Behooved to share my shopping feat....

Does it make sense if I say we're not impulse shoppers but we follow our impulses shopping? Our wills are made of the strongest material, a woven fabric of consciousness embedded with practicality, innate frugality and a layer of realism glued down with common sense.
Hence the reason I can stand in a backed up checkout line at the super market and not only look at the rows of candy but actually not WANT any of it. Candy bars schmandy bars, don't need em or want em. I fully realize that my confidence is shored up by the very foundation of some damn good 70% dark chocolate at home....but still. Pretty impressive huh?
We don't buy gum, we don't buy magazines and sometimes we walk down the cookie aisle and talk about checking to see if they have any good organic fruit this week....and our eyes don't even dart to the side, nor does drool drip from our lips. And I really mean it this time, not a drop of drool dampens the store floor...not a drop.
We can go to a department store and while we do enjoy browsing and meandering our way amongst the shelves and aisles, we don't randomly throw bits of "gots to haves its, really needs its or ohhhhhh mine mines!" in to the cart all willy nilly.
Because we are not impulse shoppers.
I have said it before and there's no one I like better to quote than myself so I shall say it again....(plus some things like coffee, sunset gazing and brownie baking are worth repeating) I like making purchases when I've had time to read reviews. Things are just better when 376 other people have already agreed that it is.
Also we like to comparison shop, we like to see if THOSE highball glasses are really the BEST highball glasses, if THAT book is available on Half.com or if there's a recipe for something so I can make it from scratch instead of store bought.
I know, we're crazy people huh.....neck deep in web links, tabs and bookmarks for anything that strikes our fancy. NASA probably doesn't put as much thought into their astronaut socks as we do into our grapefruit seed extract.
Like I said we're NOT impulse shoppers...........BUT......(I just love big buts)
BUT, we follow our impulses. Which is to say that should it strike our fancy to make some homemade bread we will pop out and purchase the necessary ingredients on a spur of the moment whim, we will grab the latest Wii video game that we were lusting after AND make no apologies for sampling Häagen-Dazs' newest flavour (Fleur de Sel caramel ice cream) when we see it at the store.
At times there's almost a psychic quality to our impulses, never have I had any buyer's remorse that I can recall. There are times when my sweetie and I will pause in front a box of wine glasses on a busy Target aisle and just KNOW, those are OUR wine glasses. A quick look we share, words need not be spoken and in to the cart it goes. It's not impulse shopping, it's following the psychic impulse to buy what's really already ours....just a few minor details like payment and timelines stand between us and our glasses.
We have come to rely on this sense, if we should shuffle our feet and frown and ponder a little too long over a a potential purchase often times we pass it by. Figuring if it were reallllllly meant to be ours, or we reaaaaaaaaaly wanted it than we'd have it in our cart already.
I can not count the number of times me or my sweetie has enthusiastically blurted "Do you want to just get it? Want to? We'll just get it!"
And when we do, when we follow this impulse that is vibrating in our brains tellings us we NEED this item we never regret it.
Like toe shoes.
Well they're not called toe shoes but that's what they are. Shoes that are like toe socks, only shoes. God, don't you just want to faint from the glory of that very idea? TOE-SHOES!
It's like the shoe people reached in to our brains and plucked from amongst the rabble inspiration for shoes we didn't even know we needed.
Shoes for people who like to be in their bare feet. But bare feet, while comfy and relaxing at home, gets you some majorly annoyed scowls at the grocery store.
My husband ran across these shoes in the typical way one runs across anything on the internet. He was reading up on these people who run in their bare feet, or almost bare feet and were supposedly the fastest marathon runners on earth.
A few million link clicks later and a gasp of such impending importance reverberated through the house alerted me to a life changing discovery by my husband. He forwarded me the link...I looked....I loved.....
TOE SHOES!!!!
Incredibly flexible, thin shoes that's almost like wearing nothing at all..EXCEPT, their soles protect your footsie wootsies from sharp sticks and glass and the general ick of pavement filth and citified nature trails. Oh, and of course they have the marvelous advantage of each toe having it's own little compartment.
We stared at them in combined amazement, it was another one of those "understandings". These were cool. We both knew it, we both wanted them.
I'll admit they're the priciest pair of shoes either of us has ever bought, actually they're the second priciest bit of apparel I've ever owned. (the first being my wedding dress that came in at a whopping 100 dollars!) We're frugal and proud of it BUT unlike some ordinary shoes these are shoes that really feel unique. Just like walking in your bare feet, you can feel the textures of grass, dirt, sand, pavement and twigs under your feet.
If you're asking yourself "why would any one want to feel that?" then you just don't *get it*. These shoes add a whole new level of tactile sensation to a walk, and if you have any interest at all in enjoying a bit of nature and out of doors than I can not recommend them enough!
They also encourage you to get out and walk more, just to feel new things under your feet. Have no fear that my shoes are actually talking to me, whispering sweet nothings in my ears, telling me I should walk up the side of the cement steps, take a stroll through the bushes, wander over the yellow bumpy things on the ground in front of the grocery store, climb a tree or start researching parks like mad so we can find more places to go walk around in our toe shoes. I thought of all those things on my own, inspired like heck by my new footware.
The FiveFingers add to the *barefoot feel* by fitting your feet like a glove, the material hugs your foot like a second skin. Snug but not too tight, it seems unlikely you'd suffer from blisters in shoes like these. They're machine washable too so I can't wait to find some mud to tromp through. I suppose I could make some mud....
The Vibram FiveFingers KSO shoes are a welcome addition to our family. It's amazing how a little thing like a bit of molded rubber for your feet can be so inspiring but it's true. We have already visted two different local parks and walked further than we ever have before down our little road here, just during this past week alone.
Supposedly the Vibram FiveFinger shoes can strengthen your feet muscles and that you will have greater foot flexibility since your toes are separated and you use them more for walking. Also that your posture is improved and leg muscles can be strengthened as well. That's a lot for a pair of shoes to accomplish but when you wear them for an extended period of time walking it doesn't sound so crazy. Just by virtue of the fact we've been inspired to go for longer walks over rougher terrain than pavement is going to bring us some added health benefits.
And ya know what? We looked dang cool doing it too. I am so glad we follow our impulses.

