How do you suck it up?

Vacuuming is big business in my house. 

We vacuum every day. 

This is not an exaggeration. 

If I don't vacuum the downstairs by the time Chris gets home, he does it. The upstairs gets vacuumed at least once, or twice, a week. 

So, vacuuming is a big deal. Almost six years ago, when we got married, we chose a canister vacuum. It looks like this one:

Before we purchased it--actually it was a gift. Thanks!--I did my due diligence in research. At the time, we lived in a one-story, all-wood-floors home. From my research, canisters are the best vacuums for hard-surface flooring. 

Today, the vacuum is slowly falling apart. There are tears in the electrical cord, where we've run over it with the canister. The carpet-rolling part only works when you turn the handle all the way to the right. And, Chris took off a piece of the handle cover so "it would work better." 

Now that it's falling apart, Chris declares it a piece of crud and says we should buy something totally different. Just for the record, this vacuum has vacuumed approximately 2,190 times. It's survived 3 moves, and it DOES still work. SIX years later!!

With that being said, I agree it's time for a new one. But what should we buy? 

I may be the only person left, but I love bagged vacuums. I really don't think I want to dump out all the dirt and hair. It seems like it would make another huge mess. Also, remember, we have a lot of hair in our house: a cat, a dog and me. Doesn't all the hair get tangled up in those "filters"? Currently, I like just taking the filled bag out of the vacuum and throwing it away in its nice, contained package. 

Chris thinks an upright would be easier to manage than chasing around the canister and cord. I don't entirely disagree. However, most of the uprights I've seen weight a minimum of 25 pounds. I can't imagine lugging that up and down our stairs almost every day! And, most uprights are bag-less. 

So this is where you come in, dear readers. 

What vacuum do you use? Do you like it? Are bag-less vacuums gross? 

I'm up for any and all suggestions!

Oh, and I don't want to pay $500 or something crazy.....so go!

Go Luxe

There's a cool contest over at Blogher.com that you all might like. It's based around Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo new clothing collection debut collection, VT Luxe!

You can enter the contest here, and if you win, you get to choose which item of clothing you want. That's my favorite part! You won't be stuck with some random item that you don't want. 

Also, they are giving away 50 copies of Jesse and Joe's book, "Nothing to Wear?"

With spring and summer around the corner, I'm ready to spruce up my wardrobe, and any style advise is welcomed!

Jesse and Joe also have a style blog: http://visual-therapy.com/blog/

Here's wishing you a stylish season!

A Saturday in Suburbia

Chris had to go to work today in his Cordova office. We decided that since I needed to buy groceries and run errands, we would strike out east together, and I could shop while he worked. Not a bad plan. 

For some reason, traffic was insane (to me) on our trip out there. It looked like this the entire time.

I had a long list of groceries and a few house items so I decided Target would be my first stop. I really wanted to go to Target because I never go anymore. The only Targets are pretty far from our house, and the Walmart is much closer, so it's my default. I was a total Target girl in Little Rock, but I've adjusted to my Walmart locale. So today I was stoked to get some Target time. 

I didn't realize it, but the Target closest to Chris' work is actually a Super Target. Oh my.

I walked in, and thought, "This is really big." 

But I pushed through my hesitation. I got one of the pretty, red carts, and began. To my right there was a full grocery store! A nice looking produce department, and aisles and aisles of food stuff. You know what I thought? "I bet it's cheaper at Walmart." Now when I pulled into the parking lot, I saw that there was a Super Walmart just across the lot. Oh the temptation. 

I reconciled myself with the plan that I would only purchase some house goods at Target, and I would go next door to WalMart for all my food stuff. 

On through the Target aisles I went. 

The first section was their Valentine's Day stuff, and this:

 

A wall of candy. There were bags and pull-down levers and candy. Then I saw the sign. $7.49 per pound. I'm pretty sure I could rack up some pounds of candy here, so I made myself keep walking. I walked through the health section, and thought, "I bet that shampoo is cheaper at WalMart." Then I walked through the housewares, and I thought, "I bet that's cheaper at WalMart." I continued through several sections, and that's all I could think! 

Then I found the Sam's-Club-inspired section. Everything in this department was in large quantities. For example, 2 packs of Special K protein bars instead of one. Another example: a 4-pack of Kleenex boxes and a 4-pack of shaving cream. Now this is what I'm talking about! I was finally comfortable putting some things in my cart that I was sure wouldn't be cheaper next door. I made sure I only purchased items that I would normally buy, they just happened to be in bulk. After a few bulks items, I decided I should just stop torturing myself and head next door to WalMart. 

This was the state of the car after my Super Target excursion. 

Yeah, that's a LOT of cat litter and a LOT of toilet paper. There was also a LOT of dish soap, shaving cream and toothpaste. Good thing I made myself leave. 

This post could stop here, but I went to WalMart next, and who can leave the story before WalMart? 

I'm not sure how much you can see of the photo above, but they were giving H1N1 and regular flu shots in an aisle at WalMart. I was pretty sure that I would be more exposed to the flu, and diseases in general, if I sat down in the middle of an aisle at WalMart and got a shot! Now granted, I want all these people to get shots so they don't get me sick, but my healthcare plan doesn't include getting shots in an aisle at WalMart.

I was able to move on and purchase all the items remaining on my list. I even found the bulk aisle at Walmart. 

 

Don't worry. I refrained this time. 

Shopping Tips

So do any of you subscribe to those member-only shopping sites? I have subscribed to several--they are free--and I like it because they email me about sales each day. I don't buy things everyday--don't worry husband--but it's fun to see what's out there. Some of the sites are more customized than others. Some have things that are still way too expensive, but it's like window-shopping without having to find a parking space. Here's a list of ones that I use.


Rue La La. http://www.ruelala.com/invite/acook44 
I REALLY like this one because they sell more than just clothing. They have amazing deals on home goods, wines, foods, luggage, clothing and more. I've purchased from them, and I've never had a problem.

Beyond the Rack. www.beyondtherack.com
This one is only clothing, and only high-end clothing. They also sell purses, watches, accessories and clothing. They have crazy good deals. I just bought a $125 purse for $29 with $9 shipping. This site requires an invitation, so if you're interested leave me a comment, and I'll send you one.

Shop It To Me. www.shopittome.com
This is the most customized one. You can create a profile with your sizes, shops you like, brands you like, categories like shoes, etc. It's all clothing and accessories, and I like it because they show sales from shops that I already buy from. Sometimes I'm too intimidated to buy clothing from stores that I've never tried before, so it's nice they send me notices when my staple stores like Ann Taylor Loft and Banana Republic are having sales. I'm not sure if this one requires an invitation, but if you want to sign-up let me know, and I'll send you the info.

One Kings Lane. www.onekingslane.com
This is the most recent one I've discovered. It's all home goods, from knives and cookware to paper goods and artwork. It has amazing brands on sale. In the last week, they've had Peacock Alley, Kate Spade and more. It's very cool. I haven't ordered from them yet, but you've got to check it out. I think you'll need an invitation, so let me know if you want one!