obsessed! family secrets...

i really, really love knowing people's tricks, you know? i always want to hear how other families keep their household sane, smooth, and flowing! well, we have a few tricks of our own these days, i suppose, and they look a little something liiiiike this...

for the grownups...
1. goe oil - i seriously never thought i would end up splurging on this product, i really didn't! because... i'm totally not a product-splurger. but! i'd been intrigued by this stuff for sooo long, and i'm really choosy about what goes on and in my skin. so, finally, i ended up trying out a little sample-sized deal, and oh my gosh. fireworks. trumpets! people holding hands. love. love all over. all over my face, because that's where i used it! naturally, i then had to order the full-sized tube... and now, i cannot get enough of goe oil. i mean, first of all, i can't even discuss this stuff like a normal human, because i'm just sitting here thinking about how incredibly magical my face smells. second, the ingredients! it's made up of "a combination of 28 plant, fruit and flower oils and butters," lightly scented with monoi oil, which is made from the petals of tahitian gardenias soaked in coconut oil (!!!!), and great for replicating the natural oils produced by our own skin to help keep balanced. it helps keep my skin much softer when i use it, and basically i want to marry it. anyway, you can purchase it several places, but i felt like i found the best deal at madewell! and as a final word on the matter, steven said my face smelled good, so if he liked it too? done and done.
2. wine veils - so, these babies sit on top of your wine glass, all prettily and delicately, in order to protect from the diving of those little gnats that just love to swim in wine... huge and super important! because how, just how are we supposed to sit sipping our wine and thinking up genius ideas if we're busy fishing gnats out of our wine glasses every few minutes?? um, hardly possible! so nowadays, we rarely head outside without a properly veiled glass of red! so. just be expecting the genius ideas to be showing up aaaany day now!
3. mini boom - alright, this one was one of those things where my husband shows up with this guy and i'm all like, "you spent how much on what and why??" we sometimes have different views on practicality, you see. but!! i'll say now that it was money well spent. this thing puts out pretty fabulous volume for its little size, and we have used it like craaaazy all summer long! even if i'm just cooking in the kitchen, we keep it on top of the fridge, shoot a the harry connick, jr. pandora up there via bluetooth, and it almost feels like he's there, too. ;) ...almost!
4. 6 foot phone cord - life. changing! i complained about the dang short iphone cords for years, until i found this thing... and i swear to you, it has made all the difference in my super exciting night life. soooo, yes, i want to be able to flop around in my bed aaaand utilize my charging iphone, okay, and now! i can!! have cake eat, too. angels sing! aaaaaahhh. it's too easy.
for the little babeh...
5. doodle pro doodler - i totally loved my magna doodle as a little brittany. didn't we all have them, pretty much?! and then, on friends! remember how they always had it on the back of joey's apartment door? so classic! i knew we had to have one as soooon as the baby girl was old enough. and of course! it's been such a hit! she uses it on the reg. then she hands it to me and requires that i draw a bunny. with a carrot. so, you see? fun for all!
6. leveret footy pajamas - i seriously always come back to this brand of jammies, because they are so cute and soft and inexpensive! they've been perfect for us, and we always have a couple pairs on hand as maddalena grows oh so quickly through all the sizes. although, our house seems to get colder as the summer gets hotter, somehow, so some nights we have to just swing on back to the full fleece jams, but still! these are the perfect most of the time.
7. hyland's calm n restful homeopathic tablets - okay, so we all know about the teething tablets by now, sure... but hyland's has a whooole bunch more tricks up the sleeve! and these things, oooh these! these suckers have changed. sleep. around this house, iii mean to tell you. not long ago, we had a toddler who still woke up a too many times during the night, crying and flailing and all that. she has a really hard time just letting go and sleeping, and hey, i know where she gets it! i do. but it's bad enough that i'm like that, and it can be hard when i finally drift off to sleep and then she wakes up all crazy-like. but once i discovered these gems, i have yet to skip a night giving them to her, and now we are both sleeping like babies should. glooooria! and they're homeopathic, so i don't worry about the safety of using them.
8. latches board - another one of those things that just stays awesome in baby land, i think! i feel like this board of latches totally taps into the same need that gives babies that deep desire to play with cords and plugs and outlets all the time. (i mean, it's like we're just taunting babies with the outlet situation. we put them at their level and make all these things that fit inside them just perfectly.) it's real... not plastic, not pretend... and they want to know how it works. plus! there are numbers and colors and animals to go along with the whole process! :) and most importantly, safer than plugs, yaaay!
for the fluffiests...
9. the scratch lounge - this thing cracks. me. up. because cats love it!! and, okay, it's seriously an overpriced cardboard box with scratchy cardboard inside and catnip sprinkled underneath. i don't know where the magic is, really, but i read the reviews and bought it after our kitty had surgery (such a cat lady move!! i'll totally own it.), and i was desperate, absolutely desperate for her to have happiness. and! happiness she has, i believe, because she totally loves it and she spends part of the night sleeping in it every night.
10. tinkle tonic herbal tincture for dogs & cats - so, from my cat lady experience, i would venture to say that kitty peepee problems are probably theeee most common issue in cat health, right? and our cat, bless her, she had to have surgery for hers after we discovered that she had bladder stones! i mean, i didn't even know for the longest time that she was so miserable, and i am determined that she shall never be miserable again. so. any time i sense trouble in that region, i sprinkle this tinkle tonic in her food. and bam! problem solved. this stuff is amazing, and she doesn't mind it at all. also, the name of the company is animals' apawthecary, and is that so cute? gets me every time!
11. nature's miracle enzyme spray - i am always so surprised at the amount of pet owners who don't have this in their homes! i seriously don't know what i would do without it. i use it on everything. laundry, weird smells, furniture, everything. i definitely go to this stuff before i use any chemically type of product, and usually i have really good luck. but! the main reason i have this is for when poopoo peepee types of things happen, and oh, now that we have a baby?! oh, comin' in extra handy, these enzymes!
12. petthrive soft chews for dogs - our fluffy little pup isn't an old dog yet, but like many small/pure breeds, she has some joint issues. i have had her on this supplement for years, now, and it definitely helps keep her limber! it's formulated with resveratrol and hyaluronic acid to keep their little joints oiled up and movin' around. and also, it's a yummy treat! but ps. if your vet recommends this... sorry vets!! but maaaybe don't buy it from them, because it will more than likely be way more expensive if you do. (my old vet charged me double what i got it for on amazon!)

so... that's what we're workin' with over here!
party on, party people.
(or see all obsessed lists!)