Loving the Ritual of (Good!) Karma from Rituals Cosmetics!

"Ritual of Karma" TryaBox

As a member of Tryazon: www.tryazon.com, the really excellent sampling program, I have been privileged to enjoy several "TryaBoxes" of Rituals Cosmetics bath products, and I think this one – the “Relaxation at Home” Ritual of Karma set- is my favorite! I actually learned about Rituals through Tryazon, and was first able to enjoy testing their Ritual of Sakura, with its delightful light cherry blossom scent that really brought back our Honeymoon days in Kyoto, Japan for me, and then their Ritual of Dao set, and I thoroughly enjoyed them both- and reviewed them on this blog: Ritual of Dao:  http://southernwestvirginia.blogspot.com/2019/11/rituals-for-holidays-creating-dao-spa.html  Ritual of Sakura: http://southernwestvirginia.blogspot.com/2019/09/rituals-sakura-collection-delicious.html 

This time I had the opportunity to try the Ritual of Karma https://www.rituals.com/en-us/collection-story-karma.html, and I was seriously quite excited, as heaven knows we could all use some Good Karma right now, right?!  But I Was wondering: what does Karma (the good kind, naturally) smell like?! Spoiler Alert: Good Karma smells GREAT! Scented with Holy Lotus and White Tea, the Ritual of Karma fragrance is in the floral category, but way more interesting than “just” a floral scent. All the products truly smell delicious, and I truly look forward to getting into the bath with them!  The philosophy behind the “Ritual of Karma” products is that, “according to ancient Hindu belief, living with good intent attracts good karma. Say good words, think good thoughts, do good deeds, and keep the circle positive, because ultimately, you reap what you sow!” Sounds like just what we all need right about now, yes?! The Ritual of Karma collection aims to help you immerse yourself in the positive vibes of summer all year round, instantly enhancing your mood, and making you radiate "positive vibes", as well as a great scent!

There's a delightful little video on You Tube that shows how the Ritual of Karma can make you feel: https://youtu.be/B-YfvlRp7p0

Ritual of Karma Sugar Scrub

I have especially grown to love Rituals' Sugar Scrubs and Foaming Bath Gels, so I was delighted to be able try the Ritual of Karma Sugar Scrub:   https://www.sephora.com/product/rituals-the-ritual-karma-body-scrub-P463648, and Foaming Bath Gel:  https://www.sephora.com/product/rituals-the-ritual-karma-foaming-shower-gel-P463647,  as well as the Body Cream:   https://www.sephora.com/product/rituals-the-ritual-karma-body-cream-P463649, and the three products really make for a delightful “spa” experience at home! It is “relaxation in a box”! Add a bath tub pillow, a scented candle (and yes, there is a Karma Candle...), and a glass of wine, and you are All Set!

This would be a GREAT gift for a good friend, too- I can't imagine anyone not loving this- and as Rituals products are not overly expensive, you can afford to treat friends, as well as yourself! 

The Ritual of Karma Sugar Scrub, which is enriched with holy lotus, almond oil, and jojoba, is an absolute delight! I not only use it on my body- especially feet and knees and elbows- but as an exfoliator on my face and neck- it's that good! I MUCH prefer sugar scrubs to salt scrubs, as they never burn the way salt can, and so I truly enjoy Rituals' sugar scrubs. The scrub is made with fine sugar that has just enough exfoliating power to be effective without being rough, and it dissolves into your skin quickly and leaves it feeling silky smooth.

Ritual of Karma Foaming Bath Gel

The Ritual of Karma Foaming Bath Gel is super creamy and deliciously sensual! I have used a lot of bath gels in my time, and I have to say that Rituals makes the ones I like best! Their gel-to-foam technology is truly unique, and their foaming bath gels are the creamiest, and most luxurious ones I've ever used!

The Ritual of Karma Body Cream is rich and luxurious, but not greasy, and it absorbs super-fast. I use it all over, immediately on getting out of the tub (I'm a Total Tub Soak Gal...), and I especially like to use it on my feet, and then put on comfy socks to help it absorb...

Ritual of Karma Body Cream

I love to layer scented products, to make the fragrances last as long as possible, and so I am planning to treat myself to more products in this line: I especially want to get the Karma Candle, Hair And Body Mist, and the golden Body Shimmer Oil, which looks amazing!

