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If your home has a lot of hardwood floors, tile or linoleum, you might like to consider getting an iRobot Scooba. These things are SO much fun. I don’t have one but my mother-in-law does. She has both the Roomba and the Scooba. But I am truly impressed with the Scooba. This little guy sure does its job well.  

The iRobot Scooba Hard Floot Cleaning Robot uses cutting-edge iRobot AWARE intelligence to calculate the optimal cleaning path and cleaning behaviors best suited for the job. Just fill the water tank with cleaning solution and water, switch it on and watch it work. The idea is for Scooba to prep, wash, scrub and dry your hardwood, tile or linoleum floors while you just sit and relax or get on with your other chores. But I’m so fascinated by this little gadget that I’ve spent quite a bit of time just staring at it. My 2.5 year old loves watching it in action and has even nicknamed it “Scooby”.  

The iRobot Scooba comes with a rechargeable battery that is easy to charge and can clean up to 500 sq feet per cleaning cycle. It comes with cliff-sensing technology to help the Scooba avoid stairs, ledges, etc. You can also use a virtual wall to create an infrared beam to mark off-limit areas.  If you hate sweeping and mopping, then this little guy is for you. It’s true, it may not clean as fast or as thoroughly compared to you manually sweeping and mopping your floors, overall, I still think it does a pretty good job and a real time-saver. I’d give it a 4 out of 5 star rating.

I think the iBean Bag Chair is so cool. Talk about an upgrade from the iconic bean bag! The iBean Bag has front, dual-speakers and a subwoofer to give you a dynamic surround sound experience. The best thing is, it supports MP3 players, virtually all electronic game platforms, laptops and DVD players. The side panel allows you to control the volume and bass levels and comes with a headphone port. The bag is filled with polystyrene beads that contour easily to your body for ultimate comfort. The cover is 100% nylon that you can spot clean. The iBean Bag Chair comes in four different shades. It currently retails for $99. A separate Ottoman can be purchased for $24.   

I have always been curious about one of these things. Being the somewhat germaphobic person that I am, the XJ-800 Car Air Purifier sounds like a dream come true! This air purifier uses 3 stainless steel needle points to produce a high concentration of negative ions to reduce airborne pollutants and odors including allergen, cigarette smoke, bacteria, etc.

The XJ-800 also works as an air freshener with six fragrances to choose from – Vanilla, Apple, Pine, Forest, Lavender and No Scent. Since it only uses 3W of electricity, the XJ-800 will not drain your vehicle battery. The XJ-800 is also virtually silent. All you hear is just a very soft “hissing” sound.  

The XJ-800 is compact and fits virtually anywhere, thus, making it extremely portable. I really like the sleek and modern design. You can just put it on the dashboard of your vehicle. Or, you can also purchase a separate A/C adapter that allows you to plug the XJ-800 into any wall outlet in your home or office making the XJ-800 an air purifier and air freshener for a small space of up to 50 sq. ft.  

The Teva  Women’s Makayla shoes are not only cute and functional but they are also made from 35% post consumer recycled materials. Here is a pair of casual, stylish footwear you can feel good about wearing. They are part of Teva’s new Curbside collection but the Makayla is my personal favorite. It comes in two gorgeous colors and I love the easy-off elastic strap in the Mary Jane style. The durable rubber outsoles offer traction on multiple surfaces and the vulcanized rubber toe caps protect uppers and your toes from bumps and abrasions. The Teva Women’s Makayla retails for $70 including free shipping from Teva.

My husband got me a Trudeau Garlic Press last year. My first thoughts were “Why do I need a fancy gadget like this? I’ve been chopping garlic for years with a regular knife. Works for me!”. But I decided to try it anyway since he already bought it. Wow! What a difference it made. It did take me awhile to get used to it. Let me tell you, this is some heavy-duty stuff! I did have to use some muscle power. But as long as I’m not putting big chunks of garlic in it, I’m able to get the job done in much less the time it will take for me to chop the garlic up. I like that the garlic comes out in fine, consistent pieces. This garlic press is so easy to clean…whether by hand or using a dishwasher. We consume a lot of garlic in our household, so this was definitely a good buy.

If you enjoy entertaining like I do, having one of these stainless steel hot or cold serving trays is a must. The tray comes with thermo-sensitive oil inside the stainless steel tray that allows the tray to warm up or cool down easily and helps keep the contents cool or warm for a few hours. This is a convenient, safe and clean way to serve foods hot or cold to your guests the next time you have a party, family gathering or just hanging out with a few friends. To heat the tray for use with warm foods, simply place the tray in the oven at a temperature between 375 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 to 6 minutes. For use with cold foods, place the tray in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours prior to use. This makes the tray so portable and easy to place on any countertop without having to deal with the use of electricity or ice. Great for serving sushi, sandwiches, wings, quiches, you name it! These trays come in a 12’ or 14’ diameter and retails for approximately $30 to $50. Makes a great gift too! I don’t have one of these yet but it’s definitely on my wish list.

This is a nifty little gadget. The Prepara Herb-Savor helps you prolong the life of your fresh herbs for up to 3 weeks. Usually, I would just rinse the herbs and put them in a plastic container or store them in zip lock bags but they never seem to be able to last more than a week. And I have never been very successful in growing my own herbs. So, this might be a good alternative to ensure that I’ll have some fresh herbs to prepare my meals.  

To use this little gadget :

1. Place herbs to be stored into stainless steel herb basket. Wash the herbs in cool water. Snip ends and remove dead stems and leaves.
2. Pat dry.
3. Fill water well halfway with fresh water.
4. Place herbs into herb-cabinets.
5. Click herb-cabinets into water well.
6. Refrigerate and change water regularly.

The Prepara Herb-Savor has ample capacity and fits easily inside a standard refrigerator door. The herb stems sit slightly submerged in the water in the water well, thus keeping them fresh. It is also easy to change the water regularly with the refillable water base. This little device is also able to keep asparagus extremely well. Unfortunately, the Prepara Herb Savor does not come cheap. It retails for approximately $25.00-$30.00.