Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Kate's Favorite Things #5...and#4

So if you are just dropping by be sure to check out the rest of my list thus far: #10, #9, #8, #7, #6

Alright so I have gotten a little back up with all the
chaos of the holidays and so in an effort to still get to number one before New Years I thought I would double up on these last few posts. With no further ado...

My Number 5 is..... My BlackBerry
I had been hearing people go on and on about these silly little phones for way to long it seemed. Ok so its a fancy cell phone - whoop-de-do-ding. Then several of our friends that have blackberry's started filling us in on why they liked them so much. We started our hunt not long after that and ended up walking away from the store with two blackberry's on plans with Virgin Wireless (which are awesome by the way!!) What sold us?? It was not facebook or even the easy access to the Internet - which are both very handy by the way. It was actually the Blackberry Messenger. Basically any of our contacts that also have a Blackberry we can message for free. Which is great - it is way more convenient than texting and cheap cheap cheap :) We end up using this feature more than any other I think. The other great thing about the plan we are on is that Ed and I can call each other all the time without running up the bill. Yay.

Now for #4...
The Olfa Rotary Blade
If you are a crafty person or sew I am sure you know all about this next one...
This one is so cool and I only recently discovered it. I have dabbled with sewing and made one little quilt for my son so I already had a healthy respect for a good pair of scissors but this Olfa blade is in a class of its own. I am currently working on a denim Rag Time quilt and in an effort to avoid my hand forever cramping I went to the store to see what they had to offer. The store clerk pointed me to the Rotary Blade...Bless her soul! As soon as I got it home I got to chopping...it is fast and smooth and easy peasy to use. Just beware though - I have heard tales of horrendous cuts from these super sharp tools!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Kate's Favorite Things #6 ....

So if you are just dropping by be sure to check out the rest of my list thus far:
#10, #9, #8, #7


So this next one continues to prove itself invaluable to me...which is made even better by the fact that is was free to begin with!

My Number 6 is...
The Gnu Image Manipulation Program
Affectionatley known as 'The Gimp'

GIMP does have some short commings and so I will get them out in the open and be done with it. Initially GIMP can be a little intimidating as it is not, shall we say, user friendly. Although this is easily overcome with spending some time google-ing the huge variety of tutorials that are available for GIMP. Now to fill you in on all the fun stuff you can accomplish.
LAYERS!!!
This is an amazing and powerful tool to use when photo editing. Picture a pile of transparencys that when stacked form a complete photo. The great part is that you can edit individual elements of a photo without alterering the rest of it!
COLOUR MANAGMENT
Just like any basic photo editing softwear GIMP also has colour managent tools. Except that it`s colour management tools are so much more powerful that you will never look back. I remember trying to edit full images with just brightness, contrast and RBG sliders. UGH! GIMP allows for so much more creativity by providing a whole team of Colour tools - Levels, Curves, Thresholds, Colourizing tools and more.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Now if the photo thing – isn`t your thing GIMP may still be for you. It can be used for graphic design and even animation if you are of an ambitious sort. I don`t want to belabour this point too much but it really is a phenomenal program that is super powerful and once again FREE!! GIMP.org and download it for free.



Thursday, December 17, 2009

Kate's Favorite Things #7...

So if you are just dropping by be sure to check out the rest of my list thus far:
#10, #9, #8


So here comes #7...if you are scrolling slowly with some trepidation after reading #8, you can relax - there will be no more awkward surprises from here on out!
This is one of those things in my life that I consider a necessity, although I know by all rights it is a luxury.



Now unveiling, in a completely non-brand specific way, my #7

My Dishwasher!!!
(Which by the way happens to be a new Maytag)


Ok... so this story has deep roots. My parents were great at teaching us kids responsibility and other such life lessons through the use of chores. My least favorite of these chores was doing the dishes. It wasn't that they took a long time or that the job itself was particularly horrendous - it was just that it was completely devoid of any satisfaction. Usually when you finish a task you can look around and feel somewhat satisfied by a job well done. Not so with dishes because realistically the job is NEVER done! Inevitably someone drops off a missed cup or a pot needs to soak...and if this doesn't happen sometime in the next hour, if not less, someone will use a dish and leave it by the sink. Ugg.

Lets flash forward and leave out a lot of the gory details. Ed and I had been married just about 2 years and we move into our new apartment just in time to have our first baby. The only downside to the place (other than a 'natural wood feature wall' - who does this!!) was the fact that it had no dishwasher and a single sink. Before Eliana arrived I told myself it didn't matter...we'd make do.
EIEIEIEYI!!
Lets just say that the following 10 months that we lived there were very long!!! When we looked into buying our place that we are in right now....my first question? "Does the dishwasher come with it!??!" (Ed did explain that we could buy a dishwasher for any house we moved into but that wasn't enough....it needed to be in there!!)

Flash forward again to earlier this year. Our dishwasher, that yes came with the house, was dying. I was getting desperate. Dishes began to live in the dishwasher as I washed them over and over and over in a vain attempt to clean them without touching them!!
I cringe at the thought of how much water I wasted. Then one, sad day the dishwasher died. I once again talked myself into doing dishes by hand. *Sigh* A futile effort. Soon Ed could see that the dish situation was getting to me. (Isn't he just turning out to be the hero of this top ten list!)
We went out with our dear friend, Mr.Visa, and picked up the dishwasher you see before you.

