Towels

We tried out our second set of bath towels from the shower gifts and can now compare towel brands!

I have been gushing for the past week over the first towels we tried, the Duet towels by Royal Velvet. They were SO soft. I looked forward to taking a shower to wrap myself in the towel afterwards. It was like wrapping up in a nice fluffy blanket - very cozy, comforting and soft.

All the other towels we got were the Wamsutta hotel brand. I thought they were the same during our visit to the store, but we registered over 6 months ago so the memory of how soft the towels are isn't very fresh!

The Wamsutta ones aren't as fluffy soft as the Duet ones. They both absorb really well. I guess it is worth the extra for good towels. I used to buy the discount ones at Marshalls all the time, but I guess carefully picking towels does make a difference. The Wamsutta ones also feel a little more tightly woven. I don't know how to describe it, but maybe less "furry" than the Duet ones (not that they're actually "furry" but I don't know what other word to pick).

Either way, I'm really happy. I love towels and think you can never have too many towels. It's one of those things you will always need. I think between the two, I like the Duet a little more, but the Wamsutta ones are so much better than our existing towels and also really good. I recommend both. :)

I never thought I would write an entire post about towels, but I thought you might like to know that both the Wamsutta hotel and the Duet ones are really good! I haven't done a "things I like" post in some time, but I think I should start that again!

Huckleberry

Today, while at a wine tasting for Riesling Week, I discovered what might be my favorite vodka yet.

44 North Distillery in Idaho makes a "mountain huckleberry" flavor. It was so good that I couldn't stop talking about it tonight. I don't usually drink vodka by itself, even flavored vodkas, but this was really fantastic.

So if you're looking for good vodka -- I recommend that you go search for this one and try it. It's worth it!

Feet

I have resolved to blog more (yet again).

I should be blogging all about the wedding planning process, but I haven't. And now that we're getting closer, I don't know where to start! I'll figure it out sometime.

But, instead, I will tell you about a product I like.

I first got this cream in a gift bag after a fundraising event, and I highly recommend it. It's Barielle's Total Foot Care Cream, and it's one of the only creams I have tried that really make your feet soft.

I find the "for best results" section of the site interesting. Basically it says - Step one: put cream on feet. Step two: put some socks in the microwave. Step three: leave socks on overnight. But it doesn't say to put the socks on. :)

I haven't actually tried this with socks on overnight (or microwaved socks on at all... I don't think I've ever microwaved socks), but even without that, my feet were still soft 12 hours later and that is an accomplishment.

So there's my foot cream recommendation! If you care. :)

Orchids

I love the scent of the Bath & Body Works enchanted orchid soap. I have a bunch of enchanted orchid products in my closet, but haven't used them until now. It's a beautiful scent. And what I loved first was the color of the soap!

I'm not sure that the real one looks like this one does in the picture, but it's close. It's just such a nice shade. And since I'm thinking a lot about colors these days, I keep noticing all the ones I like. This one, I like. :)

Razzberry

We went to dinner with my parents tonight and then walked through Times Square. While there, we visited M&M's World (always fun) and got some m&ms for a snack. I saw some new one called "Razzberry" and it had said milk chocolate but it looked more like the size of the peanut m&ms.

It was so good. They taste just like these raspberry chocolate jelly rings I always get from the grocery store around Passover. Yum. I need to go back and get more. Although I have now learned from various sites on google that they'll only be around for about six weeks and they're going to sell them all over. I really really want to get more soon. Back before I knew they would have them other places too, I even looked at the hours for M&Ms World and made a plan to go there to get it before work.

So needless to say... if you like raspberry and you like chocolate (or if you like jelly rings), I highly, highly recommend. Yum.

Here's the official link:
http://www.mms.com/us/razzberry/

Pad Woon Sen

I like the pad woon sen from Aceluck (9th Ave in the high 30s - do they really call this area SoHell or was that just New York magazine?). It's flavorful, a good mix of vegetables, good texture. I'm a big fan of pad woon sen, but some places can make it a little bland. This one was excellent. The delivery isn't the quickest, but they weren't too far behind the estimate, and they made up for it with the great pad woon sen :)

Falling asleep, going to bed. Good night!

Fruit and Toothpaste

I was thinking earlier that I should write more posts about things I like. For example, we go to a lot of restaurants and get a lot of delivery/take-out (mostly due to the nature of the job and grocery shopping), so I should write more about things I like. Also, I used to go to the grocery store and Walgreens so often, and would go aisle by aisle, noticing every new product (yes, I went to the grocery store that often and paid that much attention). I had posted about this sporadically (usually things I didn't like!) and was thinking that maybe I should do it more, even if just for my own records.

So today I'm going to start.

(And for the things I don't like... I may or may not name them. Meaning that I might describe it instead of name it, because maybe I just had one bad experience that's not representative of the restaurant or product or whatever that I'm describing. I think the line I'm drawing at the moment is between national corporations and family owned businesses. For example, the "don't like" below, I'm willing to name Colgate, because really, this isn't going to hurt them. However, talking about delivery from one of the Thai shops in the neighborhood, which I think I posted about a long time ago, I'm not going to name names. You could always ask me elsewhere, but I may not name them here).

I like...McDonalds Fruit and Walnut Salad - Snack Size

This afternoon I went for a walk/run in Central Park (the "run" part didn't happen so much since I am still getting over being sick and just could not take it) and then walked home. I was in need of a snack, since the only thing I had all day was a tuna sandwich and a Fruitabu, so I intended to stop at McDonalds (mostly because I only had a credit card and they reliably take credit cards). I figured I would end up getting a snack wrap or a hamburger, something small, so I could still eat dinner when Alvin was done with ultimate.

My plans changed when I walked in and saw a sign for the fruit and walnut snack size salad. I remembered hearing about a fruit and walnut salad before, but I had thought it was like a green salad with fruits and walnuts as some of the toppings and I had never really paid attention, because I'm not a big fan of walnuts. The snack size package looked good though, good enough for me to drop the hamburger/snack wrap idea and try it.

It's perfect for a snack. (I googled it and it sounds like people had some issues with the original size, but I really liked it). It appears they have replaced the original size with the snack size. It had 3 compartments - one with apple slices and grapes (I don't mind that it's only apples and grapes, I used to buy the packages of apple dippers, so it's pretty much the same), a smaller compartment with candied walnuts in little pieces (I had thought the salad had big walnuts, so this was a plus), and a compartment with lowfat yogurt. All combined I thought it was great. The fruit and yogurt were refreshing after having walked about 9 miles and it was a good size for a snack. Does anyone know if they serve this or the fruit & yogurt parfait for breakfast? It would be a lot healthier than that sausage biscuit I get in the morning...

I don't like...Colgate Sparkling White Mint Zing toothpaste

Sigh. I wanted to like this. I think I got this on a Walgreens rebate (like so many other products, this is how I try them out), and since I like mint toothpastes and whitening toothpastes, I did want to like this.

But it burned my mouth. Literally!

Granted, I had been trying this when I had been undergoing a bit of dental work, but still. It burned the insides of my cheeks! How can you want to brush your teeth knowing it's going to sting and burn so much that it would make you cry?

Now, Alvin has no problem with this toothpaste, so it's clearly not burning everyone. But after using it for like a week, I can't bring myself to use it again. That's why I'm naming it as a "don't like."

Off to go read more Goblet of Fire!