Feeling Steamy...

(aint she purty?)

Actually it' seems to be common knowledge that steamvacs aren't steamy. They're hot water-y and suck-uppy. That's fine by me, but I wouldn't mind if the manufacturers called the machines what they really are "Carpet washers" that has a nice ring to it don't ya think?
Well I'm not one for steam cleaning...usually. I hardly remember to vacuum, come on if I can't be honest in my own blog where can I?
The carpet gets a little grubby but it's easily ignored, maybe when you don't have kids it's easier to ignore since you're not belly crawling across the floor quite as often.
Well a poor sick kitty plus a bit of accumulated grubbiness equals a desire to try my hand at steam cleaning. I've only tried it twice before with one of them rental machines from the grocery store. They worked good but like I said I'm not Mrs.Neat-nick-clean-freak here. Seriously I've got dirty dishes older then me...(not really I just said that for dramatic effect)
Once I set my mind on the idea of owning a steam cleaner the idea took root, why not? Every one else has one and glories in the wonder of freshly cleaned carpet why can't I? Well truth be told if we didn't rent I wouldn't HAVE wall to Wall carpeting and therefore wouldn't need a steam cleaner. BUT we do rent and until the day I can say good bye forever to permanently affixed floor coverings I'll make do with a steam cleaner.
I didn't search long and hard, I searched quick but smartly. I had a price range in mind already, under 300 so that narrowed my choices down a lot. The other realllly quick way to narrow down choices is by reviews. Mmmmm GOD I lovvvvvve reviews. Hell I can barely buy a t-shirt with out first reading 701 reviews on it. Reviews, especially if they're positive transform every day purchases in to glorified items of distinction. I don't want just ANY steamvac, I want the steamvac of the people. The steamvac every one else already risked their hard earned money on to try out.
*cackles*...then I just sit back while they take all the risk, write all the reviews and I make my decision on their hard work. muaaahhh ah ha
So the steam vac of the people appeared to be the "Hoover SteamVac with Clean Surge " In my opinion EVERY thing should come with a clean surge, especially coffee.
What finally tipped me over the edge of *just lookin* to *I want THAT machine* was a cool review by a Vacuum Sensei. Seriously, see now you know how much looking around online at my possible purchase I was doing. The Vacuum Sensei is a vacuum cleaner repair person so I was impressed and thrilled with his unique perspective on cleaning machines. He gave my sweet little Hoover SteamVac with Clean Surge a very favorable review and even saved me thirty dollars since I was torn between that and it's slightly pricier sister. If you're in the mood for finding a decent cleaning machine you should check out his site.
I ordered my sweet little cleaning machine online from Amazon, first reason because I couldn't get instant gratification at a nearby store. NO ONE had this beautiful cleaning beast available in store for sale...what the heck? How can an affordable, well reviewed machine by a popular brand NOT be at any of the FOUR DIFFERENT local stores I checked? (I'll tell you why...cause it's all part of their plan to make me crazy with shopper's daze and purchase copious amounts of impulse items like gum and air fresheners-what's with air fresheners at the checkout line, is that where people suddenly are struck by the thought "My car stinks, aunt Geraldine stinks and my breath stinks" weird.)
But ya know what, who cares, who cares if the stores in *real* life won't satisfy my needs. It's just one more nail in the coffin of my hermit life, more and more that middle of the back woods, mail order life style is appealing to me. (did you know you can get ice cream...in the mail...? I'm just sayin...)
The second reason to get Matilda...er...it's still considered *with it* to name your appliances right? Well I got Matilda at Amazon because they were offering FREE shipping.
SOLD!
NO one has been MORE excited about the arrival of their steam cleaner. I mean it, if you think you were excited you're wrong, were you "sleep for only 4 hours, wide eyed at the ceiling in anticipation" excited? Were you "scare the delivery person with over the top unusually desperate tears of joy" excited? HA! I didn't think so.
Don't you love when things work like they should? Every one said this Hoover is a good little machine that does a surprisingly good job on cleaning carpets and I agree.
Like I said our floors weren't super nasty, just a little grubby looking with a few spots in high traffic areas. *hangs head in shame* Look, some of us tend to wave our hands wildly, flailing limbs flinging drops of water or what ever all over the floor as they run their mouth off a million miles an hour.
I should point out we didn't use any of the *approved* Hoover cleaners in Matilda, just our good ol' Miracle 2 soap. And just a drop or two.
So here's the high points:

