Author Profile Page for: cafn8me

When my husband and I bought our beautiful, then-74 year old house, the windows (all 43 of them!) were the original, wavy-paned,wooden-framed windows.  A good number of the windows on our second floor refused to open, which meant that they couldn't be cleaned properly.  And all the windows had all the insulative properties of Swiss cheese!  During our first winter in the...

American Girl offers this great, young-girl-appropriate fragrance at Bath & Body Works stores and at the Bath & Body Works site.  I bought it for my 14 year old niece, and she uses it every day now.  It's a great fragrance for a tween or a teen, because it contains notes of fresh gardenia, pear, and sweet jasmine...nothing too "grown up" or overpowering. Alt...

Because this set included so many pieces for such little money, I didn't really expect much in the way of quality.  But I needed new knives for my kitchen, so I decided to give these a shot.  I have to say that I really underestimated their quality!  These knives are exactly what I needed.  This set includes a paring knife, utility knife, boning knife, bread kn...

I have to be up front and say that I am not normally a person who looks for homeopathic remedies of any sort.  But a few years ago, my kids' pediatrician suggested that I might want to keep a bottle of Similasan earache drops in my house, just in case a suspected ear infection popped up and I couldn't get the kids to the doctor right away.  He is a very well respected physicia...

My family and I switched from Comcast cable to Verizon FiOs TV in late January.  The package we selected includes 4 boxes, each with its own remote control.  After nearly 10 years with Comcast, this unwieldy new remote took a bit of getting used to, but I was finally starting to know my way around this alien device, and then -- BAM!  Before the end of March, t...

I thought that this inexpensive shredder would be just the thing to help me manage the constant flow of papers that my house is flooded with.  I wasn't looking for something that would cross-cut cardboard sheets or shred 20 pieces of paper at a time.  Just a good, solid little shredder that could sit unobtrusively under my desk at home and be available whenever I needed it.At...

My husband and I have used Behr paint to decorate all the rooms in our house.  Behr offers a HUGE selection of colors and finishes (and the ability to custom-match any color by bringing a 2" sample to any Home Depot store).  We tend to favor the eggshell finish, which is more forgiving of our 80-year old home's imperfections.  Although it's relatively inexpensive com...

Building my savings has never been easy...there's always something popping up to make demands on my hard-earned money!  But with their Keep the Change savings program, Bank of America has made it easier for me to put money away and earn interest without really feeling a pinch from it!  This program requires only a Bank of America Checking account with a companion Savings account.&...

In my  job as an online retailer/wholesaler, I ship a variety of merchandise to both domestic and international locations.  To minimize the cost of my shipping materials, I have always relied on Hefty's Air Kraft economy bubble mailers.  They are available in a range of sizes, from 000, which at 4" x 8" is the ideal size for a small item like jewelry, to #...

Anyone who loves displaying framed photos in their home will love these beautiful wood picture frames by Burnes of Boston.  There is a frame available for nearly any size and configuration of photos, including several different collage options to choose from.  The frames are solidly constructed of wood....no resin wood-wanna-be's here!  There are also several colors to choose...

It was time to buy my son a new winter coat, so we headed to Kohl's to scout for options.  We found this great, sporty jacket, which is actually 3 jackets in one.  There is the weather-resistant outer shell with the removable hood.  This can be worn alone or with its zip-in fleece liner, which can also be worn by itself.  Options?  LOVE 'em!  So far, so goo...

In my continuing quest to keep my house clean and free of grime, I recently decided to try Easy-Off BAM's newish product, a trigger spray with bleach.  My first attack:  my stovetop.  After my darling husband had had a particularly messy episode with bacon, it was NOT a job I was looking forward to!  I sprayed the cleanser onto the stovetop and let it sit for a few secon...

My daughter received this American Girl historical doll as a Christmas gift.  The 18 inch tall doll comes with a paperback book detailing the fictional life of Samantha Parkington, a girl growing up in New York in 1904.  This doll is fantastic because her body is soft and huggable, but she can be posed and is able to stand alone.  Her long brown hair and pretty face are beautiful...

When I got my 8 year old son these Crocs for Christmas, I wasn't even sure he would wear them, since he's pretty particular about what he wears.  But my daughter and I are such huge Crocs fans that I thought they were worth a shot.  I liked the idea that they would be light and comfortable, and their antimicrobial (read: non-stink forming!) material was a definite bonus.&...

During a recent trip to Walmart, I purchased this 4 pack of lamps, which includes a floor lamp, two table lamps and an accent lamp.  They are an espresso finish metal with leather-look shades...just the thing I had been looking for to match my traditional living room.  Despite their bargain basement pricetag, these lamps are simple and elegant, classically styled to go with nearl...

My husband and I initially got an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) when we bought our house nearly five years ago.  Since the adjustment period was approaching, we decided to refinance to a 30-year fixed rate before the rate was adjusted for us.  We were still toying with the names of different lenders from whom we could solicit quotes when we got a call from our current mortgage lender...

We have a built-in desk on the second floor of our 80 year old house where we have our family desktop set up.  Since the desk was not built with the ergonomics of computer use in mind, the desktop is rather high.  This means we have to use a chair with a higher than average seat height in order to be comfortable at the computer.  On a recent trip to Staples, I thought I...

Anyone who knows me is aware what a full-fledged beauty product junkie I am.  I'll try anything once...sometimes twice!  Cosmetics, moisturizers, hair products...I love it all!  So while flipping TV channels one day, I stopped long enough to watch a demo of Toni Brattin's Tan Secret on HSN.  I sat through Toni applying this tinted self-tanning gel on the pasty white ...

As a retail buyer of high-end cosmetics for an international retailer, I have tried virtually EVERY mascara available, from department store brands to cheapo drugstore and mass retailer brands.  Blinc, Inc.'s Kiss Me Mascara is the absolute, hands-down best I've ever used!  This mascara's formula is different in that it doesn't just paint color onto your lashes, it dri...

I bought this high end, "salon quality" curling iron in the hopes that it would give me well-defined, long-lasting curls.  It delivered that much, and not much more, thanks to the "clipless" design of the curling iron.  The instructions say to position the hair near the scalp at the base of the curling iron and wrap the hair around the iron, moving toward the tip o...