Seven Products For 2007

I decided late in 2006 to step out of the incredibly cliched role of the harried housewife who puts herself last and take better care of me. I’ve never had trouble carving out time for myself but carving out money for myself has been a problem.
Last week I spent the equivalent my weekly food budget having my eyebrows done (plucked and not waxed! Far superior according to my eyebrow girl) and my hair cut (just 5 weeks after the last cut). How it hurt me to turn over that money, but I think I could live on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a couple months if it means a well placed arch and a precision cut.
So following this theme I’d like to share the 7 products I predict I will be unable to live without (even though that money could go to dozens of other things….like pasta and toilet paper) in 2007.

1. iPhone.
Logan was between jobs last week and I played up the fact that I earned more than him for 7 whole days. The only time in my life this has been true. The other day while I worked at the library Logan emailed me to say, “Oh my God! Are you watching the Steve Jobs keynote?”
I wrote back, “Nerd. No, some of us are employed and can’t just watch Steve Jobs all day.”
But then later that night we climbed into bed, fired up the computer and watched it together while cuddling. That’s when it happened, I fell in love with the iPhone (also: reached new levels of nerd-ness). I’m not the only one either.

2. Superhero Necklace
I bought myself a Superhero necklace as a belated birthday gift for myself. A gift for myself after I’d insisted my husband not bother with a gift for me. “I’m a martyr darling, I don’t need anything!” (Barf). On that birthday I came to a conclusion about myself and it changed the course of things for me. (I realized how much I needed to take care of myself.) Since that time I’ve made some small changes which have meant a lot to me. I am my very own superhero. Maybe I’ll buy another, you know, just to see what happens!

3. L’Occitane Eau des Vanilliers
I stood at the cutest little shop, Clarkston General, in a small town north of us for about 35 minutes debating purchasing this perfume. It was just $8. But $8 for a small tin of perfume? Oh no. I can’t do it. Not when I could buy 28 cans of black beans for that same price. Smelling good vs. incredible amounts of low fat protein and fiber? When I smell my wrist it’s worth taking all that protein and fiber out of my kid’s diet. Believe me.

 

4. Elephant (or Anteater)(or Rhinoceros) Bottle Opener
This is not something I’ll buy for myself but it’s the best gift idea so I’ll be spending many dollars on it. An elephant bottle opener, use the underside to twist off caps and the trunk to pop off your caps. Max pointed out it could be an anteater or, when you flip it over, it looks like a rhinoceros.

My friends bought it for us at Christmas after seeing it at Mighty Goods and I love it’s compact size, clever design and (SURPRISE!) the small price tag. New gift for everyone. “Happy Sixth Birthday TJ! Enjoy this elephant bottle opener!” Kids like soda.

5. Gap Curvy Bootcut Jeans
A few months ago I went to The Gap and found all the clothes I was wearing in the mid 90’s when I was 30 pounds lighter (also lighter by about 290 pounds in the form of two cats, a son, a daughter and a husband). I started to feel like the Gap had it out for me. I don’t want to make any assumptions but it certainly seemed like The Gap hated me and wanted me to forever be unhappy in unflattering skinny pants.

I never did anything to you The Gap! I don’t know what your problem is. I only wanted to love you and you repay me with skinny jeans? You know what? You are a jerk.

But then I had a gift card and I tried the Curvy bootcut jeans on a whim because NOTHING else in the store was going to be even marginally flattering. They fit and I loved them. The cut is low enough to avoid that ‘Mom Jeans’ look but cut curvy enough to prevent my underwear from showing when I bend over. I also love the wide waist band at the top, it prevents the dreaded ‘Muffin Top’.

I’ve been wearing those curvy bootcut jeans since October about 4 days a week, if you amortize the purchase so far I’ve spent $1.05 per wear on these jeans and for someone as cheap as myself this is nearly perfect. Even better I bought myself another pair in a smaller size. Hooray!

6. Table Topics (Family Edition)
When I talked about family dinner night someone pointed me to Table Topics. I didn’t include it in my post because I just couldn’t imagine Table Topics being that great. However, this year while shopping for Christmas gifts I saw it at a shop in town and after reading some of the questions I thought it would be a way to make our dinner conversations more interesting. So far we’ve had dozens of great conversations and I hope we’ll be able to keep it going as our kids get older. There is nothing I dread more than the grunting teenager at my dinner table.

7. Parking Meter Alarm
In August of 2006, I decided I’d had enough of ‘convenience fees’ when buying tickets online. So when I needed to purchase tickets to a baseball game I decided to drag the kids to the box office in Detroit. I saved myself a whopping $10 on this purchase by driving downtown to get the tickets. Then, still proud of myself for sticking it to the man and avoiding that ridiculous fee, I left the car on the street and forgot to feed the meter. Detroit may have problems with removing their trash but they are very good at giving parking tickets. A $30 ticket while trying to save myself $10.

I am brilliant.

It would be a better story if this was a one time occurence but it’s not. Just ask my husband how many times his head has exploded upon seeing yet another parking ticket on the dashboard of my car. (Approximately 89 times in the last 9.5 years we’ve been married.) The Parking Meter Alarm I originally saw at Mighty Goods (“Hooray For Stuff!”) is next up on my ‘Must Have List’ because I never have change, am incapable of keeping track of how long I have in the meter and my husband’s head just can’t keep exploding like this.

What products will you be using or purchasing this year….even if it means giving up toilet paper? (Though, hopefully you’re exaggerating.)