• Cost me only 159
• Easy to put together-well easy to watch your husband easily put it together while I...er....you foam at the mouth in anticipation.
• Easy to use. Actually easier to roll around then my regular vacuum.
• It didn't soak the carpets like I feared, I was definitely dumping out almost as much dirty water as I was filling it with clean water.
• The carpets dried quickly. Even when they were freshly washed they just felt a little damp.
• and BEST of all, Matilda my new best friend, cleaned the carpets like a charm. They're so sparkly clean I can't stop walking around in a zombie like state of pride. Don't believe me........I took pictures...

On a Roll.....

Don't you just love toilet paper that makes you feel good using it? Get your filthy minds out of the gutter now I'm talking about using IT versus some other brand. The kind of toilet paper that fills one with pride when they open their bathroom cabinet and see all the pretty rolls piled up.
Wait....what? Are you serious? You don't have any pride in your t.p.? Wow, I'm sorry, seriously now, I had no idea. I thought every one was as thrilled over their t.p. choice as we are...huh...well sucks for you then.
I'm sorry that your t.p. doesn't fill you with a deep sense of satisfaction over a choice that is not only good for you but better for the environment as well.
Come again? You just buy what ever is on sale? ohhhhh.....That's o.k., I used to be like that too. Our quest for the perfect t.p. didn't start solely for environmental super hero ego stroking reasons. We wanted t.p. that when you blow your nose with it, a small dust storm of t.p. particles wouldn't fill the air and cause you to actually sneeze MORE defeating the whole point of the t.p.
Oh, you're shocked cause we don't buy tissues specifically made for nose blowing? Tissue smissue, what's t.p. but a bunch of tissues on a roll. Well anyways we picked up the 7th generation t.p. and we were very impressed. I mean....as impressed as a person can get with a new brand of t.p.
I'm gonna try and make like we didn't party like it was 1999 when we stumbled across this wonderful product so y'all think I have some small iota of coolness....Oh...that ship has sailed, well frig it, who cares. WE were very happy with our new t.p.choice. At first you might think it seems rougher in comparison to the other super soft, quilted, hand stitched by mountain monks rolls of t.p. But it's only that people have come to expect billowy piles of t.p. dust with their loo paper....this doesn't have to happen though. 7th Generation is a nice t.p. that doesn't pretend to be anything other then what it is. I don't need t.p. so thick I'd lay it over my bed in loo of a quilt...get it? lieu, loo? hahaha I crack myself up sometimes, filthy minds, gutter, I warned you! Ignore all words like crack in a blog about t.p.

(Something else awesomely cool you can do with a huge amount of rolls of t.p., throw em in the air just to see them fly.)

Anyways it turned out this t.p. is made of 100% recycled paper, 80% of it is post consumer materials (what ever that means but I'm sold, sounds good) and also NOT bleached with nasty ol creepy stuff. Instead it's whitened with an environmentally safe process. SWEET! How do I know all this, it says so on the packaging, I love loo paper that is also good bathroom reading material as well.
We were buying the rolls in the standard 12 pack at the supermarket but for some strange reason they stopped selling them so we started buying the rolls separately at a different store for....don't faint...1.69 a roll. I know, it sounds like a lot BUT it's a better choice for the body as well as the environment and at 1.69 a roll you sure as hell won't be wasting it for no reason. However, have no fear as I was struck by genius the other day (feels a bit like getting smashed in the head with a butterfly, in case you're curious what true genius feels like) I wondered if I could order t.p. online and guess what? Oh........you actually guessed, and you already knew you could get t.p. on the internet, well bully for you (I swear I dunno where the inner British is coming from, if I'd drank tea today I could understand)
But who wants to get 12 rolls of t.p. when you can get, drum roll please, 48! WooooooHooooo for the Loooo Paper people! I saved over 30 dollars as compared to buying it at the store, I got to make a super awesome t.p. tree in the living room AND have a frigging awesome cardboard box that they came in to play in. How cool is that? VERY COOL!
Of course some day in the future we won't even need t.p. but until that beautiful day comes we'll stick with 7th Generation. I did a quick look on Amazon and turns out buying the 7th Generation there in bulk makes it competitively priced with other leading brands, in a few cases even CHEAPER! yeaaaah! So I'm not wasting money, I'm doing a small part to not contribute as much to nasty environmental issues AND I can play fortress with the rolls in the mean time. Life is cool.

(Me in my happy place, a beautiful new loo paper box)