Rituals products just launched on Sephora in September: https://www.sephora.com/brand/rituals, but if you want to see ALL the products they have, and ALL the different Rituals (and there are lots!), go to the Rituals website: https://www.rituals.com/en-us/home, which also has an Outlet page with discounted products from lines that they no longer have on the regular site: https://www.rituals.com/en-us/outlet

Another great thing to note is that Rituals products are happily free of the bad stuff, such as sulfates SLS and SLES, parabens, formaldehydes, formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, mineral oil, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, hydroquinone, triclosan, and triclocarban, and they contain less than one percent of synthetic fragrances. And their products are also cruelty-free!

I can honestly and highly recommend Rituals products, as well as Tryazon- its a Lot of fun being a member, and getting discover and try great new products like these- and share them!

Have you tried any Rituals products or given them as gifts? 

What are your favorites? Tell me in the comments!

And if you're not yet a member of Tryazon, you can sign up here: www.tryazon.com

Happy Purim! And a Hamantaschen recipe!

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Happy Purim! 
This year the Jewish holiday of Purim (see below for links to the history of Purim and how to celebrate it) was Feb. 9 -10, and I decided that, for the first time, I would make Hamantaschen! (Or Hamentaschen, depending on how you choose to spell it!) I think that the last time I had Hamentaschen ("Hamen's Pockets" in Yiddish; they're called "Oznei Haman" אוזני המן in Hebrew, meaning "Haman's ears"- read the story of Purim below to understand why...) on Purim, they were in a "Mishloach Manot"- a traditional foodie gift parcel I was given when I was in the IDF... They were a fun holiday treat, but they weren't terribly good: heavy cookie-dough, with very little nondescript filling, they weren't exactly a delicacy... These, while not Pinterest-Gorgeous, were VERY good- a buttery, thin, and flaky dough, with lots of tasty filling! They are also fast and easy to make! Hamantaschen are are delicious with a cup of coffee, a glass of milk, or a glass of wine! Google and you will find a thousand Hamentaschen recipes out there; having never made them before I used Jamie Geller's "classic" Hamantaschen recipe, (she has at least 10 on her website), because her recipes always work! :-) I did half of them with the traditional poppy seed (Mohn) filling in the recipe, and half with Bonne Maman Four-Fruit Jam: https://jamiegeller.com/…/hamantaschen-with-easy-poppy-see…/ Chef Dan gave them his seal of approval and we ate them all up before Purim had ended! :-)
These Hamantaschen are really delicious little cookies, and can be made any time, not just for Purim!
And now, on to the Hamentaschen Chronicles!
NOTE: if you make this recipe there are several things not mentioned in the recipe which I put in bold below: soften the butter, flour the board and the rolling pin... do not overfill them, or they will fall apart or leak while baking... and grease the cookie sheet you bake them on!
As you will see in the recipe, you mix the sifted flour and and ground almonds (you can make ground almonds by putting sliced almonds in a food processor, and processing them until they are ground) in a bowl. Then you beat the softened butter with the confectioners's and granulated sugar in another bowl. You add the eggs, and then the flour and almond mixture, baking powder, and salt. You mix it into a dough, and wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least an hour. Now you make the poppy seed filling: Cook the orange juice, sugar, and poppy seeds for 15 minutes, add the honey and lemon zest, and cook for another 5 minutes. Let it cool- it will thicken. If you are using jam or another filling (there are many possibilities- "Google" Hamantaschen Recipe!) get it ready. Grease a cookie sheet. Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, flour your board and rolling pin, (you will have to do this several times, as the dough will stick to the table and pin otherwise), and roll the dough out very thinly. Cut 3" diameter circles with a cookie cutter or a drinking glass as shown in my photo. Put about 1/2 a teaspoon of filling in the center of each circle, as in my photo. Do not overfill them, or they will fall apart or leak while baking!! Fold the dough up on three sides as in my photo into a triangle as in my photo, and pinch the edges closed. Place the Hamantaschen on the greased cookie sheet and bake them for about 10 minutes in the 375 F degree oven. They will be pale golden; do NOT over bake them!

How to make Hamentaschen...

How to fill Hamentaschen...

On the cookie sheet...

Hamentachen, ready to eat! 

