And now for another round of Monthly Love as I reflect back on some of the awesome things that I have discovered this month.

If any of you have followed this blog for any length of time, you’ll know that I’ve been on and off Weight Watchers which means I’ve spent a god awful amount of time eating various types of diet foods.  I do it partly because I’m lazy and don’t have to think much about what I’m eating and partly because it’s cheaper in the long run, particularly when it comes to lunches.  But the frozen foods (I favored Lean Cuisine) were getting old and I needed something new.  Lo and behold, I found these Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers in the pasta aisle and bought them because a friend had recommended them and boy, was she right.  So far I have tried the Ziti & Meat Sauce and the Rotini & Zesty Marinara.  I wasn’t too keen on the Rotini because the sauce has fire roasted peppers in it, which was a little odd tasting my opinion but the Ziti was delicious!  And the key to these is that you add water to the dry noodles, cook them in the microwave for about 3 minutes, strain them and then add the sauce packet.  So you are essentially getting a nice helping of FRESH pasta for about 300 calories.  I’ve been able to pick them up at Bi-Lo for $3 a pop, which is about the same that I paid for the Lean Cuisines.  But I would only buy them on sale because normally they are $4 something and I can’t justify spending that much for the portion size you get (adequate enough to keep you satisfied until dinner).

I hate cleaning but I can’t stand a dirty house!  And the worst part of cleaning, for me (aside from the dishes and having to put laundry away) is the bathrooms.  And we have no tile in our bathrooms, just the plastic inserts (which I abhor but aren’t all the hard to clean – don’t have to worry about the grout) but they still get filthy, especially since once of us (i.e. not ME) comes home covered in car grease and oil.  So early this month we were in the Black and Decker outlet and I saw this Scumbuster Xtreme on sale for about $25 bucks.  I waffled over whether I wanted to buy it so Steve just went ahead and got it for me and I am so glad he did.  This thing is amazing!  I used it on my shower, which had a shitload of mold and just grime buildup that I could never quite get clean, and it got rid of everything.  You just press the button and it turns on, spinning with enough torque to where you can actually press down hard to make it scrub and the head doesn’t stop spinning.  The top detaches and you can just carry the head around, or you can fill the tube with cleaner and spray it while you’re scrubbing (I have yet to do that).  I was amazed at the shit it pulled off and how sparkly clean everything was when I was done with it.  And the best part – it’s pretty much completely immersible so I leave it hanging over the shower door and before I get out, I use it to scrub down any places that have a bit of buildup.  Oh, and the unit is rechargeable – no having to buy batteries, just plug it in and it’s ready for use in no time.

There’s nothing I love better than the feeling of a professional cut and style.  But because I’m cheap, that’s where I draw the line.  I use drugstore shampoo and have colored my own hair for the past ten years or so.  Except this past weekend, when I headed to my (new) stylist, I got suckered into buying salon shampoo and conditioner and lordy, I don’t know if I’m ever going back.  She even told me, while she was talking up this product, that’s she not one to push products on people, which is probably why I feel for it hook, line and sinker.  But thank god – because this Redken Real Control series is the shit!  At first, I wasn’t sure if I liked it because it makes my hair feel kind of dense and a bit “dry”.  But after a few washes, I realized that’s what my hair is supposed to feel like.  The drugstore stuff was overmoisturizing and while it was making my hair shiny, it was weighing it down immensely and made it almost lifeless.  The “dryness” from this shampoo isn’t really dryness at all, rather it’s my hair being at the proper moisture level to make it clean and shiny but not weigh it down.  And the control I have over it now – oh my god, it curls where it’s supposed to, the layers lay where they need to be.  And my hair just feels amazingly healthier than it’s ever been!

