My Favorite Things

If I was hosting an Oprah-esque "Favorites Things 2011" show I'd give away the following items to my lovely guests.  I'm joining the impromptu party at The Nester's place.  I love the Nester.  I should add her to my list.

My favorite things (no particular order):
1) L'Oreal Double extend 'tubes' mascara.

I have crazy oily skin.  Makeup and mascara literally slide off my face.  These 'tube' types of mascara are great.  They stay on my eyelashes, no raccoon eyes.  They easily wash off with water and soap.  I don't need to get out a special makeup remover or q-tips or anything.  There are other brands of the tubes-making mascara but L'Oreal's is the least expensive ($8-10) and really doesn't seem to be that different then the $30 versions.


2) Laura Geller eyeliner waterproof i-care 

Again, this eyeliner actually stays on my eyes all day long.  I just tried it my Mom's and  went out and bought my own right away.  Or actually, went to QVC and ordered some...  I'm trying to wear eyeliner more often to detract from the bags under my eyes from getting up a couple times every night with baby.  The purple is my favorite.  Mom has a navy/peacock that is really nice.  The green is better than I thought it would be too.


3) OPI polish in "Swimsuit...Nailed It!"

I had my toes painted this color in the summer.  I picked blue for my boys.  To my surprise, I really enjoyed the color!  It has a jewel-like sparkle and the richer color looks decent with my super fair skin.  I haven't polished my fingers with it yet, but maybe I'll try it this weekend.  My toes need a new coat of polish too.  I'm starting to notice a make-up based theme to my list...  Have you seen the Muppets OPI colors?  Tons of f*ing sequence.  I need some of those too.

4) LLBean French shirt in navy and cream

 

This shirt is a classic.  The material is great.  The stripes (sorta) hide my left-over belly.  Do yourself a favor and buy one now.  Buy two.  I actually have two.  One in a medium so I can layer it and one in a small.  They wash sooooo well.  I'm tempted to buy one in every color and make this my uniform.  Might be weird?


5) A gently used Kindle and free library books.  I don't need to drive to the library anymore!  I can read it with one hand while I nurse baby.

6) Angelcare baby monitor

I never thought I would want a monitor.  We joked when we lived downtown when Aidan was an infant that we could get a monitor so he could be sleeping in his crib and we could be at the corner jazz club.  This monitor alarms if he stops breathing, which helps me sleep better.  Shortly after having Xavier my back was very sore so I couldn't sleep on the pull out bed in the nursery any more.  Getting a monitor helped me sleep in my bed but feel close to Xavier.   The sound is really good too, no static, very clear.

7) TBTL (Too Beautiful to Live)

My favorite podcast for several years now.  They were a real radio show, now they're on imaginary radio.  Love me some Luke Burbank and Jen Andrews.   The name refers to good things that you super enjoy but then they are cancled or taken off the air or not made anymore.  They were too beautiful to live.  Aidan calls it TBS and CBS and whines in the car that he doesn't want to listen to it, he wants music.  But I tell him what my parents told me "It's my car and we'll listen to what I want to listen to."  :)  Luckily, TBTL has music breaks, so we both get what we want.  

My second favorite podcast recently has been the Simple Mom podcast.  The Nerdist is also fantastic but has a lot of swears so it's a no-go around the boy or he'll pick up more bad words...


8) New washer and dryer. 

I take the amount of clothes that would normally equal one load in my old washer - dump them in the new washer and marvel that it's only half full.  I love it.  We love it.  The dryer does this weird thing where the clothes are actually dry at the end of cycle.  So nice to have new stuff.

9) Vera Bradley Wristlet

I bought this for myself last year and I've been very happy with it.  It's my all purpose wallet.  I can put money, lipstick and phone in there.  I can switich purses quickly and have all the basics.  I can stuff it in the diaper bag.  It's on sale right now, I'd recommend it for a gift!


10) Favorite snack to have at my cubicle - trader joe's dark chocolate, starbucks via, half and half cups.  The coffee at my work is horrible and they don't have real cream, just that powder "whitener" stuff.  That the real name for it - coffee whitener. Yum.  So upon my return to work after maternity leave, I decided I need some real caffeine at my beck and call.  Costco has Starbuck's Via and big boxes of half and Half cups.  It's made my morning and it's cheaper than stopping for coffee on my way to work.  I could always make coffee at home in the AM but I need to spend those 15 minutes in bed.

This was really fun to put together.  Is it pitiful that it took me over an hour to write?