Raves: Friday's Faves

My first Friday Fave to rave about is my "million dollar" kitchen garbage can. I got such a hard time from Jeremy for wanting to spend $100 on a garbage can, but after several cheaper Walmart varieties, I was so frustrated with the ridiculously crappier versions. So when a 20% coupon from Bed, Bath & Beyond came, I went and splurged on this simplehuman beauty. I've really loved it for the past three years--it fits nicely under the counter of my island, resists most fingerprints, and the inner bucket comes out and can be cleaned separately. But because my kids (and any kid that enters my kitchen, for some reason) jam on the pedal with force equal to the strength of a mule kick, the plastic rings that hold the lid on when it opens and closes have finally worn out. Of course, Jeremy can't stop telling me about how my "million dollar" trashcan is all busted up and couldn't have been worth the "million dollars" I paid for it.

When I bought this thing, I saw that it had a 5 year warranty, but I didn't think much about it. I'm skeptical of most "warranty"claims on relatively inexpensive items because they usually require a crazy amount of information that you wouldn't possibly keep or remember over the years--like the original receipt, the salesgirl's first and last name, what color socks you were wearing when you purchased it, a sample of your grandmother's DNA, the name of the street you grew up on, tax returns for the past 12 years, and you and your spouse's dental records.

But I gave it a try. I went to their website, filled out a short email request that only took about 20 seconds and within two hours, a customer service lady called and said my new lid would be delivered via UPS for free, and was there any thing else that I needed? WHAT@! Surely that couldn't have been that easy. I was even prepared to pay for a new lid if they'd sell me one separately, so I'm delighted that soon my trashcan will be as good as new free of charge. I'm giving simplehuman a big fat A+ for customer support and for their "million dollar" garbage can. (They also make a really great stainless steel plastic grocery bag holder that you can mount on the wall.)

My second rave is another mellow-music album that I stumbled upon during some wandering around the itunes store. His name's Chris O'Brien and the cd's Lighthouse. He sounds alot like James Blunt in a few songs (famous for his song "Your Beautiful") --especially in the one called "Hey Love." Great tunes that you like even the first time you hear 'em.

Finally, I couldn't help adding something that gave me a good laugh. Who doesn't think a big yellow mullet is hilarious? We've had this big yellow foam mullet stashed away since Alex was going to be a redneck for Halloween a couple of years ago--we chickened out because we didn't want to offend anyone at the church's trunk or treat party that is still sporting the mullet as a socially-accepted hairdo. IT IS NOT, now cut yours off! Or I may take secret pictures of you and put them on here. Aidan's eyes are all puffy and red because he wanted to be the sole mullet-sporting kid.

HAPPY FRIDAY! The trial ends today and the kids will get to rough house Dad tonight. Whoo-hoo!