Wow. This month flew by. I can’t believe I’m already writing February favorites! It doesn’t help that I wrote January Favorites in the middle of February. I have a lot to talk about (as always), so let’s get started!
For years, I’ve was using my Addison Crossbody Bag from Target. The Addison served me well – it was simple and had all of my favorite features (crossbody, slim, zipper on top, and goes with everything I’m wearing). Best part? It was only $20. It’s no surprise that even after all these years, Target is still selling them. That’s how good it is. Unfortunately, it was time to say goodbye. The color has faded, stitches were coming off, and I’m embarrassed to even talk about the inside – There were stains from melted chocolate and gum.
I thought about re-purchasing the same purse, but I wanted something a little bigger. And I thought this was a good time to “invest” in a nicer purse as it’s something I use daily. As stated, my requirements are simple. I can’t recall how, but I came across this Kate Spade Chelsea Camera Bag and it’s the perfect fit. I wasn’t sure about the color though, as I like more neutral things to match with everything… but I am also obsessed with the blue color-block style and love it’s uniqueness. On the KS website, it was selling for $300 and all sold out already. Either way, I was NOT going to pay $300! My type of “investment” is spending $100 or less on a purse! I went onto Poshmark.com and the lowest price was $130 (NWT – new with tags). I did a little more research, and found out that this purse was selling on KS website on sale for $100 at one point, so I decided to offer $75. Took my shot and if it was meant to be mine, it would.
And she arrived a few days later. I had a dramatic goodbye to my Addison, and welcomed Chelsea to my life.
If you missed my Valetine’s Date post, I mentioned about these sneakers! I won’t go into details again about these shoes, but to summarize – get them from Costco if you can. My local Costco is currently selling them for $25. Online sites are selling them for $60-90. The link above goes to Amazon, but there are limited size available. DSW is selling them for $70, with more sizes available. Even at $70, I still think that’s a reasonable price. These shoes are not only cute, but very comfortable. I love how you can dress it up or down.
3. J.A. Henckles 3 Piece Cutting Board Set
Now that the kitchen is finally getting remodeled, I’ve been looking at upgrading some kitchen tools/items. I know I wanted to get new cutting boards as the ones I have (similiar – linked here) has warped over time and have several burn marks. Ever since ChrisLovesJulia mentioned about The reBoards from Material Kitchen, I’ve been on a search for good quality and sturdy cutting boards . I love the concept behind Material Kitchen – how they are 100% upcycled and renewable. Even though I am all about investing into quality pieces, I couldn’t bring myself to pay $35 for each cutting board! The search continued, until I came across these J.A. Henckles 3 Piece Cutting Board Set at Costco for $20! I got the gray set and I’ve been loving them. I completely threw out the old ones, and have been using these now. I love how there is a handle for easy grab. The material is sturdy and have a weight to them, but not too heavy where you would struggle to carry it over from prep to pot. One of my favorite feature is that they have these nonslip gripper feet which most cutting boards (including the reBoards) don’t have. Usually, I would have to put a wet towel/napkin underneath the cutting boards for them to not slide around, but not with these new boards! The J.A. Henckles cutting boards (linked from Henckles website – $30) claim to be non-porous, non-absorbent, and nonstick. So far, that is all true. I am surprised that I haven’t had any stains on them yet, as they are white. The true test is when I cut kimchi on them. From past experiences, kimchi always stains my cuttings boards. I’ll report back on this post when I do try.
4. Potato Ricer
Two years ago, I’ve learned the best way to make creamy and smooth mashed potatoes from Not Another Cooking Show. In his video, he uses a potato mill and mentioned that you can use a strainer to substitute. Ever since then, I’ve been mashing my potatoes through a strainer to create smooth mashed potatoes. It’s definitely exhausting and hard on the hands/arms (no matter how small you cut the potatoes). I finally had enough and decided to get a potato ricer. I didn’t want to get a mill because they are much bigger and take up more space, so I bought the OXO Good Grips Potato Ricer instead. I’ve only used it once so far, but it’s been a game changer for me. It has already saved me at least 50% of time than using the strainer. The potatoes come out very smooth and there aren’t much leftover on the ricer as I thought it would be. As a matter of fact, barely any residue. Best part? it’s super easy to clean! The strainer is such a hassle to clean after mashing potatoes in them. Remember when I mentioned that I have a few underrated kitchen tools like the lemon squeezer? Well this is one of them! Highly recommend, even if you’re just mashing potatoes for 1.
5. COCOCKA Micro SD Card Reader
This item is very specific and most likely you don’t care, but I thought I still include it just in case you happen to be in need of one too. Since I started this blog, I brought my “fancy camera” out of the closet and am trying to take better photos for this blog. Because my laptop doesn’t have a SD card reader, I’ve been lugging around the camera and the cord whenever I need to upload photos… until I got this SD card reader! It’s been so amazing and easy to upload photos to the laptop now. I love how it can read both SD and microSD cards. If you happen to need one, I do recommend this one! It’s currently on sale for $9.
Please let me know in the comments what are your favorites this month! I am always looking for new things to love 🙂
1 thought on “February 2022 Favorites”