This isn’t exactly a product review.  More like a recommendation.  Because when I find something I really like – I share.  I’m good like that.

At Christmas, my sister-in-law gave me, among other things, a pack of Kiss fake nails.

I’ve never been able to grow my nails to any good length.  For one, they’re thin and they break easily.  And for two, my hands are always very busy.

Nor have I brought myself to get acrylics at the salon.  I don’t have the time to sit there and get them done every other week, and I’m cheap and don’t want to spend the dosh.

So these babies seemed like a good alternative.  I tried them out while I was on vacation last week and I tell ya – I LOVE them.  They have a nice french tip and are really shiny and natural looking.

They were easy to apply.  It only took about 15 minutes.  And they’ve stayed on for a full week now and are still going strong.  Two fell off – more my fault than theirs to be honest, but I just glued them back on and away I went.  Although the kit even comes with some extras.

I got the “real short” length for flat nails.  And to be honest, I think the short length is the key.  It makes them quite hardy.  And trust me, I really put these babies to the test.  I’ve been washing pots & pans, making beds, de-Christmas-ing the house, building a new shelving unit, doing laundry, blogging . . . you name it.  And they’ve still lasted a full week!  And they don’t slow down my typing at all, which is important because I’m on the computer all day long at work and that would drive me crazy.  And when the 2 did come off, there just seemed to be a little hardened glue left on my nail that I could easily buff down.  No damage appeared to be done.

From what I could find on the web, the price seems to range anywhere from $10 – $15.  Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Okay, your turn  – what’s YOUR favourite new product “find”?

I’m so jealous.  This week all my American fellow bloggers have been posting about their impending turkey dinners and Black Friday shopping trips.  Gravy and mashed.  Pies and good buys.  And the cranberries . . . oh the cranberries!  How I’ve suffered through the endless delicious descriptions and recipes.

Don’t they realize that Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday?!  Don’t they know that I could and would eat a turkey dinner EVERY week if I was given the opportunity?!  Don’t they realize that up here in the Great White North we did it all over a month ago?!  A MONTH ago!  Where has the time gone?

So in their honour, I will recycle my Thanksgiving Day post because honestly, I don’t think anyone read it anyway.  It’ll be a “new-to-you” post.  Re-purposed if you will.  And perhaps I’ll even head over to the mall on my lunch hour in search of a good buy or two.

I only hope they will be as sympathetic to their dear old Canadian fellow blogger when our “Eat Some Beaver” Day rolls around on January 13th.

I’m kidding.  We don’t eat beaver.  We’re just like you.  We prefer moose . . .

Happy Thanksgiving to all you girls celebrating today – enjoy your friends and family and have a bite of turkey for me will ya?!

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Turkey Day (originally posted October 12/09)

This weekend was Thanksgiving – in my neck of the woods.  And I LOVE Thanksgiving.  It’s definitely one of my favourite holidays.  Partially because there’s a big old turkey dinner involved.  My Mom’s traditional turkey dinner.  YUM-MA!  There’s really nothing better.  I could eat it every weekend.  But since I don’t, I save up my appetite for when I do.  And then I go over-board.  Really over-board.  In a big way.  Which is why I’m not posting anything today.  Because I can barely stick my arms out in front of my gluttonous belly to reach the keyboard.  So this is all you’re getting from me.  A sad post about what a turkey connoisseur I am.  I’m sorry.  I promise to do better once the tryptophan has worn off.

Oh goat cheese – how I love you.  Your smooth texture.  Your tangy bite.  You’re my newly discovered gem.  I would eat you on anything.  Salads.  Pizza.  Bruschetta.  Pasta.  Veggie wraps.

And I don’t care if you’re a little pricey.  You’re worth it.  Every cent.  I can not resist your lure.  You’re addicting.  And intoxicating.  And I love you.

This weekend was Thanksgiving – in my neck of the woods.  And I LOVE Thanksgiving.  It’s definitely one of my favourite holidays.  Partially because there’s a big old turkey dinner involved.  My Mom’s traditional turkey dinner.  YUM-MA!  There’s really nothing better.  I could eat it every weekend.  But since I don’t, I save up my appetite for when I do.  And then I go over-board.  Really over-board.  In a big way.  Which is why I’m not posting anything today.  Because I can barely stick my arms out in front of my gluttonous belly to reach the keyboard.  So this is all you’re getting from me.  A sad post about what a turkey connoisseur I am.  I’m sorry.  I promise to do better once the tryptophan has worn off.