For more delish Hamantaschen recipes- savory and sweet!- see Jamie Geller's Ultimate Hamataschen Recipe Collection :  https://jamiegeller.com/holidays/ultimate-hamataschen-collection-41-recipes/

The carved, wooden Megillah Esther in the top photo- an Esther Scroll with the story of Purim hand-written on parchment- is the only piece of Judaica I have from my family, besides my father's Bar Mitzvah Talit & prayer books. Everything else was either lost or stolen; I have no idea. My uncle David, my mother's brother, gave me this Megillah many years ago, telling me that he was giving it to me as I was the only one in the family who would care about it. Due to intermarriage, I am the last Jew on both sides of my family...  

For lots of great information on the holiday of Purim and how to celebrate it, check out Chabad: https://www.chabad.org/.../default_cdo/jewish/Purim.htm

Here is the "condensed" version of Purim, the Megillah Esther, or Esther Scroll:  https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/3602036/jewish/What-Is-the-Book-of-Esther-About.htm 

What dishes do you make for Purim, and how do you celebrate? Let me know in the comments! 
Hag Samay'ach- Happy Holidays!

EASY Puff Pastry Apple Roses for Rosh Hashanna!

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This post is for everyone who thinks they can't make Puff Pastry Apple Roses- If I can do it - and I am not known as "Ms. CraftFail 1959" for nothing- you can do it! I am NOT "crafty", and most of the things I have tried to make based on Pinterest pins and Video Tutorials have turned into Epic #PinterestFail messes. But this one actually worked- and on the first try, too! Puff Pastry Apple Roses seem to be this year's "Hot Desert" for Rosh Hashanna (Jewish New Year), when it's traditional to eat apples and honey to usher in a sweet new year, and there are at least a dozen recipes, tutorials, and videos on the web showing how to make them, but most are professionally photographed, and, while gorgeous to look at, incredibly intimidating in their perfection! This recipe, on the To Simply Inspire blog, sounded easy and actually do-able: https://www.tosimplyinspire.com/apple-rose-puffed-pastries.html#comment-426815  and it is where I started from...

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Pillsbury Puff Pastry (Yes, you can make your own puff pastry, but this is for people like me who won't. LOL) The box contains 2 packs of dough. I made 6 roses using one pack. You can make 12 roses at once, or make 6 and keep the other pack in the fridge or freezer.
• 3 red apples for one pack of dough
• Lemon Juice
• Flour to dust your work surface
• Apricot Preserves
• Butter for greasing the Muffin Tin or Ramekins
• Sugar & Cinnamon (aka Cinnamon-Sugar LOL)
• Powdered Sugar for dusting

Tools: 

• Sharp Knife, Spoon
• Rolling Pin
• Melon-Baller to scoop out the seeds from the apples
• Mandoline to slice the apples thinly
• Microwave to gently par-cook the apple slices
• Muffin Tin or Ramekins

The first thing you do is halve and core the apples- you want red apples, so the edges of your rose petals are red. :-)  I used a "melon-baller" to scoop out the seeds, and then cut the ends off with a knife. Three apples will give you more than enough slices for 6 roses.

The next thing you do is slice the apples very thinly, using a Mandoline. Yes, you can do this with a knife, but unless you have the Knife Skills of an Iron Chef they probably won't be thin and perfect, and for this you want thin and perfect. A cheap plastic Mandoline with a good, sharp blade (be Careful when using it!) is one of The best kitchen tools to have around...

Slice all the apples thinly, and, as you slice them, IMMEDIATELY put them in a bowl with water and a little lemon juice, so they won't turn brown! Toss the apple slices gently in the lemon water to make sure they all get coated.

Microwave the bowl of apples and lemon water for about 5 minutes, tossing them gently in the lemon water every minute or so, until the slices are soft enough to roll. You don't want them mushy, but they have to be soft, or you will not be able to roll them up into roses.

Flour your flat rolling surface and lay your cool (defrosted) Puff Pastry out on it. You need the pastry dough to be cool in order to work with it, so if it starts to get warm and sticky, pop it into the freezer for a few minutes or the fridge.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the Puff Pastry until it's a large, thin rectangle. Cut off any wavy edges so it's straight.

 Cut the Puff Pastry into 6 even strips.

 Spoon the Apricot Preserves on each strip of Puff Pastry.

Drain the apple slices and cut each one in half. 
Place the slices, slightly overlapping them, as shown, all along the edge of the Puff Pastry strip, with the red edges of the apples sticking out a bit over the edge of the pastry.

Fold the Puff Pastry up over the apple slices as shown. 
Starting at one end, quickly roll it up like a jelly roll- and you will have a rose! Don't try to roll it tightly- just roll it gently, but quickly.

