BagMomma loves: The PurseSitter

I'm excited to share with you the most adorable handbag accessory find.

The PurseSitter!

What a novel idea. It's literally a stylish purse hanger for your handbag. No more putting that expensive/fragile purse on the floor of a restaurant or bar and subjecting it to gosh knows what. Ewww, let's not think about it. Not to mention the security issue of having your bag at your feet or on the back of a chair. Truth is, I've spent many evenings with my handbag on MY LAP for an entire meal because there was no way I was going to set my beloved purse on the floor.

When ChicFashion contacted me about this gem of a product, I literally jumped of my chair (really, I did). And then I oogled over the styles and colors. One to fit every woman's personality. And they are exquisitely handmade with Swarovski crystals and enamel.

My Mom, who is the purveyor of ALL things fashionable (and the 'original' BagMomma) will be getting a few of these for the holidays. Finally, a gift I know she would LOVE and doesn't have!

Please take a moment to visit the official PurseSitter site!

And start some early holiday shopping... for YOURSELF and then maybe your mom, sister, cousin, daughter, best friend, hair stylist, nail technician, babysitter, your children's teacher, etc., etc., etc. You get the idea.

Safety first!

It's almost summer, and it's that time of year for vacations and day-trips to fun family places.

Believe it or not, we have another trip planned this summer (as if our vacation last week wasn't enough!). We will be heading to Disney World in late August for our annual pilgrimage.

Now, normally I am a very easy-going Mommy in public places with my son. I give him room to roam while still keeping an intentive eye on him. But frankly, kids in theme parks can be a worrying place and downright scary, especially when the crowds are large. I mean, how many eyes can you have on your child(ren) at any given time?

I found a website with a cool idea. Actually, I first heard about this on "The View" some time ago, but I never blogged about it, so consider this a BagMomma PSA for child safety.

Who's Shoe ID is a nifty way to safeguard your child in the event of (god forbid) you lose track of them in a place like a theme park. No one likes to plan for emergencies, but I think it's a great idea to be prepared nonetheless.

Simply fill out the info and attach to your child's shoe. I plan to buy a couple myself. It's amazing how simple of an idea this is. So much easier that trying to get a four year old to memorize their address and phone number. Challenging isn't even the word for that!

Happy and safe travels my friends!

Sometimes helpless, but not always hopeless.

Let me preface this by saying, I hate technical support.

Of any kind, but especially the support from my own company I work for. We call them the Helpless Desk. Because they truly are of no help to me.

Why do I bring up such a lame topic?

I spent time with three (no, four if you count the one my husband had to call first) help desks/technical support centers this week.

Helpdesk number one. Remember the wine cellar I raved about a couple months ago? Still love it, sans the fact that it died on Sunday. No power. No chilling. It was in our house for a mere six weeks. Hubby was the lucky guy to call tech support that day. After 30 minutes (are you SURE it doesn't work???) duh!, they decided to replace it and ship us a new one. Hubby said dude on the line was surprisingly helpful.

Helpdesk number two. Remember my most favoritest coffee machine E-V-E-R? I blogged about it in February. I've used it every day since then. It's as close as you can get to loving an inanimate object. Guess what?? It died on Tuesday. I cried because I was just about to brew a cup of French Roast. I was insanely pissed. I called the help people for Keurig. They were nice, and knew I was in coffee withdrawal (so I didn't even have to get jiggy with them, lol, they were super sweet- that sure deflated my anger). They sent a replacement for my unit yesterday. I still love you Keurig.

Helpdesk number three. I bought a portable GPS unit over the holidays. It's really nice, and I love the fact that it is portable. We were excited to use it this weekend as we trek 750 miles to S.C. So, as any proactive person would do, I tried to update the maps in preparation for our trip. The boneheads who developed this product shipped it with an SD card with only 512MB capacity. The map and software already on the card reaches that capacity. You can't download a map without having a map already installed....So, how do you add a new map with no space?
I go and buy a new 2GB SD card. I load it, and GPS doesn't like it. So I call tech support, which informs me i can't use a card with more than 1GB. whaaaat? 4 hours later, my TomTom was fixed and ready to go with the new maps, after being on the phone troubleshooting with their Level 1 and 2 people. But they were really nice. Overly nice. So nice I can't complain that I spent most of my day yesterday with them.

