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.

Finally......

For months now I've been meaning to start this blog. Finally, the day has arrived.

Why the Uber Consumer you may ask? I'm not a shopaholic, or even a rampant shopper. However, I am one of those people that loves to consume information, particularly about new products. When I stroll down the aisles of a grocery store, my eyes immediately dart over to new products that I must try.

The interesting thing is that my husband has the same skill, but just applied to different products. He's an electronics junkie and can rattle off the newest offerings in computer parts and electronics.

And don't even get me started on how exciting a trip to the US is, for both of us. We've been known to spend hours looking at all the products that we can't get here in Canada due to the language laws.

So, I've started this blog. Hopefully it will become a place to share info about new discoveries. I hope to recruit a few friends with different specialties too, to provide a broader range of info. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in contributing.