Every week we find the best eclectic products and services around. Each review is clearly marked, letting you know if we bought it ourselves, want it real bad, or were given it for free. With Love it, Want it, Got it!, you'll always know you're getting an honest review.
LOVE IT:
an objective review of something we own
Aervana Electric Wine Aerator
Refine your wine with the first battery-powered, push button wine aerator. Whether you've spent a little or a lot on the wine you've just opened, it will taste better and serve up sediment-free with this effective aerator that's easy to use and a breeze to clean. With its sleek, modern design, it's also a conversation piece that guests will have fun with. Available at amazon.com and select wine accessory retailers.
Paula Roy, Food Blogger and unrepentant wino lover
WANT IT:
we're pining for this
Cloth Hammock
I want this to be my happy place. I have a large yard and large trees, but, in a cruel twist of fate, they are several tens of feet away from one another. The description for this hammock says "fits one large adult" and I would like that one large adult to be ME. If I should procure it — and at only $59.97 there are few reasons save for my lack of trees that I shouldn't — then I plan to spend my days inside with a handful of clothespins so I can clip it closed around me and introvert in true cocooning style.
Once while on vacation, the condo we rented had a refuse bin in the kitchen that no one could figure out. There was no obvious way in. No handle. No latch. No bars. No steps. Nothing. I was baffled until my daughter toddled by and, as if by magic, the lid opened up.
It was a touchless trash can. I was instantly mesmerized and spent the rest of the vacation finding creative ways to trigger the sensor.
Fast forward a year or so.
While in a home improvement store looking for a freestanding garbage can for our new kitchen, I came across a touchless trash receptacle, not unlike the one I had fallen in love with so many months before.
You might think a garbage can that opens when you wave your hand above it is highly unnecessary. But you would be wrong. Whether you have a palmful of sticky eggs shells, you’re using two hands to empty the hamster’s litter box (yes, it’s a thing) or you’ve got a baby in one arm and a wet mess in the other, this rubbish container is what you’ve been waiting for all your life.
It opens automatically and it closes on its own. But if you have a big load, you can push the open button and it will stay ajar until you hit the down arrow. And it seals up tight, so if you toss in cauliflower scraps at night, you won’t have to put your house up for sale the next morning.
Sure, it’s not cheap, but many step or kick cans are just as - if not more - expensive. Now, I’m not a lazy girl. I don’t own a robotic vacuum (okay, I might want one) and I don’t have an automatic soap dispenser in my bathroom. But I do have a touchless garbage can and I love it more than you will ever know.
One word of caution: If you buy one, you will find yourself sashaying up to, and waving your hands over, every other garbage can you come in contact with. So be prepared for some odd looks.
I must confess that I was initially horrified by S'well bottle prices but I could not resist the fluorescent pink allure forever. This bottle keeps both hot and cold beverages at the right temperature for hours without sweating condensation or burning your hands. With only two parts it is easy to clean using a bottle brush. This treasure has more than paid itself off as I bring it everywhere instead of purchasing drinks on the go.
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