In My Bag

I just picked up the silver heart and flower charms that were dangling from a trio set of bangles I purchased at Lane Bryant. This is the second set of bangles that this happened to. I returned the first pair yesterday, and informed the saleswoman that the charms had fallen off of those bangles the day after I purchased them. Her reply is what has put me off of ever buying jewelry from LB again: “Well, they’re not really meant to be worn“. Really? Imagine that! Fashion jewelry made to look like jewelry, advertised as jewelry and sold as jewelry, but certainly not meant to be worn! What on earth am I supposed to do with jewelry I can’t wear?

FWIW, the charms fell off of the second trio bangles the day after I got them.

I ordered hosting service through E-Starr in May of 2006, after no longer doing my own hosting and then experiencing some dissatisfaction and IP issues with the first hosting company I had gone to.
I have now been with E-Starr for a little over a year, and am a very satisfied customer. My account was set up promptly, and any requests or concerns I have contacted them with have been addressed very quickly and courteously. The owner of E-Starr, Amy, has been nothing but helpful and friendly, and willing to work with me the few times I needed a few extra days to get my payment in. The stability of the server my domains (this one included!) are on has been nothing short of wonderful, and I plan to stick with E-Starr for as long as I am blogging and running other projects.

I am a big breasted girl. Always have been, always will be. I was a C cup in fifth grade, a D by the time I hit middle school and a DD by the time I was sixteen years old. After having one child, breastfeeding her for ten months, then having a second child and currently breastfeeding him (he is a ten month old), my breasts have gone back and forth - from a DD to a G to a DDD to a DD and now back to a DDD. Needless to say, finding comfortable, supportive bras that are also sexy is a rather gruesome, frustrating and often unsatisfying task.

Then I found the sateen sculpted underwire bra at Lane Bryant. This bra is rather pricey - about $36.00, and looks rather daunting on the hanger (especially because it is lightly padded!), but let me tell you, it has done wonders for support. Not only are my breasts supported, but they are held up and outwards. The cleavage is amazing, the thrust is amazing, but what is really amazing is that the straps don’t dig into my shoulders, the band doesn’t ride up my back, and the underwires do not dig into my underarms. This bra is truly amazing, and definitely worth the buy - I have four of them.

The HP Photosmart 470 Printer has held up much better than my other photo printer. While the pictures it prints aren’t quite as excellent as what the Kodak photo printer is capable of producing, it is still nothing to sneeze at. If anything, I blame the photo paper (HP premium) more than I do the printer.
The photo printer is very easy to install (if you’re using Windows Vista no messy installation is required - simply hook up the printer and your computer will automatically download, install and configure the appropriate drivers) and very easy to use. It accepts input via a USB connection a computer or a memory card. One dislike I do have, and this may just be my own quirk due to me being spoiled by the Kodak photo printer - I wish I could sit my HP camera right on the printer and transfer and print photos that way, and charge the camera as well. But oh well - you can’t have everything!

The Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock Plus Series 3 is a printer I would never, ever recommend to anyone. Don’t get me wrong - this sleek little printer is capable of producing gorgeous quality photos, provided that you make sure to use Kodak printer paper made specifically for this printer. I fell in love with the photos this printer made, and find the photos of much better quality than another photo printer I have (HP Photosmart 470 series).
But after printing twelve or so photos, the printer just stopped working. It would turn on, and attempt to print, but the paper it would spit out would be blank, or it would give me a paper jam error. I replaced the cartridge - twice - with no luck, replaced paper, cleaned out the tiny bits of dust I could see, took it apart to inspect it for any problems (found none), tried another power supply cord, etc. Nothing has worked. This expensive photo printer sits in a box in my closet, and about $100 worth of paper and ink cartridges collects dust on a shelf in my bedroom.

We purchased the GE Energy Star 3.7 IEC Cu. Ft. King-size Capacity Frontload Washer and GE 7.0 Cu. Ft. King-size Capacity Electric Dryer for our new home last March. I started using them the day after we moved in - on March 26th. First, I must say how impressed I am with the size of these bad boys. With the pedestal drawers (I highly recommend them - they’re great for storage, but they also bring the openings of the washer and dryer to a comfortable height) the washer and dryer come to shoulder height on me - and I’m 5′6”. This is good if I want to keep things away from my toddler, but bad in terms of folding laundry. I have to fold laundry in the air, or on the top of my nearby dishwasher.

The washer: I love all of the cycles it has, and am rather pleased with the cotton cycle, and especially the sanitize temperature setting. I use cloth diapers for our two children, so it’s nice to be able to really wash the cloth diapers. With all loads I can specify soil level, spin speed and wash temp. I can time wash, hand wash, and specify type of clothing (easy care, active wear, cottons, etc.). One thing I am displeased at is the bits of debris (TMI: tiny bits of poop) that is left over near the drainage area (beneath the rubber lip when you open the door). One would think that with such a long wash cycle as the cotton one and with a pre-wash and extra rinse that these bits would be gotten rid of.

The dryer: Again, I am very pleased. It has a lot of great settings, including an anti-bacterial temperature setting, delicates, line dry, etc. One thing I am displeased with is the sensor. While it is accurate for most of the clothes I put in the dryer, it is not accurate with the cloth diapers. Typically I have to run the cotton dry cycle twice.

Overall, I would recommend this set to anyone looking to invest in a front loader style washer and energy star set. The washer runs quietly (although it really rocks around with the high spin cycle, but that could be an issue with a not-so-level floor) and extremely well, and the dryer is also very quiet, and doesn’t overheat clothing.

The Kodak EasyShare Z740 is a robust camera that I have had for a little over two years. It has come with me just about everywhere, was there for many milestones, including my daughter’s first and second birthdays and the birth of my son. While it is not compact like a lot of point and shoot cameras, it hangs nicely around my neck, fits well in my hand and tucks away in a diaper bag without too much hassle.
This 5mp camera sports many photo settings, including portrait and action/sport (a must for anyone trying to take pictures of babies and toddlers!), and has an impressive 10x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom, which promises and delivers great close-ups.

Pros include photos of great detail and clarity. The flash isn’t overly bright and doesn’t cause white-out effects on faces. My biggest irk with this camera is the slow response time. There’s nothing like snapping photos of your baby, then seeing the “Processing…” screen while you watch your baby make the cutest expression known to man - an expression that is gone when the camera is finally ready to take a photo. Trying out numerous memory cards has not remedied the problem, so I can only conclude that it is a flaw with the camera itself.

Overall though, I would recommend this camera to anyone. I have taken some very nice photos with it.