200,000 VIEWS and ADDENDUM TO HEAD to TOE Moisturizing Balm

MY BLOG REACHED 200,000 VIEWS!  I knew it was coming – I hoped it would happen before we rush off to Canada (land of nooo Trader Joe’s….) again in a couple of days.  Then late last night it became apparent it was gonna happen OVERNIGHT…  Well, I like to take a photo of momentous times with the blog, and 200,000 is an awfully momentous number, so I needed a PICTURE.  But how?  In the middle of the night??  It was momentous, but not quite momentous enough to stay up ALL OVER and hit “refresh, refresh, refresh” repeatedly until the magic number appeared.  So, I did the next best thing – grabbed a photo in the location where I knew I would be when 200,000 rolled around – in my cozy bed!

WHEEEE - 200,000 HITS!  Who'd a thunk?

HAPPY 200,000 VIEWS, EVERYBODY!

To celebrate, let’s review something, shall we???

Well, instead of a brand new review, how about we do an ADDENDUM to the most read product review ever on this blog – HEAD TO TOE MOISTURIZING BALM (a product which boasts on the lid, a boast which it turns out is completely a lie, of no greasy residue…).  I do not know why or how this particular product review became so popular – it alone currently has 2,901 hits.  You can read the original review here:  Head to Toe Moisturizing Balm

Let's take another look back at Head to Toe Moisturizing Balm,
which got a clunker of a review way back on day 89 of this blog

As the product NAME implies – this is supposedly meant to be used HEAD to TOE – i.e. on your whole entire body.  And as the original review explains, I tried it on every part of my body I could:  my lips, my skin, and my hair.  However, I do NOT have a beard or mustache to try this balm on, so I couldn’t give it a COMPLETE test.

That is, until KARIM and Carrie stayed at our house!!!  You see, they are performers, and Karim has grown an outstanding mustache for their summer tour.  ENTER HEAD TO TOE MOISTURIZNG BALM!!! 

I asked Karim if he would do me the honor of trying it on his mustache, and he was more than happy to.  Here is his review:

“I think it’s ok.  I guess it depends on what your use is for it.  I would give it a solid B.”  (Editor’s note:  it is obvious that Karim does not read this blog.  That’s alright buddy, I will cut you some slack.  This is where I had to explain that I rate things numerically, not alphabetically like a report card…)

Karim is a true PROFESSIONAL - he travels with a mustache comb!!!

“Well, what am I reviewing this on the BASIS of??  What is its PURPOSE??” Karim pleaded.  (Editor here again:  damn, Karim is a serious guy!  I explained that he was reviewing it on the basis of “fly away mustache” (the tin mentions fly away beard, and not being familiar with facial hair I figured if it applies to a beard it must apply to a mustache, right???) 

“If the purpose of it is to STYLE my mustache I would give it a 0.  However, if the purpose is to SOFTEN my mustache and maybe just get it out of my LIPS a little bit, and give it like a SUBTLE SHAPE – I give it a 2.5.  It doesn’t really do much.  It is not a big difference.  It sort of changed the direction of the ‘stache, from down to sideways…  (David noted here that the product might be a good mustache TRAINING TOOL….)  Right – before you are ready for the FULL MUSTACHE WAX.  I would not buy this.”  (Carrie, Karim’s wife, pointed out that you can pick up real mustache wax for around the same price at CVS, thought I would implore you not to rub THAT on every part of your body like this product claims you should.)

Karim and Carrie in their show "Darlings" - "Peter Pan" from Mr. and Mrs. Darling's point of view.
Check out Karim's mustache!!

Honestly, I thought he was more keen on the balm than that…  But it turns out, even as a mustache styling product, this still sucks.  Oh well, you can’t say I haven’t given this product the complete test!!!! 

Price – $3.99

Rating (average of Karim’s 2 scores -  0 and 2.5):  1.25

P.S. - Karim and Carrie are terrific performers.  If their company, Animal Engine, is in your town be sure to check them out!  They are currently touring the show "Darlings".  Follow them on Facebook here:  Animal Engine

Famille Perrin Cotes du Rhone Reserve

So, we have something to CELEBRATE!!!  I knew it was gonna happen when I went to bed last night.  I wanted to stay up for the excitement, but not having slept well the 2 nights before I just COULDN’T stay awake.  So when I rolled out of bed early this morning the first thing I did was check this Trader Joe’s blog – WE HIT 150,000 VIEWS!!! 