A Puff Pastry Rose!

Voila! A Puff Pastry Rose! Isn't that the cutest thing ever? :-)

Immediately put each Rose in a BUTTERED muffin tin, or into porcelain baking ramekins. I found they fit perfectly into our trusty old muffin tin. (If you don't butter the tin or ramekins the pastry may stick, and it will be impossible to get them out).

Cinnamon-Sugar Dusted Roses

Dust each one with cinnamon-sugar:

Bake then for 40-45 minutes in a pre-heated oven. I baked them at 375F for the first 10 minutes, and then at 350F for the last 30 minutes. (Everyone's oven and pans are different, so bear that in mind!)

When done, this is what they looked like!

 Once they are cool, pop them out and put them on plates or in ramekins to serve them. (If you bake them in porcelain ramekins, you can serve them like that, straight from the oven- just sprinkle with powdered sugar and go!)

I heated them in the microwave right before serving, and then sprinkled them with powdered sugar, and we served them with a bit of caramel sauce on the side!

They came out so well, in fact, that we served them as a special treat to our Elkhorn Inn Dinner Guests and they loved them- and wanted the recipe! :-)

I can think of a number of interesting variations you could try with different fruits- and I want to try it with veggies like squash or beets- anything you could slice really thin and get soft enough to roll would probably work- and make savory ones!  Maybe using pesto instead of the preserves???

Have you made these yet? Let me know how they came out in the comments- and if you have a really funny "Fail", let me see that, too!

Hanukkah at the Elkhorn Inn!

My favorite expression for how we celebrate Hanukkah at the Elkhorn Inn is: "Go Big or Go Home"!

This year, I'm happy to say, we outdid ourselves. LOL Known, by my own self-proclamation, as the "Martha Stewart of Inflatable Decor", over the years, and thanks in great measure to eBay, we have accumulated a rather large collection of humongous inflatable holiday decorations, including Giant New Year's Baby, Valentine "I Love You" Bear, St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun, Easter Bunny on Motorcycle, The Great Big Birthday Cake, Uncle Sam, Scarecrow On Tractor, Hunting Snowman, Thanksgiving Turkey, a whole bunch of Halloween inflatables, a giant 10' snowman, and more Christmas ones than I can count! But, as I have come, sadly, to learn, there are few inflatables available for the Jewish Holidays, and, frankly, Hanukkah Menorahs are basically "it". (I have looked in vain for a giant, inflatable Lulav-Etrog Set for Succot, and a Great Big Seder Plate for Passover, as well as an 8' Kiddush Cup and Candlesticks, but apparently Gemmy- the Inflatable Company of Record- doesn't feel the need to create them...) We've had a series of 6' high blue inflatable Hanukkah Menorahs festooning the Inn for many years, and our Holiday Traditions are Dan's Annual Inflating of the Decorations, and my posting a photo of "Me and the Menorah" in front of the Inn on Facebook! As I'm evidently the only Jew in McDowell County, West Virginia at this time, if we don't celebrate the Jewish Holidays they don't get celebrated, and so we make the effort to celebrate them in style!

When our latest Big Blue Menorah finally needed to be replaced (DIY Dan is great at fixing them, but there comes a point where even he can't repair them! When we finally toss something, trust me: it is absolutely and totally un-fixable!), I broke down and eBayed the ne plus ultra of inflatable Menorahs- the 8' high one! And then, because too much is never enough, I got the dreidle-spinning, yarmulke-wearing Hanukkah Bear, too!  

Hanukkah is the Jewish "Festival of Lights" commemorating the miracle of a single day's worth of oil burning for eight days. The history of the holiday, from chabad.org: In the second century BCE, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who tried to force the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of mitzvah observance and belief in G‑d. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G‑d. When they sought to light the Temple's Menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum), they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks. Miraculously, they lit the menorah and the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity. To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Hanukkah. For EVERYTHING you have ever wanted to know about Hanukkah, including the history, traditions, prayers, and traditional foods (fried in oil, of course!), go to: http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm

