What Rhymes with Orange?

Like the four basic food groups, my wardrobe generally consists of 4 basic colors - khaki, black, white and various shades of blue, from periwinkle to aqua. But, last week when I was shopping, a tangerine orange cardigan caught my eye - 3/4 sleeves, little white buttons - basic, but definitely not boring. Just what I needed to spice up my wardrobe a little bit. And it has! I can't believe how well it goes with so many other items I already own - a sheer striped scarf from vacation last year, under my white denim jacket for a pop of color, a blue print skirt to jazz it up a little bit. The bright orange color even helps brighten my mood on an overcast day. Fun, colorful, comfortable . . . and my new favorite thing!

Tide Wash Bag

Lingerie bags - basic, boring, and a bit of a pain in the neck. The mesh holes are too big and hooks get caught in them. The zipper can snag on other items in the wash. But, wait, you don't have to resort to handwashing all of your delicates . . . here's some good news: Tide Wash Bags. The bag is made of a very fine mesh, the zipper is tucked up under a flap, and they have a pleat at the bottom to expand a little bit. You can find these at Walgreens and Target for about $4. I have no idea why someone didn't think of these improvements earlier, but I'm just glad they have now.

Ugh................American Idol without TiVo

My youngest son and I were watching a live episode of AI last week and it was an absolutely horrible experience . . . not because of Jake, he's cool, but because we were watching it live - with all of the long and frequent commercial breaks. Which brings me to my next favorite thing - TiVo. You get to watch the show you want, when you want to watch it - in about 2/3 of the time! Generic DVRs, like the kind we have from Comcast, are ok - but I really miss our old TiVo box. I miss it enough that I think I will stop by Best Buy next week and see what it would take to switch back. For ease of programming, and stopping the fast forward at the exact moment the commercials end and the show starts up again, you just can't beat TiVo - - - and I miss that cute little cartoon guy!

Contact Cards ~ A Great Idea

I saw this idea on Real Simple-Real Life episode (a spin-off show from the Real Simple magazine) and thought "That is GREAT idea!" How many times have you been at a school function, or church, or tennis class, or even just run into an aquaintance at Target and you go to make plans or get together for some project and need to exchange phone numbers or email addresses and you are digging for a pen and paper and end up with some stub of a pencil and the back of an old receipt and all of the contents of your purse spilled all over the floor? Here is an easy and classy solution ~ a business or contact card. Just hand them one of these with all of your contact information. Problem solved. I ordered mine from http://www.zazzle.com/. I would love to show you the entire card, but this is the Internet after all and I probably shoudn't broadcast all my information to the world (although most of you have it already, but still, just in case). Zazzle has an enormous selection of designs to choose from ~ something for every style and personality. And the service could not have been faster. I actually had such a hard time deciding on one design that I ordered two, one with my cell phone number and one without, just because I'm kind of funny about who has my cell number. Anyway, what do you think? Isn't this a great idea?

Perfect Pepper Mill

This may have been one of my very first favorite things - a battery operated pepper mill. Just tip it over and it goes to work, grinding up the peppercorns ~ turn it back upright, and it shuts off. With only one hand operation, you can keep your other hand free to mix, stir, or pour. I have given several of these as gifts through the years - or a similar style I found at Crate & Barrel. This one is made by Trudeau and available from Amazon. It sells for about $25. Love It!