Shopping

,

Material Life Shop in New Orleans

,

A while ago I read this article on Apartment Therapy:  A Collector's Maximalist New Orleans Home  

Do you see her home?????????  It is sooooooooo gorgeous!  I noticed in the article that she has a shop in New Orleans called Material Life Shop so I went stalked her Instagram feed:  Material_Life_Shop

Everytime since, whenever I was in the city, it was either on a day she wasn't open or she'd already closed for the day.  Today was my lucky day!!!!!!!

The owner, Carla Williams, had the most magnificent energy!  Her shop / gallery is filled with amazing artefacts, art, books, photography, pottery, etc. from Black life.  And when I say the pieces she's curated are amazing?????? THEY ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!  I walked up and down because I didn't want to miss a thing.  AND...if you ask her about a piece?  SHE TELLS YOU THE MOST FASCINATING STORIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Just shares with you things you knew nothing about and now?  You want to know everything about!

Take these two pieces I brought home with me:

They were both created by The Black Potter, Mr. Jim McDowell.  The first one is an ugly face jug and the second one is a whiskey mug.  LOL!  

The jugs were used to mark the graves of slaves and the ugly face was so that it scared away the devil.  Interesting right?  I just thought they were cool.  I'm totally looking forward to visiting this store often so that I can integrate some meaningful art into our home.  

Next time you're in New Orleans, you should go check it out.  Tell her I sent you so I can stay on her good side.  Yall know I have an inquisitive nature so I want to ask her a whole lot of questions whenever I'm there.  LOL!  

Oh...and use the address on her Instagram page.  If you just ask Mr. Google...he doesn't have the new address updated yet.  Yeah...we went to the old location first but we were determined to find it today!

Check this out:  http://www.pbs.org/video/history-detectives-face-jug/

 

,

My new FAVORITE thing! OXO Good Grips Soft-Handled Garlic Press

,

If you're like me, you buy something and use it until it breaks and then you replace it.  You're not out and about thinking to yourself...hey...I need another garlic press even though nothing is wrong with my current garlic press.  It's just not done.

My garlic press broke.  I've probably had it for 20+ years so it had a good, long, life.  So it broke and I went out looking for a new one.

You never think you can improve on things like garlic presses ya know?  They are all pretty basic.  Um...WRONG!  

I got this one:  OXO Good Grips Soft-Handled Garlic Press  

You press the garlic, flip the handle over and it pushes out the skin.  *BLINK*  No...really...*BLINK*  Now...those of you who have garlic presses which do this...I bow down to thee because my life has changed.  I just pressed a while bulb of garlic, three cloves at a time easy peasy.  This is seriously my new favorite thing.

I'm a simple, simple girl.

Does your garlic press clean the skin out for you too?  WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?????????????

,

The Perfect Cheap Kitchen Bowls!

,

I love to cook. I have learned to enjoy baking since I can't find a lot of fresh gluten free baked goods. I love baking pans, muffin tins, etc. You know...cuz I like neat stuff. LOL! I have all I need or, at least, I thought I did until I rolled up on this FABULOUS Anchor Hocking 2.5 quart glass bowl at HomeGoods for $4.99.  The bowl is true perfection.  I wish I could explain it to you but I can't.  It's just seriously the most perfect bowl.  BUT...it's the size to make 6 muffins or one cake layer.  And well...sometimes you need a dozen.  So I went looking for a larger one just like it and HomeGoods didn't have it so I checked with Mr. Bezos 'nem over at Amazon and BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABY...check out this deal.  You get two 4 quart bowls for $17.99.  

They are on the way!  GO ME!

Bowls.  I know...weird.  

,

Bitzonic Wireless Earphones

,

I've been in the market for a pair of bluetooth earphones.  I love the wired earphones I use but I understood it would make certain tasks easier if I had a pair of wireless ones like watch television while The Robinator is sleeping and I can't shut off my brain just yet.

I looked high and low on Amazon and got overwhelmed with the process so I stopped.  Then...I remembered that I'd seen Shelly with some recently so I figure I'll just buy whatever she's using cuz she's a music head and wouldn't continue using headphones which didn't work right.

So she sent me the link to hers:  

I was expecting to pay around $70 - $100 for a pair.  Um...they were $15.95.  *BLINK*  Surely that must be wrong.  WITH Amazon Prime they were...um...only $15.95.  I hit 'Add To Cart' so quick I broke a nail.

I'm sitting here using them now and they are awesome.  You can't be too far away from what you're connected to but since I use them with my laptop and my Note 5, I'm good.  When I'm working out I use my Buddy Pouch so having the wire behind my neck will make it easier to listen to music while switching it up.  GO ME!

What earphones do you use?  How much did you pay for them?  Are you happy with them?

, ,

Running Buddy Pouch. No Belt! No Tilt!

, ,

When I workout I use a fanny pack kinda pouch thingy for my phone.  After a while, however, the belt starts irking me something serious.  I go through different motions of trying to put it on over my shorts/tights and t-shirt so as not to get that horrid rub-rub.

And the armbands irk me too.  I have issues.  Seriously.

So I looked for something else.  I found it in the Running Buddy Pouch and used their chat feature to ask if it would work with my new phone, the Note 5 since it's pretty large.  I was told yes if I took into consideration the size of the case I'd use on the phone so I bought one thinking I'd buy the slimmest case possible.  

The case is pretty cool because you stick the flap inside of your waistband and it has strong magnets that keep it in place.  It won't move, tilt, etc.

When I got it I was bummed because it was such a TIGHT fit and, since the earbud connection is at the BOTTOM of the phone, I wouldn't be able to use it.  I was disappointed and used the chat feature thingy on their site again to let someone know that it didn't work.

Imagine my surprise when the phone rang and it was Greg from the company.  He told me to check out the insert card and then go to http://tinyurl.com/n7v4qml for information about how the mesh part is a ripstop material and I could put the hole in wherever the port is located on my phone.  I told him that it wasn't just that but the size of my phone too.  I was so impressed however, I decided I'd just give this one to Robby and I'll wait until November when the slightly bigger one comes out.  Like...who takes time out to call a customer anymore?????  For that alone, every runner on my Christmas list is getting one of these for Christmas.  Seriously.  That impressed me beyond reason.  I totally predict this small, family owned company is going to go far because of their word of mouth traffic.  There is just no way that you can keep something this amazing to yourself.

I just read some of the customer reviews who took it to Disneyland and other parks and I can't WAIT to use it on a roller coaster!!!!!  LOL!  Wheeeeeeeee!  Look ma no hands!

Greg...if you're reading this...yall rock.  I'm going to get a couple of those H2O pouches and the new pouch when it is released too.  Thank you for offering up AMAZING customer service.  Dude...yall rock.