I didn’t get to start/publish this blog until a few days ago, and I thought about skipping my January favorites. I think that will lead to having a lot of favorites in February, which I don’t want to overwhelm anyone reading this. So… I thought this is better late than never!
For years, P had the Nespresso maker and unfortunately – it only makes espresso shots. Over Thanksgiving, P’s father came into town and would have 5 long espresso shots to make up for a “cup of coffee”! P ended up discussing with his father that he was looking into swapping out the espresso maker for an actual coffee maker. Over Christmas, his parents gifted us the Keurig K-Supreme Coffee Maker. We absolutely love it. I’m not a coffee drinker, and as a matter of fact – I haven’t even personally tried a cup of coffee yet. But I appreciate how simple and easy it is to use. There’s a handle of the water reservoir which makes it easy to add water. It has a capacity of about 8 cups with multiple brewing sizes. My favorite feature – it’s so easy to clean and it fits a cup or traveling mug.
The supreme was $130 when we got it, and I recently saw the PRO version at Costco for the exact same price + comes with a bundle of other stuff. Linked here is a blog post I found that compares the supreme vs pro. If you have a Costco membership and are looking for a coffee machine, please check it out!
A little backstory of these clogs: I’m a huge fan of Crocs for a while now, even back when I was being made fun of for wearing “what are those, ugly shoes?!” The only times I would wear my Crocs would be on vacation or around the dock (P used to own a boat). After moving into our home, I started wearing the crocs more often in the yard. P would literally make fun of me for wearing those “funny looking shoes”… so, I bought him a pair to let him know how comfortable they are. And guess who is now a huge fan of Crocs?!
We are a “no shoes inside” type of house-hold, until we started renovating the kitchen and dust was everywhere. That’s when I started wearing my Crocs inside the house as well, and that went on for 2 months. Afterwards, I had a hard time adjusting back to being bare-footed. It was comfortable and easy on my feet with the Crocs… so, I started looking into house slippers. Funny thing is, P used to make fun of me for wearing Crocs and I used to make fun of him for wanting house slippers.
I wanted something like the Crocs, but didn’t want to spend too much $$. The universe was on my side. I came across these Joybees lined clogs at Costco for $15! I think there was an additional $5 off, so I might’ve paid $10! I did get the black pair in person, but online currently only sells the white pair. The link I provided above is to Amazon, which I think most people have easier access to. Unfortunately, Amazon seems to be selling it for double/triple the price compared to Costco.
The best part of these clogs? The faux fur lining is removable and washable. I just toss them in the washer whenever I want. Nothing worse than those smelly fuzzy house slippers. I do have to say that the first week of having these clogs, some of the fuzz were coming apart so I’ll see black fuzz on the ground occasionally. I don’t see it anymore, and I think washing it helps get rid of all the extra fuzz from manufactures. If I had to rate it, I would give the Joybees a 9… especially from a $15 standpoint. Are they as comfortable as the crocs? Not exactly.
My crocs = 10/10. Joybees = 9/10. But you really can’t beat that $15 price point. If you were to keep the lining inside, size up one whole size. If not, then keep your to your regular size.
3. Ice Breaker Ice Cubes Gum
Very random, but it is currently our house-hold favorite. I literally only stock up on this brand/kind of gum now. I didn’t provide a link, because this is something you should get at your local grocery store (Safeway, Lucky’s, Target, Walmart, etc.). And in every store, I’ve seen different flavors. So far, we have tried Artic Grape, Raspberry Sorbet, Cherry Limeade, Kiwi Watermelon, Strawberry Lemonade, and my personal favorite – Snow Cone. They’re all very delicious and there’s not a single flavor that I would rule out. I’m not a huge fan of super minty nor super sweet/fruity gums, and these Ice Breaker Ice Cubes gum literally combines the flavor of mint and sweet/fruity perfectly…. so mighty delicious and refreshing! Next time you’re in the checkout lane, take a look for these and add it to the cart!
After some googling, I realize there are many more flavors we haven’t tried! PINA COLADA?!
