These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Is this a weird photo to post on a blog?  I had to take a picture so you'll know precisely what to rush out and buy.  My Mom turned me on to these, and they're wonderful.  Glade carpet sprinkles in Clean Linen scent.  They make the house smell amazing.  Since my house is rarely truly clean these days, I'm enjoying this little short cut.  I pick up enough stuff so that carpet is actually showing.  Then I throw some of these babies down and vacuum.  Actually, I saddle a child with that job.  If I close my eyes and take a deep breath I can fool myself into thinking my house is sparkling clean because it smells so spotless.  They're magic sprinkles I tell you.

Some of my very favorite things are purchases I've made because of recommendations from blogs.  A blogger I admire will rave about something, and suddenly all I can think about is how I must try it.  It's like being in junior high again, and wanting what all the "really cool girls" have.  I remember that feeling exactly.  (The year was 1980 and I was in hot pursuit of the super sized bubble gum flavored Bonnie Bell lip smacker that came on a pink rope.  I had to have one hanging around my neck; just had to.  What good was it to have a comb sticking out of the back pocket of my Gloria Vanderbilt's and leg warmers covering the bottoms of them if I couldn't sport a Bonnie Bell to complete the look??)

Thanks to bloggers, I have stumbled upon these great treasures...

1.  Coconut Lime Verbena candles from Bath and Body Works...

2.  ...and the matching antibacterial foamy handsoap.  Smells like vacation.

3.  Pure Grace by Sephora

4.  Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencils (we have nothing else in the school room)

5.  Method bathroom cleaner from Target

6.  Pumpkin Pie Lattes at Starbucks (thank heavens I can only go broke on them in the fall)

7.  David Crowder music

8.  My 50 mm prime lens for my camera (the absolute secret to perfect portraits)

9.  Apothecary jars and cloches for decorating

....and last, but not least....

10.  C.E. Bigelow's lipgloss.  It so trumps Bonnie Bell.

There's another thing I've been introduced to by bloggers.  Something sincerely life changing, and I don't mean in a carpet sprinkle kind of way.  Each year a handful of bloggers are chosen by Compassion International to go abroad with a Compassion team and blog about their experiences.  Five bloggers have spent this week in Calcutta, India.  I'm captivated....riveted, humbled, appalled, shocked, inspired, confused, overwhelmed.  The purpose of the blog posts is to raise awareness about the miracles that $32 can provide for a child in desperate need, and the writing this week has been profound.  You can visit the bloggers here, and if you take the time to read their stories, your heart will be deeply touched.  I promise.  Compassion International will be on your list of favorite things too.