RecycleCoup: Plastic Bedding Bags

I don't just buy things; I also try to recycle and re-use things. Today I want to share a little tip I learned from my mom - re-use those plastic bags your bedding comes in!

One of my plastic bedding bags

These plastic bags are really strong, clear, flexible plastic and they usually even have a handle built-in, which makes them perfect for storage. When I was little, I had a few of these plastic bags to store my toys in; I remember one was full of Barbie and Ken dolls, and another one was filled with their clothes and accessories. I loved this method of storage because I didn't have to be super-organized - when I was done, I just shoved everything into the bags and put them back into my closet. I also loved that they were clear, because I could see all my stuff inside and knew what was where. In addition, they were great for when I wanted to being my Barbies to a friend's house, because everything was already sealed and ready to go.

Now that I'm an adult, I continue to use these bags for storage. I even have two of them on a high closet shelf right now! One is for storing cute clothes that don't fit anymore (but a girl can dream they'll fit again someday, right?), and another is for storing miscellaneous stuff I don't have another place for, and am too lazy to go through and start throwing out.

Left bag, miscellaneous stuff; right bag, clothes

I also have a bag next to my dresser that holds my decorative bed pillows when the bed is unmade (which is basically always, unless company comes to visit). I love that I can store them in the bag because it keeps them clean until I'm ready to use them.

Decorative bed pillows for when the bed is made

Since these bags are flexible (meaning they squish really well), I just store them in my coat/vacuum closet until I have a need for another one.

Waiting to be put to use

These are also great for moving, because they hold so much stuff and are really flexible. My husband and I have moved many times over the years and always in our cars (someday we hope to be able to rent a moving van), so flexibility is great when you're just shoving things in your car willy-nilly, trying to fit as much stuff as possible. 

They also last for years - eventually the plastic might tear or the zipper will probably break, but I remember continuing to use my Barbie bags for my own accessories (belts, scarves, etc) as I grew up and started going to high school. 

So if you have any of these bags around your house that you've been meaning to throw away, or you've just been storing (empty) for your bedding but your bedding is in use or in a linen closet, try using them to store other things around your house like old clothes, shoes, accessories, pillows, toys, or whatever, and let me know what you think :)

Good Cook Safe Cut Can Opener

This is going to be a short, picture-filled review because I've got a lot going on this week, which is why I haven't been posting as much as usual. Anyway, today I'm going to talk about the Good Cook Safe Cut Can Opener.

We've had ours for a couple of years now so I think the design has changed a little, but it should be the same product (I just checked it out on Amazon and it looks like the new version has one arm instead of two like mine). Our former can opener was really gross and rusty, so when we finally replaced it, we bought a Safe Cut can opener even though we don't have children because I've always hated how traditional can openers get all up in your food - it's gross! Especially with a rusty can opener, because that thing got rust in my food, I just know it. Plus, who wants to run the risk of getting cut with a sharp edge if you don't have to? This Safe Cut can opener works by unsealing the lid of the can, rather than using a blade to cut through it.

No blade

It's got a firm grip on the can

You can't really tell by looking, but this lid is unsealed now

See? Unsealed!

I flipped the lid upside-down so you can see that it's the full lid and is flush with the can

The lid - no serrated edges, as promised

The only drawback to this type of can-opening is that I can't drain liquids from the can like I used to, since I'm working with the full lid now rather than just the cut version; the cut versions have a smaller circumference than the Safe Cut lid, and therefore fit within the can, making it easy to press and drain. But the more I thought about it, the fact that I can't do that anymore isn't a negative - traditional can openers don't get washed very often, and that blade goes into your food, and then you use the top of the lid to drain it? Who knows what's going on with the top of that lid? I don't know... maybe I am being overdramatic here, but to me, it's easier/safer/cleaner to just use a mesh strainer to drain my food.

Our mesh strainer

Overall: I love this can opener and highly recommend it. It's safer and more hygienic than the traditional can opener, and it's easy to use once you get the hang of it (the first time using it can be weird because you put it on and it feels like it might be right, but you can't help but question if it really is on right, because it feels different than what you're used to, since there's no blade that sinks into the can). 

Re-buy?: If anything ever happens to it, yes. I bought my mom one too, so technically I've already re-bought it :)

Dude Review: Kirby Sentria Vacuum

Some of you may not have heard of a Kirby vacuum, and those of you that have either love it or you didn't buy it because you felt like some salesman was trying to swindle you. Well, Larissa and I are not ashamed to say that we got sold, we fell for it and paid big bucks for a friggin vacuum. Why would anyone want to spend a crap load of money on a vacuum!? If you have pets and/or kids, then you KNOW why you need a bad ass vacuum.

