These are Great Products that are making my life a little bit happier and easier right now!
I’ve always been terrible at making decisions. I hate going to restaurants with too many choices on the menu. I become completely paralyzed in the grocery store when I encounter an entire shelf with 50 different kinds of coconut oil.
When I’m faced with too many options, I often end up walking away overwhelmed and empty handed.
Because of this problem, I really like it when someone else tells me what to buy. I once spent six months researching electric tea kettles without ever being able to make a decision and purchase one. Then, a friend mentioned that she really liked her electric tea kettle. That’s all it took for me to hop immediately on Amazon and order the exact same one.
Sometimes this makes me a sucker. I really do fall for every mascara commercial I see that promises longer, thicker lashes. Most of the time though, this just makes my life easier. I love getting great product recommendations from friends and bloggers I trust.
So, today I bring you 5 products that I’ve purchased with my own money (nothing sponsored here) and love. I hope it’s helpful!
5 Great Products I’m Using Right Now
Water Backpacks
Getting Water Backpacks for my kids (and myself) was one of the best decisions I ever made!
When Rory finally outgrew his stroller, I realized that for the first time in 12 years of parenting, I didn’t have a stroller to haul around everyone’s snacks, drinks, and extra jackets every time we went to the park or zoo. It’s nice not to have to pack and unpack a stroller from the car everywhere we go, but it was handy for all the stuff that you end up with when you go anywhere with four children.
Water Backpacks have been the most wonderful solution. I love these particular water backpacks because they also have room for the kids to pack more than just the water. They normally have sunscreen, snacks, and a light sweater in their packs too and it’s so convenient!
We’ve been using these for a year now and love them.
We actually have these High Sierra Cragin 2 Liter Water Backpacks, which we bought at Costco last year for $25 each. This one is the same brand and very similar, but also has prime shipping for you.
Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Seasoning
This is good for many things. However, I mostly use it for one thing. Here’s what you do:
- Slice up a good cucumber into rounds
- Sprinkle a pretty generous amount of Chili Lime Seasoning on the cucumber rounds
- Eat and enjoy
This is my favorite snack. It’s kind of like the healthy version of Doritos. I mean, if you’re looking for chips, it’s not going to fool you. But if you want something crunchy and flavorful that’s not going to break any New Year’s Resolutions, this is the snack. SO GOOD!
And, if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you, you can order this on Amazon.
Smart Light Bulbs (Kasa TP Link)
One of my biggest pet peeves is getting all cozy in my bed at night, turning out my light and then seeing an annoying glow come from down the hallway – the glow that means one of my children went to the kitchen to get a drink and left the light on. No!! I hate getting back out of bed to turn off lights at night. This drives me crazy.
This is where my smart bulbs come in. I can just ask Alexa (or use the Kasa app) to turn off my lights. I’ve also found that the kids are so much better about turning off the smart lights (it’s not actually easier to ask Alexa to turn off the lights than it is to just flip the switch, but there’s clearly a distinction in my children’s minds).
A lot of smart bulbs require the purchase of an expensive hub first. These Kasa TP Link bulbs do not. All you need is the bulb. They’re also energy-star certified (reduce energy use by 80%) and I’m expecting them to last for years.
You don’t even have to have Alexa to make them work – you can turn them on and off from the Kasa app on your phone if you don’t have an Echo. This is also nice if you want to turn lights off and on while you are away from home. You can even schedule them to turn off and on automatically.
And I really love that I can dim the light bulbs – this especially nice for the bedside lamps.
We have 6 in our house so far and have been using them with great success for the last 3 months.
30 oz Insulated Stainless Steel Tumbler with Straw
I bought this when Janssen over at Everyday Reading recommended it and I’ve been so pleased!
What is it about drinking through a straw that makes it so much easier to drink more water? I have no idea, but it really works.
I love that I can put ice in this before I go to bed and it’s still icy when I wake up in the morning. And, the cup doesn’t sweat at all!
It holds 30 ounces of water but can still fit in the cup holder in my car. And that stainless steel straw makes me so happy. Great product!
Kindle Unlimited
I’ve known about this one for a while but never felt compelled to use it until recently.
I mentioned yesterday that I recently discovered the British author, Peter Dickinson and fell in love. Unfortunately, my library carries only one of his books, even though he wrote more than 60. I was so pleased to see that Kindle Unlimited has quite a few of his books available.
So, I signed up for a two month trial for only 99 cents! While I was in there putting Peter Dickinson books in my Kindle Unlimited Library, I found several other authors who have a lot of hard to find books that are available to read too.
I don’t know if I’ll keep paying for it after my trial is over (that might depend on how many books I can read in the next two months), but I’m really happy with their selection right now and I’m glad to know it’s an option.
If you use Kindle Unlimited, I’d love to know what you’ve found on there to read that you’d recommend.
(I found the 99 cent 2 month trial through an advertisement on Instagram. However, even if you can’t find that trial, if you’re a new subscriber you can get the first 30 days for free.)
Your turn! What great products are you loving right now? Tell me what to buy!
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