Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama…
I recently invested a whopping $20 on a new travel coffee mug. It is made by Contigo, and when I think of the name it reminds me of that Beach Boys song.
I have a long, frustrating history with travel coffee mugs. I have a photo mug, I have a hot pink one, I have a pale pink one that has a clicky thing on top. They are all cute, they all leak, and none of them keep my coffee warm for more than an hour. I work primarily at the front desk at Quest and I need coffee to make it through the day. More recently I’ve taken to making coffee at home again to save money. The worst thing about taking the time and spending the money to make coffee at home (ultimately to save time and money that comes along with regular trip to Starbucks or even the gas station around the corner) is when your coffee goes to waste. Every day I would end up reaching for my coffee cup around 8:30 am (we open at 7 am) and taking a sip only to discover my time and effort is now room temperature. Don’t even get me started on how long it took to make the picture “collage” to put into my coffee mug.
So I did some research. I wasn’t willing to shell out $30 for a mug from Starbucks, so I opted to look on Target.com. One thing I like about purchasing things from Target is that their products tend to have customer reviews online. I can search for a product, read the reviews, and drive 5 minutes to Target and actually see it in person before committing to a purchase. When I searched Target for a travel mug the highest rated product was the Contigo West Loop Mug in blue. I read all 11 of the reviews, especially the lowest rated one. The lowest rating given was a 4 out of 5, and this was only because the customer noticed scratches on the outside of the mug after owning it for a short period of time. Kind of a ridiculous complaint, in my opinion. All of the reviewers raved about this mug. Not only is it 100% spill/leak proof, but it keeps your coffee HOT. Most reviews said it keeps hot beverages hot/warm for 4 hours and cold beverages cold for up to 12 hours. It isn’t really cute or girly, there aren’t any funky colors or anywhere for you to place pictures, and there aren’t any pretty designs on the outside. From what I saw on the website you had a choice of metallic blue, graphite or silver. However, at this point, it could have had Twilight characters on the outside of it; I needed a mug to keep my coffee warm.
When I went to Target I only found the blue and graphite colors at the store. The graphite version (Contigo AutoSeal West Loop Mug) has some red accents on the lid and so I decided on that one. The packaging boasts the 4 hours hot/12 hours cold statements I had read on the website and I actually found the graphite color to be perfectly sleek and modern. Now here is where I sound like a freaking infomercial…
This thing keeps my coffee HOT! Like hot, hot! It keeps my tea SO hot that I actually have to leave the lid off for 10-15 minutes to allow it to cool to a consumable temperature. And it does not leak. In the morning I am usually scrambling to get in my car by 6:45 am with my purse, two book bags, whatever I am going to eat for breakfast and my keys, all while trying to be quiet enough not to wake up Robby. I don’t have enough hands to keep my coffee mug upright so that it doesn’t spill. The best thing about this mug is that I can just toss it in my purse and then toss my purse into my car without worrying about it leaking, AT ALL! So yes, I give the Contigo AutoSeal West Loop Mug in graphite 6 out of 5 stars. Not only is does it look nice, but it actually delivers on its claims of maintaining beverage temperature and being leak and spill proof. I was weary at first of spending $20 on a travel mug, and many jaws dropped when I named its price, but now I think it is probably worth twice as much. Definitely recommended for anyone who doesn’t have the luxury of enjoying their coffee on the porch with the paper.
Rain does not make friends with anybody- it falls on any person it meets outside.
On Monday we officially entered Hurricane Season. Now if you’re native to the southeast, you probably didn’t even notice, the weather has been bright and sunny. In fact, I didn’t even notice until this evening when I saw it was a bit overcast outside. It looked like rain, and in June it doesn’t rain. It pours. And in July and August…
When I tell someone I am from California I often receive a response targeted towards earthquakes and how terrifying they must be. No. Earthquakes aren’t that terrifying, not compared to tornados and hurricanes. (the two seem to come hand in hand) You never know when you will have an earthquake, but a hurricane? It seems that you often have days of advanced hurricane warning. Shit, you have a whole season for it! So you sit. And you wait. And you wonder what the wind speeds are. If the palm trees are going to continue standing. If you’ll have power in an hour. Will you have to eat everything in your fridge before it goes bad? What if you DO have to evacuate? Where will you go? What do I take? How long will it be? Bleh, an earthquake is quick and painful, a storm watch is like a slow death.
I purchased an umbrella last summer. Thanks to the army, I have not regularly used an umbrella in quite a while. (we just don’t use them. don’t ask why.) However, I was sick of spending my lunch break soaking wet. So I bought a black umbrella with rainbow polka dots from Target. It has proven very useful. Now, I would like to buy rain boots. Or as I like to call them, galoshes. I’ve wanted a pair for a couple years now and with the amount of rain we get here, I can justify them. At first I was hesitant, I only wanted a black pair. Nothing too flashy or exciting. Now I am leaning towards something a bit more fun and fancy. I refuse to pay $50 for rubber boots that will simply be worn from the car to indoors and vice versa. So that is where Target comes into play. They don’t have a wide selection at the store so I decided to look online. I was pleased with what I found. (you can click on the links for each boot to go to the websites.)
After looking at the black ones, I’ve decided they are better suited for people who stand in a lake to fish.
Because I am in love with whales, I want these. But they are pushing $60.
Alternately these are available at Target for $25
These are absolutely adorable.
As are these.
And lastly, I am always a sucker for the color red.
All of these (minus the whales) are $25 at Target. Well within my budget. I am just wondering. Am I supposed to get them big enough to fit OVER my shoe? Or to wear INSTEAD of my shoe? Does anyone know the actual answer?
