My love of the list is well documented and because of this love I fear that an entire tree may have been sacrificed for my need.  But no more.  I have tried many electronic note systems – dozens, hundreds maybe and then a week ago I tried my last one.  Evernote.

Doesn’t it just sound divine?  Let me tell you that it is.  Go check it out – it’s FREE (there is a premium option that costs a little bit).  I can’t express to you how awesome this thing is.  The system – it is brilliant.  I have about 50 notes in the system now – it’s synced online – on my desktop and on my iPhone.  I can take photos of stuff that I want and save it as a note to deal with later.  I can grab a screenshot of a recipe online (the entire thing – not just the visible part) and it KEEPS the formatting AND the pictures.  I can leave myself voice memos.

It’s incredible and no, they aren’t asking me to talk about it – they don’t even know about me outside of my little account.

I’ve been on the hunt for age appropriate gifts for Lexi and her friends (Hi Autie and Lyla!) as they are nearing the milestone birthday of one.  I really was looking for fun things that would be age appropriate, last multiple children and that have some skill development focus.

I found these Jumbo Knob Puzzles by Melissa & Doug on Amazon.com.

They come in a set of six which was actually perfect because I could break them up to compliment gifts (Al & Jess don’t buy these) and at $10 a piece they aren’t cheap but they are beautifully handmade, well constructed and very thick and they don’t cheat – behind each puzzle picture is the same picture as on the puzzle piece making matching easier for our little ones.  The knobs are like cabinet pulls and perfect for grabbing by little hands.

I realized last night that Lex is still a little too young for these so I stuck some magnets on the back of each piece and put them on the fridge and she loves putting them on and pulling them off the fridge while I’m making breakfast and dinner.  Another winning product from Melissa & Doug.

So I wanted to do a post with stuff that I love and stuff that I want to love.  But these posts are a lot of work. Pictures, links, description and so I don’t do them.  There must be an easier way.  But I did it the hard way because I think you’re worth it.

Down Alternative King Pillow Set – Featured in Many Four Seasons ® Hotels Worldwide (2 Pillows)

I love these pillows.  We have a set of them and I really need to order a replacement because it has been longer then they recommend.  Good pillows are difficult to find and these ones are good.

Green Toys Tea Set

I think this is the cutest little Tea Set ever and I’ve seen it in about 20 stores and I’ve resisted purchasing it because I thought my baby is too young for a tea set but I’m thinking it’s about that time.  Do you have a tea set?

Le Creuset Round French Oven

I have a Williams Sonoma gift card just waiting to make this purchase because THIS is a piece talked about by every cook I know.  My fear is this though – I like knowing that if something is just TOO awful, crusted, burned that I “could” throw it out – even though I wouldn’t.  I could.  But with this – it wouldn’t even be an option.

CHEFS Essentials Deep Lasagna Pan

I made lasagna last night – it was delicious but I can’t help but imagine a touring huge layered stack of veggie, pasta, cheesey perfection and this seems like the perfect pan for just such perfection.

100 Best Vegetarian Recipes

I haven’t spoken about this much but I’m still doing the (mostly) vegetarian thing with the exception of a piece of fish occassionally.  I have been checking out books from the library lately and this cookbook has been one I’ve enjoyed more then most.  These veggie cookbooks are mostly recipes and no pictures.  And I like pictures.  This book has a lot of pictures and the recipes I’ve tried have been really yummy.

Pyrex Storage 10-Piece Set, Clear with Blue Lids

I love Pyrex if I had a big enough cabinet I’d have one full of it – little ones for leftover vegetables – big ones for making spinach gratin – extra big ones for apple crisp (I love the fall and could not be happier that it’s right around the corner and I might have hair that is in this zipcode again).

The Delight.com shopper set

This set is part Rume grocery bags and part produce bags.  I have the large Rume bags and the produce bags (although, not purchased in the kit from Delight)- they can hold a lot of heavy groceries (two big bags of cat litter) and no signs of wear and I’ve had them for over a year. I hate bringing 15 of those plastic bags home just to have them go to the cabinet for a death sentence.

The Orla Kiely handbag I’m lusting after

Is this not a beautiful handbag?  I need a handbag as much as I need…well….white t-shirts that are too short.  But it’s beautiful and I keep thinking that THIS is going to be the bag that I can find my keys and phone in.  I say that in the face of every new handbag.  And I have learned this one lesson – pockets. do. not. help.

Is there stuff you love and want to share?  Is there stuff you want to love?

Confession:  I “read” a lot of books but since Lexi was born I haven’t actually READ a book.  Like a whole book.  I’ve read a lot of self help (how do I get my child to sleep, how do I make vegetarian dishes, how can I will my husband to be nice) but actually books about other people, made up or real, I just couldn’t get invested.

In the last two days I read a book: Rage Against the Meshugenah: Why it Takes Balls to Go Nuts.  I don’t do this but I’m going to do it.  I’m going to say to go buy the book.  And read it.  It’s enlightening, funny, charming and affirming.  Here’s why I think it’s each of those things:

Enlightening: Danny (the author and writer at Dad Gone Mad) goes to an AA meeting and realizes he’s not an alcoholic.  Well, I read this book to see if maybe people in my life are showing signs of depression in the same way Danny was, they aren’t.  Turns out people in my life are just fucking miserable sometimes and not necessarily depressed – this doesn’t mean that I think they should be living a chemical free day. (Hi Gram – that F-bomb was completely necessary.  Love ya)

Funny: I laughed out loud at several points and with the amount of sleep I’m not getting that’s really saying something.  Tired people have a very difficult time of laughing.

Charming: I have a slight crush on who he is as a father and how important his kids were in his getting (and staying) well.

Affirming: So there are points in this book where Danny talks about his behavior as a man in a more sexual context and I have to be honest that my husband (who won’t be reading this because he only reads two or three sentence posts or e-mails- because he’s simply too miserable busy) also does these things and I kind of thought that he was a big freaky 13 year old because clearly REAL GROWN UP MEN don’t do these things.  And you know what, it turns out they do.  Real GROWN UP MEN are completely sexually inappropriate a good percentage of the time.  Say Boobs and they are running through a virtual catalog of every pair and singleton they have ever encountered in real life, magazines, video and on bad cable tv since the time they were 4.  That alone was worth the price of the book times 500.

So, go support a fellow blogger.  Buy his book, get it from the library, insist that they order more copies because really, you need to.

This whole bloggers who are actual writers thing is pretty inspiring to me.  I always wanted to be a writer but then I had an ex-boyfriend (you know who you are) who basically told me I was a shitty writer and I believed him and because he was like the prince of the town he shared his opinion with a history teacher (who also knows who he is) who basically shared his sentiment – in front of a full classroom of people that didn’t like me because I moved there my senior year and they were under the impression that I thought I was way better then them (which was only half true – hey, I was 17 for goodness sake I was hardly accountable for the number of wine coolers I drank).  So the concept of “being a writer” – that’s something I covet.