my great big awwwww moment of the weekend

I will do a weekend recap in a separate post, but this was so cute and awwwwww-worthy that I felt the need to give it its own post.

You know those days at work when it just isn't your day? I've been having that kind of a month. Friday after work, my mother was going to the spa and said that if I came with her to keep her company, she would pay for the haircut which I so badly needed. Of course, I spent a good part of my time in the stylist's chair emailing TLS, who I thought was busy watching the Cubs game or something of the sort. Unbeknownst to me, he decided to apply for the title of boyfriend of the year and was looking around for flowers.

Saturday morning, I was straightening up the apartment. I opened the door to take out my trash, and imagine my surprise when lo and behold, there was a FedEx man holding a big ProFlowers box standing outside my door, about to knock. I opened the box and here is what was inside it:

There was also a card with a beautiful makes-you-cry message that I am not going to post because it is too personal for a public place and he would not like me doing so, but needless to say, the card on its own earned him major points.

After I got over the initial ooohing, aaaahing, and awwing, put the flowers in water, and text messaged KMH and GNB, I called him to thank him. I asked when he had ordered them and he said "last night when you were getting your hair cut. I wanted to send you flowers. I went with the mixed colors because it's a little bit of everything I feel for you." (More awwwwing.) I'm still awwwing and smiling over this. The picture does not do the roses justice at all.

what I'm obsessed with at the moment

This week, instead of doing my usual list of favorite things for the week, I am going to just post one item. Perhaps it's because I love it so much, perhaps it's because I'm swamped at work, perhaps it's because it's my blog and I make the rules, who knows? But anywhoo, with my birthday fast approaching, I have been spending quite a bit of time perusing jewelry sites. As many of you know, one of my favorite colors is Tiffany blue. Well I found this necklace from Pauline Morgan and knew that it was the one for me.

I cannot resist the color and love the fact that is so dainty. The double chain makes it perfect for layering and would look great with all of my dresses and cute tops for the summer. At $69, it's a lot more affordable than anything in the original Tiffany Blue, which means that when I send links of it to the boyfriend and mother, they are not allowed to mock me for it. Someone please tell me to resist temptation. Please.

an update on Lis and a prayer request

As many of you know, Lis has not been feeling too great and has been having some medical/health concerns lately. She had a spinal tap yesterday and her husband texted me afterwards to say that she was ok but tired and in a lot of pain. Unfortunately, it looks like she has taken a turn for the worse, and is feeling much worse today. Please keep her in your prayers that she may have a quick and speedy recovery.

Lis, sending you lots of love, prayers, and bug hugs. Love you sister!

The best blog you aren't reading

Recently I have discovered and become obsessed with Children of the Nineties. Every day, she posts random factoids about Nineties pop culture and recently became my own personal hero when she wrote about LFO (that's Lyte Funky Ones!) and one of the guys from the band commented on her post. I think she is totally deserving of a cyberspace pedestal and more readers and am inviting all of you to go and check her out and reminisce.

Here are some reasons for why this is the blog for you:
1) You ever sported the Rachel haircut.
2) You can still do the Fresh Prince rap.
3) You know the meaning of a/s/l.
4) Yo quiero Taco Bell.
5) You still have a crush on JTT.

Birthday month giveaway #2

One of the first posts that I ever wrote on Whale Flip Flops spoke of my love of the A. Tierney bangle bracelet. My readership has grown a bit since then, and with that, so has my admiration for the bangle bracelet.

I have the ladybug bangle (what? me owing something with ladybugs on it? say it ain't so!) and I love it. In my opinion, it is such a fun, easy, and classy way to transition an outfit or to give a solid-color outfit just the right amount of spice.

What better way to celebrate my birthday with my blogging friends than with an item that I wrote about on my first ever favorite things post?

Thanks to Alyssa of A. Tierney, the winner of this giveaway will receive a bangle in her (or his- guys these make great gifts!) choice of pattern. To enter, please visit the A. Tierney website and leave a comment on this post with your favorite bangle and what outfit you would wear it with. All comments that don't have this information will be deleted and those entries will not count. For an extra entry, become a follower. For a third possible entry, blog about this giveaway. You will also receive one additional entry for every person who says that they were referred by you. This giveaway will run until midnight, EST, on Tuesday, June 30th. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, July 1st.

