1. Philosophy Tinted Moisturizer – I wear practically 0 makeup. It doesn't seem to work for my skin and it takes away precious minutes from the scant sleep I do get, so this and some lip-gloss are about it for me. It's very light, not greasy and sort of evens everything out. Also SPF 15 – very important.
2. My Bag – I have been loving on my Sherpani Lily bag for a long time now. It is very cute and it holds everything I need – a lot of stuff. I tote around all of the normal purse essentials (including water bottle) as well as my DS, work papers and sometimes my netbook. On the weekends and evenings I drop in a diaper and bottle and a few wipes for the kids. I also recently acquired a KEEN Twenty-six, which is about the same size (a bit bigger) and I am loving it too. I also have to give props to my two favorite weekender bags: Sherpani Meridian and LeSportsac Large Weekender
3. Heart Rate Monitor – I have the cute green FT40 from Polar and I love it. It tracks workout time, heart rate and calories burned and holds those workouts for review. You can download the data to your computer as well.
4. ING Direct – ING Direct allows you to open an unlimited number of accounts with them and transfer in $$ automatically. So we have about 8 different accounts, all ear-marked for different purposes (Christmas, kids' college, etc.) that we automatically add to on a monthly basis. It takes the discipline out of saving money.
5. Etsy – From jewelry to amazing artwork for our house to gifts for loved ones, I always love to turn to Etsy to find something fun and unique. It's also great to support independent artists … and I get packages in the mail!
6. Netbook – I am digging on my baby computer. It is light and nice to carry around the house and perfect for web surfing and looking at recipes in the kitchen. We also use it to Skype with family in Nashville and it is the perfect size for Tabby (though I notice ASUS now carries a Disney princess netbook). Also love it for on-the-go at the gym or (theoretically anyhow) a coffee shop.
7. Squeezebox – two (really?) Christmases ago, Matt and I gave each other a Logitech Squeezebox. It has been one of the best purchases we've ever made. It brings your MP3 collection from your computer to your stereo system. It also plays internet radio like Pandora. Super simple and works great.
8. Ceramic Planer – I bought this ceramic planer (a small hand-held scraping/planing tool) on a suggestion from some blog I read and I've always been glad I did. It's made of ceramic and is very gentle on surfaces (unlike a metal blade) and it will take up just about anything off the surfaces in our house without damaging them.
9. Nikon D200 – This sucker was pricey, but I have loved it. I hardly want to be bothered with a point-and-shoot. The best thing about it is its lighting fast response. I hardly ever miss a cute shot because of camera delay. I also love having a variety of lenses to play with.
10. Eat.Shop.Denver – I love this little guide of locally owned, off the-beaten-path shops and eateries. It is fun to try out new places and we've found some of our favorites in this cool little guide. Guides are also available for many major metropolitan areas (NYC, San Fran, DC, KC, Seattle, LA). And I will be picking up guides for my fave cities as I get back to traveling more.
11. I also love comments … so delurk! It's national delurking day, or so I'm told.
Not that raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens and and such aren't great …