Oprah did not air her annual Favorite Things episode this last holiday season, owing to the nation’s economic difficulties. Bah humbug. Thanks for reminding us how crappy things are, Oprah. Her Favorite Things show was the one time a year I actually liked watching Oprah. I got to see what new and cool lavish items were out there that I absolutely didn’t need but would inevitably add to my Amazon Wishlist. So this year may I present to you:

Carlie’s Favorite Things

Breville Gourmet Single-cup Coffee Brewer — I got this as a Christmas gift and am now totally obsessed. Having grown up in Seattle, I find myself typically being a bit of a coffee snob so I’m shocked how much I’m diggin’ this single-cup machine (apparently I’m not the only one). I’ve made coffee, hot tea, iced tea, hot chocolate, and even Korean bori cha (barley tea) with it. The Breville works off of K-cups, individual servings of coffee or tea you purchase by the case. Alternatively it works with a Perfect Pod Holster, a K-cup shaped device that you can stuff your own coffee in to (besides being cheaper, this is also the much more eco-friendly option). Everyone who comes to my house wants to play with the machine. I don’t blame them — I still enjoy it after regular daily use. And did I mention it actually makes pretty darn good coffee?

Thirsty Light — I have been given the gift of being able to kill any plant just by looking at it. When moms come to the house, I get “the look” from them once they see my plants (I translate it to “if she ever has children, will she remember to at least feed them?”). Enter Thirsty Light. It’s a small, digital plant moisture sensor. I put it in my plant’s soil and it blinks at me if the plant needs watering. When I’ve ignored even that and have just about killed the plant, Thirsty Light starts hysterically blinking at me. So far, with the help of Thirsty Light, I have yet to kill another plant. Check back with me in a few months.

Mr. Bento Stainless Steel Lunch Jar — If you pack lunch to take to work with you, this lunch jar system will rock your world. As Amazon states, “One of the most versatile lunch boxes you’ll ever come across, the Mr. Bento lunch jar comes with four different containers that allow you to pack a multi-course lunch of both hot and cold items easily and securely.” I can pack a small salad, some rice, soup, and a main course all in to this compact lunch jar. Warm stays warm, cold stays cold. Also, it comes with a spork — who wouldn’t like that.

Zendal’s Spa Robe — I went to a day spa recently and this was the robe they handed me in the locker room. I can’t express how much I love this robe. It’s ridiculously soft. I remember looking at the tag on the robe while there, repeating the brand name of it over and over again in my head so I wouldn’t forget it, and then Google-ing it the second I got home so I could buy one online. Zendal’s also makes blankets and I always think about getting one of those too. Hm, note to self.

Squngee — I can’t explain it. this is just entertaining stuff. We have one in our backyard. Highly recommended.

Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House — A lawyer with a doctorate in philosophy wrote this how-to book about keeping house. I love it, it’s about as textbook as you can get. Most of the books I found about housekeeping were much too “feely” for me — they covered subjects like “the emotional ties and joy” I was suppose to have when “taking care of my family”. I am not June Cleaver, I just want to know how to fold this darn mattress cover.

Flip Video — It’s about 3 ounces, fits in your pocket or purse, takes really good video (HD even), has great sound, and looks to be about as unintimidating as a Fisher Price toy. That latter part is relevant to me because we take videos of vendors when at trade shows, and it turns out humans are just naturally timid in front of cameras. When we’d bring out our full video gear get-up in the past, vendors would often suffer from severe camera shyness. We now whip out the little Flip and usually they laugh at us, “Linux Journal is going to take the video with THAT?”. Hey, pick on us all you want but we just got you to talk in front of a camera. I should also note that the Flip has a desktop video editor that’s insanely easy to use, if you’re using Windows or a Mac (if you’re using Linux, ping me on the side for a video editor recommendation).

