Using Amazon Prime Is Even Faster Than Buying Things From A Real Store

I placed an order with Amazon.com yesterday, and took advantage of the free Amazon Prime express shipping trial.  I figured that since this was such a large order, and I was very excited about many of the new purchases, it might be fun to get them early.  Early is an understatement: I placed my order late yesterday afternoon, and I already had more than half of the items before noon today.  A girl could get used to this kind of service.

Procter & Gamble: They Giveth And They Taketh Away. Or Maybe They Just Can’t Stocketh The Shelves.

I can’t find Gain laundry detergent or dryer sheets at Target. Or Rite Aid. Or the grocery store. I’ve been looking for two weeks, and haven’t actually seen ANY Gain product–in any format or scent–stocked at those locations. I’m so desperate that I’d buy powdered Gain in that Tropical flavor… IF ONLY I COULD FIND IT.

As I (almost disbelievingly) emptied my economy-size container of super-concentrated Gain for High-Efficiency Washing Machines last weekend, I worried that maybe they were making some changes to the franchise, and cut distribution while they rebranded or reformulated.

But no, this can’t be. Gain is poised to become another billion-dollar brand for P&G. Typical for the category, it has many fiercely loyal fans. YOU DON’T FUCK WITH LAUNDRY DETERGENTS LIGHTLY. So, P&G, why can’t I find your Gain at major retail chains in the largest DMA in the United States? In retaliation, I am thinking about making Seventh Generation my first choice laundry detergent. If I cannot find Gain on my next occasion to buy, consider it a done deal.

I Wash My Face With Rosemary More Often Than I Cook With It

Lush had a sale today.  Sara likes Lush sales.  Sometimes they are strange (impossible combinations of limited edition items that the staff can hardly keep straight), gross (you must buy at least one patchouli-based item), or lame (free leftover bath bomb with $75 purchase), but today’s was good.  Essentially, most everything in the store was buy-one-get-one-free or buy-one-get-TWO-free.  Much was purchased.  Plus, I finally remembered to bring in my empty packaging, and got additional free bath bombs for each container I turned in.  Excellent. 

It dawned on me later this evening while taking a bath with one of my newly-acquired French Kiss bombs that I use more rosemary (and herbs in general) in my bath and face care products than I ever have on my food.  Not that this is consequential… just wanted to share a random fact.

Also, after a very successful practice run with Kevin about a week ago, today I made as many dumplings as I could squeeze out of a pound and a half of ground pork.  The recipe is simple and very satisfying: blend ground pork with chopped fresh ginger, sesame oil, green onions and sugar (all to taste, but I will recommend that use don’t skimp too much on the fresh ginger–you’ll enjoy it in end).  In the process of crimping and folding the rice flour dumpling skins around small portions of meat, I figured out how to fold them the “real” way, and turned out several dozen very authentic-looking gyoza.  I’m saving the prettiest ones for when I have company later this month. 

My Freezer Is Full Of Frost And Delicious

It’s remarkable how exciting Costco is, even though it’s little more than a large, unfurnished warehouse filled with ordinary packaged goods.  Yesterday, I took advantage of a special deal for American Express cardholders (I swear, getting that in:NYC card was probably the best thing I did for myself in 2007) and got my very own membership.  I was handed my card along with a stack of coupons for products I never considered buying in bulk (tomato sauce, salmon fillets), but am told are much, much cheaper when they are purchased as part of a 48-pack.  In addition, I can now confirm from personal experience that the in-store samples are both plentiful and delicious.  During my brief visit, I enjoyed a cheese and pesto ravioli, a cinnamon cereal square snack mix, a Ritz dressed with artichoke and sun-dried tomato topping, and something meaty that I cannot recall.  I passed on the Polaner’s All Fruit spread and the CoQ10 liquid joint supplement (it looked suspiciously like the flax-flavored beverage I tried the other day in the local Jackson Heights grocery). 

Shopping at Costco also forces you to make tough choices and hard decisions that may have a long-lasting impact on your checkbook and eating habits for weeks to come.  Shopping at Costco without a car sharpens those decision-making abilities even further; faced with an upper limit on how much weight you can reasonably wrangle across two different bus routes, you are forced to make heartbreaking shelfside cuts: “Which do I want more: the case of Vitaminwater, the 12 gallons of organic chicken broth, or… fuck it, two dozen plus-sized chocolate muffins plastic-wrapped to a raft of cardboard?”  After you weave through the checkout lines, desperately trying to find a way to carry these oversized goods while proferring a receipt to the door security as proof that you really did pay over $60 for just five items, you’re almost finished. 

Almost.  The conclusion of any respectable Costco adventure involves returning home only to discover your freezer is several hundred cubic feet smaller than what you need: there is no way that four gallon tub of ice cream is going to fit in there alongside the half-pallet of chicken patties.  Somehow, with a system that involves judicious use of Tupperware and Ziploc bags, you manage to get most of the perishables into the freezer, a job that leaves you exhausted and hungry for precisely the item that you put back at the last minute, reasoning that it was just too heavy to cradle in your arms for the duration of the crowded, jerky, 25-minute-long Q66 ride back. 

You can bet I’ll be going back next week.

Further Expanding My Gaming Horizons Beyond Tetris

Morrowind, Oblivion, and a shiny new trackball arrived at my doorstep today.  Guess I’m not going to taekwondo sparring tonight.

And Baby Makes Four

I now have four computers in my apartment.  Technically, the college-era PC/Linux box ceased working shortly after I moved to the city, and the orange iBook only works when plugged into the wall, but I harbor a vague dream that one weekend I will be moved to repair and resell these sturdy, half-decade-old workhorses. 

The latest addition to the collection is a brand-new, custom-built HP Pavilion, attached to a 20″ flat panel monitor (finally), and a printer/scanner/copier/beast that eats CDs and spits them out with printed labels.  After an hour and a half of cord-wrangling, I finally got the thing plugged in and turned on last night, and then basked in its bright bluish glow until I could no longer hold my eyelids open.  Ahh, computers.

Vroom Goes The Toothbrush (Or: Look At Me, I Would Be Awesome At Sales)

I’ve been a loyalist to my Crest Spinbrush ($6 on sale, plus $7 for brush heads every now and then) for a few years now, but in true Sara style, I recently upgraded to the Sonicare FlexCare ($180 MSRP).  (Disclosure: I got the toothbrush via a fun WOM initiative called BzzAgent; before you judge, try to remember the last time you got a $100+ product delivered to your door, free of charge, to keep, just for talking about how cool it actually is.)

Anyway.  On to the part where I approach oral care nirvana.

What’s For Dinner? New Kitchen Appliances.

I went into the city this morning with grand designs.  I was going to buy a gravy separator at Williams Sonoma, a bunch of large freezer-safe Tupperware boxes at the Container Store, and then head downtown to the Greenmarket and Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s to begin buying food for my dinner next Thursday.  I made it as far as Lexington Avenue, where I became the proud owner of not only a fine gravy separator, but also an apple peeler/corer/slicer, an exceedingy heavy pasta machine, four large glass jars (to hold my various nut collections), and a plastic food storage box with adjustable compartments.  I did show some restraint, however: I was *thisclose* to buying the block of Shun knives (with free! Japanese blade sharpener), but talked myself out of it, wisely rationalizing that I should not invest in excellent, impossibly sharp cutlery until I am living with someone who can supervise me while I dice things.

At this point, both my laden bags and my shoulders were strained and close to tearing.  Needless to say, I still haven’t bought any food for Thanksgiving dinner.