All Hung Up

Santa showed up this year…..in a brown uniform, masked as a UPS driver.   I knew he was a “new guy” and had something special for me because unlike most delivery guys who just chuck packages over the side of my patio gate, this guy knocked gently on the gate door, waited for me to open it, and handed a giant box to me with a smile on his face.  I smiled back and told him to have a great day.  Santa…..

Here’s the giant box:

I opened it immediately. 

Here’s what was inside:

My jaw dropped when saw it all.  I knew immediately which one of Santa’s elves had his ear – Katie! 

Here’s the thing, when you have a blog about products you love, friends (followers) are always telling you about products they love.  And that’s awesome!  I want to try anything someone else loves!  But my little “rule” for this “very big deal” blog I’ve got going here is that if I’m going to write about it, I need to love it.  

Elf Katie has loved Huggable Hangers from Day 1.  She told me about them on Day 1 of this blog; she wanted me to love them.  So I received them.  I tried them.  And I do LOVE them!  Here’s why:

They are saving my favorite Club Monaco tissue t-shirts from slipping off plastic hangers (because the Huggables are wide, with arches at just the right spot, and are covered in velvet, helping clothes stay put):

They’re keeping my wide-necked shirts on hangers:

Anything with a spaghetti strap gets hung up on a Huggable and just stays put (goodbye plastic hangers with those annoying little mini curved hooks that are supposed to help with this, but don’t!):

They’re holding up dresses that otherwise require safety-pins-hooked-to-dry-cleaner-hangers or annoying-hidden-ribbons-hooked-and-wrapped-around-aforementioned-mini-curved-hooks:  

Despite their very slim design, the Huggables are quite sturdy.  My heavier jackets are now on appropriate hangers!:

If you’re like me, you probably haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about hanger design.  But check this out….Huggable Hangers are shaped the way our neck/shoulder area is shaped.  Traditional plastic hangers are not shaped the way our neck/shoulder area is shaped.  How has this never come up?! 

To sum it all up, Huggable Hangers:

• Are slimmer than most hangers (read: closet space-saver)
• But they are sturdy and could handle the weight of heavy dresses and jackets
• Are nice and wide, so you clothes are more likely to stay hung and less likely to come off a hanger with shoulder divots from hangers that drop mid-shoulder.
• Have long necks on their chrome hooks, which is nice for turtlenecks or scoop necks
• Mimic the shape of our bodies, so clothing hangs similar to the way it hangs on your body. 
•  *You can order them in kid size, too!

So far, nothing bad to say about them.

A little more about the product, though. . .

The Huggable Hanger is Home Shopping Network's all-time best-selling product.  Stylists, organization experts, and even Oprah love Huggable Hangers!  They were invented by American mom/inventor/entrepreneur, Joy Mangano.  She has said, "I'm just like everybody else out there. I'm a mom, I work, I have a house to clean, things to organize. We all have certain similar needs, and I address them."

You can find Huggable Hangers here, in a rainbow of colors:

HSN.com

What was I waiting for?  I need more!  And goodbye dry cleaner hangers that I held onto because the foam padded-wrapped wire hangers kept things in place better than plastic hangers.  Goodbye you ugly little things!

And I want this closet.  Dear Santa……

It's Party Season. Go Nuts!

Last summer, one of my sisters introduced me to Rosemary Marcona Almonds from Trader Joe’s.  (Highly addictive!)  Then last week, a small bag of Sahale’s Parmesan Cheese + Herbs “Crunchers” jumped in my cart during one of those shopping trips everyone and their brother tells you to avoid: shopping while hungry!   I was a little overwhelmed by the herb + parm coating, yet I ate every last little almond “cruncher” (for, you know, taste test purposes). 

Riveting, right?  E ate some nuts.  Let’s continue. . .

Keep in mind, RARELY do I consider whether I could replicate at home something I can buy at a store.  (I applaud do-it-yourselfers, crafters, and people who embrace all-things-domestic; I’m just more of a “find-buy-support the economy” kind of gal.)  But when I mentioned that I intended to get back to blogging and in reply someone asked for holiday party hors d'oeuvre ideas, for some crazy reason, I wondered, “Would it be easy to make those Sahale things at home, only MY way, more like the Trader Joe’s almonds?”   I assumed I was just one quick Google search away from the recipe for what I wanted to taste.  Wrong!  I had to dig a little.  I’m an Internet sleuth, but going back to that part where I just assume buy what I need and call it a day, having to spend more than a few minutes finding a recipe for something that pretty much already lives on a grocery store shelf was annoying. 

But I came across the following recipe for “Herbed Nuts.”  It lacked parmesan, but the rest looked good.  The recipe was short and sweet.  It was a holiday weekend and I gave myself permission to spend 30 minutes on something like this.  And crossed my fingers (for two reasons: [1] I hoped these would taste good; and [2] figured if they tasted good, I could use them as a blog post). 

Well, here we are, so…..win, win! 

