Wednesday, April 01, 2009

This time, the joke isn't on me...

Happy April Fool's Day -- for those who embrace the silliness of today.
I don't have anything up my sleeve in honor of the day -- not that I wouldn't want to -- but only because I don't have anyone whom I can play a joke on, or who might appreciate it.

Moving on.
I'm a gadget girl. I'm not ashamed to admit it either. I love things that make life easier or more enjoyable. I'm a huge fan of cooking gadgets, kitchen accessories -- and fun little tools for the garden or home that really make sense and work. Of course, it doesn't help when you have two little kids who want Mom to buy everything they see on informercial. While I'm skeptical as to how good some products work, I'm selective on what I buy. But some things are really just worth having.
A friend at work happened to mention to me that she bought an automatic personal shopping list organizer from Brookstone. She thought that I would like it - and so she brought in a sample of one of her shopping lists so I could take a look. Simply press a button and speak into the list - and it captures your item. Not only does it keep a running list (Or two, or three. Perfect for seperating regular food shopping from party or holiday lists) - it categorizes and organizes them by department. Like it? I loved it. Had to have it. My inner type A was glowing with anticipation of the possiblities because finally, it didn't matter if I wrote the list out of order -- it automatically organizes and structures it in a functional manner for me! So, online to Brookstone I went with the intent of buying it -- and at $69.00 for all the convenience it had to offer, how could I not purchase it immediately?

Just for giggles --- I went to Amazon, and searched for the same thing; sometimes Amazon resells from stores such as Brookstone, and I wanted to see user reviews. Sure enough, the very same product pops up, but not from Brookstone -- factory direct from the manufacturer. For the low, low price of.....$29.95! I couldn't hit "add to basket" fast enough.

I got it in the mail yesterday and popped in the batteries -- and I'm sorry, but I'm obsessed with it now. It's my new toy. It has thousands of items preloaded in the directory; you can add new ones, or personalize existing ones (e.g. Mustard, to Grey Poupon Mustard). You can determine the amounts you want to purchase, and the system remembers what your regular items are, so if you say "Mustard" - it will give you your Grey Poupon option first. (which is a nice feature, what if you wanted French's for the kids?). Some brands are preloaded -- but clearly, not all can be -- which is truly irrelevant if either a.) your not brand fussy, or b.) you know what brands you buy anyway so it truly doesn't matter.




I sort of get that whole "angels singing" effect when I walk by the machine, similar to what I get when entering Wrentham outlets. Try it yourself and see -- for $29.95 -- you might too!

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