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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A Few of My Favorite Things



I'm no Oprah, though I aspire to be as financially free as she is. I did see her show once when I was in graduate school in Chicago. I saw Madeline Albright. Pretty f'in cool. The favorite things show was soon after the one I went to. I've never been a lucky girl.

I'm no Maria either. I sure could use her Super Nanny skills and patience once in a while. Why do the Brits have all the good nannies?

In light of the economy and the southward way it's following the blue jays of summer, I am tightening the ol' belt, proverbially, that is. My real belt is plenty tight, thank you. Chalk it up to all those bittycakes I stuff into my mouth every time I sashay through the kitchen. Mac Daddy and I are prioritizing and adjusting our must-have lists. So far nothing has budged. Come on, I cannot live without Esmerelda and DVR, my cleaning lady and TV crack, respectively. Organic milk and nitrite-free lunch meat are also not budging. It looks like my fall wardrobe is the line item to drop. No new suede boots for me.

Here are five of my favorite things that I cannot live without. In no particular order:

Lip Balm - Burts Bees is my fave, but the Trader Joe's stuff also rocks with just the perfect glint of shine. I used to be a big fan of Wyeth's ubiquitous Chapstick, but the company is too uber conservative for me, and I don't want my $1.99 contributing to Republican coffers. Alas, alternatives abound.

Lash Exact mascara - As god as my witness, I will never buy department store beauty counter mascara again! The funky rubbery bristles hold the perfect amount of mascara, and the formula gives those long, lovely lashes a whole new definition to ooh la la.

Applegate Farms Uncured Pepperoni - Made from cows and pigs that don't OD on drugs and other antibiotics. Cured naturally with no nitrites. Healthy, as far as pepperoni goes. Perfect for Bird's lunch box with some string cheese, crackers, and an apple. Perfect on homemade pizza with a whole wheat crust (what we had for dinner last night), and perfect chopped into some scrambled eggs with onions and mozzarella. Delish.

Stonyfield Farm yogurt - No other yogurt brand will do. All the other brands have a chemically, saccharin taste. This is the real deal. I serve it with fresh fruit, chopped walnuts, and a tiny squeeze of honey and call it a breakfast sundae. My kids eat it up. They particularly love it when we eat them on Sunday. We love homonyms around here.

Wine - I'm not picky. Wine is the lifeblood that pulses through the veins of this sometimes shaky, sometimes wacky, always loud family of mine. White in the summer, red in the winter. Nothing sweet or fruity. Pink is not my color. No white zinfandel allowed through my front door. I've grown to prefer the screw off top. I generally buy wine by the price and label. The fall weather makes me want to cozy up to a good Malbec. A proper red wine glass is a must.


So tell me, what five things make your must-have list?
A Few of My Favorite ThingsSocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chocolate (good organic chocolate is best!)
Lattes
My laptop
My Instinct phone
More chocolate!!!

Anonymous said...

Lash Exact rocks my world too!

Stoneyfield Farms yogurt is staple in our home as well. The Imp won't even eat organic ice cream because she prefers Stoneyfield.

My computer

Organic bagged salad mix. I swear, I'd never eat veggies if it wasn't for this stuff.

My home dermabrasion kit. LOVE IT, absolutely can not live without it.

Anonymous said...

Definitely agree with the Stoneyfield Yogurt, Burt's Bees, and the mascara, Lemon sherbert, coffee and wine. Ooops wait that is six thigns.

Hugs!!!

Anonymous said...

Good wine

Good coffee

Igoogle homepage (my email, calender, nike+, twitter, FB, etc. are all on one page!)

Laptop

Books (many, many of these)

Anonymous said...

My handheld Dyson

My 40 inch flat screen tv

My DVR

Vitamin water

A nice bottle of Chianti

The Over-Thinker said...

I LOVE that you have pepperoni on your list :)

Thanks for the heads-up on Chapstick, btw.

1. Bonne Bell Bubble-Gum Lip Balm
2. Sunflower Seeds
3. BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS
4. Oil of Olay in tandem with Aveeno under-eye cream
5. British Mysteries (Poirot, Marple, etc.)

Anonymous said...

1. my dyson
2. lattes
3. my computer, otherwise the bills would not get paid and I am able to read intellectual thoughts
4. books
5. DVR who can remember recording things on tape and praying it would record. FYI I do not like Time Warner's DVR

ZVW22 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ZVW22 said...

#1 sleep
#2 coffee
#3 chocolate
#4 family and friends
#5 internet connection and little powerbook
Not very unique probably, but there it is. Organic is a given, so I don't have to use up one of my five on that. I liked your chapstick post. Didn't know about the politics. Our chapstick comes from the farmers market. Cool flavors and the kids pick out their own. We get bug spray from the same vendor. All natural and it smells great.
BTW, we shop at Costco and never at Sam's or Walmart because of their politics.
Good question btw!!

Bubba said...

surfing the net

blogging

watching sports

looking for comedy in politics

watching "reality" TV

Anonymous said...

I am with you on the chapstick!
My laptop/computer in general
Pepsi - it is my caffeine
DVR, how else do Moms get to watch "grown-up" television!!!

BTW, saw on Twitter you are worried about Deal. It gets easier - my friend had to wait a month for her 2 year old to get over it last year. This year she happily goes to school. I am HOPING it is a quickly passing phase!

Anonymous said...

Wow, looks like a lot of you (us) are addicted to our laptops! And me thinks me should get a Dyson. Hey Dyson people, are you reading this? It would totally go with the neatnik part of my brand. It's no surprise that chocolate, coffee, and wine make so many lists. They are all nectars of the gods, no? And Over-Thinker, I'm right there with you on the Oil of Olay! I'm on the lookout for a greener product. Any tips?

Anonymous said...

Oh Miss D&N, what a fabulous post to launch a whole series of informative comments! Yippee! New things to glom onto! (And what an exceptional method for getting over the glums. You really do rock.)

We cannot exist without:
*The library and all held within... the books... the DVDs... the seminars, workshops, groups, etc.

*The lowfat and slightly lower in caloric level ice cream sticks and Fudgesicals (sp?) from Edy's, Breyer's, whatever brand floats your boat.

*The family pets.

*The iMacs.

*The local farmer's markets, especially the berries.

*The true love of my life, The Princess Consort (aka TSU-The Spousal Unit.)

*Remarkable writers we find on the internet like yourself, incredibly gifted people who are simply too cool in sharing fabulosity on a regular basis.

Thanks for such a great post!
tp

PS: A heads up on Dyson... Consumer Reports is not a fan and really blasts them in their ratings and verbal assessments of the products. It's as close a getting personal with negative comment I've ever seen from them. They have nothing positive to say about Mr. Dyson making what they consider false claims, nor anything good about the vacuums. On the other hand we have friends who swear by the Dyson...

The Cube Monkey said...

1. My Karaoke machine, cuz that is my stress release.
2. Starbucks large (cuz I refuse to say Venti) Double Shot on Ice.
3. Cheap Chardonnay

I'll repeat that to make 6 things I can't live without....HA!

Ilina said...

Cubicle Monkey, I knew I loved you. I also refuse to use Starbucks lingo! And invite me over for karaoke some time. I am tone deaf, but there is nothing more fun!