5 reasons to be patient and wait...

I was up at the Apple store at the Fancy Mall yesterday trying to find a gaming console for Mr. Bikeman that will actually do what it says and work with our awesome new iMac (no joy). I took the opportunity to play with one of the million iPad display models luring me to buy Buy BUY with their siren song...

But I don't have $499 to drop on a base model, and I'm not that itchy to buy...yet. I think it would be a stinkin' fun toy to have. A 3G version is coming out soon (current model is wi-fi only), and it won't be cellular-serviced based, either. The monthly 3G subscription might be as low as $15 -- I could give up one trip to Starbucks a month for that (4 drinks, treats for the girls is easily $15).

First, it everything you would expect from Apple Design: sleek, shiny, substantial in the hand but not heavy. Navigation is, as expected, intuitive.

Second, and of great interest to me, the book-reader application is enjoyable use. Because of the generous screen-size, you can actually sort of imagine you are reading a real page from a book. You don't feel like it is a glorified Blackberry screen. (Apple has a bookstore App, and Amazon Kindle books are available to the iPad as well.)

Third, this could be a laptop replacement for many -- how many people do serious word processing on their laptops, anyway? It does have a touchpad keyboard if necessary.

Finally, it could be a great homeschool tool. Many homeschoolers are using iPod Touch to augment teaching very successfully. This would be that much easier.

Now for the reasons to wait...I'll give you some hints:

1. Price - historically stuff like this drops like a rock 6 - 8 months after initial release
2. More apps to come.
3. Impulse purchases are rarely wise - do I really need this?
4. There might be viable competition coming - but I'm a recent Mac convert, and very rabid about my new-found brand loyalty. I doubt this will be an issue in my case.
5. Faster wireless version is coming... (the 3G as mentioned above).

Check out this informative article from the Seattle Times:

Business & Technology | No iPad? It may be worthwhile to hold off | Seattle Times Newspaper

product placement = amoretti

I recently discovered a wonderful clothing line, Amoretti by an ex-pat Mommy from Texas living in Oxfordshire, England. The clothes are made for twirling girlies like mine:

"I believe you shouldn't have to choose between beautiful clothes and practical clothes. That dressing up should be easy. That being a lady isn't old fashioned. And that "ladylike" most emphatically does not mean "fussy." And since Amoretti is so tied to my life, you could sum up the design philosophy as good old, down-home, American... but with just a touch of an English accent."

Click here to visit her blog and enter her "fortnightly purse" contest for all sorts of fun stuff. Poke around her website and be inspired...

I haven't had the privilege of purchasing yet, but hope to buy the girls something special for Christmas.

back home bakery, kalispell, mt

I found a link to the Back Home Bakery in Kalispell, Montana over at The Fresh Loaf. They have a very helpful set of tutorials covering topics including hand-kneading and shaping of a variety of loaf types. They also put a good word in for Wheat Montana, my absolute favorite flour farm and mill.

As I type this post, I'm baking a loaf of buttermilk oatmeal sandwich bread. Mmmmm. Smells nummy! Here's a question for you bread-bakers: in a pinch, which is less "harmful" to your loaf -- under-proofing or over-proofing your shaped loaf?

product placement = active people toys

I can always tell when my brain is dried up...fresh out of blogging ideas. I start thinking about the stuff that I really like. Stuff that has worked for our family. (Stuff -- what a word -- it's all gonna burn someday, huh? Yep. I think I have an idea for a blog post....)

Anyway, I was doing a search on "Bilibo" (one of Ingrid and Ilsa's favorite toys -- they have a yellow one) and found the website for the Swiss manufacturer, active people toys. They have come up with a bunch of brand new, open-ended, creativity exploding toys. I particularly like the Bilibo/Pixel gamebox combo, as well as the Sakol wooden blocks with velcro attached.

The toys look innocuous -- like nothing in particular. But add kids to the mix and be amazed to see what they come up with. This youtube video is basically an advertisement, but shows what cool stuff the kids came up with on their own:

product placement = oxo office supplies!

I haven't done a product placement in a while. You probably don't know this, but I have a "thing" for cool design that is functional. I believe that form follows function. In my dream world, my home would be 100% form following function, and I just know it would still be a beautiful place, but it would look like a cover-home of Dwell magazine, decorated by IKEA, Room & Board and DWR.

