| O's Favorite Things 2008 |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by OHmommy | |
| Sunday, 16 November 2008 19:00 | |
|
Just like "Oprah's Favorite Things", except for I wasn't offered any free product samples or had companies rushing to my door with free giveaways. Sigh. Instead, during me free time while three children begged for my attention, I wrote letters to many of these companies but alas they must have been busy because I didn't even get as much as an automatic response back. Sigh. Let's look on the bright side, this little list of mine is better then Oprah's because I wasn't paid. These are truly some of my most favorite things. Yes, I admit to having champagne taste for I believe in quality; nevertheless, I tried to include something for every budget ranging from free to worth every penny. 2008 OHmommy's Favorite Things: 1. Tom Ford Sunglasses Worth every penny, let's start off with the most expensive thing on the list. It's no secret that I love accessories: shoes, jackets, sunglasses, and jewelry. This is where most of my clothing budget is spent and I make sure that I invest in classy pieces that with stand time. Tom Ford sunglasses are just that, a classy investment to compliment a sophisticated wardrobe. They do not shout BLING, look at me, I have diamonds on my shades. They are simple. Classy. Perfect. I love my shades and plan on wearing them until Fifi is in kindergarten.  2. The Cropped Jacket From Neiman Marcus to Target the cropped jacket is everywhere. It's this years must-have item except for, I have been wearing them for the past three years now. Why? Because the cropped jacket replaced my college hoodie. Much more reformed and put together. If you know me in real life, you know that my mommy uniform is a pair of jeans, a longer tee, short cropped jacket and ballet flats for day traded in for stilettos for night. This one below is from Old Navy for a whopping $25. So cute.  3. The One Hundred Nina GarciaWritten by Nina Garcia from Project Runway. The One Hundred contains "the 100 items that Nina believes will never go out of style, and that have become absolutely indispensable for any woman reaching for her own eternal fashion look." For only $21.95 you can afford to buy one for your sister, your girlfriend, AND your mother. It is a guide to pieces that every stylish woman should own. Spoiler alert!!! Close your eyes BFF and baby sis. This is the book that both my sister and best friend are getting this year.  4. Bond No. 9 NYC My husband came home from the mall this week with a handful of perfume samplings, "WHAT? What are these? I can't change my scent." People stop me everywhere and ask what it is that I am wearing. "Bond No. 9 NYC: Saks Fifth Avenue for her" and although on the pricey side this perfume is made the way perfumes were made in France, years ago. With notes of jasmine and tuberose, a heart note of gardenia, and base notes of vetiver and vanilla it smells fresh. I hope my mom is reading this right now because my bottle is nearly empty. Wink. Wink. One of the best things about purchasing a Bond No. 9 perfume is that you will receive samples of their newest scents for life.  5. CaldreaAnother one of my most favorite scents are those created by the brilliant Caldrea company. Their websites states, "Beautifully Clean, Elegantly Green" and products range from lotions and candles to stainless steel cleaners and dish soap liquid. Green Tea Patchouli, Lavender Pine, Basil Blue Sage are amongst my favorites and I often give the three-in-one sink set as gifts for house warmings. At $42 it is a perfect gift for that hard to please mother-in-law that has everything. Note: My MIL is not hard to please, but yours might be. I'm just saying. Seriously, I can't even begin to describe how lovely their scents are and if you buy one thing this year I hope that it is this. You will not be disappointed I can guarantee that much.  6. Michael Stars Tee "Why didn't you tell me about these earlier?" My friend asked me after I told her to splurge on a tee-shirt. "I thought everyone already knew about Michael Stars Tees." In case you didn't already hear of Michael Stars let me tell you why everyone should splurge on this tee: because wash after wash it always looks brand new. At $40 it will last you much longer then the 8 venti lattes at Starbucks. I have long since stopped buying $10 tees from H&M realizing I spent way more then $40 each season on shirts that frayed or washed out. At one size fits "most" it is an easy gamble for your sister that will thank you later for contributing to her wardrobe staples.  