When my husband and I bought our beautiful, then-74 year old house, the windows (all 43 of them!) were the original, wavy-paned,wooden-framed windows.  A good number of the windows on our second floor refused to open, which meant that they couldn't be cleaned properly.  And all the windows had all the insulative properties of Swiss cheese!  During our first winter in the...

This adorable book and elf set were all the rage in my town last year just after Thanksgiving, so I got one for my kids, who were 6 and 8 at the time.  The book details the story of scout elves, who are sent by Santa to watch over children by day and report back to the North Pole each night regarding the children's behavior.  The elves arrive from the North Pole shortly after Than...

After listening to my daughter beg for a My Twinn Doll for what seemed like ages, I finally gave in and ordered one for her.  The idea is simple:  you request a doll in the likeness of your child, right down to the eye color, skintone, face shape, and hairstyle.  You can even request tiny details like freckles and beauty marks to match your child's.  You fill out the for...

It was time to buy my son a new winter coat, so we headed to Kohl's to scout for options.  We found this great, sporty jacket, which is actually 3 jackets in one.  There is the weather-resistant outer shell with the removable hood.  This can be worn alone or with its zip-in fleece liner, which can also be worn by itself.  Options?  LOVE 'em!  So far, so goo...

My husband and I have used Behr paint to decorate all the rooms in our house.  Behr offers a HUGE selection of colors and finishes (and the ability to custom-match any color by bringing a 2" sample to any Home Depot store).  We tend to favor the eggshell finish, which is more forgiving of our 80-year old home's imperfections.  Although it's relatively inexpensive com...

Because this set included so many pieces for such little money, I didn't really expect much in the way of quality.  But I needed new knives for my kitchen, so I decided to give these a shot.  I have to say that I really underestimated their quality!  These knives are exactly what I needed.  This set includes a paring knife, utility knife, boning knife, bread kn...

My family and I switched from Comcast cable to Verizon FiOs TV in late January.  The package we selected includes 4 boxes, each with its own remote control.  After nearly 10 years with Comcast, this unwieldy new remote took a bit of getting used to, but I was finally starting to know my way around this alien device, and then -- BAM!  Before the end of March, t...

I bought this high end, "salon quality" curling iron in the hopes that it would give me well-defined, long-lasting curls.  It delivered that much, and not much more, thanks to the "clipless" design of the curling iron.  The instructions say to position the hair near the scalp at the base of the curling iron and wrap the hair around the iron, moving toward the tip o...

I have to be up front and say that I am not normally a person who looks for homeopathic remedies of any sort.  But a few years ago, my kids' pediatrician suggested that I might want to keep a bottle of Similasan earache drops in my house, just in case a suspected ear infection popped up and I couldn't get the kids to the doctor right away.  He is a very well respected physicia...

American Girl offers this great, young-girl-appropriate fragrance at Bath & Body Works stores and at the Bath & Body Works site.  I bought it for my 14 year old niece, and she uses it every day now.  It's a great fragrance for a tween or a teen, because it contains notes of fresh gardenia, pear, and sweet jasmine...nothing too "grown up" or overpowering. Alt...

Building my savings has never been easy...there's always something popping up to make demands on my hard-earned money!  But with their Keep the Change savings program, Bank of America has made it easier for me to put money away and earn interest without really feeling a pinch from it!  This program requires only a Bank of America Checking account with a companion Savings account.&...

When I got my 8 year old son these Crocs for Christmas, I wasn't even sure he would wear them, since he's pretty particular about what he wears.  But my daughter and I are such huge Crocs fans that I thought they were worth a shot.  I liked the idea that they would be light and comfortable, and their antimicrobial (read: non-stink forming!) material was a definite bonus.&...

My husband and I initially got an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) when we bought our house nearly five years ago.  Since the adjustment period was approaching, we decided to refinance to a 30-year fixed rate before the rate was adjusted for us.  We were still toying with the names of different lenders from whom we could solicit quotes when we got a call from our current mortgage lender...

I thought that this inexpensive shredder would be just the thing to help me manage the constant flow of papers that my house is flooded with.  I wasn't looking for something that would cross-cut cardboard sheets or shred 20 pieces of paper at a time.  Just a good, solid little shredder that could sit unobtrusively under my desk at home and be available whenever I needed it.At...

You have not had a truly wonderful night's sleep until you've slept on these luxurious sheets!  The high thread count and combed cotton mean that these sheets are silky soft and comfortable against your skin.  No pilling, no scratchiness!  My husband laughed at me when I told him how incredible these sheets would be to sleep on.  And then he tried them for himse...

Anyone who loves displaying framed photos in their home will love these beautiful wood picture frames by Burnes of Boston.  There is a frame available for nearly any size and configuration of photos, including several different collage options to choose from.  The frames are solidly constructed of wood....no resin wood-wanna-be's here!  There are also several colors to choose...

Anyone who knows me is aware what a full-fledged beauty product junkie I am.  I'll try anything once...sometimes twice!  Cosmetics, moisturizers, hair products...I love it all!  So while flipping TV channels one day, I stopped long enough to watch a demo of Toni Brattin's Tan Secret on HSN.  I sat through Toni applying this tinted self-tanning gel on the pasty white ...

While shopping in Kohl's one day, I came across this adorable 3-piece swimsuit that I knew my daughter would love.  The set included the tankini top, a boyshort bottom and a more traditional scoop bikini bottom.  It was priced right, so I scooped it up!  The top of the suit is a color-blocked black and pink tankini with a hibiscus screenprinted on the front and an allove...

Yep...you read that right: this product rates a big fat ZERO!  I really wanted to like this battery-operated eyelash curler.  The beauty product junkie in me loved the idea of a heated eyelash curler.  It stands to reason that lashes curled using heat would curl easily and stay curled longer, right?  Well, I gave it more than a fair try, but this may well be one of the worst...

My hairstylist recommended this hairspray to me during one of my salon visits.  She knows that I like to use hairspray as I style my hair, but don't like the feeling of having sticky or crunchy hair.  Paul Mitchell bills this product as a hairspray with crunch-free, flexible memory, and I am happy to report that their claim is true!  This product has been touted by magazines ...