I thought it might be fun to share a couple of things I am loving right now. Some momma-indulgences that have made me very happy. As a side note - NO, no one is paying me to say nice things about these products. I bought them myself and I happily share my thoughts with you all.
1) My Henkaa dresses
Anyone who follows me on twitter or Instagram has probably seen me raving about these. But this little Canadian company has truly impressed me and I am all too happy to support them. The idea behind the company is simple - do more with less. They started with one style of dress that could be worn a hundred (yes, a HUNDRED) different ways and now they have several different styles based on the same philosophy.
I bought my first one (the Sakura Midi) to wear as a bridesmaid dress for my best friends wedding last week. Unfortunately, I bought it back in December so I had 8 months of torture where I could play with it and learn it, but didn't want to wear it until the big day! I eded up wearing with a crinoline that day and had so much fun dancing in that full circle skirt.
Then, I realized I was going to need another dress for my brother in law's wedding the weekend before the bridesmaid wedding...and I leapt onto the Henkaa site to buy one of their newer offerings - the Iris dress. This one was quite different than the Sakura in that it has SLEEVES! You'd think it might limit the possibilities but it really doesn't. I wore it a couple of different ways for that wedding and I can see myself wearing it for work a fair bit.
This week, I got my third Henkaa - the Ivy. This one is a bit more casual and I got it in black to maximize its potential. It is supposed to arrive today or tomorrow so I may edit later with a pic.
These dresses are so flattering and a real steal, considering all of the possibilities. I own a few convertible/infinity dresses and I do have to say that the fabric that Henkaa uses is so soft and luxurious. Most importantly is that they are a quality item that is built to last. With these three dresses - I may not need to buy anything more for a very long time.
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2) M by Staples Arc discbound notebook system
As I quickly approach the "mom of kindergarteners" stage of my life - I have been having this overwhelming feeling of needing to get organized. I use Cozi as an online family calendar, but lately have been finding that some things haven't been saving and that it isn't as convenient as it once was. On a lark, I stumbled into Staples to take a look at the Filofaxes...and grabbed a lovely little binder from that aisle...only to turn a corner and have my curiosity piqued.
If you've never heard of a discbound notebook before - like I hadn't - these are a really neat concept. Instead of binder rings that you snap open and closed (and, like me, inevitably end up with them sprung and leaking) a discbound notebook contains discs that the papers clip onto. This means you can easily move pages around by just tugging out a page and moving it to where you want it. There are several different systems out there but most are interchangable.
The thing I love best, though, is that the sizing was full letter sized and junior - which is half of a letter sized sheet - making it easy to find printables online. I bought a junior sized book with a leather cover and have been having a ball customizing my little notebook. Also - if you find it getting a bit too big for its britches - you can just buy a larger set of discs and move the pages over.
There are tons of printables available online, but I found a coil bound academic planner to start with and took the coils off and repunched it to fit the discbound system. Inexpensive and workable for my needs.
I see this system evolving for me, but I already love how I can print off an activity calendar from my school or dayhome, fold it in half, punch it and pop it into my book. Now maybe my kids will be where they should be WHEN they should be.
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3) Sally Hansen Home Gel Nail Kit
I'll be completely honest here - I don't think it matters what brand of kit you get. There are a trillion different systems. I happened to get this one for a good price and ran with it, but I am not married to the Sally Hansen product line. I have been using it with an assortment of brands.
If you have never had a gel manicure, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. I know I did. Then, I did a little research and it seriously sounded like the answer to my prayers. Or at least to the problem of my constantly breaking nails!
You see, I love nail polish. But I hate the fuss. I hate painting everything up and then messing up one nail as they are drying. I hate the layers. Most of all - I hate the chips.
With gel - the polish cures under the LED light and is dry and ready to go as soon as you're done. No more dry-time smudges. And the polish last chip-free for at least a week and even then - the chips aren't devastating and can usually be lived with for two. I did have the polish on one nail start to peel a few days in, but I smoothed it down and did another top coat layer on it and after it cured - I got another week on the manicure.
The home kit lets me have some fun with my nails and not have it end up wasted time. In the end - think it probably takes the same amount of time for the actual polishing but with no final dry time - it feels like I am done significantly quicker.
Removal is a bit trickier, since you have to soak the polish off in 100% acetone remover, but I bought a great little remover kit at Walmart for around $8 that had these foil wraps in it and the polish just lifts right off in about 5-10 mins. Easy peasy. I do find I need to give my nails a break between manicures, but a couple of days of moisturizing helps keep my nails from drying too bad from the removal process. Those days suck, though, because I am back to my thin weak nails until I can polish again.
I've had my kit about a month and am loving having indestructible nails most of the time.
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4) Frixion erasable pens by Pilot
I literally stumbled onto these pens in an art supply store a few months ago and didn't even realize what I had. I just wanted a pen!
Then, I forgot about it and pulled it out again just recently when I found it in the bottom of my purse! WHAT? Erasable? and without an actual eraser on them?!?!?
Having lived through the paper-mate not-quite-erasable pens of the nineties, I was blown away by these. They are gel pens and instead of an eraser, they have a little nylon nub on the end that erases the marks like magic. The ink is thermo-sensitive so the heat of the friction is what does the erasing. You don't even need to press very hard and, when erased, there is hardly a ghost that writing was ever there!
Even better - they not only make pens but also highlighters and markers!
I paid far too much for the first pen in this line, but they carry them at Walmart for a more reasonable price.
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So there's a few of the non-running things I've been indulging myself with lately. I expect I'll be spending the rest of my money outfitting my kids for school but it was nice to have some treats to play with over the summer.
What treats have you bought for yourself lately? Share in the comments :)