I love these bangles so much and it is hard to pick just one, so I will leave you with two more of my favorites.

Pinecone Research

For anyone who has never heard of this company before, it is a paid online survey site. You get surveys emailed to you, and for every survey that you complete, you get a check in the mail (usually $3, $5 for some longer surveys). Sign ups are very rarely open for this and close quickly. I have been a member for a while, and you cannot do it expecting to make a lot of money, but if you're looking for an easy way to make some "fun money," this is great. They pay pretty quickly and can do either check or paypal.

I have been given the option to invite a few members to join. If anyone is interested, you can email me at whaleflipflops {@} gmail {.} com and I will refer you. You have to be at least 18 years old, a resident of the United States, and no one else in your household can be a Pinecone member. I do not get any perks for referring members, and am only able to invite a few members, therefore, only the first 5 people who want invitations will get them.

Birthday month giveaway #1 winner

Thank you to everyone who entered my first birthday month giveaway and thank you once again to the amazing Preppy Princess for graciously hosting it. (If you haven't checked out her store yet, why not? They have an amazing range of stationary products and gift items.) Congratulations to AMStarkey on winning the Carrie and Tuck with alligator refills. I have it on good tweethority that today is AMStarkey's birthday, which should make for a fun surprise. Email me your choice of color and address and I will forward it to the Princess Herself.

Stay tuned for birthday month giveaway #2 being announced tomorrow!

I have such a refined palate

This weekend I had a slight altercation with my freezer. I rather pleasantly discovered that both my refrigerator and freezer had decided to defrost themselves and stop working just because. Both were plugged in and still made that noise that appliances are supposed to make to let you know that they are, in fact, working. I had a lot of food in there and had to get rid of everything except for some wine and water. Needless to say, this did not make me very happy. From time to time, my mother likes to take me on grocery shopping "dates" to buy me grocery and to give herself the peace of mind that I am, in fact, eating healthy. Usually, I am pretty good about buying whole wheat pasta vs. regular, and get a lot of veggies, etc. Upon hearing of the Great Appliance Debacle of 2009, my mother jumped at the opportunity to take me grocery shopping. Until the repairman comes to take a look at it, I am stuck eating non-perishables and takeout. After convincing my mom that I am still eating healthy, I ended up picking up a can of Ocean Spray Cranberry jelly (not the sauce with the berries in it, mind you- the straight up jelly), and an envelope of Oriental flavored Ramen noodles because I love and was craving both those things at the time. This did nothing to alleviate my mother's fears.

So let's hear it- are there any bad for you or gross sounding foods that you just love and can't resist but are semi-embarassed to admit that you like?

On a sort of related note, I am a big fan of Ranch flavored Wheat Thins. I have been hooked since my mother sent me a box in a care package my freshman year of college. (At the time, my mother got discounted FedEx through her job and you should have seen the look on my roommate's face when I opened the important-looking FedEx box. "Your mother just overnighted you a box of crackers.") Lately, I have not been able to find them anywhere. Every single grocery/drug/Target/etc. store I go to, I look for them and they are never there. And yes, I did look for them in Chicago. Of course, the fact that I am unable to get them just makes me want them that much more. I found them on Amazon.com and was trying to figure out if ordering a 6-pack of cracker boxes off the internet would legitimately qualify me as crazy. By the time that I realized I didn't care and was ready to order them, they, of course, sold out. I am a woman on a mission now. The Nabisco website has a Wheat Thin locator where you can type in your zip code and it will tell you where all of the boxes of Wheat Thins are for sale within a 5 mile radius of your house. The locator definitely lies because at least 2 or 3 of those stores do not have them, but I will make it my mission to visit every store on that list if I have to. Victory will be mine. And don't think I haven't asked TLS to check to see if the commissary on his base has them. Few things make a lot of sense like sending a box of American-made crackers from the United Kingdom to the United States does. And since I know he's reading this, happy one month-versary dear. :)

itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini

I got home from work on Friday to discover a package from Victoria's Secret waiting for me. I was so excited because I thought it meant that one of my friends had ordered pajamas or lip gloss or something for me. Inside of the package was a bikini. There was no gift note on the package, and the order slip did not say who ordered it for me. I called VS customer service and they could not locate the order number or the name on the order (the package was sent from their warehouse). I thought maybe TLS had ordered it so I called him. You know he loved hearing "honey did you order anything from Victoria's Secret for me?" Apparently no one I know got this for me. Creepy!