So, I was super excited to get an e-mail ad this week from OXO announcing that they have teamed up with Staples to sell their exclusive line of OXO office supplies. They are neato. I particularly love the pocket stapler. Now, I know I have no need for a pocket stapler, but the idea is cool.


And check out this push pin dispenser -- it has a little magnetic wand to safely pull them from the dispenser. It just makes me want to make over the office.

Oh, one more thing: I found this darling nightlight over at the OXO website. It plugs into the wall, of course, but then, the whole house comes off, leaving the light in the wall, and giving the child a walk-to-the-bathroom-in-the-middle-of-the-night-nightlight to take along. DARLING!

product placement = bambinoLUK & miniLUK

Found these cool educational toys from Germany recently. The system has been around for about 30 years and is widely-used worldwide. I can't begin to explain how it works, but it is worth going to their website and checking out the demo. To describe it poorly, the child uses tiles to match and you flip the "controller" (the plastic board doo-hickey) and it reveals clearly to your child whether or not they did it correctly by showing a picture that is obviously either correct or messed up.

I'm still weighing whether I'm going to get the bambinoLUK (the 3 - 5 year old version) for the girlies...I'm still in the "I must follow The Well Trained Mind exactly as written" stage of homeschool research and preparation, and I don't think these fit into the grammar stage model of learning. I bet I'll soften on this soon enough.

Click here to visit the manufacturer's website: beyond123.

The best prices I found were at Timberdoodle. They aren't expensive, but not dirt cheap. There is a more-advanced controller system (miniLUK) with more tiles that can be used from age 5 through probably high school. Some of those puzzles are really, really tough.

product placement = haiku bags

I love bags. Not expensive Prada or whatever is trendy these days, but colorful, technical, purposed, interesting, outdoorsy bags that don't look crazy with a dress at church. Here's are two that I'm trying to decide between from Haiku . These bags are not leather. But they look and feel exactly like pebbled leather. They are almost indestructible! For the record, I'm not a bag collector -- I don't have a California Closet full of bags. I have one Timbuk2 tote, a few reusable grocery bags (one that I got free from Method, two from our local "granola" market) and a couple of purses that are years (not an exaggeration) old.

The first is called the To-Go. It is roomy, filled with pockets and nice details like a lined pocket for your cell, side pockets for my insulated aluminum Laken water bottle (which I think is way better than Sigg).

The smaller version, called the Grab Bag, is cute too, but envelope thin.

Zappos carries Haiku, as do REI and Title Nine. And to Chad's encouragement and cheering, I'm sure getting practical these days. I used to be a Coach and Clinique girl. Now I'm REI, Timbuk2, Philosophy, Chaco's and Target.

product placement = method advocacy!

*** Update 9/30/08***

I'm not up there anymore. That's not me. Anonymity regained.

******

Hey, I'm the advocate o' the moment over on the methodlust blog!

http://methodlust.blogspot.com/

Well there goes my anonymity on the web :(-

product placement = toys

Look at these cool toys I found looooong after my bedtime...

Rickshaw

All-terrain trike

Modern dollhouse

I found all of them at Sparkability.net.

product placement = method dish

Brought home the new Method Smarty Dish dishwasher detergent cubes this week. Besides being packaged in the standard (understatement) wonderful Method packaging, and having one of those wonderful Method fragrances (pink grapefruit -- smells like pink PEZ is doing your dishes!) they work SOOOOO well. The first time I used Method, no residue. No little bits of food gunk. And that wonderful smell.

Downsides: the smell, shape and texture make them appear to be a really large candy such as a SweetTart; in fact Ilsa asked if they were candy. Secondly, the cost. While they are currently on sale at Target for $4.99, the regular cost is $5.99 for 20 tablets (20 washes). If you have really soft water, according to my dishwasher manufacturer, you can break tablets in half, which would be deal! Unfortunately, we have really hard water, so we need every last little granule of cleaning agent in that little tablet.


However, I have been handwashing more lately -- I love the feel of the Method dishwashing soap -- seriously, the suds are velvety. There's a level of instant gratification in doing dishes by hand. Zip, they're done. The scented versions are really nice (cucumber, pink grapefruit, french lavender), but I love the unscented and dye-free "Go Naked" variety. Although unscented, it does have a lovely slightly sweet smell from the natural cleaning agents I suppose. A recent issue of Cook's Illustrated also gave it their highly recommended rating for dishwashing soap. Given these facts, I might switch permanently to the Smarty Dish Cubes.