Dan and I have a collection of Menorahs (or "Hanukiot" as they should be called, as Menorah means "light" in Hebrew, and Hanukkiah is one specifically for Hanukkah), including many from Israel, as well as ones that were given to us as gifts. A Hanukkiah has 9 lights- one for each of the eight days of Hanukkah, plus a "Shammas"- the higher one that is used to light the others. Each night you light the Shammos and say the prayer, and then light the other candles, adding one each night, going from right to left. The Deer Hanukkiah was a candelabra I bought many years ago in NYC- it had 10 tea-light antlers, so I lopped off one and turned it into a Hanukkiah! This year I found a Very clever "Travel Hanukkiah" on Modern Tribe that has a cork bottom that fits into a wine bottle, and I added that to our collection, and then Dan surprised me with a new one he had ordered, along with fancy blue and white and silver candles! I set up my "annual Hanukkah display" of our Hanukkiot,  dreidles, and silver and blue stars on one of the Inn's dining room tables, and lit the lights each night.  The last night (tonight) I even managed to take a "selfie"! And Chef Dan, the "Latke King of Landgraff" made his AbFab sweet-and-purple-potato latkes!
We hope you are having a joyous holiday season, too! Please comment and tell me what special things you do to celebrate!

Chef Dan's yummy latkes (potato pancakes)!

First Night of Hanukkah!

Second Night of Hanukkah!

Third Night of Hanukkah!

Fourth Night of Hanukkah!

Fifth Night of Hanukkah!

Sixth Night of Hanukkah!

Seventh Night of Hanukkah!

Eighth Night of Hanukkah!

Thanksgiving!

Today Chef Dan made his magnificent fresh-oregano-stuffed turkey, with an incredibly crispy herb-and-smoked-sea-salt rubbed skin, and we had it with "Saffire", a crisp, dry white wine from our trip to AmRhein Winery in Virginia earlier this year, and it was wonderful! With it we had our garden-grown potatoes, mashed with the skins on and topped w/Chef Dan's rich, creamy giblet gravy, and an herb-bread baked stuffing made with our fennel pesto, and cranberry sauce with grated orange peel... and it was truly a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at the Elkhorn Inn! I am deeply thankful for a great many things, but Numero Uno is that I'm married to the love of my life...

Last night Dan & got dressed up & went out for a 'night on the town'- and yes, you can actually do that now in the mountains of southern West Virginia! First we had a wonderful "pre-Thanksgiving" sushi-saki feast at Kimono in Princeton; they truly do have some of The best sushi I've Ever had in the USA, and last night they were Packed! Then we went to Gary Bowling's House of Art in Bluefield for their always-great Wednesday Night Open Mic, and had a great time! Gary Bowling's had The biggest crowd- standing room only- and it is a BIG place!- and it was really jumping! At the end of the evening Dan & I wound up dancing to "I Love You Just The Way You Are", sung by Dreama Denver (the voice of Little Buddy Radio and the personificaton of the Denver Foundation- she is the widow of Bob "Gilligan" Denver), and by the end of the song I was literally in tears- but really Good tears! :-)

Hope your Turkey Day was grand, too!

Shopping!

It's "that time of year" again- The $#&%!! Festive Season- and so one's mind turns (whether one wants it to or not) to... Shopping! This blog post is Totally about shopping, and includes a few products & merchant's I've come to love...

In the last 7 years- since we moved here to the rural mountains of southern WV- I've become a die-hard, passionate eBayer, and while I internet-window-shop all the high-end fashion & retail sites, such as Neiman-Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Bendel's, Bloomies, Vogue mag, etc., I then put up eBay "alerts" for items I covet, & once they pop up (and almost everything eventually does...) I then play wait-&-see, coming in at the last, heart-pounding second to snag that bargain Missoni sweater or Viv Westwood heels, or cashmere coat! (& yes, last week I've snagged all of the above!) This Native NYC Girl has Never been comfortable "paying retail"; it makes one feel like an eejit! In The City I was a habitue of the fabulous Upper East Side Thrift Shops where one would oft rub elbows with the Ladies Who Lunch while combing the racks in pursuit of that AbFab $5 cashmere sweater! Nothing thrills a NYC gal so mucg as snagging a Missoni cashmere suit or Burberry coat for $25, or a pair of Ferragamo pumps for $15! (As readers of the blog know, when I travel on business, if I have an hour free I usually make a bee-line for the local Goodwill or Salvation Army; one never knows What treasure one may find, especially if there's an "upper income" neighborhood nearby!) In the process, I've turned Dan into the Thrift Shop King of Landgraff, WV- Truly funny as he STILL professes to HATE shopping! When at home I turn to www.eBay.com- for darn near everything, from designer duds, cosmetics, & perfumes I could never otherwise afford, to one-of-a-kind vintage quilts, carpets, and decor items for the Inn, to office supplies, "toys", and even vehicles! Although I shop eBay all year- late at night, Nothing beats it for sheer, mindless relaxation- come November, I'm Seriously looking for Hanukkah gifts for Dan- the man I have Never been able to surprise! But this year I think I may actually be able to do it! Don't tell him(!), but early this summer I snagged him the eBay bargain to beat all: a Gorgeous, new, dark-green shearling coat (and while I was at it, a fluffy Mongolian Lamb jacket for me...) from 2 great eBay furriers (one in Canada who had GREAT stuff...), & boxed them up & hid them in the cedar closet... I also got Chef Dan a portable pocket pepper mill, after he actually mentioned in a restaurant that he'd like to have one... I'm currently eBay-following a fabulous electronic hog call (!) & brush pants for the Texas hog-hunting trip we're planning, as well as ski duds for both of us (so we don't look like dorks when I take him back to Winterplace to ski, as I fully well intend to do...) And then I discovered BestKimchi www.bestkimchi.com in Flushing NY (home of The Best Korean food outside Korea), and as they will actually FedEx fresh Korean BBQ, Kimchi, & even Korean scallion pancakes, Dan just May be getting a Korean Feast that he won't have to cook himself! :-D