The bikini is actually really cute and of course totally not my size. I guess that's to be expected when random strangers buy you swimwear. You can't return VS catalog/online purchases in a store, and I can't return it, so now I am stuck with it. (The bottom is too big, and the top is way too small.) If anyone wants to buy it from me, be my guest. Both the top and bottom are a size M.

That actually was the only bit of excitement that I got over the weekend. I did start packing for Chicago and cannot wait until I leave in 13 days to see the boy!

If you have not yet entered my giveaway, you have until tomorrow at midnight EST to do so.

Ink Obsession Designs

I spent quite some time looking for invitations for J's bridal shower. Since I love supporting fellow bloggers and their businesses, in the end, I decided to go with Ink Obsession Designs. I got the invitations yesterday, and I love them! I don't want to post a picture of the actual invitations since they contain personal info, but these are the ones I chose to go with. Instead of the pink and melon hydrangeas, however, I asked for them to be pink and green.

Erin from the store was a pleasure to work with and accomodated my request. The invitations were printed quickly and took a few days longer to arrive thanks to the fact that my cute mailman has it in for me, but that's a story for another day. She also included extra envelopes, which was great because I definitely managed to ruin a few so it was great to have extras.

I wanted to publicly thank Erin for her hard and prompt work and recommend Ink Obsession Designs to anyone who is looking for shower invitations.

Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?

Rue La La is having a Shreve, Crump, & Low sale now. The prices go as high $70,000 (yes, that price is in USD). I understand that these are expensive, quality pieces that they are selling, but are people really ok with spending that much money on a piece of jewelry off the internet without seeing it in person first? Also, how many people just happen to have a spending limit that high on their credit cards? And what if you get the jewelry in the mail and you don't like it, are you just stuck with 70 grand in online credit?

Birthday month giveaway #1

In less than a month, the world will celebrate the 26th anniversary of my mommy going out into that cabbage patch and picking me out of it. (I do not buy into the myth that babies are delivered by a stork.) In celebration, I will be doing several giveaways to mark this momentous occasion.


My first giveaway is being graciously hosted by one of my favorite retailers, The Preppy Princess. Since I am a big believer of hand-written notes and letters, the Princess is going to be giving the winner of this giveaway a Carrie and Tuck from Boatman Geller along with one set of alligator refills. (Sadly, I can't win one of my own givewaways.) The Carrie and Tuck is meant for letter-writing on the go and contains a pen, an address sheet, a clipboard, 5 foldover notes, 5 flat cards, 25 letter sheets, and 15 envelopes. The Alligator refill set contains 25 letter sheets, an address sheet, 5 alligator flat cards, 5 alligator repeat folded note cards, and 15 envelopes. The winner will get to choose her favorite color Carrie and Tuck from Pink, Navy, Green, or Chocolate Brown.



To enter this giveaway, leave a comment with your favorite color Carrie and Tuck for 1 entry. For an additional entry, follow my blog. For a third entry, post about this on your blog. **Please do all of this in one comment.**You can also get an entry for every person who enters the giveaway and says that you referred them. The giveaway will run until Tuesday, June 23rd at midnight EST.

Glad Press'n Seal Wrap

When TLS was in NYC, one of the things that he wanted to do but didn't get a chance to was get a real New York bagel. H&H bagels are legendary and when I go to visit out-of-town friends, I often get asked to bring some with me. Like many food places, H&H now delivers across the US, but does not deliver to APO/FPO addresses. I have successfully sent him cookies many times and decided to try to see what would happen if I were to send him some bagels. I am a big fan of Ziploc's Freezer Vac and thought about getting a lot of bags and individually vacuum-sealing each bagel to keep them all fresh, but the Target that I went to did not have any in stock. Instead, I went with Glad Press'n Seal Wrap. The wrap was definitely harder to use than the Ziploc bags, and the wrap clung to everything! I was able to seal all 10 bagels and packed them away. I was really nervous that by the time TLS got them, they would no longer be fresh or edible. He got them yesterday and said that all of the bagels were still good. You could tell that they weren't fresh out of the oven, but they were not stale at all. I think that from now on, I will continue vacuum-sealing any food that I send him to keep it fresh longer.

