Am…musings

I’ve had a crush on a guy named Joe (Trader Joe, that is) since I lived in Los Angeles in 1998-99. I left him for a while … moving to Orlando and then St. Louis, but he found me, opening three stores in the ‘Lou sometime around 2005.

I visit Joe a few times a month and always take my reusable bags, one of my favorite things . At the register I fill out a slip for the weekly drawing Joe does for his customers that bring in their own bags. Last week … I won the drawing!!!

I picked up my prize last night … a reusable Trader Joe’s bag filled with goodies: three dark chocolate bars, a pumpkin bread mix, a gingerbread mix, a beer bread mix, organic penne pasta, pasta sauce, a big can of coffee beans, pumpkin butter and an Indian dinner mix.

It’s really great marketing tactic because it’s mostly things I ordinarily wouldn’t buy, but will likely buy again. I had the pumpkin butter on some toast for breakfast and it was fantastic. I’m also blogging about it and have mentioned it a few times on Facebook … as I said there, I’m so excited about winning the drawing, you’d have thought I won the lottery! Not to mention the fact that when I when it to pick up the prize, I, of course had to shop some more!

I’ve been wanting a Bumpit ever since I saw it in InStyle magazine a few months ago. Then my friend Michelle blogged about it and I was sold. I may be stuck in the ‘90s, but my go-to updo is the “Rachel” twist … my hair’s pretty much too fine for a good ponytail unless it’s in a ball cap and a girl needs an updo option without a hat … especially for work. I typically tease and spray to get the bump, but by end of day, it usually falls. With the Bumpit … no falling.

I finally found mine at Walgreens after a few failed trips because they were sold out. Michelle’s post mentioned it didn’t work for her neighbor, who has fine hair. My hair texture is fine, but I do have lots of strands so that might help. I also teased a lot per the directions, and the nifty comb that’s included did a great job.

I bought the Bumpit on Saturday and HAD to try it out Sunday even though mowing the grass with a fancy updo may have been overkill. Today, I paired the accessory with a maxi dress. I only mention it because I think it’s a good fashion lesson. I got about 10 compliments, including a gushing one from a complete stranger on my lunch run. I wasn’t sure about the whole maxi thing so instead of investing a ton, I spent $20 at my local Kmart … for those who used to “play” Charlie’s Angels like me, it makes me laugh to know it’s a Jacqueline Smith . Without having to spend a fortune, I was able to try out a trend and get lots of kudos. And next year, when they may no longer be in style, I can move on to the next trend without guilt.

I had a client event this morning (a cool client event including the Gateway Arch, the president of Major League Baseball and Bill DeWitt Jr. and III from the Cardinals. Any baseball/history lovers out there? You should make a trip to the Arch to check out their great new exhibit: Baseball’s Gateway to the West.).

But I digress … my coworker and I were starved after the event and headed to lunch. While we waited for our orders, we perused a few free publications. An article in Sauce Magazine caught my eye. It was about a local farm that sells corn only on the day it’s picked.

After a nap, I decided to make the trek to Illinois to hit one of Keller Farms’ four stands. The drive was about 40 minutes after I got a little lost, but it was absolutely, positively worth it.

I was stuffed after lunch so I skipped dinner, but decided about an hour ago to boil up one of the dozen ears I bought for $4.50 (cash only! I never have any so I had to give them about half in change I’d been saving for meters.). The corn was incredibly tender and tasty. And I can’t wait to grill up a few ears tomorrow … my preferred method of corn on the cob preparation. What’s yours?

I found these at Trader Joe’s (for less cashola than grocery store eggs, which is why TJs is a “fav thing” too). Do they taste better? Not that I can tell, but they’re just so darn cute!

P.S. One benefit I have noticed … they seem to crack better because the shells are a bit harder.

P.P.S. Do you know why brown eggs are brown and white eggs are white? Someone I know swore it was because white eggs were bleached. I knew that wasn’t it, but had to Google it on the iPhone to prove it. So … do you know … without Googling?

Although I have curly-Qs, my hair is really fine and I am typically skeptical of hair product that may weigh it down. My amazing stylist (curly-haired girls in St. Louis, I’d be happy to give you her number; just comment or send me an e-mail) used Moroccan Oil on my hair once and I purchased it on my next appointment.

Yes, I inwardly gasped at the price (she charges $40), but honestly, it’s worth it. It smells luscious and makes my hair look shiny and style incredibly well (and a little goes a long way).

I use it alone (with Mark’s Mega Volume Root Lifting Spray) for a blow out, and with the spray and Aveda’s Be Curly for a twisted ‘do.

Veggies are typically freebies on any diet so here’s a free snack … cucumbers and salsa. I’ll admit I smirked when I learned about it, but I swear it’s surprisingly tasty!

Ok … the inspiration for this series … the purchase I’m so jazzed about … nail polish (now you understand why I chose the eco-friendly, socially conscious post first!).

I remember seeing a presentation by Daniel Pink about consumerism and the role design has played … why pay $2.99 for a plain old toilet bowl brush when you can pay three times that for a Michael Graves-designed brush (hello, my former roommate who had such brush, among other MG items !). But what I love about this polish is that the design makes it useful (I’m guessing the MG toilet bowl brush doesn’t clean any better than the cheaper model).

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri has an extra-wide brush that makes application easy. I have teeny-tiny fingers and nails so this may not work for everyone, but it really only takes one stroke per nail – except my thumb. I also bought it because it said it dries almost instantly (which is true). I always sport painted toes, but my fingers seem to chip immediately, which has meant bare nails. However, the ease of this polish makes it ok to repaint often.

One drawback … I’m the girl who tests nail polish in the store (sorry, but you really can’t tell until you put it on) … and a few of the darker colors dried flat (ie. not shiny enough). Although that might be solved by another favorite thing … Sally Hansen Mega Shine, which makes any polish dry quickly and look super shiny (another favorite thing, but a girl can only write so many polish posts).

A recent purchase I’m totally jazzed about got me thinking that a “favorite things” series might be fun. In addition to my new purchase, I thought of several other things to blog about. Which to start with? A re-tweet on Twitter helped me decide …

I’ve sort of known plastic bags aren’t good, but didn’t have any specifics. Today @SBlanquera posted a link outlining the dangers. It’s very enlightening and disturbing, particularly the image of a bird that became entangled and died, likely because it couldn’t fly to catch food.

Working at SeaWorld, I saw the horrible damage things like discarded fishing line and plastic rings on sodas cause (seriously, please take the time to cut those up … it was heartbreaking to see turtles and manatees with things we thoughtlessly discard embedded in the flesh around their necks or cutting off the circulation to one of their limbs).

When it comes to bags, I found this great black nylon bag on an NYC trip. I bought four more at http://www.reusablebags.com/. They are perfect because they don’t take up much space, are made well and aren’t branded so I feel like I can use them anywhere. I also personally love that they’re black because they’re low key and more chic than some of the other bags I’ve seen.