Vitamin C Blast

For someone that actually works in marketing, I'm a total sucker for advertising. The other week when I was reading through the Saturday paper I stumbled across an ad from Sunkist for it's new varieties of oranges. Now, I still find the fact that fruits need to be advertised a bit odd. But moving beyond that fact that even my apple has a website these days, my interest was piqued by these newly available oranges, so I set out on a quest to find them.

The first on my hit list was the Moro Orange (a variety of the blood orange - pictured above). It was simply delicious. A bit tangy, a bit sour, almost like an orange and a raspberry teamed up to form a superfruit.

The next one on the list was the Minneola Tangelo, a cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine. It's a bit hard to peel, but well worth the trouble. The Minneola has a unique sweet and honeyed taste. They are super juicy and have a decent shelf life. This variety has become a favorite of mine, and a regular addition to my weekly grocery list.

The last new variety of orange that I came across was the Cara Cara, one I had never heard of before. I stumbled across this variety in a random Saturday taste test at Costco. After a quick search online, I discovered that the Cara Cara has been newly branded "The Power Orange". It's a special variety of juicy, low acid, seedless naval orange that is packed with extra natural nutrition and minerals. The bright orange exterior covers a deep, rich pink pulp, which is extremely sweet.

Needless to say, if you are looking for a little extra blast of Vitamin C to ward off the inevitable spring cold, you have new options!

Add a Little Shimmer

Right about now is when the dryness of winter catches up to me and I start to become a lizard. My skin gets dry and my lips start to crack. The only savior for years has been Burt's Bees lip balm. With it's beeswax and rosemary oil combination, it keeps my lips moist and smooth. The only downfall is that it was plain and a bit waxy. Now they've introduced Lip Shimmers, a version of their lip balm with a little color added, and a lot of gloss. No more layering lip balm, then lipstick. It's all in one handy, rosemary-scented tube. My favorite is Rhubarb. It's the perfect color for pale blondes, natural or not. They've also introduced a Super Shiny Lip Gloss, but I have yet to see this one in stores.

The Grinds that Get me Going

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a total princess with my coffee. I brew at home and fill up my travel mug each morning. I'll even pass on my daily cup altogether if the only option available is Folgers or Maxwell House. For me, neither of these are "good to the last drop" or even good on the first drop.

For the past few years, I've been hooked on Green Mountain Coffee. Ever since I had a cup of Wild Mountain Blueberry back in 2004, it's been my bean of choice. Most of this company's coffees are Fair Trade and a number are even organic. And the flavors are to die for. Some favorites include:

• Spicy Eggnog
• Wild Mountain Blueberry
  
• Caramel Vanilla
• Island Coconut

Green Mountain rotates its flavors every few months, so you need to either order online or head south and stock-up to ensure you get your flavor of choice.

In Pictures

When I asked my mother if she needed any suggestions or ideas for Christmas this year, she answered with a very definitive "Nope - I have it all figured out". And she did. On Christmas day, we unwrapped a very cool Kodak Easyshare Digital Picture Frame. What a cool gift. My husband and I take millions of pictures and videos, but we never get around to ordering prints. With this little gem, we can add a ton of pictures (via any type of memory card) and watch shots from our honeymoon, vacations, trips to the market, and more. It's a great gift idea and something we will enjoy all year.

Expanding My Vocabulary

My newest obsession is a little game called My Word Coach. For the past two weeks, I've been excited to rush home from work and load up my Wii with this little gem. It's a great way to expand your vocabulary and improve your reflexes too. With My Word Coach, you complete a series of activities like filling in the missing letter, matching words and definitions, and making words from Alpha Bit like cereal letters. With each task you are timed and graded. The goal is to increase your performance by one percent each day. It's an interesting and rather motivating way to learn that doesn't feel a bit like work. I almost get sad when it tells me that I need to walk away now so I retain my words!

Clean Sweep

I am a total sucker for nice packaging, and a star in this arena is Method. When the company came out with their innovative dish soap dispensers a few years ago I went mad to find them. Now, Method is stocked in many pharmacies and grocery stores so you should have no issue finding their products.

The new offering that I stumbled across the other day is their cleaning wipes. They are natural and biodegradable and they smell lovely and fresh pink grapefruit smell.

Check out their holiday hand soaps too. Fun packaging and yummy smelling soaps.

Charge me Up

About a year ago, my husband and I decided to move over to 100% rechargeable batteries and purchased NiMHs to cover all our devices. After a recent electronics expansion, we found ourselves a few short and decided to purchase a new batch. This time, we've settled on a new type of rechargeable, the Eneloop.

The Eneloop battery is a new breed of NiHM that has very low self discharge rates, meaning that if you use them in a device that is occasionally used, such as a remote control or camera, that they won't loose their charge. This also means that they can ship them from the factory pre-charged so they are ready to go right out of the package. So you have no excuse to justify a pile of disposable batteries this holiday season.

The Best Frozen Yogurt Ever

Any girl who's ever experience the mysterious PMS pull toward Ice Cream will understand how important it is to have a healthier alternative available that still fulfills your craving. Two of my favorites are Chapman's Frozen Yogurt in Caramel Chocolate and Cappuccino. They are creamy and flavorful, without the same wallop of calories that their tasty cousins Ben & Jerry deliver.

Chapman's is also one of the few brands to offer ice creams, sorbets and other frozen products that are gluten free and/or peanut free.

Play that Funky Music

As someone who writes for a good chunk of the day, music is very important to me. It helps block out the surrounding noise of an open concept office. But, who wants to keep minimizing windows when a track you are not in the mood for comes up on iTunes. Enter the Logitech MediaPlay Mouse. I love this mouse. It allows you to set buttons for volume, next/previous track, etc... allowing you to navigate through your music without moving your mouse. It's a small thing, but one that keeps me focused and rockin' out all day.

It's a bit old, so it's off the "current products" list on the Logitech site, but I'm sure you can find one kicking around or pick one up off eBay.

Bento Lunch - From the Freezer?

Okay, on to my first product posting.

Now I try to be good and pack my lunch most days, but sometimes it's handy to have a frozen dinner kicking around as a back-up. These days, my favorite one is the Salmon Bento Box from President's Choice. A yummy veggie dumpling, a tray of seasoned sticky rice and a lovely cup of tender crisp edamame are the perfect accompaniment to two grilled salmon fillets in teriyaki sauce. It makes a yummy and filling lunch, all for under $4.00.