Style Lush

My Living Room Has Needs

by Christina

These two items are not on my Christmas list because they would be a waste of ink as my individual budget is less than one of them. But, if I could have anything I wanted, after I unwrap the giant red bow from my brand new cream Lexus, I'd want these two babies for my living room. It needs a clock and a floor lamp, and, it has really good taste. See?

I'd trade my bed for this clock. (It's old and hard and I spend more time in my kids room, anyway.) I love it so. It's big, too. 32 inches high, 17 across. It would be amazing next to my fireplace.

This wants to live next to my couch. It's so cool, and bottom heavy (like me) And it's tall! 5 foot 6. Awesome. My room has so much color in it that adding these all white pieces would be a nice relief. If only that Lexus came with them both in the trunk.

(images via pinterest- via west elm and country living magazine)

USB Heated Blanket

By Leah

Do you live in a hundred-year-old uninsulated house, where you spend 8+ hours freezing at your computer desk every weekday? Do you know someone who does? Have I got a gift for you/that other person!

Have you seen the electric blankets powered by your computer via USB connector? Use one plug for "warm" and both plugs for "hot."

{Image from Think Geek}

When I tweeted my amazement at this brilliant marriage of survival and science, Laura replied that she had pair of USB-heated gloves, "so I can blog without chilly fingers."

{Image from Amazon}

So I guess this is a thing. Did you know this was a thing? I did not know this was a thing.

Space heaters rack up power bills like crazy, and don't get me wrong, I love my Snuggie, but listen: there's no law that says I can't use all four of these modern miracles at the same time. Cheers to working warm this winter!

Casetagram: Custom iPhone Cases Featuring Your Instagram Photos

By Hillary

We all agree that Instagram rocks, right? Snap a photo with your iPhone, apply a filter, and share it with your followers all in a few quick steps. 

I am an avid Instagram user. I didn't know what to do with all of my excellent Instagram shots (not excellent in a "talented photographer" sense but in more of a "sentimental" kind of way) until Elisabeth showed me how to print Instagram shots straight from my phone. Except that the service isn't available outside of the USA (seriously, guys. Canada is attached to you. I should be able to get my Instagram photos printed and delivered to me. Just sayin'.)

Then I discovered Casetagram. Just sign in with your Instagram account and all of your photos are there, ready for you to slap onto an iPhone 4 case. How cool is that? Plus they deliver worldwide for free. Now I can display photos of my adorable baby literally on my phone. 

 

{Photo credit: casetagram.com, but I take full credit for the adorable baby}

Stylish iPhone Covers

By Blythe

I am one of those people who spent the last year speculating about the date of the new iPhone release.  I do have an excuse;  my current phone is working at dial-up speed and I have resorted to the Fonzie method of getting it to load my e-mail.  So you can imagine my excitement when Apple finally announced that I can get a new phone tomorrow.  (I know, it's not a NEW new version but I really don't care.  I just want a phone that I can actually answer when it rings.)  And of course I've already picked out the cover for it, because that's just as important as the phone itself, right?

Tech Candy cases include two different inner grippy cases and a cool textured cover.  I love them.  But I do have a problem.  I can't seem to choose which design to get.

Do I go for the sophisticated look?

New York Case Set

 

Or am I more of a rock star?

Rock Star Case Set

 

Tech Candy offers a bunch more pretty designs and iPad covers too.  Now, how do I choose?

{photo credits: techcandycovers.com}

Garmin To Go

By Lisa

Sometimes my husband is brilliant. He found me something for my iPhone that I will really use. I love functional. He loves electronics. It's a win-win. 

In this case, it's Garmin StreetPilot Onboard. As in Garmin, the people who make the portable GPS systems for your car? Yeah, but this is an app for your iPhone. Genius! You see, I drive an old school Jeep Grand Cherokee. No navigation system. So I'm always printing out directions for mom's club activities or vacation destinations or whatever. Now I can save some paper and some effort. The Garmin app is just like a regular navigation system. I can type in an address and it'll give me step-by-step directions (with helpful voice prompts!) or I can search for a nearby attraction or park. Whatever I need, it's in there. The extra brilliant part is that now when we rent a car on vacation, we already have a GPS. No need to rent one with the car. Easy peasy.

Go check out all the details in the App Store and download it. It's $40, so not exactly a cheap app. But when you consider how much an actual GPS system is, you'll quickly see how worth it this is. Enjoy! 

Print your Instagrams from your phone!

By Elisabeth

I don't know about you, but ever since I was introduced to the Iphone app, Instagram, I have a hard time taking pictures with an actual camera. (Sad, I know.) And while every photo should not be filtered, it's still quite fun to manipulate a decent original picture in the Instagram App.

Back in April, when our baby was born (#3), I spent lots of time in the hospital bed (the full 2 days baby!) gazing at my new little nugget and taking over-the-head shots of the both of us.

Uh, What else was I supposed to do?

But, once I came out of the newborn haze, some 11 weeks later, I realized, how on earth am I going to print these ONE-OF-A-KIND, SPECIFICALLY SHAPED pictures?

(At the time, I was taking each picture within the actual app, as opposed to my Iphone camera, first.) I did some research and didn't find exactly what I was hoping for at the time.

Luckily, I have a really cool friend that saw something I might be interested in, due to my "you take way too many pictures with that app, girlfriend." She recently sent me a link to Postal Pix.