Don't feed me that "Dyson is the best" bull sh*t. I'm sure it's a decent vacuum compared to all the other sorry suckers out there, but THE KIRBY will eat the Dyson, poop it out on a white carpet, suck it all up and then shampoo the entire room when it's done. No, seriously, it also shampoos and removes stains! That's just the beginning! I know you're probably thinking I'm trying to sell you on this, but I'm simply stating the facts and besides, would I make any money if you bought one? Nope.

We went through at least one vacuum per year. We kept spending between $100-150 and it would only get the job done once or twice and then it would dramatically go downhill from there. Our cat Sally sheds like a mo fo and our dog Dottie just adds to it. Why keep wasting money on something we're gonna use every weekend (give or take)? The answer is, DON'T waste your money and just suck it up (pun intended) and finance an amazing vacuum that you'll have the rest of your life! That's right, I said finance. The Kirby is not cheap and prices vary depending on where you get it.

THE KIRBY

"Ethan, what's so great about this stupid vacuum that you've completely pumped up for the past three paragraphs?" Well, you know that Playstation 3 commercial that says "It only does everything". They're also talking about the Kirby Sentria. It literally does EVERYTHING! It can be used as a leaf blower, PAINT SPRAYER and carpet shampooer, to inflate air mattresses & tires, remove light bulbs (not joking), unclog drains, and much much more. It comes with a bunch of attachments, one that we use the most is this brush that spins and makes your couch look brand new every time you use it. You can also use it like a big dust buster and clean your whole mattress. Did I mention it has gears and can be put into neutral and drive mode!? Yep.

I am not a Kirby salesman, as you know, I just love the fricken thing. What I like most about it, and I'm sure the dudes will understand, is that it is a totally simplified machine. You can see how everything works, take it apart and put it back together again. It's heavy and ridiculously powerful! (I'm making my Tim the Tool Man grunt noise right now) I like to know how things work and understand them and from what I've learned over the year of owning this vacuum, it can't be broken. Even if it did break, it has a LIFE TIME WARRANTY and they'll just fix it!

The other day, we got this free couch from our neighbors and it was totally nasty because they used it outside and I can honestly tell you, the only reason we took it is because we have the Kirby and I knew we could revive it. Oh, we revived that couch alright. I even shampooed the fold out mattress that was inside the couch!

Seriously, if you guys don't buy one eventually, you'll just be settling for something that ISN'T doing what it's supposed to. This doesn't just go for vacuums, it goes for everything you buy. You get what you pay for. BUY A KIRBY!

Lixit Waterboy Travel Water Bowl (For Dogs & Cats)

I saw the Lixit Waterboy Travel Water Bowl at my local TJ Maxx and was intrigued, so I bought it for $9.99 and then came home and did a little research on it (I figured it'd be better to buy it now and return it later if we didn't like it, since there were only 4 at the store and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to get one). Basically, this water bowl claims to be great for cars, boats, RVs, etc. because it doesn't spill, even if you turn it upside-down. The handle makes it convenient for going on long walks or to the beach, because your dog has access to water while you're on the go, which is one reason why I bought this product (we love the dog beach in SD!). Also, this product is supposed to cut down on the drippy, slobbery mess your dog may make after drinking from a traditional bowl - this is the part that really appealed to me, because we have a 55 lb. lab mix who loves her water, and is not tidy about it.

Check out the water level: this is too high

I read every Amazon review and decided that since it got 4 and a half stars averaged over 35 reviews, it must be a good product - only 7 people of the 35 rated it less than 4 stars, so those are promising odds, right? Well, my first one was a dud and I exchanged it for another one. What made it a dud? There is a little black rubber ring around the blue lid; every time I tightened the lid, the rubber ring would squeeze out of place and the drinking part of the bowl would fill with too much water. I saw from the 7 unfavorable reviews that this might happen, so I exchanged it for another one later, no problem.

The new bowl let me tighten it all right, and when this product works, it works very well. Unfortunately, I still have a little problem getting the lid as tight as necessary for the bowl to fill with the appropriate amount of water. Check out the water level in the picture above - it's too high. The water level should be lower, like this:

Correct Water Level (also, you can see the black rubber ring I mentioned earlier)

I know this water level looks really low, but it's this level that keeps the dog from making a mess all over the place (it doesn't get water all around its muzzle anymore since it's forced to take smaller drinks, which is apparently great for small dogs because it cuts back on the gross perpetual wetness those little furry ones can have in that area). The lower water level also makes sense with regards to spilling (or lack thereof).

Upside-down and no spills - it's true!

We've had this product for a few weeks now and use it as our primary water bowl - so far, so good! I've noticed less mess in the pet water area of our house, which is great. In addition, I no longer run away from our dog's love after she's had a drink, because she doesn't have water all over her face anymore (the extra slobber she carried with her after a drink really used to gross me out).