So, I take it back.

Not all helpdesks are worthless. In fact, occasionally you run into very nice people who still believe in customer service. I was both surprised and strangely impressed.

Now if my own company could just straighten itself out. Do you think the nice TomTom guy can fix my wireless issues?

The upside to not being pregnant, yup there is one...

Wine.

In copious amounts. Preferably red, or my favorite Riesling. I don't discriminate. As long as it doesn't come in a box, that's alright with me.

Now, don't get any ideas in your pretty little head. I am definitely a social drinker "on-occasion". I'm not swilling the bottle every night (although lately, the thought has crossed my mind, lol). I like to indulge in a new bottle on the weekends. After 2-3 glasses I am pretty much shot anyway (cheap date, sue me). Nevertheless, I do like wine, and recently I have also converted hubby to wine as well.

We just recently cleaned out the unfinished side of our basement, and for the first time since we moved here 7 years ago, we finally have everything in order. In fact, we did such a good job cleaning the unfinsihed half, I am now wishing we finished more of the good side.

Anyhoo, the reason I mention this is our basement has served as our wine cellar. I had a couple assorted wine racks for the reds (because we mostly buy red), and a couple bottles of white that usually end up in the basement fridge to chill.

I always wanted a wine cellar, on it's own. I don't know why we never bought one, we just didn't. Of course once hubby declares himself a wine connoisseur, we certainly need one now. [my eyes are rolling]

My BIL (brother-in-law) D. bought a nice one we liked for $250 over the holidays. It's tall, rather than boxy, and we liked it since it would fit nicely in the corner. He got his at Home Depot on-line, but he got it at a good time when it was on sale with free shipping. So we waited, and waited. A couple days ago, I decide, gosh darn it, I want one.

I went to pricegrabber.com, typed in the product name and model. And, viola! one came up for $129, no sales tax, $9 shipping.

whaaaaaaaat?????

Back it up.

So, I am thinking... could this price be real? Is it really the same, exact wine cellar? Is it used, I mean, what the heck.....?!? How could the price be that low? It's a scam, right?

We think, what the hell, it's not like we are buying the Hope Diamond for crying out loud. What do we have to lose?

We ordered it on Sunday, and Tuesday morning, UPS man brought me my wine cellar.

Hubby was still unconvinced. We figured we'd open it and the door would be shattered, or there would be a foul stench upon opening the door. Or there would be a note inside that would exclaim "gotcha!" with a couple bricks.



Nope. It was p-e-r-f-e-c-t.

So, now, along with my other newest appliance that I love (my Keurig coffee maker), I now have a new love, the Haier Thermal Electric Wine Cellar.

God bless you pricegrabber.com

The best of: David TV

What is a three year old toddler watching these days on TV?

My son is the conoisseur of the PBS Kids Sprout channel. He's a cartoon snob, can't get him to watch Nick Jr or Disney anymore, it's all about PBS.

Here is a list of his favorites he likes to watch as he sits back with this "2007 Reserve" cup of Apple Juice:

Kipper: He's a dog with friends, and an annoyingly cute theme song.

Fireman Sam: What's life without firetrucks? David has been watching this show the longest. Interesting viewing for parents who always wondered what's going on in Wales. Apparently, the world revolves around Sam and an Italian restaurant (go figure). Let's not forget Norman's Mom who looks AND sounds suspiciously like Dana Carvey's Church Lady (from SNL)... or a cross-dressing George Bush.

Caillou: ah yes, the ever-present Caillou. I think I know all 50 episodes by heart. Poor sister Rosie is always pushed off to the side while Caillou whines to his parents on each episode. What is with this family? At least the cat, Gilbert, Rexy the Dinosaur, and Teddy (the bear) offer mild entertainment between sketches.

Coffee/tea addicts rejoice!

My Mom gave me the best appliance gift I have EVER received last week (lord knows I needed it), and I am dying to tell you about it.

The Keurig Platinum B70 Brewer

Quite possibly the best invention and coffee/tea maker I've ever had. Freaking amazing!! And for those of you who know me, I take my coffee brewing very seriously.

