My new favorite perfume. I actually bought for a friend who wanted for her birthday, and loved it so much I put it on my Christmas wish list. Jimmy Choo Eau De Parfum Spray is a fabulous scent. The link I’m giving you at amazon.com is for a 3.3 ounce bottle for under $50. The same size is $98 at Sephora! Now, here’s a tip for you in case you are looking for some sage wisdom from The Average Consumer. Normally, I would be a little hesitant that it is so much cheaper on Amazon. However, I have never had an issue with Amazon when needing to return an item. That being said, this product is shipped and sold from Amazon, whereas sometimes the items come from another vendor through Amazon. I would have absolutely no hesitation buying this from Amazon since it is actually sold and shipped by Amazon. And, it’s perfume ladies! It’s not cologne. So that is a great price.

Now, on to the deets:

An expression of the modern woman’s aura, this scent at once conveys strength and beauty, glamour and confidence. Luminous green top notes join a heart of rich and exotic tiger orchid and lingering base notes of sweet toffee and Indonesian patchouli to leave a sensual memory on the skin. For the bottle, the opulence of jewel-colored Venetian Murano glass inspired its faceted design.

Notes:
Mandarin, orange and pear combined with hints of orchid, patchouli and toffee.

I think it is a very light scent, but it has staying power. Not overpowering at all, but I can still smell it at the end of the day. Definitely a winter scent for me. See that word up above? Patchouli? I usually steer clear of anything that smells like that because it always reminds me of my hippie days. But I’m starting to rethink it. It’s in my new favorite body wash, and now in my new favorite perfume.

So, if you want a new perfume, now’s the time to put this on your Valentine’s Day wish list. Or hell, just go pick it up for yourself. You deserve it! The bottle is gorgeous, and looks great on my vanity.

I’ve given you lots of romantical ideas before for gifts. Today I’m going to give you some cute ideas for key chains I found on etsy.com. Because everyone needs a key chain, right? And it’s a very inexpensive gift. I really am not a big believer in spending a ton of money on Valentine’s Day. And I am also a big believer in not giving chocolate! I’m on a perpetual diet.

Love the puzzle piece key chains from White Lilie Designs.

Personalized from Simply Sweet Studio.

Adorbs. Tag You’re It Jewelry.

My mom used to always say this. Her Silver Lining.

Swoon. My Experience Charmed.

Hopefully that gives you some great ideas. There are thousands of great gift ideas on etsy. So go. Go on, you know you want to!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my sister-in-law was kind enough to be my sous chef in the preparation of the meal. Little did she know that I really pretty much put her in charge of everything. I’m sneaky like that. In addition to working her like a dog and preparing, I mean assisting me in all of my dishes, I asked her to make my Mom’s famous veggie bars. She brought all the ingredients to make the veggie bars, along with her Vidalia Chop Wizard. I’d seen it on TV before, but always thought my little electric chopper would do a better job. Oh oh contraire mon frère. She was chopping up the veggies in no time. And unlike my electric chopper, the veggies didn’t get watery, like they tend to do in my electric chopper. So, needless to say I was sold and asked for one for Christmas.

I finally remembered to use it over the weekend and let me tell you, I am in love. I was making Patti’s Taco Salad, and got the chopper out. My husband didn’t think it would work by cutting an onion into four quarters and putting in the chopper. But it did. In no time. And I didn’t even cry.

It comes with two different sized blades for chopping. One quick motion to close the lid over the blade and the container holds your magically chopped item. The little pick helps to clean out whatever is left in the blade before you stick in the dishwasher and clean. All parts dishwasher safe. That’s always a plus for me.

From Vidalia Chop Wizard:

• Chop vegetables, fruit, cheese, and more in half the time
• Handy gadget chops and dices veggies with one swift motion
• Includes 2 super sharp insert discs for perfect chopping and dicing every time
• Catch container doubles as a measuring cup with marks from 1/2 cup up to 2 cups
• Includes handy lid cleaning tool; dishwasher safe

This is now my favorite kitchen gadget. So pick one up for yourself, and buy as a gift for the cook on your gift list! It’s under $20, and you can find at most superstores, or amazon.com.

Is everyone still on his or her New Year’s Resolution for being fit and fabulous? I sure hope so. I have a great free app for you today, which is designed to give you a great workout without needing any equipment. You decide if you want to work out 5 minutes, or 60 minutes, and the app will give you a workout for the body part you want to work out, whether you want strength training, yoga, or cardio.

From the developer:

Sworkit takes you through 5-60 minute circuit training workouts requiring no equipment.

Just choose what part of the body to workout and for how long. Options include strength training, cardio, stretching, yoga, and even an option to create custom workouts.

Sworkit is designed to keep your workouts more interesting by building randomized workouts that do not require any extra equipment and will not become monotonous. The circuit training aspect provides additional cardiovascular fitness with each exercise being presented in 30 second intervals with a built in rest periods every 2 minutes.

Create your own Custom Workouts using any exercises in our library for a fully personalized experience. Great for focused workouts, injury recovery, and new challenges.

KEY FEATURES:
• CUSTOM WORKOUTS: Choose the exercises you want to do and Sworkit will take care of the rest
• Targeted workouts for Upper Body, Lower Body, Core Strength, Back Strength, Stretching, Cardio, and custom Yoga Sequences.
• Full Body mode combines upper, lower, cardio and core exercises.
• Anything Goes combines full body, back strength, stretching only, cardio, and basic yoga poses.
• Images are provided to describe every exercise.
• Sun Sequence yoga workout is designed as a great warm-up or can be used as practice by itself.
• Full Sequence takes you through a full yoga workout and gives you control of the speed to allow you to control your breathing pattern.
• Audible sounds indicate when it is time to switch workouts.

Use across multiple devices. Designed for iPad, iPhone, and iPod.