While we’re on the subject of hair, I’d like to point you towards these Herbal Essences Shade-on-Shade Highlights in Golden Blonde.  The same day I bought the Redken stuff, my stylist and I were also discussing color and I mentioned that I didn’t like the latest shade I had put on it (it hovered somewhere near a medium to dark brown because I was being adventurous that day).  Once we cut my hair, I realized it wasn’t all that bad but she mentioned that she’d like to see me with some Honey Blonde highlights.  Since I wasn’t in for a color that day, we decided maybe we’d try it professionally next time.  But that didn’t stop me from picking up the Herbal Essences stuff in Bi-Lo.  It was an adventurous day, what can I say?  Here’s the thing: I was TERRIFIED to do these at home because it only took one bad experience with highlights to make me never want to do it again (blonde highlight on merlot colored hair – yea, you figure it out).  But these were fabulous!  They didn’t ruin my hair and they blended in nicely with my existing shade to where there’s a color boost but they don’t stand out (I didn’t want the skunky look, just a bit of subtle shades).  The key with these though is that I only left them on for about ten minutes total (counting the time it took me to apply the solution), I used less than a quarter of the solution and I shampooed my hair immediately after washing it out.  At first, the blonde was REALLY blonde and I was so very scared.  Even after I got out of the shower, I could tell I was BLONDE on top and panicked a bit.  But once I blowed dried my hair I realized the color blended in nicely with my existing shade and complemented it nicely without looking brassy.  Overall, it was a decent $10 spent for just a subtle enough boost to my natural (dyed) color.

I bought this Henri Bendel Firewood candle because the first thing I thought of when I smelled it in the store was a man.  Seriously, it makes me think of a hot, sexy, virile man out in the woods chopping trees with his shirt off.  I don’t normally lean toward masculine scented things but I don’t think that’s what this is supposed to be.  This isn’t a masculine scent, though men would probably like it, but it’s a very sexy, rustic, romantic fantasy inspiring scent, at least for me.  It’s a mixture of sandalwood, birch, cedar and amber but I think it reminds me of “wood, leather, wet stone, leaves, smoke and tobacco”, as one of the reviewers put it.  I hate to say I’m turned on by such an inanimate object but if Steve smelled like this all of the time, well, I’d probably kill him from exhaustion.

I’m a huge fan of BB&W’s Wallflowers because I’ve always felt they put out a better, more natural and longer lasting scent than the Glade or Airwick ones.  Plus, the selection of scents if phenomenal.  But I ran across the new Brilliant Citrus Odor Neutralizing scent when I was looking for a fresh, clean spring smell for the house and figured I’d give it a try.  I don’t mind citrus scents, particularly in the kitchen (I currently use the Kitchen Lemon hand soap) and Steve usually prefers for me to use less obtrusive and more natural smells if I’m going to scent the house.  As soon as I plugged this in, I could smell the citrus.  It’s strong at first, even making it’s way into the living room and it’s very lemony, which I don’t mind.  It’s clean and airy and fresh smelling without being overwhelmingly sweet.  I haven’t had it in long enough to asses the odor naturalizing capabilities but they get good marks on the BB&W reviews.  I just love that it smells good enough but doesn’t smell overly artificial.

And finally, some honorable mentions: I love Duraflame logs because they keep us warm, are easy to light and maintain, keep our electricity bill down and well, because I’m too lazy for real wood.  Thank you Netflix for being totally awesome in encouraging my laziness while allowing me to keep up with the shit ton of movies that came out this month.  Chick-Fil-A, your Chick-n-Minis are phenomenal and have pretty much sustained my breakfast needs throughout the month of January.  Matter of fact, I want some now! The Blackberry Curve theme kept me from upgrading the Bold solely based on the fact that I liked it’s theme better (I’m a sucker for clean lines and no clutter).  I love how functional and organized and pretty everything is.  It is literally the best theme I have ever downloaded.  And finally, I’ve been using LogMeIn to control my computer at work over the past month as a quick and easy emergency alternative (because sometimes the VPN crashes on me) and this service is phenomonal!  Aside from the fact that it’s free, it basically allows you to remote control a computer from your browser.  You just have to make sure the machine has the small program installed on it (a program which has no negative effects on the performance of the machine as far as I’ve seen).  I could really see using this to help support friends and family members who live out of state.

Oh, and Stephenie Meyer … you have NOTHING on Charlaine Harris.  You all should run out right now and read the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire books.  I just finished the first book and the storytelling and writing just puts Meyer’s Twilight to shame (they really are, though, two different types of vampire stories). And True Blood fans definitely should read them – they complement the series nicely!

And that is all! Stay tuned next month for another fascinating round of all things I am obsessed with.  Now, off to fantasize about shirtless men and Chick-n-Minis!