It makes one cup on demand (of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc). A hot cup! And, you use these little mini k-cups (sorta like the pod thingies). They are so convenient, and easy to setup. I love the fact that you get the high intensity burst of steam at the end of the brew cycle, so if you add your milk/cream prior to brewing in the cup, it froths the top.

Mimimum cleanup!
Maximum Freshness!

And, I bought my own k-cup whatchmajiggle, so I can use my own favorite beans (currently Trader Joe's French Roast) to make a steaming hot cup of coffee. Which is so much better than some of the other one-cup machines which don't allow you to use anything besides k-cups or pods.

This is a must buy, especially for the work at home mommies and daddies who don't have time to haul ass to the local coffeeshop for a decent cup of coffee.

Buy one, you won't regret it....

Mmm Mmm Good

In case you've been living under a rock, you need to know that it is the season once again for Girl Scout Cookies. Hallelujah!

Buy an extra box of Thin Mints for me... will you? Don't let me be embarassed that I have probably bought more Thin Mints than any customer so far.

A BagMomma food favorite

Behold, Trader Joe's Bruschetta.

Probably the best jar bruschetta I've tasted. If you love tomatoes, garlic, and spices, you gotta get this stuff. And, surprise! it's actually good for you!

Frighteningly good with Trader Joe's whole wheat bagel crisps.

The only drawback is you probably should brush your teeth afterwards, and maybe guzzle some mouthwash. It has a lot of lingering garlic that may scare anyone you co-habitate with.

Totally worth it though!

What's BagMomma been up to?

Well, I've not had much time to lurk in my usual places or post here because this week has been a busy one.

Hubby is home on vacation, so inbetween my work, we've been taking the little guy on some short trips to get in the festive spirit.

Last evening we went to StoryBook Land. Now, for you Philly/Jersey folks, you probably know it well. It's a mighty cute themepark designed for toddlers- just outside Atlantic City, NJ.

Around the holidays, they light the whole place up.. the landscaping, the rides... and they even have some fake snow machines to dust the park with snow.

We picked to go on a Thursday night thinking the crowds would be a lot less than the weekends, and it was really nice.

The only downside to the night was I couldn't get very good pictures because it was sooooo foggy, the camera couldn't handle it.

If you live in the DE,PA, NJ, NY area- I highly suggest it. Lots of fun and merriment abound.

Candied apples, and other appley things

I love apples, and I LOVE apple season. Here in the Northeast, we grow a lot of apples. When Fall comes around, you can never be far from a dessert based on an apple. Are you hungry?



Here is a sampling of my favorite apple treats:

Candied/Caramel Apples:
Nothing beats a candied apple or a caramel apple. If you don't live near a farm market where you can buy a good one, check out Mrs. Prindable's online.
This stuff is amazing, and tastes as good as it looks. Think of... an apple with your favorite candy bar in one bite! I buy these by the truckload for the holiday and give out as gifts.
http://www.mrsprindables.com


Apple Cider Donuts:
I live near a fabulous farm market.... Duffield's, in Sewell, NJ... http://www.duffieldsfarm.com/

but if you can get there or don't want to make them from home, buy 'em:
http://www.deliciousorchardsnj.com/order-donuts.html


Apple Butter:
Way better than jelly! My favorite is available at:
http://www.wolfermans.com/

A perfect cup of coffee

I have another obsession which, at times, becomes expensive and ridiculous to some. Coffee. In all forms: hot, iced, caffeinated, decaffeinated, with whole milk, non-fat milk, soy. Be it a regular cup of coffee, a latte, a capuccino from Starbucks or the multitude of other coffee chains.... or a lovely cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee (no sugar please!) It's all a good thing.
I get downright grumpy if I pass thru a drivethru for coffee and it's not made by my specifications. I guess I am a coffee snob. If I mistakenly get sugar in my coffee, I will go out of my way to return it and drive out of my way for a replacement cup. When I need to budget on occasion, I will go without anything to keep my coffee. I just ordered 3 lbs. of beans from Peets a couple days ago, and I am anxiously awaiting the Fedex man to bring my fix for the weekend. Hubby likes coffee too (not to the extent that I do), but he indulges my habit by driving me to various coffee places when we are bored. He's a sweetie isn't he? David even drinks his juice from a Starbucks mug, he calls it his "coffee", just like Mommy drinks. Am I creating a future coffee connoisseur?