I am seriously considering...

When I find a specific brand of a product - be it food, cleaning supply, beauty item, etc. - that I like I stay true to that brand.  I am loyal.  I am supportive.  I become a champion of that brand and will sing its praises whenever I can catch someones ear... you can often find me in the supermarket telling other shoppers why I think a particular product is superior.  Some people appear to be genuinely interested in my product "review" others just nod and back away slowly. 

There are 2 products that I may have to start (ok I already started) stockpiling...



 Victoria's Low Sodium Marinara Sauce and GE Reveal 60 watt light bulbs - 2 items I wish to not live without........ EVER!

Victoria's Marinara is (in my opinion... which is always correct and is should be shared by many) one of the best jarred marinara sauces found on the shelves of a supermarket.  It is delicious, all natural (only has 7 ingredients and I can pronounce all them!) and not too expensive.  When I can find the coveted Family Size jar - I (really it is ADG) will purchase 3 or 4 at a time.  But now I have sampled the Low Sodium variety and it is even more delicious than the original marinara. There are other brands on the shelves that are delicious and all natural, but most of them are priced too high for me.  You may be thinking gosh if you are that passionate about marinara sauce and all natural...blah, blah, blah... why not make your own.  Well, I will tell you I do make my own marinara on occasion and I have contemplated making/canning a years worth of homemade sauce... but let's face it that takes a lot of effort and if you know me (or read other entries from this blog) I am not one to put too much effort into tasks such as this.  I am fairly certain if I were to go ahead with making/canning my own homemade marinara sauce I would be out a lot money and have nothing to show for it (or feed my family with)... I would have to purchase the jars, the lids thingies, a special pot, special tongs, not to mention store all the sauce once it is in the jars and all the canning equipment.  And since I am not the best at following directions... I would probably end up with 40 or 50 jars of contaminated and/or poisonous marinara sauce.  And that is not a good use of storage space in my mind.  So for now I will continue to maintain my usual 2 to 3 jar supply of Victoria's Marinara sauce in my pantry and keep my eyes peeled the Family Size jars - get taste at and even better savings!

ADG read (in the newspaper - I think... I don't pay very close attention) the other day that "they" are considering outlawing regular light bulbs!  I am not exactly sure who "they" are but I am not happy with them.  I am not a fan of the newer energy saving, corkscrew like bulbs... they are ugly looking and give off the most hideous light!  It is a gross blue light that makes everything look sad and dreary... if you ask me... which I know you did not, but you are reading this sooo you kinda did.  Do not try and fool me with the whole "now they cover the corkscrew thing and it looks just like the old bulbs"... not true! They do not look the same AND they still give off the bluish sad clown light... yuck!
I like the GE Reveal 60 watt light bulbs - they give off a soft clean white light.  People and things look nice in this light.  I am seriously considering buying (many) cases of these particular bulbs to have for my home should "they" actually outlaw them... which I guess means that "they" will no longer sell them at the store... and not be searching peoples homes and arresting them for using non-energy efficient light bulbs.

So if you see me at the Stop n Shop with a cart full of Victoria's Marinara sauce in Family Size jars and GE Reveal 60 watt light bulbs, giving other shoppers my personal reviews of my favorite products just wave and walk on by like I am totally normal... because I am... right?

I am sure other parents have made the same mistake... right?

So the other day I was working on planning some family day trips for this summer and I happened to be on the Sesame Place website.  That was when I noticed something strange... I was sure this Sesame Street character:



was named Margarita. 

Apparently her name is Rosita - Rosita is an upbeat, playful Muppet whose full name, Rosita la Monstrua de las Cuevas, means “the monster of the caves.” Her name may sound scary, but there's nothing dark or frightening about this bright character; she is named that because she is a fruit bat. Rosita loves to play with her friends and help them learn more about Spanish, her native language. She comes from Mexico, and is the first regular bilingual Muppet on the show. Rosita often combines English and Spanish when she speaks, and shows her affection by touching and hugging the person she’s talking to.

I can not be the only parent who thought her name was Margarita... not only do the two names rhyme, but both are from Mexico!  And let's face it Sesame Place would be 10 times more fun if they had Margaritas available instead of (or at least in addition to) Rosita.