Clarisonic Skin Care System — It’s the SoniCare of skin care (made by the same people in fact). They’ve promised “a notice in reduction in the appearance of pores, improved skin tone, a reduction in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and improved absorption of serums and moisturizers”, and after months of use now I can attest to seeing a bit of improvement in all of those areas. Or it’s simply acting as an electronic placebo for me. But whatever. I love it and anything that makes me want to wash my face twice a day is great by me.

ShamWow mop — You’ve seen them at car shows, at home shows and on TV. And yes, I own one. Sigh. I’ll go ahead and file this under “Things I probably shouldn’t have admitted to on the Internet”. But the ShawmWow folks make a really great mop. We have all limestone floors and this thing just works wonders on them. Quick, easy and painless to use (well about as painless as mopping can ever be, I guess), and as they say, you’ll say WOW every time. Heh.

Joey New York Pure Pores Hide and Heal — I know I’m not going to be able to articulate why I love this stuff well enough, but I’ll take a stab at it as the Pure Pores product is such a hidden gem. I’ve been using it for years now. A small dab of it on any face imperfection will hide it for hours. I think it’s the consistency of it that makes it so great. It’s less like concealer and more like putty so it stays on and blends beautifully. Ladies, just buy some. Trust me.

Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Maker — You’ll make absolutely perfect rice every time with the Zojirushi, the Aston Martin of rice cookers. And when the rice is done it plays Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to alert you. Gotta love Japanese appliances. In addition to making the perfect rice (sushi, white, brown, jasmine, any type) every time, it also will keep the rice warm for serving throughout the day. My favorite feature of the Zojirushi is the delayed start timer so I can prep in the morning and have everything ready to go for us when we get home from work in the evening.

Tiny Prints Stationary — I love, love, love, love, love paper and Tiny Prints satisfies my paper itch every time. Once I choose a design I can select a paper type/weight, font style, font color, envelope color, and can also personalize it. Quick processing and shipping turn-around, as well as great customer service add to the experience known as Tiny Prints.

TCHO Chocolate — My husband came back from TED a couple of years ago with this in his bag and I’ve been following the TCHO folks ever since. You see, I don’t like chocolate. At all really. But I like this. The one bar he brought home must have lasted me 4+ months as each little bite went such a long way. TCHO is to be savored. If you’re in to wine tastings, I suggest you get a few bars of this and have yourself a chocolate tasting in the same sort of fashion — but don’t forget the wine too. A taste of TCHO’s Chocolatey flavor with a glass of Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape is about as good as life gets.

Amazon Prime — Each year I pay Amazon $79 for a service they refer to as Prime. With Prime, I get unlimited 2-day shipping on select items at zero cost (usually there are several items available for Prime in each category). In addition, I can extend the same service to up to 4 of my family members/friends. It changes the way I shop. For instance, this morning I realized I needed a silicone stirring spoon. In the past I would have put it on a list for the next time I went to a store like Target, I then would have maybe or maybe not found what I was looking for while there, and then I probably would have forgotten about it for a couple of weeks after that. Since I get free 2-day shipping on Amazon, I just did a quick search, pressed one button and for $5.99 my silicone spoon will be in my hands in 2 days. P.S. For just $3.99 I could have had my spoon tomorrow — they allow you to upgrade to overnight shipping for just that if you’re a Prime member.

Parisian Macaroons from Laduree — Ok, I’m about to be THAT person. I know it, I own it. But the next time you find yourself in Paris or London you must, must, must make time for a trip to Laduree, a Parisian bakery. My friend Rebecca and I weathered a really long line and nearly got in to a fist-fight with an old French woman (hey, she started it) just to score a couple dozen of their Parisian macaroons. If you’ve never had a Parisian macaroon and Paris or London aren’t on your travel itineraries any time soon, a good Plan B are the French-Style Macaroons from Payard. (Tasteful Life Editor JJ Lassberg also found the Laduree macaroon recipe. If you try this, you must let me know how they turn out!)

What are your favorite things? Post them here in the comments and I will do a follow-up article of Tasteful Life Readers’ Favorite Things. Let your voice be heard. We can start our own tradition. Who needs Oprah.

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