Postal Pix is a FREE app that prints your photos, helps you pic a size for your pictures, like the not-so-normal 4 x 4 (PERFECT for Instagram's square photos) and upload them to your cart all from your phone.

Of course, you do have to buy the photos, but the ease of choosing each and every one from my camera, enter in my credit card, then hit BUY all from my phone? GENIUS. Plus, it's something I can do while I feed my baby since that's the only time I find any.downtime.EVER.

 

UPDATE: Just received my hard copies in the mail. The quality is AMAZING. (Some filters show up better in print, fyi, but I am SO pleased none-the-less.) See?

 

{photo credit: postalpix.com}

 

There's an app for that: Tracking your period with FemCal Lite

By Manda

I cannot believe that I'm about to write this. But! It's for the greater good! My embarrassment be darned ... I hope this will be helpful to someone as it took me YEARS to finally figure out I could use my iPhone for this purpose!

I would like to share one of my favorite apps with you, ladies: The FemCal Lite Period Tracker.

{image via iTunes.com}

I don't know about you, but during my pregnancies with both of my children (and during the time we were trying to conceive) I kept track of EVERYTHING in my planner with pencil. That's right ... I had an iPhone the whole time and I STILL hand-wrote it. So when I dragged myself to the doctor for prenatal visits (and most post-natal!) I also dragged my trusty BusyBodyBook and made the intake nurse wait as I flipped through to find the answers to whatever questions she was asking for my chart. I even lost my calendar once and it was devastating! All that pertinent info ... just GONE!

No more! Thanks to this app (which I discovered after my son was born) I know exactly when old Aunt Flo is making her monthly visit, how long she stayed, when I'm ovulating, etc. It's a free app and it has helped me so much. It's easy to navigate and it's always with me (as is my iPhone!).

Do you track your cycles religiously? If so, with good old pen and paper or digitally?

Things My Husband Doesn't Know He Wants

By Megan

Next month is my sixth wedding anniversary and my husband's 35th birthday. He's notoriously difficult to shop for, but I've been taking some mental notes and think I have come up with a few great gifts that he won't see coming.

Gift #1: A Watch Winder

Diplomat Single Black Watch Winder

My husband has a watch that runs on kinetic energy, so when you don't wear it for a few days, it stops running and needs to be reset. This makes him INSANE. This baby rotates the watch occasionally, keeping it wound and ready for wear. The beauty of this is that it's something that he would never, EVER buy for himself, but definitely needs, and will enjoy.

Gift Idea #2: CD Player

NAXA CD Player with iPod Dock.

What, you don't use CDs anymore? My husband thinks converting to an iPod is blasphemy. He actually continues to burn CDs to play in his car. I KNOW. And, our current solution to listenting to music while we're playing outside is to blast the music from in the house. Which is fine, until you walk inside and blow our your eardrums. This will sit perfectly in our recently completed backyard.

Gift Idea #3 Return Address Stamp

Custom Address Stamp from Tickled Pink Paper Ink

We just moved and my husband is constantly complaining that we don't have return address labels in the house. Well here you go, darling!  Rebecca posted a list of winners a while back, and now I just have to decide on one. Let's go ahead and ignore the fact that this is a gift that we will both enjoy.

Do you have any other winning gift ideas?

{Photo Credit: amazon.com, Tickled Pink Paper Ink on etsy.com}

Talking Caller ID

By Beth

We recently had to replace all of our house phones -- yes we still have house phones -- because every last one had stopped working.  Since all of our phone jacks are located in deeply inconvenient places, we get the kind of phones with one base that has to be plugged into a jack and then several other handsets that just need chargers.  This allows us to hide the big ugly base under the guest room bed and have just phones and chargers wherever we need them. 

My husband chose these phones mostly at random at Target.

They are made by AT&T and you can click this link if you really want the model number and stuff.  I was a little ticked at my husband for choosing these phones since they cost $90 and I consider that too expensive for new phones.  But then we hooked them up and got our first call and I realized something.

These phones tell you who is calling.  I don't mean they list the name and number on a little screen, which they do, I mean that after the second ring the phone actually speaks the name of the caller.  No more dashing up from the laundry room or bolting out of the shower just in case it is the elementary school calling only to discover it is some politician's autobot.  You just wait two rings, hear who is calling, and then make your mad dash for the phone only if it is actually warranted.

Worth $90?  Maybe, maybe not.  But for me, home a lot of the time with a shifting number of small children, it makes the phone a lot less annoying.

(Obviously, you have to subscribe to Caller ID for this to work, but even my in-laws finally got Caller ID, so I'm thinking it is pretty universal.)

(Photo credit: att.factoryoutletstore.com)

Fisher-Price iXL 6-in-1 Learning System

By Kristie

In February I got my 4-year-old the Fisher Price iXL in blue for his birthday:

 
He ADORES THE BEJEESUS OUT OF IT. No joke.

How is it 6-in-1 you might ask? Well, according to Amazon it's equipped with: "Digital Reader, Game Player, Note Pad, Art Studio, MP3 Player and Photo Viewer". Before I gave him his iXL I added family photos a few catchy tunes that I thought he might like and a few games I purchased separately.

This "baby computer", as we call it, closes like a book so I can carry it around in my purse for those longer-than-anticipated grocery store stops or for when he just needs something to play with. He's learning simple writing and math skills and really likes to see his name pop up when he first opens the iXL.

If you're in the market for an electronic toy for your kiddo this might be the right one for you. My little boy would agree and approve of this post.

{Image from Amazon.com}