Products (and merchants) I've come to Love:
Rejuvacote
I am 50, and for 37 years I've been trying (sometimes desperately, as readers of this blog know...) to find a way to grow my paper-thin nails out longer than the quick- and to stop them from tearing off the minute I use my hands for anything- and I FINALLY FOUND IT! THIS STUFF WORKS! I not only have long nails that I can put polish on & not feel stupid, but they aren't paper-thin any more! I have REAL, HEALTHY, THICK NAILS! Which is nothing short of Amazing! I was told for years by doctors that my paper-thin nails were due to the fact that I have Psoriasis, and that there was nothing I could do about it- and that was a lie!!!! I have used Everything on the market, but nothing worked; I recently tried NailTek for a number of months & it helped a bit- but more as a coating than anything else, and my nails still tore off. But Rejuvacote REALLY worked- & fast! I have real, normal nails now, polished up all pretty, and I've not even 1/2 finished one bottle! :-D

Clorox OxiMagic Spray
I never thought I'd say I love a cleaning product- ANY cleaning product- but I LOVE Clorox OxiMagic Spray! It really works and takes out stains- even horrid things like dried coffee & red wine- on contact- & I go Nuts when we run out of it! And so, naturally, our local WalMart has stopped carrying it... but good ol' Family Dollar keeps it in stock! Because we have the Inn, and it is Huge and requires a LOT of cleaning damn near constantly (all of which Dan & I do ourselves), I do not say this lightly: OxiMagic Spray is Da Bomb! :-D

Aminogenesis
I try LOTS of anti-aging products. Since I turned 48 it's become my "hobby". LOL. I read Spa B-2-B publications religiously, check beauty websites constantly, & do trials of new products as often as I can. At 50, I'm Always on the prowl for the Next Greatest Thing to (at least visually) "stop the clock", and when I compare close-up photos of my face to those of most of my peers, I think I've been at least reasonably successful! LOL I've tried everything from LaMer (didn't do a thing for me), Philosophy (no results from their anti-aging products, but I do like their 2-part microdermabrasion kit), and Lancome Precious Cells (nice & creamy, but no results), to Skinceutical Ferrilic C E serum, and Obagi Elastiderm Eye Gel (jury's still out on these two), as well as drugstore & WalMart products like Olay (feels nice, but no real results). But to date I always wind up going back to AminoGenesis, for their products Truly help my skin look its best, and they're the only products I've bought repeatedly for years now- and yes, as a result of this we sell them in the Elkhorn Inn's Gift Shop and on-line Gift Shop: http://store.elkhorninnwv.com The products I love best and won't be without are: Cocoon Body Lotion (which actually helps my Psoriasis, and has clinical research to back it up), Photolagen for sun damaged skin, Dermascyne 2 & 3, and Very Very Clean Cleanser. No, they're not "cheap", but they're a Helluvalot cheaper than LaMer- and (most importantly) they actually work! :-D

