Things I Have That I Love, Part Three - Baby Edition

It's your favorite yearly feature, Things I Have That I Love!!!!! This is a special Baby Edition, because according to society I am no longer an independently existing human. If I *were* a separate being, I might extol the virtues of the Eve Lom Moisture Masque, which makes your face feel like a piece of satin, and/or using intended-for-children Boogie Wipes for yourself, which will prevent your nose from turning into a red, peeling mess when you have a cold. But I digress.

Item #1
Boppy Newborn Lounger

What do these photos have in common?

Yes, they all include my cherubic baby. But notice that in all of them, he is happily resting on his Boppy Lounger, a pillow with a divot into which you plop your newborn. You can easily move it around the house and always have a safe place to put your blessed angel. H chills in this thing while I make dinner, shower, and/or pass out on the couch. I don't think it'll be useful for that much longer and it cost a ridiculous $30, but I don't care. It's that great.

Item #2
Fisher-Price Space Saver Swing

I bought this thing for $20 off Craigslist, and it's the best $20 I ever spent. Baby LOVES it. And considering the boundless nature of a baby's bad taste, it's not even that hideous.

Item #3
Hand-Knit Stroller Blanket

This incredible gift from my aunt is an integral part of my favorite picture ever taken.

Item #4
My Brest Friend Nursing Pillow

You know what? I can't write about a product called "My Brest Friend" on the internet, no matter how great it is. Never mind.

Item #5
Percocet, Antibiotics, Probiotics, Ibuprofen, etc.

Yeah, go ahead and tell me that modern medicine isn't a baby product, and then try taking care of a baby immediately after having surgery without it. Thank you, drugs!

Things I Have That I Love, Part 2

It's the post you've been waiting three and a half years for... Part Two of Things I Have That I Love! I just looked at Part One and MAN our cats were thinner then.

Anyway, it's been a snowy mess in New York for the past week, so I wanted to give a shoutout to the purchase that's gotten me through it.

The Ugg Adirondack Boot II. Unlike regular Uggs, which in snow and rain have the traction of a slightly improved flip-flop (I was wearing a pair the day of my nasty fall), these puppies act like crampons in icy weather. They survived their initial test last year, when I went sledding with my niece and nephew in Denver, and have recently accompanied me to work on a daily basis. I smile at these boots as I trudge through snow and rain, congratulating myself and my warm, dry, never overheated feet for this spendy purchase. Recommended.

Even more highly recommended: moving to southern California, where these boots would be rendered superfluous.

Things I Have That I Love

This is a new series here at MV:TB, wherein I will wax poetic about things that I have that I love.

First up: my ancient espresso pot.

Why did it take me so long to learn to use this thing?  Sadly, I cannot tell you where it's from: I found it, cobweb-covered, in a storage cabinet at my parents' house.  I always thought making espresso (fine, it isn't great espresso.  But I don't care) would be tricky, but I taught myself after seeing someone use it in a TV ad in Spain, so obviously it is not.  This pot allows me to recreate every morning in Spain that began with a cafe con leche.  Thanks, stovetop espresso pot!

Item #2: The FURminator.

I know you were all biting your nails about this thing.  Would it really remove enough fur from our cats to create a third and possibly fourth cat?  Would Bianca treat it like her food bowl and never let Carla near it?

GOOD GOD, PEOPLE.  I had no idea our cats had so much fur.  Only a light brushing last night removed a sickening amount of fluff from each of our felines, and another brushing this morning found our bathroom once again home to a mountain of undercoat.  The kitties seem to enjoy it.  Carla kind of thinks its her boyfriend.  Hopefully it will help them survive this 10000 degree heat without leaving bits of themselves on everything they touch.

Oh yeah, it's literally 103 degrees in New York right now.  (Okay, that's a lie.  It was 103 yesterday.  Right now it's 97).  But the sickening, debilitating heat wave brings me to our next Thing That I (kind of) Have: the G train.

People loooove to hate on the G.  It's unreliable, they say, and useless.  It's half the length of a regular train, forcing you to occasionally sprint for it even though you were already on the platform when it started pulling in.  It only serves Brooklyn and Queens!  But I love the G.  The Nassau stop is right outside our apartment, so on putrid New York days like today, I need only traipse onto the train with a minimum of exposure to the outdoors.  During rush hour, it runs fine.  It's actually pretty predictable.

Thanks, G!

Also this morning I kind of snapped and said to myself, "It's 103 goddamn degrees out.  I'm wearing shorts to work."  But my shorts were all wrinkly!  Enter my Rowenta Steamer That I Love!

I have never owned an iron.  Neither has Dan.  His solution for wrinkly shirts is to send them to the cleaners; mine, to just wear them as is.  We embody both Banker and Hobo Chic, respectively, and also I can never figure out how to close up an ironing board.  Then we got this nifty thing as a wedding gift:

And dude, it is awesome.  I plug it in and in 30 seconds am happily steaming wrinkles out of my shorts, taking them from Totally Not Appropriate for the Office to merely Mostly Inappropriate for the Office.  What a random gadget to turn out totally useful!  Plus, steaming is fun.

And finally, my last thing.

Is it the cats?  My husband?  The way the cats are perched on my husband?

...or is it my husband's iPad?

I'll never tell.