I didn't realize that toilet paper could be seasonal

File this under the ::shakes head:: category, please.

On Tuesday, I wasn't feeling good and knew that I would most likely end up calling out sick yesterday, which I did. I decided to stop by Target on my way home to stock up on supplies. Among other things, I wanted to pick up a four pack of toilet paper. All I could find were the mondo bulk packs of toilet paper. I live by myself in a studio apartment and have no desire or room to store 30 rolls of toilet paper in my apartment. I found an employee and asked him if they had individual rolls or four packs of toilet paper, and his response was "I'm sorry that's a seasonal item." TLS was on the phone with me at the time, so I had to ask him to make sure that I did, in fact hear him correctly.

::shakes head::

does this make sense to anyone?

As I've mentioned previously, I am deathly allergic to anything that has hair or fur on it and isn't actually human. Going to visit TLS's relatives who have 3 dogs will be a fun ordeal. Yesterday on my lunch break, I went to my doctor's allergy clinic to get a new prescription and some samples for my trip. As soon as I walked in, my throat felt dry and my eyes started watering and itching, the classic signs of an allergic reaction. I looked around the waiting room and noticed that a woman had her purse on the floor with a little dog inside of it. Having your microscopic dog in a purse that costs as much as the rent on a studio apartment in the Midwest is a trend that I hate to begin with, but why why why would you bring a dog into an allergy clinic? Why?

a slightly creepy weekend

Back in high school, at one point I was best friends with this girl named Faith. Faith was a lot of fun, always made me laugh like no one else could, and was my partner in crime. She was a lot gutsier and more outgoing than I was, which made her great to be around. Faith was also not very mature and had some other traits as well. She was not responsible with money, would always cut school and would lie like you would not believe. When we were in high school and shared a locker and several classes, it was very easy to be friends with her. However, after college, she seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. I would always contact her and try to make plans and then weeks or months would go by without any contact until one day she'd be like "want to hang out?" and you'd get together and it would be like nothing was wrong. Apparently, I was not the only person she did this to.

Like I said, Faith was not very responsible. She dropped out of two colleges, and it seemed like every few months, she would have a new job, a new boyfriend, a new apartment, or choice d- all of the above. She was also terrible with money. Whenever we hung out, she would "forget" her wallet at home, or her paycheck wouldn't have cleared, or something else happened, and I always seemed to end up paying for both of us. Again, I was not the only person she did this to. She even got evicted out of one or two apartments. She ended up owing quite a few of her friends money, and when that was combined with the fact that she would only resurface once every few months, it was very easy to write her out of your life. One by one, all of her friends started to drop. I sent her several messages on and wall posts on facebook asking to hang out (I don't have her number because that is another thing that seems to change pretty frequently). Eventually, I too accepted the fact that our friendship was not meant to be.

Because we were pretty much inseparable in high school, people still associate me with her. On Saturday, I got a friend request from a girl that I have never heard of. The message that she sent along with the friend request said:
Hi Tall Girl mentioned you as another of Faith's closer friends & we're all pretty desperate to track her down now.
In particular, do you know the intersection/address where she was nannying? We will gladly GO there and find out. Last time u heard from her?
I have not heard from Faith in months and the last time that she has had any activity on her facebook account was February 3rd. I did not accept this girl's friend request but it really freaked me out. I have no idea who she is, or what she wants from Faith. I don't know if she is a concerned friend or someone that Faith owes money to and is out to hurt her. I don't know if Faith is just being MIA again or if she got in with some bad people and is in trouble. Generally, tracking down random strangers on the internet and asking them to give you the addresses of where their friends work with little children is not a good look.

favorite things

Hope everyone had a good week and enjoyed better weather than us NYC people did. Rain ALL week. It finally stopped but only for a few hours apparently. I guess April showers don't actually end in April? I thought this week it would be appropriate to do an umbrella post. I don't like plain black umbrellas and love quirky, fun, colorful ones. I think they are a fun way to stand out from the crowd and can brighten up a dreary day. (I despise things falling out of the sky with a passion- rain, hail, and don't even get me started on snow.)