But then I got busy.  I worked all day and the time got away from me.  But I needed to CELEBRATE this milestone!  So I finished out the day with a trip to Ormond Beach with my sweetie.  We swam in the warm water.  We breathed in the fresh air.  And we JUMPED. 

150,000 views!!!  Now that is something to jump about!

And now, just a few hours after it officially hit the 150,000 mark, the blog is just shy of the 151,000 mark!  I am serious, something has been happening lately that is bringing in a lot of readers.  What’s the haps, people??  But don’t worry, I won’t celebrate tooooo often, only for the biggies (like 150,000!).

So as part of the pre-celebration last night, we opened a bottle of French wine.  The bottle was a 2015 (ahhh, a very good year for colonoscopies if I remember correctly…).  My wine ignorance is going to show here, but I always thought that Cotes du Rhone wines were RED.  This may be because there are a couple of Cotes du Rhones from Trader Joe’s that I like to drink that are red.  (Ugh!  Now that I look back on the blog I see I have not reviewed either of my “go to” Cotes du Rhone reds!!  What was I THINKING!!!  I know I have all of the documentation for the reviews.  Note to self:  get more organized…)

Anyway, we bought our first bottle of this WHITE Famille Perrin Cotes du Rhone Reserve about a week ago after we tasted it at our local Virginia Trader Joe’s and really enjoyed it.  So when we were stocking up on TJ’s wine to bring on a trip to Florida (no, we did not drink any on the 13 hour drive!), we grabbed a bottle of this, and boy am I happy we did!

Sort of a boring label, but not a boring taste

David’s take on it:  This is a very nice, well balanced wine for when you want a wine that has more character than a fruity one.  It has a nice, kind of WOOD character to it without the overbearingness of a chardonnay.  I don’t know where that comes from; it’s not too fruity, not too sweet, but it is PLEASANT.  And it is cool.   I think it is better served with something rather than on its own.  There is kind of a “tang” at the finish that makes you think, “Hmmm, it would be nice to have something to eat with this, like a piece of cheese…”.  I give this wine a 4.25.

My opinion:  We served this wine chilled.  Like I said before, I thought Cotes du Rhone were always red, so this surprised me.  I really, really like it.  It is a great summer wine that would pair with anything!  It doesn’t have an overpowering taste, so it would not overpower what you were eating.  We served it with a pizza that we made that had a red sauce.  (I am always proud for some reason when we make homemade pizza.  This time we bought a pre-rolled out dough – don’t judge…)  I think this wine would pair well with fish, pasta, salad, a tuna sandwich…  It would also be yummy to drink while just popping cashews in your mouth.

Would you like a glass??

I get a little bit of grapefruit taste, but as you know I am not a wine expert.  Who knows, there may not be a grapefruit note in the whole bottle!  But it is GOOD.  It is a great all-around white wine to have on hand for summer.  OH, it would be good with DESSERTS, too, since it is not too sweet.  I give this wine a 4.75.

David points out that, although we have nothing against a wine of color, we do like a good white.  J  And I agree, especially when it is hot outside, a nice, chilled white wine is what is called for.  So for now, while in Florida in June, I am all about the white (wine)! 

Grab a bottle of this Cotes du Rhone.  Try it!  It will be something different and, while it isn’t the cheapest wine on the shelf, it won’t bust the bank.  Plus, I think it’ll make you smile.  Go for it!  Interestingly, the pricing sign says it USED to be $9.99, but because Trader Joe’s costs to get it have gone down, they have lowered the price they charge to $8.99!  C’mon now, in this day and age, what other retailer is gonna do that???  Thanks Joe!

Thanks for the treasure, Joe!!

Price – $8.99

Rating (average of 2 reviewers) – 4.5

100,000 HITS!!!

Guys, it is a huge day!! Today, February 24, 2016, at exactly 5:43 PM EST this Trader Joe's 365 blog reached 100,000 hits!!  

To celebrate, I tried to make a fun video that was little clips of me being happy (and goofy) all glued together. But I didn't know how to use the only equipment I had to film it, and I accidentally made it UPSIDE DOWN.   When I uploaded it, I was amused (and perplexed) by the upside down-edness of it all. But guess what? When I plugged it in HERE on the blog, it automatically righted itself! Hey! So here is me celebrating!

And hey, here is a photo of me in a hallway jumping for joy at the big accomplishment!! 100,000 hits on my blog - wheeeee!!!

Can you sense my excitement???

So yeah, it is a big day. Maybe 100,000 doesn't seem like a lot to you in this day of "viral videos", but to me, that many views of my crazy project makes me very happy (and grateful).

THANKS FOR READING EVERYONE!!!!!

Love,

Susan