holding a 55-inch TV, we put it on our old entertainment center which now serves as an extra piece of furniture because it was too big for the space (see above). (Can you say, run-on sentence?) Omigosh, I sincerely love our new (to me) nativity set!!!

what it's supposed to look like - via Bradford Exchange

what it really looks like - via the iPhone 5

(P.S. No really, it looks better in person.)

*** Disclosure – I received no compensation whatsoever for the mention of the above products. In case you were wondering.