There’s a time and place for a bowl of chips at a party, but if you’re throwing a classier affair or need smaller snacks to put around a room for a cocktail party, go for nuts! 

Herbed Nuts

1)  Mix 3 Tbsp. melted butter with 1 Tbsp. each minced parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, and 2 tsp. salt.  (I used dry spices – gasp, I know – but I bet fresh spices would be even better)

2)  Toss mixture with 3 cups unsalted mixed nuts. (I used 1.5 bags of Raw Blanched Slivered Almonds from Trader Joe’s)

3)  Bake at 325 degrees F for 25 minutes, stirring once.

p.s. Be sure to place a small stack of cocktail napkins next to each bowl of nuts.  You’ll need napkins!  

For the Love Of…..

“I like not only to be loved, but to be told that I am loved.”     - George Eliot


The big holidays are behind us, but that lovely love day is less than a month away. Red and pink hues blanket the stores and "Kay" and "Jared" hit us all over with their bauble ads. The rest is all hearts, flowers, love notes, and.....chocolate!

For those of you planning to shower your love with a box of calories, how 'bout we skip Godiva this year?  Skip Russell Stover and Whitman's this year while you're at it (and maybe every year . . . at least for a Valentine's Day gift).  Show her/him that you actually care and an effort was made! Here’s how. . . 

If you absolutely want to go the way of a box of chocolates, you know it works, and you’re confident in that space, one of the simplest steps up would be Truffles and Bon Bons from Chocolate Bar.  They are handmade, hand-packed fresh and oozing rich flavors like coffee cardamom, caramel, peanut butter & jelly and passion fruit.  A middle-of-the-road 24-piece signature box is $33.   

Chocolate Bar NYC




A step in the fancy direction takes us to La Maison du Chocolat.  Discover the luxury with a 28-piece Coffret Maison Dark and Milk box ($55).  They describe it as a “refined chocolate box,” and it is.  I’d say: exquisite. 

La Maison du Chocolat

If you’re willing to get a tad more creative and sweet, go this route: The Valentine Collection by L.A. Burdick Chocolates ($78). Artfully presented in a wood crate, a selection of this chocolatier’s best hand-crafted pieces – including a pair of their special chocolate mice (!) – are nestled in just so.  Be sure to read the “About Us” section of their website; they really are masters of chocolate. 

(If you think the Chocolate Mice are as quirky and cute as I do, it could be another option for you ($32 or $48))

L.A. Burdick

I have to throw in a plug here for Vosges Haut-Chocolat.  I’ve followed Vosges since their early days in Chicago, got to know some of the folks behind the scenes, and remain a super fan.  Different than a box of chocolates, but nonetheless rectangularly contained, a Mini Exotic Candy Bar Library ($25) would make a fun gift!  A library of chocolate – COME ON!   Throw in a Barcelona Milagro Heart of Love ($4) while you’re ordering online.  Make it Valentine-y. 

Vosges Haut-Chocolat



Shall I keep going???



Maybe you don’t want to gift pieces of chocolate.  How about brownies?  I haven’t met one person who hasn’t loved Fat Witch brownies. I mean, yes, it could be weird to give your lovely a tin that says "Fat Witch" on it, so tread carefully here. Plenty of options, but for Valentine’s Day, I think a great gift would be a “Tin of Favs.”  For $39 you get 2 Fat Witches, 2 Blonde Witches, 2 Walnut Witches, 2 Caramel Witches.

Fat Witch

Or….there’s cake!  And by cake, I don’t mean grocery store bakery section cake (unless that’s your fave, which, that’s cool, too).  No, I’m talkin’ “I’m-going-to-splurge-here-and-prove-to-my-special-someone-that-they-are-so-worth-it” cake. One of my absolute favorite boutiques in Manhattan is a cake boutique: Lady M Confections.  (My absolute favorite cake is their signature Lady M Mille Crepes, but we’re here to talk about chocolate…) And this work of art – the Couronne du Chocolat – can be shipped to you ($75 plus shipping and handling fees)!  It is dark chocolate mousse layered with chocolate sponge, topped with ganache and finished with white chocolate shavings and crumb sidings. Be sure to note their special ordering instructions, which are posted on the website.

Lady M Confections

Finally, what I consider the simplest and most romantic option: Champagne Truffles from Teuscher Chocolates. 

From Teuscher:

Decadent. Exquisite. Unforgettable. There is no question that our most popular truffle is also the world’s finest. A delicate milk chocolate shell wrapped around sinfully rich dark chocolate with a heart of French champagne crème, each one of our Champagne Truffles is a miniature masterpiece. Taste one and you will understand immediately how our signature specialty has seduced customers and critics the world over. Available in any quantity, all year round.

Pair these with a fine bottle of champagne, a hand-written love note, and call it Valentine’s Day. 

Teuscher

Just ideas.  Hope they help!  Now……who’d like to be my secret admirer?  :-)

- E