We also travelled with this product in the car the other weekend when we drove 90 miles each way to visit some friends overnight, and it didn't spill or anything, as advertised (we just put it on the floor behind the driver's seat, but the dog didn't drink from it). This trip was the true anti-mess test; in the past when we've visited these friends, Dottie (that's our dog) has made the worst water messes ever in their dining room/kitchen area, and it was a slipping hazard because that's a high-traffic area in their home. Our friends have dogs too, but their two dogs are small and don't drink them out of house and home like our Dottie does, so I'd always been embarrassed of the mess and spent a lot of time trying to keep the area clean and dry, but who wants to spend time doing that when you could be having fun? Luckily, this product cut WAY down on the mess and I didn't have to worry about any of that this time.

In case you're wondering, we have a cat too and she likes this water bowl just as well as the traditional one we used to use. Even though she has her own small water bowl next to her food bowl, she's always preferred to drink from the same bowl as the dog for some reason.

Overall: I like the Lixit Waterboy Travel Water Bowl. Once the seal is tight enough and the water level is correct, it works very well and keeps its promises (anti-spill, less mess). However, I have trouble getting the seal tight enough for the water level to be correct, so if I don't have my husband around the water level is higher and there are more watery messes after drinking (but even these messes aren't that bad compared to those from the traditional water bowl, so it's not the end of the world). I really like being able to carry it with us wherever we go, and I can't wait to take it to a dog beach!

Re-buy?: Yes; if anything were to happen to this bowl, I think I would want to get another one.

MAC Paint Pot Painterly, .17 oz

This post is going to be short and sweet because I haven't been feeling well lately. MAC Paint Pot Painterly - I love it! I happened to be shopping with my friend at Victoria Gardens one day a while back and we ended up at the MAC counter in a department store. When I told the makeup artist/sales woman how eye makeup tends to slide right off my eyelids and/or settle in the crease, she recommended this product and it is so worth the money for me.

Since I don't wear eye makeup every day (and I only use this product every week or two when I'm seeing people I actually care about), this product, which is basically an eye makeup primer, is lasting forever. However, even with everyday use I think it'd last quite a long time, because you only need to sweep a little across each eyelid and you're set. This product has a very even texture and slides over my eyelids very smoothly. It also dries quickly so you can put on your eye makeup almost immediately afterwards. Once or twice in a pinch I've even used this product as a concealer to hide a zit and it works pretty well for that too!

Can you tell which eyelid I used this product on?

Note: I only applied eyeshadow as far as the center crease - I did not apply all the way up to my eyebrows.

The other day I put this product on one eyelid in preparation for this review. Then I just put a little brown shimmery eyeshadow on both eyelids and let this product do its thing. After 11 hours, you can see that one eyelid looks considerably better than the other. It still settled in the crease a little, but it wasn't that bad considering I'd been wearing it for so long. My other eyelid was just a disaster, eyeshadow was completely missing from above my eyelashes and settled in the crease like crazy (the difference was more profound in person).

Overall: I love this product. It applies smoothly and evenly, dries quickly and lasts forever. It is well worth the money for my eyelids, which don't usually like to retain eyeshadow.

Re-buy?: If I ever get through this pot, yes. But I don't see that happening any time soon.

Dude Review: E Machines EL1352-07e, Windows 7 Desktop PC

Not only is the brand name appropriate for me, it is also one of the top rated PC's at Best Buy! I hadn't really heard much about E Machines and I'll be honest, I kind of thought it was a low end Wal-Mart brand. I was pleasantly surprised when I did my research and found out it's not only a well reviewed brand but it's also EASY ON THE WALLET!

I did a lot of research on what my next computer was going to be because I knew that I was pretty much going to use it as a media center. I used to have a pretty nice 17" Dell laptop...for 2005 that is. Don't get me wrong, it was a great PC and I even had it hooked up to my TV for a lot of the time and we watched hulu from it. I couldn't stand having a laptop sitting on the floor and a VGA cable running from it to the TV any more and I figured it's been 6 years, it had a good run, but it was time to upgrade my computer. So, I sold it on craigslist for about $185, which is ridiculous but it's what everyone else was selling my same exact laptop for.

For a while, I was hell bent on getting a Mac mini and mounting it to the back of my 40" LCD TV but those beasts are like $700! Wish I had the fundage, but it wasn't going to happen, not for a while anyway. Then I found a Dell that was the same size as a Mac mini, but I read bad reviews on it, so decided to keep looking. I wanted to just sell my laptop and go directly to Best Buy and get a replacement. Why Best Buy you ask? You guessed it, (if you read my review of the Roku) I have a Best Buy credit card, therefore I could put down my $185 and then cover the rest on the card. I gave myself a budget of $400 and so when I went on the BB website, I found the best reviewed desktop and it happened to be an E Machines and it ALSO happened to be compact! That's what I wanted!

