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Friday Love{s}: Cool Stuff, Making My Life Easier Edition

Happy Prime Day To Me!

Hey y'all. So you probably heard about Prime Day this past Wednesday. And you probably heard what a raging disappointment it was to so many people. Here's a hilarious roundup of the best Tweets about it, ICYMI. But, as one person noted on Slate, it was useful if you need to clean your house. Which, as I've chronicled here and here, I do. So when I spotted this Roomba for about $250, I snatched it up. It was also 5 am feeding time, during which I should not be allowed near the Internet, but given how much I want a Roomba, and how long I've wanted one, this seemed like a deal way too good to pass up. And it got here the next day! #theonlypersonpsychedaboutprimedaywhostillusesthewordpsyched

But wait, there's more! I'm not sure what happened to me this past week or so, but I've just gone ahead and purchased some things that will make our lives easier. Without too much gnashing of teeth or pulling of hair of existential questions about why one needs a robot vacuum cleaner and if the next thing is a housekeeping pseudo Human. So, in addition to the Rooma, I got me a jogger. This one.

BOB Revolution SE Single Jogger

I had a jogger with Lou, as a lovely family gift, but I never really ended up using it. Mostly, I had a tough time navigating my enhanced nursing chest whilst running, but also, with just the one bambina, I was able to score baby-less jogging time pretty easily, so the jogger proved superflous and very large for our small place. This time around, realizing that the time I spend ferrying Lou to her activities is pretty much the only time I've got, I invested in some strong sports bras and a jogger. I got this guy off the parents listserv I belong to, for about $100 less than retail. Which, admittedly, is still a lot of money. But let me tell you, as when I was introduced to a Maclaren over the cheopo umbrella I was using, I finally understood why people pay so much money for these strollers. This thing practically drives itself. It is so much smoother and more of a pleasure to push than our (admittedly designed to be a stopgap) Snap 'n Go that we are all constantly like, "Let's go check out that restaurant two miles away. Let's walk. We can take the jogger." It's just, um, revolutionary. And it's actually big enough that both of them fit in there. No, really. Look.

Double strollers are for suckers.

She fits in the front and we wheel her around in it all the time. (We stopped using a stroller with her months ago to encourage her to walk, and that's been great. But for when we go on sojourns, or are late to school and need to hustle, having this as an option is pretty sweet). And you guys, I didn't stop there. I also bought the beverage holder to go with it! And the mini-pump! And I did, just this morning, decide to sign up for the Philly Half Marathon in November, so this thing will get good use. But even without that justification, I felt just fine investing in this awesome thing. Weird.

And finally, do you see the other thing in the Amazon box, above? It's a dual shower head with a handheld faucet. It will allow us to wash Louisa's hair with zero plastic containers and, hopefully, fewer tears/shouts of indignation. This thing cost about $35, which begs the question: Why didn't we get it sooner? It had never really occurred to me, until it did one day last week. I just assumed it would be expensive and hard to install, but that just wasn't the case.

I'll report back on the Roomba, of course, which I am going to try to figure out right now. Any products you've invested in that have absolutely made your life easier? Or services? We had our laundry picked up and delivered back to us this week (after several weeks of schlepping it to the laundromat)...and that was pretty sweet. Seriously, spill. I want to basically automate my life, except for baby cuddling and four-year-old conversing. We're off to the Hamptons (dahling) this weekend. We'll see you when we get back!