The first umbrella on this list actually is black, with a twist. The inside is blue with white clouds, based on a painting from one of my favorite artists, Rene Magritte. $35 from the Art Institute of Chicago shop.

Next is an anything-but-black umbrella from Vera Bradley. A few years ago, I was really into Vera Bradley and acquired a rather large collection. When it became trendier and turned into something that everyone and their mother started carrying, I lost interest and have since then started getting rid of my collection. However, I love the new Bali Gold print, and think that it is great for accessories, like this umbrella. ($28)

A fun, uber-girly one from one of my new favorite stores, SB Design Studio. ($34.95)

The umbrella I currently use: (don't have an actual picture of it, taken from the website)

A blue monogrammed A. Tierney. I got the children's sized umbrella at the sample sale which is about the same size as a regular adult umbrella, and got it monogrammed with a hot pink monogram on it. So cute! Available on the website for $18 plus $10 monogramming.

A pretty pink one from Coach. ($88)

A slightly more muted one from J. Crew. ($19.99)Lastly, I found these beautiful umbrellas on a Japanese site. They are attributed to French designer Atelier LZC. The company's site just brings up a white screen and I cannot find them online. However, they are just too pretty to not include. If you speak Japanese, or can figure out how to navigate the site, you can get them here for $38.18.

in case you missed the Lilly Pulitzer sales

Many of the items that were featured on the Rue La La sample sale are now available at Smart Bargains. There's limited items available of everything, so ladies, start your credit cards! If you shop through ebates, you will get an additional 3% back on your purchase.


ETA: Sadly everything I want is not in my size. Hope one of you has better luck than I do.

Another etiquette question

I have another etiquette question for all of you. In 23 days, I will be seeing TLS again (just booked my tickets today- yay!). We will be going to the game with his brother and sister-in-law. Brother and SIL have three dogs and we are both deathly allergic, so we will not be staying in their house and will instead be getting a hotel room for two nights. I was always taught that guests do not show up empty-handed, and am planning on bringing them some cupcakes from Crumbs, my favorite NYC bakery that they both have been wanting to try. My question is- will the cupcakes be enough or should I bring something else with them?

invitation etiquette question

What is the proper way to address an invitation to a married woman who has not taken her husband's last name? Does it get addressed to Mrs. Jane Doe or Ms. Jane Doe? Also, has anyone ordered from Wedding Paper Divas before? I found an invitation that I really like from them to use for J's bridal shower and want to make sure that it is a good company to order from.

an awesome giveaway

Lisa over at Fantabulously Frugal is having an awesome giveaway full of her favorite things. Go here to enter and make sure you tell her that MRM sent you. :)

thank you dear readers

I have to say that one thing that I love immensely about blogging is that when I am down or am having a hard time with being in a long distance relationship, I can put up an entry and get 19 comments from readers who have all been through what I am going through now. Thank you for that.

This weekend I had a really rough time dealing with the fact that TLS is so far away from me, and wound up spending a good portion of the day on Sunday in bed crying and holding my teddy. TLS sent me a lovely care package which I got on Saturday (I have a picture of the contents but can't find the cord to connect my camera to the computer now). Inside it was the sweatshirt that he wore in Basic Training, a 5 pack of my beloved Curly Wurly bars, a bag of miniature Cadbury's chocolates, a can of Cadbury's hot cocoa mix, a pack of Galaxy bars for my little sister (he actually wrote "for Kelly" on the wrapper), and three more of the ladybug Tesco bags- one to replace mine which is on its way to meeting its maker, and two to be donated to Foundation auction at my sorority's leadership conference next month. (How can you not be crazy about a guy who supports your sisterhood so much?) As cheesy as it may sound, it was really nice to just be able to wear his old sweatshirt and at least have a little part of him with me. We had another phone date this weekend and watched several episodes of Family Guy. It's definitely nice to be able to talk a lot on the phone.