My favorite feature of this puppy is the garborator that prevents it from getting plugged up with food bits. Love it. I was so excited by the results I would spontaneously break into the hallelujah chorus while putting my dishes away (I'm serious, I really did!)

So I don't know how much brand matters on this one but I have to say that I have been very happy with ours. We didn't go top of line but we didn't cheap out either. The two things that sold us on this particular model - where the stainless steel tub and the garbarator. Still pricey but well under $1000 which was important to us - oh and Mr.Visa.


Kate

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Kate's Favorite Things...#8

So if you are just dropping by be sure to check out the rest of my list thus far: #10, #9

Alright I don't know how many men ever happen upon this blog but if you are a man and find yourself reading this consider yourself warned....the following is full of female only content.

So for #8 I struggled. This product is absolutely revolutionary in my mind BUT it is of a delicate nature and is definitely not table talk. So if you are eating, stop.

So without further ado my #8 pick is....

Always Infinity Pads. YUP That's Right PADS.


Following is the official Always web-spiel on this cool new product...I thought they could say it more sensitively than what I came up with (Cool new Pads that don't leak and don't chafe!!)

Anyway how about you hear it from the professionals...

The world’s first pad of its kind, Always Infinity offers women powerful absorbency like never before. It’s made with an über-absorbent material called Infinicel that has the power to absorb 10x its weight, yet remains amazingly light. With a revolutionary wing design that fits the curvature of your panty, microdots designed for fast absorption, and an incredibly soft cover, Always Infinity is a pad like no other.

* Incredibly Soft Cover Sheet — It’s designed to work with the pad’s Infinicel core to help you feel dry.
* MicrodotsTM for Fast Absorption — At the center of each pad you’ll find MicrodotsTM engineered to help quickly guide fluid deep inside and away from you.
* Revolutionary Wing Design for Secure Protection — Super flexible wings hug the curvature of your panty and provide optimal coverage at your panty’s sides.
* Form-Fitting Channels for Great Leakage Protection — Our form-fitting channels move with your body for an intimate three-dimensional body fit and great leakage protection.
* Designed to be Wider in the Back — Providing increased coverage where you need it most.

Anyway this may be a rather odd blog but seriously - so cool. Enough said.



Friday, December 4, 2009

Kate's Favorite Things #9...

So if you are just dropping by be sure to check out the rest of my list thus far: #10

Well #9 was not one of those planned purchases this year. I honestly think it was an act of desperation by a loving husband to either spare my sanity or our dog. Anyone who follows my blog or knows me for more than a few minutes (somedays!) Knows we have a severely troubled dog. One of her annoyingly bad habbits is to break into the garbage and drag it all over every carpeted area she can find.

Again Enter another Sanity Saver...(hum a tune please)

The Hoover Steam Vac Dual V Carpet Cleaner


This little baby has redeemed more than its fair share of days this fall. We used to either call someone in or go and rent one of those big red things from the grocery store....how often though??? Seriously maybe once every six months. Let me tell you when you have a dog spreading garbage and then a 3 and 1 yr old to boot - every six months does not cut it. I would house a small army of spot cleaners and sham wows in a feeble attempt at maintaining the appearance of a clean floor.

Since I got this Hoover I have cleaned our entire carpet 4 times - ie once a month!! I even pulled it out the other day to just clean the heavy traffic areas that were getting a little gungy. LOVE it!! This machine is super simple to use and much easier to manuver around than those red things! If you follow the directions the floor is able to be walked on in sock feet in only a couple of hours! So fantastic.

Price point keeps this one a little further down the list but honestly it has been worth every penny. We did figure out that it was the equivalent of renting a red one two-three time and hiring somebody to come in one-two times. So it has already paid for itself in less than six months and really can you put a price on Sanity ;)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Kate's Favorite Things #10

So seeing as Oprah gets to share her favorite things at this time of year I thought I would take the opportunity to do the same thing! I do have a bit of an obsessive personality so when I find something that works how I want it to I don't just like it - I LOVE it.

So heres # 10 of my Top #10 of 2009

Playtex Sippy Cups

This may seem silly if you don't have kids yet but trust me - sippy cups can be the bane of your existence. Some leak (even thought they say they are no leak), some with the soft tops wear out so fast you wonder if you are personaly sponsoring the company. Some no-leak valves are so hard to drink through your kids think you are punishing them in cruel and unusual ways. Don't even get me started on valves....the Gerber valves...eiyiyi - I am sure that the plague was hiding in those silly valves no matter how hard I tried to clean them.

Enter, My hero, the Playtex Sippy Cup Line up ***Please play heroic theme music here***


These Cups are completely interchangeable. Same valves, same lids. They don't leak and most importantly to me I can clean the
valves with ease. My kids have never had problems drinking out of these cups which is always a bonus.
Now that Eliana is older I have moved her onto the straw version of these cups with the same great results - and you know what I can interchange the bottoms with the straw tops as well. **Sigh of Bliss**


The price point for these babies is right on par with all the competitors but the difference is these will last and not cause you headaches a hundred different ways.

Kate


PS - Watch for the rest of the items on my top 10 list throughout the month