My Favorite Things #4

Every March, the Girl Scout Cookies get delivered. Oh how I love Girl Scout Cookies. As a side note, I was the biggest cookie seller in my Brownies troop. Two years ago, I discovered Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream. Now, I'm not a huge ice cream fan. I like my fair share of soft serve cones, but otherwise it's just a dessert. But I have found my VERY FAVORITE ICE CREAM of all. Thin Mint Cookie Ice Cream. It is a chocolate mint ice cream. BOTH chocolate and mint. Then it has thin mint cookies crushed up in it. They get all chewy and kind of taste like a mint brownie. Oh it's good stuff. Two years ago I was thrilled to discover it, and bought a half gallon of it each time I saw it at the store. Then the "limited time only" expired and I had to wait for the next year. Last year, I bought the first half gallon I saw only to be disappointed that it was merely chocolate ice cream with the cookies in it. Good, but not delectable. Later that season I saw a half gallon that was white mint ice cream with the cookies in it. I didn't even bother purchasing. I wrote Dreyer's Ice Cream a mild complaint in the form of the question "is there anywhere I can buy it with chocolate mint ice cream this year?!?" They sent me a coupon for a free half gallon of ice cream which I gave to the neighbor boys when they watched Miriam one day while I went to pick Brent up from work. I'm sure they enjoyed it. But no response to my chocolate mint ice cream question. This year, however, the Thin Mint Cookie Ice Cream has chocolate mint ice cream in it! HALLELUJAH! What joy! Brent wondered how much of the proceeds the Girl Scouts get from the Dreyer's ice cream sales. Whatever it is, add it to the cookie sales they get each year they've got to be making a decent profit. After purchasing a $5 Scout-a-Rama ticket from the same neighbor boy who got our ice cream coupon last year, Brent decreed that the Boy Scouts need some help. I'm just going to stick to my ice cream.

My Favorite Things #3

For years, cleaning the bathroom has been my least favorite household chore. It felt like no matter how hard or how long I scrubbed, it would never really get clean. I tried all sorts of different tub and toilet cleaners, and was disappointed in each one. Then one day I was talking with Erin about mopping floors, and she said that she absolutely loves her "Scrubbee Doo" mop from the Don Aslett cleaning place. She also suggested their Johnny Mop cleaner for the toilet. I went online and found that there was a new Don Aslett store in South Jordan. One fun day, I went in and purchased the Scrubbee Doo Pro, along with the Johnny Mop and Safety Foam. I also threw in some microfiber towels and the Bathroom Cleaning Kit. My Scrubbee Doo is amazing. Cleaning the floors has never been so easy and effective. The Safety Foam is a great toilet cleanser and the Johnny Mop a fantastic toilet brush. But I was most excited about the Bathroom Cleaning Kit for the tub and shower. It came with "Showers-n-Stuff" (the cleanser), a foaming nozzle, a big white scrubber, and a grout brush. I love how easy it makes it to have a bright, sparkling clean tub. You spray the cleanser on with the foaming nozzle, then spread it all around with the white scrubber. Let it sit for five minutes or so, then rinse it off using the scrubber dipped in clean water. If you have a tiled tub area like me, you can use the grout brush to clean between the tiles before you rinse it all off. I have never had anything get my tub area as clean as it is now with my Bathroom Cleaning Kit. And not only is it cleaner than it ever has been, it is easier to get it that way than with anything else I've ever tried. I love the way that my tub and shower area look, and that's not something I've said often. To get your own, go to http://www.cleanreport.com/, or to a Don Aslett Cleaning Center, which are in Idaho Falls, Boise, Pocatello, and Nampa, Idaho, or Logan and South Jordan, Utah. You will not be disappointed. Liberate yourself from soap scum and experience the freedom of a truly easy clean bathroom!

My Favorite Things #2

Thing number two in my "My Favorite Things" series is a website called "The Cosmetics Cop" by a company called "Paula's Choice." A lady named Paula Begoun has studied, analyzed, tested, and critiqued thousands of skin care and makeup products as well as their ingredients. She then rates the product as to whether it works according to its claims, whether there is an ingredient that will actually hurt your skin, and whether it's priced too high for what it does. You can go to her site and look up what her diagnosis is for most makeups and skin care products. She also has her own line of makeup and skin care products. I use and love her daily cleaner, her moisturizer with sunscreen, and her extra strength blemish fighing solution. I don't always agree with her (she doesn't rate my eyeliner pencil very high, but I can't find another I like better). But I always check what she has to say about certain companies or products before I make a purchase. You can read what she has to say at cosmeticscop.com. Empower yourself!

My Favorite Things #1

I have very fair skin and have spent a long time learning to love it and to quit pining over the fact that I will never have summer-fun-beach-lover skin. I also have a history of skin cancer, so I generally stay away from sun exposure unless I am wearing a thick coat of sunscreen. In fact, if I were ever crowned Miss America, my platform would be WEAR SUNSCREEN. As much as I have embraced my fair skin, it's harder to embrace blindingly white legs. So much so that I have in the past avoided wearing capris or skirts without nylons unless I have some sunless tanner on them. My experience with sunless tanners is that you must apply it very carefully once every 5 or so days. Too often and your skin gets orangy, not often enough and it's awfully pale. The application consisted of exfoliation, especially around the knees and ankles, careful application, waiting for a half hour for it to dry before putting any clothes on it, and hoping for the best 24 hours later when the color shows up. It takes a long time and you have one shot for it to work. If it doesn't, you have to figure out how to take it off (which is a whole process of its own) and start all over again. Plus, if you want to wear a skirt NOW, it's not very effective. I for one am very excited to report that all of that has changed! Jergens now has a Daily Moisturizer lotion called "Natural Glow." If you haven't discovered this, you're in for a treat! I love it because it is a daily thing... you don't have to set aside a chunk of time once a week. It's just a lotion, so there's no worries about streaking or sliding. You can put your pants on right over it, you don't have to wait for it to dry. You can reapply it every day so if you miss a section one day, it'll be covered the next. I discovered this last year and I LOVE it. It has completely changed my summer wardrobe. In fact, in February when it was barely 30 degrees outside, I was already wearing capris! I love this stuff!