At the end of this month, TLS will be coming to the States to visit his family for two weeks. This trip was booked a long time ago, and it's not possible for him to add on a day or two in NYC at this point. One of the places that he's going to be visiting is Chicago to go see a Cubs game with his brother and brother's wife. TLS is a diehard Cubs fan and said that one of the things that he really wants to do with me is go see a game together at Wrigley field. His brother emailed him over the weekend saying that they had an extra ticket for the game if he wanted to take me. We talked about it, and while the thought of meeting the family so soon scares me, we don't have very many opportunities to see each other, so we have to take advantage of every one that we do get. I will be flying back to Chicago for two nights on July 5th. I am slightly nervous about meeting part of his family but am so excited to get to see him again! There was absolutely no way that he could be with me for my birthday, and this is close enough to my birthday that it makes an awesome early birthday gift!

favorite things

I apologize for last week's hiatus and a lack of a favorite things post, but it is back this week in full force. In honor of my love for my sorority and the fact that the school year is now over and I don't have to deal with collegian drama until September, the theme for this week is ladybugs. Lis and KMH, start squealing now.

First on the list is an adorable ladybug bangle bracelet from Kate Spade. Thank you to Lis for bringing this to my attention. ($95) Kate Spade also has earrings and a ring to match.

From Anthropologie, a potholder in my favorite color combination to match the rest of my kitchen beautifully, $12.

From Crane, a set of 25 engraved notecards with lined envelopes, $29.

From J. Crew, adorable flip flops, $24.50. I already have a pair of ladybug flip flops from J. Crew in a different color, if you think this is going to stop me, then you are mistaken.

A. Tierney keyfob, $10.

Going under the "dare to dream" category- Tiffany & Co. ladybug charm with diamonds, $3,375.

Finally, two items that are not available online, but are too cute to not be shared. Currently my favorite dress in my wardrobe, a silk DvF wrap dress with hot pink and red ladybugs on it.

I found this dress in an Off 5th last summer and bought it to wear at our national convention. It is so comfortable and flattering and everyone went crazy over the ladybug print. I will now be bringing this dress to every single ASA summer conference between now and the day I die.

TLS would be hurt if I did not include this, so here it is. Tesco is Britain's version of Target and they created a line of green bags with a ladybug design on them. When I saw someone shopping at Trader Joe's, I emailed TLS and pleaded for him to send me one. And he did. I love this bag so much. It is HUGE and I have started using it as an overnight bag. When I went to Trader Joe's last weekend, I brought it with me and the checkout guy did not believe me when I said that I could fit 19 grocery items into one shopping bag. I clearly proved him wrong. Sadly, I have used this bag a little too much, and it is now starting to come apart. Fortunately, there is one en route to me as I type. (The one advantage to a long distance relationship.)

a really weird gift idea

A couple of nights ago, I was on the phone with TLS flipping through catalogs for two of my favorite stores- Tiffany and Uncommon Goods. (An easy way to freak a boy out- when he asks what you're doing, tell him you're looking through the Tiffany catalog...) Uncommon Goods is one of my favorite places to buy quirky out of the ordinary gifts, and I have found some great gifts for my friends there. One item in the current catalog, however, made me shake my head.

These are roses which are made out of paper and actually look quite nice. So what is so weird about them? The paper is actually made of recycled Elephant poo. Dead serious. Not sure why anyone would want that, I certainly hope that no one gets them for me (ahem TLS). I think this may be a fine example of being *too* green. What are your thoughts on them? Would you get them for anyone? Would you want someone to get them for you?

This made me think of the controversy at the BAM a couple of years ago when Giuliani was still mayor and tried to shut down an exhibit containing an image of the Virgin Mary smeared in Elephant poo.

Freecycle #5

I apologize for not having a freecycle up on my blog last week, but now it is back. I have three items to list for this week's freecycle, all of which are from me.