I had to buy a new pillow today.  This is something I do a lot.  Like every 6 months or so.  Why you may ask?  Well, I’ll tell you why.  It seems I have a very persnickety neck.  A neck that likes to be cradled as it sleeps on it’s side.  And it needs to be cradled at a certain height.  And when said neck doesn’t get what it wants, it gets all crabby and irritable.  And rebellious.  And before you know it, I’m camping out at both the Chiropractor and Registered Massage Therapist’s offices (thank God for extended health plans!).  So I spend some considerable time tracking down just the right pillow.  It must be non-feather (due to my allergies), it must be very firm and it must be very high.  I know, I know!  Dr. Oz says it should be flat like a sandwich, but Dr. Oz clearly doesn’t have a persnickety neck that favors non-feather, firm, high pillows.  And as you must agree, over time pillows flatten.  Like in about 5 – 6 months.  At least that has been my experience.  And once mine flattens past The Neck’s favored height, there’s trouble.  Big trouble.  And that’s what has recently happened.  So today was the day to get a new one.  Fingers crossed that The Neck likes it.

So if any of you ever find a non-feather, firm, high pillow that doesn’t flatten, PLEASE forward me the details.  Or better yet, just forward me the pillow.

And in the meantime, if you’re looking for a flat pillow that’s only been used for about 6 months, I got ya covered.  There’s about 8 of them stored under my bed at the moment.  Drop by anytime and take your pick.  First come first served.

Dear Mr. James Frey,

I’ve been meaning to write you this letter for quite some time.  Unfortunately I procrastinate a lot so I haven’t gotten around to it yet.  Sorry.  But now I have a blog so I figured I could write your letter, turn it into a post and just email you the link, effectively killing 2 birds with 1 stone.  And I’d save on the postage.  A real win-win all around.

I’ve wanted you to know how your book “A Million Little Pieces” changed my life.  No, I wasn’t an addict who found hope and inspiration in the pages.  Nor was I in the publishing industry and learned some valuable lessons from the aftermath of “The Controversy”.  No.  I was simply a girl who didn’t read books.

But back in December of 2005 all I kept hearing about was your damn best selling book.  It was everywhere.  In stores.  On TV.  Even my beloved Oprah wouldn’t stop talking about it.  “ALRIGHT ALREADY!”  I said.  “I guess I’m going to have to read this bloody book so I know what the hell everyone is talking about!  Which is something I had never said before.  Because prior to December 2005 the extent of my reading consisted of the newspaper and one corny Mary Higgins Clark “suspense” novel each year while on vacation.  I know.  I know.

So I did buy your book.  And I couldn’t put it down.  No really – I couldn’t put it down.  And I feel in love with reading.

And just as I was finishing the last quarter of the book “The Controversy” broke.  But I didn’t care.  I had been enjoying that book SO much, that whether the whole damn thing was fabricated or just an insignificant-to-the-overall-plot detail or two was fabricated, it didn’t matter.  Because by then, you had ignited a fire in me.  A fire for the love of reading.

So I finished the book.  Then I read “My Friend Leonard”.  And then I went on to read many, many more really good books.  And I haven’t stopped.  I enjoy getting into bed at the end of the day and disappearing into a good story.  Or relaxing in my living room on a sunny weekend morning with a big cup of coffee and a good book.

So thank you James Frey.  Thank you for giving me the gift of reading.  Because if not for all the fuss about your book, I may still be hanging out with Mary Higgins Clark once a year.

I really hope that things have turned out well for you.  I haven’t bought “Bright Shiny Morning” yet, but I’m going to when I’m done my current book.  And I’m sure I’ll thoroughly enjoy it.

Yours Truly,

Cher

Last winter the boys and I took our life in our hands and headed to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico for a week long family vacation.  And during this wonderful holiday, I fell in love.  You see, I was lucky enough to sample some of Mexico’s finest guacamole at our resort.  Now, I had never really tasted it before.  Sure – I had seen it around and probably even tried a bit on the side of my Canadian bar nachos from time to time, but I suppose the colour probably put me off giving it a real fair chance.  So imagine my surprise when, after a hesitant scoop of this heavenly dip, I fell in love.  And I mean IN LOVE!  So fresh.  So creamy.  So smooth.  And that pretty shade of green.  Simply delightful!  It became my much anticipated afternoon snack.  A big plate of nachos with a scoop of fresh salsa and a heap of guacamole.  Every afternoon by the pool.  Oh – and an icy cold cerveza or two to go with it!