7. Skinny Jeans In college, my room mate Kelly and I swore off jeans on the weekend nights, it wasn't so classy to wear jeans. Fast forward a couple of years and no one wears anything but jeans and the styles change frequently, one day boot cut is the most fashionable and today it's the skinny jean. Stacy, of "What Not To Wear" said that skinny jeans aren't only for skinny women and wearing slimmer pants elongates your legs. "Your legs go on forever." A friend told me over the weekend while wearing jeans and stilettos. "Where did you get those?" I will admit that right now I don't want to spend hundreds on a pair of jeans because the economy sucks and I have a couple more pounds to loose. My skinny jeans are called the "Sweetheart Jean" and they fit as well as my designer jeans. For real. For only $34.50 at Old Navy treat yourself to a pair and slip on your stilettos this season. Your husband will thank me I can guarantee that much.  8. Shutterfly Photo albums If you have been to my house, chances are that you have paged through one of my albums. I take a gazillion photos each month and shutterfly makes it easy to organize my pictures into albums. I even take pictures of my children looking at their albums. My favorite is the 8.5 by 11 Classic style that starts at $29.99 of which I have 4 of waiting to be purchased in my online shutterfly cart. The site is offering 25% off albums and I found a free shipping code for orders more than $25 which is SHIP25. I have just one more album to finish up before I am up-to-date and then I can begin on making one for the in-laws for Christmas. You can see below how easy it is for me to click and drag pictures into pages. The finished product is simply nothing short of amazing.  9. FREE gift... a URL address A couple of months ago Shutterfly created their new easy-to-use journal page and offered everyone a free url address. It's a blog type format only it's fool proof and easy to use. No html codes. Add your family as members and they will get emails announcing when new photos have been added. So incredibly simple. You can create a page (I have a private password protected page) that you can share with family and friends. They can view your pictures, order prints, and leave you comments. I created, for you, an example of what the page could look like here. Visit it and make one for your family. How can you present this as a gift? Print out an 8 by 10 picture, frame it, and include a note announcing your new url address. It is so easy to use and navigate your grandmother in Iowa will thank you. 10. Jewelry I don't leave the house without earrings or a necklace. It is a habit that was formed early on in communistic East Europe when my young parents had limited funds but still pierced my infant ears with the finest grade of gold they could purchase. To keep the tradition alive, I pierced my daughter's ears as infants and hoping they will grow to love and appreciate jewelry as much as I do. If you haven't been to a Francesca’s Collection, you should. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap costume jewelry that is trendy and very durable. It is one of our most favorite places to visit at the mall where the girls and I can spend an hour in. It's like a huge closet! I frequently buy girlfriends a gift card so they too can go exploring.  11. Juicy Tube Smoothie Lip Gloss On any given day you can peak into my diaper bag and pull out half a dozen lip glosses. I might not wear a lot of make-up but I pucker up for lip gloss religiously. So much so, that Fifi now smacks her lips in unison when I re-apply. My newest favorite line is Lancome's Juicy Tube Smoothies for they transport me back to the high school days of lip smackers chap stick. They smell and taste delicious and provide enough shine to last from preschool drop-off to pick-up. At $18 it is a tad more then lip smackers but far more grown-up.  12. Nikon D40Not a week goes by without an email from a reader asking me about my camera. I always suggest the entry level Nikon D40 which has dropped in price since it entered the photography scene. Easy to use for an SLR it could almost be considered a point and shoot. I have recommended this to over a dozen people all of whom purchased it and now can not imagine life with out. Trust me, you too will love it. 13. Wooden Sled I purchased a wooden children's sled from DOMitp in Chicago years ago, because it wasn't made in China and it wasn't plastic. I can't handle filling my house with more plastic and made-in-China toys. Their website states, "Simply The Best From Poland" and I was not disappointed because my sled was the best for taking pictures of babies/toddlers in the snow. Last year, Jay pulled baby Fifi up and down our driveway while I feverishly snapped away chronicling her first winter snowfall. On sale now for $89.99 I contacted DOMitp and inquired about a giveaway. You know what? They are simply the best! They offered me ONE WOODEN SLED.  Leave me ONE comment per person before this Thursday 12am EST for your chance to win this beautiful and classy sled. Mention this on your blog and you can leave me ONE more comment doubling your chances of winning. I will announce the winner this Friday.Happy shopping you all!!! |