The first is a brand new, with tag from the Barney's Warehouse Sale pink and green strapless plaid sundress with a slight sweetheart neckline, from Liquid, size 6. My mother bought me this dress, but unfortunately, one of my boobs cannot fit into it, and I have two. It originally came with a white ribbon sash, but that got lost somewhere on the move from my mother's house to my house. You could just buy some ribbon at a crafts store to replace it if you want. item is no longer available

a closeup of the top

The next item is a pair of dark straight leg Joe's Jeans, size 31. These are a regular length, and I usually wore them cuffed. They have been worn a few times and are in great shape. item is no longer available

The last item I have is a brand new with tags, turquoisey pair of cropped drawstring pants from Victoria's Secret Pink line, size Large. The pants were another one of my mom's attempts to get me a gift that failed. They are not only not my size, but have writing on the rear end.

the rear end

(it says "Pink Royalty")

the patch on the front

If you are interested in any of these items, please email me at whaleflipflops {@} gmail {.}com and please pay for shipping.

Not Soap Radio

Do you remember this post where I reviewed some of Not Soap Radio's products? Well, I mentioned that there was one lip gloss that I received which did not work for me. Well, I brought the lip gloss with me to Chicago to have KMH try it to see if she'd like it better, and received this unsolicited review from her in my email about a week or two later:

That lip gloss that wasn't the right color for you?I'm obsessed with it - its a perfect color for me. And it goes on very smooth, not tacky and sticky like some glosses can be.It gets an 8/10 for long-lasting-ness (I reapply about twice in an evening).
Its really kind of like lipstick in a gloss. That is the best way I can think to describe it, in terms of texture and color saturation.
check plus!

As Seen on TV

Ladies, it's time to 'fess up. No matter how cheesy some of these commercials are, we are still fascinated by them, and still buy them. Sometimes, the cheesier that a commercial is, the more likely we are to buy it. How else do you explain the cult following that the Snuggie has gotten? So it's time to spill. Which products are you fascinated by? Currently, I am intrigued by the Perfect Brownie Pan. Also, does anyone remember the Topsy Tail? I told KMH and TLS that I am on a mission to single-handedly make the Topsy Tail cool again. Despite the fact that it's from the 90's, I still think it looks cute today. And it is a lot nicer looking than Bumpits.


So what are you intrigued by? And are you a fan of the Topsy Tail?

Fun Gift Idea

Looking for a fun gift idea for a girlfriend or an "adult beverage connoisseur?" Try Huephoria's Painted Wine Glasses. They're fun, colorful, great for decorating for a party, dishwasher safe, and are a great alternative to sometimes tacky wine markers.

Here is my personal favorite:

Combining my favorite colors, a cute critter, and my deep appreciation of wine. What's not to love?

The site is offering a 20% discount to MRM readers, good through 12/31/09. If you are like KMH and myself and tend to do birthday/Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/generic winter holiday shopping way in advance, then this is yet another reason for you to do so!

long distance relationships

For all of you bloggers out there who are currently in long distance relationships, how did you do it? I'm slowly starting to go crazy over here. I'm crazy about TLS, but the distance and time difference is really getting to me. How did you handle being in a long distance relationship? What worked and what didn't? How often did you get to see the other person? Did the relationship last? Any words of advice?

the greatest calling card EVER

You know how sometimes you discover a product that's just so good that you can't keep it to yourself? Well, ladies, I have discovered such a product. Say hello to my new friend and the reason for the sanity in mine and TLS's relationship.As you can imagine, one of the downsides to a relationship like ours is the cost of making phone calls. Well, my mother got me a few of these cards to call her when she goes on vacations, so I used one to call TLS, thinking that with the $0.89 I had left on it, we could talk for 5 minutes. Try 2 hours and 35 minutes. Yes, that's right. A $5 card gets you 14+ hours of talk time between America and the U.K. We used one this weekend to watch Night at the Museum over the phone together along with several episodes of How I Met Your Mother, and just to talk, and it's still not done. Needless to say, I will be buying more of these.


My mother found the cards in a Korean deli near her house, you can also order them online here. While I realize that not everyone is in a relationship like ours, these cards are awesome if you have any friends or family who are travelling or studying abroad.