Then we left my guacamole heaven to come home.  And I missed it.  Terribly.  So much so, that I tried making some myself (and I’m not really one to spend time in the kitchen).  And it wasn’t bad.  But it’s never the same when you have to make it yourself.  Somehow for me, the making kinda ruins the enjoying.  So I fell off the guacamole horse.  Till earlier this summer when my brother and sister-in-law came to visit.  And she brought her homemade guacamole and some of those Tostitos multi-grain nachos (yum, yum, yum).  And she IS one to spend time in the kitchen – so it was REALLY good!  And I couldn’t stop eating it.  In fact I think I licked the bowl.  In front of all my company.  And it ignited my passion for guacamole again.

Fortunately, I have managed to find a very good all-natural brand in my local grocery store that I do treat myself to now and then, but for the most part, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we head back down south again this winter.  To the land of guacamole.  So I can continue my love affair.

What’s your favourite snack?

Now that I have my nose pierced I’ve developed a new obsession.  Buying “nose pins” as they’re called.  I’ve already bought six – 1 pink, 1 blue and 4 plain “diamond” ones.  Yep that’s right – four of the exact same.  And I fear I’m not done yet.  And I’ve still got another week to go before I can even remove the surgical steel one my Piercer put in!  I can’t tell you how many stores I’ve been in looking for different types and different colours.  It’s ridiculous.  Because all I ever intended on wearing was a tiny, sparkly “diamond” one.

It seems that even the purchase of such an item is a slightly mysterious event.  Almost “underground” if you will.  You could liken it to going to a head shop, or a sex shop, or one of those adult video stores (not that I know from experience, Mom – I’m simply imaging).  Because several of my trips to different costume jewelery stores at nearby malls went something like this:

ME: uh – hi.  Do you sell these little nose stud thingies (pointing to recently pierced nose)
Sales Clerk: (in hushed voice) what kind you looking for?

ME: um -  just the regular sparkly kind?
Sales Clerk: with the ball or no ball?

ME: ah – with a ball, I guess.  Why?  Which kind is better?
Sales Clerk: well that depends on what you like . . .

ME: okay, then with a ball please

(before continuing I should explain that a nose pin can have a little tiny “ball” or “nub” on the end of its “stick” which is what stops it from falling out of your nose.  There is no “butterfly” like on an earring to hold it in there.  But you can also get them without the ball.  Just a plain stick that you could then bend to a 90 degree angle – again to stop it from falling out of your nose.  But I think that would be uncomfortable, so I’m just going to stick with the ball-type that my piercer set me up with from the get go)

Sales Clerk: what colour?
ME: what colour do ya got . . .

She then proceeds to bend down behind the sales counter, slide open a drawer, and bring out many mini cases with many little nose pins in each.  Now you may think “oh – these are probably expensive little items and thus the need for keeping them locked up behind the counter.”  No.  They cost about $4 each.  Or $9 for the expensive surgical steel variety.

So why all the hush-hush?  And why do I keep buying more????

I fear I have developed a passion for obsession with apple juice boxes.  Yes, those little tetra packs the kids take to school for snack time.  I can’t stop buying them.  I currently have 88 in my basement.  Why?  Is there a global juice box shortage headed our way?  No.  I’m not quite sure why.  Come to think of it, I went through the same thing with toothpaste a few years ago.

Right now juice boxes are on sale all over the place – and for a really good price.  Presumably in preparation for back-to-school.  Like 24 for just under $4.00.  Do the math people – that’s about $0.17 cents each!  Usually I pay about $0.50 cents each.  So that’s 66% less!  And I LOVE a good deal.

But every time I see another ad for them I think “oh – good!  I should get some more” and out to the store I go.  Like today.  When I plan to stop in and get another case or so . . . even though I have 88 in the basement!!!

But according to my math those 88 will only last 2 boys that take them to school 5 days a week a total of 8.8 weeks.  And that only gets us to about early November.  And I’d feel much better knowing we’re stocked with cheap juice boxes through to the Spring.  So to the store I go.  For juice boxes.  Again.