4. Women’s Sonoma Goods – Oversized Shirt Jacket
I believe Sonoma Goods is only sold at Kohls and that’s where I got this jacket from! I believe the trend nowadays call this a “shacket” (shirt jacket). Kohls is where I go to return my amazon items. While I was there, I came across this jacket. It was $30 and the only one left that happened to be my size. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself to purchase this. I already have so many jackets and don’t need another one.
A whole week later, I went back to Kohls to return another amazon item. I’m not sure if anyone knew about this, but I recently learned that when you return an amazon item at Kohls, they give you a $5 off coupon to use in store. It’s active right away and the coupon lasts about a week. I literally had a pile of these coupons, not thinking you can combine them all together until the amazon return assistant told me that I could do that.
So here I am, with about $15 worth of the Kohls rewards from returning Amazon items. I went around shopping, and there it is – the jacket is still there. I couldn’t believe it. The only one left in my size is still there. This time, I decided I’ll make the purchase since I have these coupons. Turns out, I also had a 20% off coupon that day + $10 in rewards in my account. I paid about $4 for this jacket! What a steal!!!
Unfortunately, I don’t think you can get this jacket for $4, but it is still available and on sale for $25 right now. Now that I have this jacket and have worn it every week, I must say – it is worth the $25-$30. Super comfortable, lightweight, and I literally look like a cozy bear in it. Just last week, I was facetiming my friend (Patricia), and she immediately asked me about this shacket right when I put it on. If the white/cream color isn’t your style, there are other colors/patterns of it as well.
This is going to sound disgusting to some people. Even when I first heard about it from my ex-housemate, I was very skeptical and disgusted by the thought of period underwear. She introduced them to me in 2018, but I didn’t buy my first pair until 2019. And ever since then, I have stopped using pads.
*If you’re wondering, I never really use tampons unless I’m swimming. I hear horror stories about tampons, and I don’t even like the thought of having something in there for that long.
The main reason why I wanted to stop using pads and try something new was because I was getting butt rashes and an occasional pimple or two on my butt during my period week. Unfortunately, I scar very easily so some of the pimples did leave a scar on me for months. Yes, TMI (too much information), but I know I can’t be the only one experiencing this so I hope this also help another individual. Let’s just say – I no longer have any rash, pimple, or scar on my butt. I can confidently say it’s smooth as a baby’s bottom.
If you would like to give this a try, I highly recommend getting the Classic Starter Set. It comes with two underwears: one super hiphugger and one hiphugger. The super hiphugger claims to hold up to 5 tampons, and the hiphugger claims to hold up to 3 tampons. I can’t vouch for that statement as I mentioned that I don’t wear tampons, BUT I do swear by these period underwears.
I am a heavy bleeder. On the first two days of my period, I like to call myself the “walking crimescene”. I would wear the super hiphugger during those days. I would say that they will last about 6 hours, before it “spills over”, which is much longer than pads as I would have to change pads every 2-3 hours back then. I definitely had more spill overs with pads, than I ever had with the Thinx underwears. The rest of my period days, I would then wear the regular hiphugger. If you’re wondering what’s the physical difference of the super vs regular, it would be the thick padding on the back of the underwear. The super has a thick padding that carries all the way to the back of the underwear, and the regular one only has it on the bottom of the underwear.
I didn’t know this at first but I want to mention this: I only bought the black pairs and was going to continue buying more black pairs, because I didn’t want to see the red blood on my underwear. Turns out, the inside of ALL the Thinkx underwears are black… so feel free to buy any color! I currently have few in black, few in pink, mauve, and purple. Posting this in my January favorites, because I just bought the purple one in January!
Yes, I know – they are quite pricey for a pair of underwear… but in a grand scheme of things, I have saved so much money not buying pads anymore. It’s also a bonus that this helps eliminate more trash/plastic in the world. The fact that I could sleep in them comfortably, it’s the best. I don’t feel like I’m “leaking”. I seriously love them.
One of the best “investment” I made for myself.
If you would like, please use this link as it’s a referral code. You will get $10 off, and I also get a $10 credit. Thank you!
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