Queensboro.com
ALL of the Elkhorn Inn's gorgeously full-color embroidered shirts, spa robes, chef's aprons, & caps now come from www.Queensboro.com! They do THE best embroidery, have THE best prices, and THE best customer service! We have ordered from other suppliers over the years, but Queensboro has won our hearts- they are ABSOLUTELY the best. They have a VERY cool & user-friendly website, with a neat program that allows you to change the embroidery colors for each garment adn see what it will really look like- AND they were able to create a great embroidery graphic of the Inn from a photo, AND they have only a 4-piece product minimum, so you can order small quantities, AND they have Great sale prices, AND their Customer Service people are EXCELLENT! :-D

BioFreeze
Dan has arthritis in his hands, and sometimes he's in terrible pain from it. (There is NOTHING worse to have around than a workaholic in pain!) We have tried a LOT of stuff, but BioFreeze actually works & TRULY helps take the pain away almost immediately. GREAT stuff! :-D

iGourmet, D'Artagnan, Very Asia, Pepper-Passion, & Amazon
Somewhat of a "foodie", I love to get Chef Dan yummy gourmet things we can cook with (or that he can cook with & I can eat, LOL), and the only way I can get us "exotic" foodstuffs, such as Vietnamese pho noodles & fish sauce, Japanese nori & pickled ginger for sushi, Korean BBQ sauce, Thai lemongrass, Chinese black fungus mushrooms, Italian truffle cheese, and specialty meats like buffalo Fillet Mignon, elk steaks, or wild boar bacon, is to order them online... and so some of my favorite retailers (besides eBay) are www.igourmet.com (for WONDERFUL cheeses, sausages, condiments, spices, etc.), www.dartagnan (for THE best gourmet meats and their EXCELLENT Cassoulet Kit which comes with Everything you need, from the French Tarbot beans & sausages to the duck confit & fat!), www.pepper-passion.com for Vietnamese & other exotic peppercorns that Chef Dan likes to cook with, and www.veryasia.com for Asian foodstuffs. www.Amazon.com Marketplace has great stuff, but their shipping costs are INSANE, and so I've taken to using it as a source, and then buying directly from the individual merchant's websites. (I just ordered Asian foodie things from www.tastepadthai.com and www.pacificrimgourmet, both of whom I discovered on Amazon Marketplace, and will let you know how they are, shortly!) I do love www.Amazon.com for books, especially cheaper second-hand books, and this fall I finally treated myself to a slew of books I've coveted for a Long time: Oliver Statler's books on Japan, one of Mai Pham's great Vietnamese cookbook, and anthologies of Korean & Vietnamese short stories... I'm back to curling up in bed (or by the fireplace, or in the bathtub...) with a good book (or two or three), and it's my Fave thing to do in the winter, when it starts getting dark (and cold) at 4p.m.!

CarrotInk.com
I discovered www.carrotink.com thru MyPoints www.mypoints.com- my very favorite shopping portal- and I am VERY impressed with their products, their prices, & their customer service. They do re-manufactured extra-large ink cartridges for both our printers at less than half the price of what the regular-size ones cost at WalMart, AND they have free shipping, AND when you call their Customer Service you get knowledgeable people who can actually answer one's questions, AND you get MyPoints on each purchase! :-D

MagicJack
Okay, I was a skeptic. When Dan paid $19.95 for this and brought it home I rolled my eyes, convinced that it Had to be a total scam. But he hooked it up to our computer & it works- and now we (and Elkhorn Inn guests) make all our long distance calls from it at no charge! And there really were no hidden charges! They did NOT ask for a credit card when he registered! I'm impressed! (Actually, I'm AMAZED!) :-D

MyPoints.com
As for www.MyPoints.com, this year in the process of simply shopping for things we'd buy anyway, we've again totted up some 17,500 Points- enough for $150 in gift certificates! :-D We've been members of MyPoints for over 7 years, and it's a GREAT program that really works! My only beef with them is that some of the retailers I love to shop at aren't on there- www.dartagnan, http://www.igourmet.com/ http://www.veryasia.com/, http://www.pepper-passion.com/, and http://www.amazon.com/, for example. But (thank goodness) www.ebay.com is! :-D I also use www.ebates.com, which does give cash back, but only if the seller isn't on MyPoints. And once I've found what I want, bargain-hunter that I am, I then Google for Coupon Codes... A lot of this may seem idiotically time consuming, which it is, but (like entering sweeps), it beats playing solitaire! I think the most important thing about shopping is to have some fun at it- I've called it "retail therapy" for years, and if you think of it that way it assuages the guilt! LOL