So, I sold the laptop, went to Best Buy and they had ONE left! It was $365, just the tower itself, no monitor and I was out the door spending just slightly over $400. This computer is pretty damn impressive and completely accomplishes everything I need it to do! It has 4g of ram and a 500 gig hard drive. Came with Windows 7 of course and also has an Nvidia graphics card. HD movies and hulu look awesome on it and it is extremely fast! I used to have some glitching when I watched streaming tv shows but now it's totally smooth. I can have as many pages as I want open, play music, edit movies, photos etc. and it doesn't even flinch!

I am extremely happy with this computer and even though I can't mount it to the back of the TV, it is still pretty small and inconspicuous. I could put it behind the TV still but I use a wireless mouse and keyboard and the signal gets interference if it has to go through the LCD screen.

I highly recommend getting this computer and using it for a media center. You can always get external hard drives if you need more space. If you just used it as a family desktop PC, it would be great for that too. Even though TV's are now coming with all the movie and tv streaming apps, they still can't top having a full on computer on your TV at all times.

Get the E Machines EL 1352, hook it up to your LCD, LED or Plasma, get a wireless mouse and keyboard, and you won't be sorry!

Sex Symbol Aerotan (Instant Temporary Tanning Spray), 5.3 fl. oz.

Tanned skin makes almost everyone look better (somehow all of our skin infractions don't seem as egregious), but I am afraid of melanoma so I haven't tanned in the sun in about 4 years. You'd think that sometime in the last 4 years I'd have experimented with self-tanner since I understand the benefits of a "healthy glow," but I've heard (and seen) too many negative things about it: it's streaky, it turns you orange, it stains your clothes, etc. But the time has come for me to foray into the world of self-tanner: I am having a local wedding ceremony this month for a few close family and friends who couldn't make it to our destination wedding in New York City, and since this is June in Southern California and not March in New York, I have to bare my arms this time around (in NYC, I was able to wear a faux fur wrap to hide my arms). Here's the thing: I hate my arms. I am a bit overweight, and my arms definitely show it. Unfortunately, my wedding dress is strapless. I know, I know; I picked it. The thing is, I was on a $400 dress budget which reduced me to samples, and there is not a lot of variety when you're a bridal size 14. Since I can't afford a bolero, it's time for me to try self-tanner (I can't even afford a professional spray tan). Lucky for me, I found this gem at my local Marshalls for $6.00:

Sex Symbol Aerotan

I haven't experimented with this product a whole lot yet, but what I've seen I like. This product is a spray, so I applied it in my back yard because I didn't want the spray to get all over my house. I ended up spraying at pretty close range so sometimes it looked like a flow of brown spray paint on my leg, but I just had to rub it in to even it out and it was no problem. You're supposed to be able to build the color, but it was my first time so I think I got a little overzealous and went straight to a deeper tan, but it looked good. It wasn't streaky at all, and it has a bit of a shimmer to it, which I like. It also smells good - kind of coconutty. After I rubbed it into my skin the palms of my hands were pretty saturated, so I went straight into the kitchen and washed them with warm water and dish soap and it came right off, no problem.

In the shade

In the sun

My spray-tanned leg definitely looks better/more natural in the sun - in the shade it looks a little orangey, but I think if my other leg matched, the orange wouldn't look as out of place. Also, it didn't really look orange in person, but rather more of a bronze.

When I use this spray tan for real on my wedding ceremony day, I will definitely need some help. Getting my leg today was pretty easy because I could see all of it and was able to use both hands to blend, but doing my arms and back on my own would be impossible. Since my experiment was brief, I can't provide a full review today, but you can expect one within the month after I try it at my ceremony. Today was just a trial run to see if it is even worth wearing at my wedding ceremony, and I am happy to say that it is! 

(Note: I read a few other online reviews of this product and people were saying it doesn't ruin your clothes. They said that it might get on your clothes if you sweat, but it washes out and doesn't stain. I'll let you know how it does with my dress; I'll be dry cleaning it afterwards anyway, so I'm not really worried).

Overall: This spray tan wasn't streaky at all, nor too orangey in person. It was easy to apply, has a nice shimmer to it on the skin, and smells good. I am excited to wear it with my wedding dress and hopefully it helps my arms look less flabby!

Re-buy?: I got a great deal on this product at Marshalls, but on Amazon it looks like it sells for between $10.00 and $20.00. Since I don't know how long the bottle will last yet, nor how well it does with clothing, I am not sure what within that range I'd be willing to pay for this spray. However, if I ever find it for $6.00 again I'd buy it in a second! Too bad Marshall's didn't have another bottle - I'd be there today buying it.