We Talk Shop

… and in more ways than one. Although I had purchased one Fresh product during Bath & Body Works big sale a few months ago, I hadn’t used it yet, and didn’t know anything about the company. Just last week Fresh.com had a blowout sale with huge savings. Having never ordered from the company before and not knowing how I would like their products, I only purchased two eye shadows and a shadow brush. My order total came to about $20 and it arrived within a week. I was suprised how quick my order was processed and shipped considering the frenzied reaction to their sale — quite a few items sold out within the first 15 minutes.

The great service wasn’t all that I received. With my order, I received 18 samples. And not those samples you typically get that are the equivalent of modern-day Cracker Jack toys, but quality samples including perfume vials, mini tubs and mini tubes.

And I couldn’t have been happier with my order itself, so much so that I had wished that sale was still going on. One of the items I ordered was their #12 shadow brush. It put my lame gift-with-purchase Estee Lauder brush to shame. Brushing on the shadow felt like I was brushing a feather across my eyelid, and the simple yet elegant design was easy to grip and comfortable to hold.

Try it: Unfortunately their #12 brush is not currently among their list of brushes, possibly because they sold out during the sale. However, their #10 shadow brush (shown in photo) is available for $26. The #12 originally sold for more than $30. Fresh’s company, service and products (I’ve tried so far) all get a five-star rating from this shopgirl. [However, I had quite a bit of trouble placing my order from their Web site during that sale such as my items not getting added to my shopping cart without repeated attempts. Hopefully next time they’ll be more prepared for the demand.]

Unlike Alicia, I’m not brave enough to go on Oprah’s Debt Diet. I love shopping way too much to deny myself. Not to mention my wardrobe is in desperate need of revitalizing. But what I needed to revitalize even more were my eating habits, so thanks to my friend (and Chicago shopping buddy) Carmen for telling me about Sparkpeople.

I’ve never stayed on a diet or fitness plan more than a few weeks. I don’t like exercising and I love sweets, not a good combination if you want to tone up and shave off a few pounds. Fortunately I’m tall and my BMI is in healthy range - but barely. When I saw that, I was committed to giving this a shot.

Sparkpeople has everything you need to meet your goals - a meal planner (tracking calories, carbs, fat, protein and water consumption), suggested meal plans or create your own, fitness tracker with suggested exercise plans and demo, message boards, informative articles, recipes, newsletters (like recipe of the day and the food showdown that I subscribe to), a food database with thousands of grocery and fast foods with the ability to enter your own, ability to group foods, keep a favorite food list, find a diet buddy, and much more.

After one month of semi-faithfully following my meal and fitness plans, I lost 4 pounds. I have a goal to lose 21 pounds by Thanksgiving, so next month I need to lose 6 pounds to meet my target. Now in all fairness, I was sick for a week during my first month, so that contributed to the final outcome, but in all fairness I also blew my calories and fat intake on a number of days because of my love of sweets. This plan has been an eye-opening experience of how bad certain foods can be, and I’ve learned so much about good and better food choices including fruits and nuts. It’s true that it’s about portion control, but it’s really a combination of portion, fitness and the right foods. Because even small portions of really naughty foods can be damaging - and they won’t fill you up so you’ll still be hungry.
Start it now! It’s not easy, you do have to be dedicated, and it’s a lot of work keeping track of your nutrition, but it’s worth it. And most important, did I mention that it’s FREE?

So, a few of us are on Oprah’s Debt Diet and it really puts a damper on the shopping. I did make a substantial purchase recently, a custom shower door. It’s magnificant, but not something worthy of sharing here because the percentage of people that have a need for a custom door is, well you know. Anyway, It’s been weeks since I’ve made a purchase worthy of writing about — good or bad. OK, that’s probably a lie. I’m sure I’ve made a baby purchase lately that I should write about. I’ll take a look and see what I can come up with. I think I’m just missing some things. That, and I’ve been busy and neglecting this blog. We must remedy that, stat!

No, not for babies to shop, for Moms and Dads to shop FOR babies.

A friend of mine who also has an infant keeps sending me links from a Web site that caters to baby products (from 0-3 years old), Onestepahead.com. I finally ordered something the other day and had a great experience. The item (which I will need to blog about after I get it) was cheaper than Target’s Web site so I purchased it. Shipping seemed steep at 5+ bucks, but where do you find shipping less than 5 bucks? Their search was good, descriptions good, and it was fast. Let’s see how the delivery is, but so far, so good.