It's hammock time!

This Christmas I was an awesome wife and bought The Beef a Hennessy Hammock to use on the overnight hiking adventures we are planning for this year. The company has no idea I'm writing about this, I just thought it was so neat that I had to share. As someone who regularly "luxury car camps" (public campgrounds, air mattress, etc) hammock camping is completely out of my comfort zone and I am absolutely pumped to give it a whirl. 

This is how the product is described on the company website, "At last, you will never need to find a level campsite. No more roots, rocks or puddles coming through the floor of your tent. No more aching muscles and stiff joints from sleeping on the hard ground. And no more carrying a heavy tent.  Finally, a shelter that takes the pain out of the outdoors and is good for the environment."

Sounds pretty good to me!

Despite all the snow we got 2 days ago the temperature rocked up to 40 degrees and everything melted so we decided to venture out into the mud to woods behind the house to set the hammock up and see how it went. To be honest it was much easier to do than I expected and the only need for two people came because we were reading the instructions for the first time. Setting up again should be a breeze for for someone by themselves with a little practice. 

The hammock all set up .

Now with the rain fly.

The Beef lounging inside. You get in through a velcro opening in the bottom that snaps closed once you lay down. 

Lounging away. He said it was really comfortable. 

View from the inside, I also found it to be comfortable. 

It also doubles as a chair or a lounger.

And with the snake skin sleeves (sold separately) it packs up nice and tiny.

And just shove it into your little back and on into your backpack!

It only weighs 3lbs 2oz! 

Now that I know that I like it and wouldn't be claustrophobic or feel like I was sleeping in a coffin I just need to get one for myself!

Something new, part two!

About a week ago I told you about the new glasses I ordered online. What I didn't mentioned was that I also took advantage of a second website that offered the same promotion of get your first pair of glasses free. I was pointed in the direction of this website by Salt who was asked to do a review for firmoo.com. 

After hours and hours of looking through their selection I finally did what I do best and put my top four choices to a vote to the ladies that I trust the most and ended up deciding on two choices. These in green and these in all black.

My order was placed on December 26th and arrived on January 9th, a tracking number was provided on January 6th when the order was shipped, there were also regular updates on the website as to the status of the order.

The first pair of glasses were listed as $49 while the second was $8. When I put the first pair free coupon code into the website firmoo was awesome enough to apply the discount to the more expensive pair of glasses. $8 for the 2nd pair, 12.95 for shipping and $20.95 later I've got 2 new pairs of glasses on my way. 

They arrived in a bubble wrap lined manilla envelope, each in their own hard case with cleaning cloth & a key chain screwdriver that also came with tiny screws. 

I'm really happy with the quality of the glasses and I'll be ordering from them again, especially with such low prices.  And without further ado, here is what they look like on my face! 

XOXO

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Something New!

After noticing that I couldn't read things from across the room anymore and getting lost because I couldn't read highway signs I started wearing glasses in December 2008. Though I probably should have gotten them sooner.

Not knowing anything about glasses I wandered in the mall and found lens crafters, they got me in for an appointment with the eye doctor and when that was done they threw me out to the sales floor at the mercy of the frames salesmen. It was terrifying. 

I was hardly used to wearing sunglasses so the thought of something sitting on my face all the time freaked me out. Every time I tried on a pair of frames I suddenly became a commitment-phoebe. Somehow I made a decision and ended up with glasses that were all wrong for me, though I didn't know it until almost a year later when my very honest uncle finally said something. Wrong shape & color, not cute at all. 

Eventually the lenses were too scratched to see through comfortably so I went back to the eye doctor, got my eyes rechecked (no change) and once again found myself at the mercy of the sales people. A little bit smarter this time though and the result of my purchase was a boring set a frames that was a better style and color for me. Though they were rather expensive.

They've served me well and managed to still sit upon my nose to this day, even though they're held together by wire because a screw is missing and I haven't replaced it yet. Despite my glasses being fine I've been itching for a pair that's slightly less boring. So right after Christmas I found myself back at lens crafters to get my eyes checked (still no change) and once again at the mercy of the sales people. 

It was the day after Christmas which meant I was officially all out of holiday cheer especially after having to work the night before. The sales people never stood a chance. I was just not in the mood to buy anything and no matter how many offers of help they gave me I didn't budge. 

Though I did manage to fall in love with a pair of frames made by Tiffanys but there is no way in hell I was going to spend that kind of money. So I left the store prescription in hand, slightly grumpy wondering what I would do. 

A friend of mine recommended that I try Coastal.com because she's had success with them in the past. They offer a program where you get your first pair of glasses free so I figured I didn't have much to loose. I was even able to upload a picture of myself for their "Try On View" feature. 

After hours and hours of looking through their selection I finally did what I do best and put my top three choices to a vote to the ladies that I trust the most and ended up with a decision.

My order was placed on December 26th and immediately I was giving an estimated date of January 4th. That is exactly when they arrived.

The pair that I decided on was listed as $79 for frames AND lenses. What I ended up paying was $7.95 for shipping and $5.49 for handling & insurance for a grand total of $13.44 for a brand new pair of glasses and frames.

It arrived in a little box that contained a really good quality hard case, some cleaning solution, a cloth and a tiny double sided screwdriver attached to a key chain and of course my new glasses.

They happen to look like this:

Pardon my face, at 4am or really any time of day I can't take self portraits seriously, blame myspace.

So my point with all of this is that if you know what numbers to punch into the prescription info on coastal.com than I suggest you give them a try. Who doesn't need free glasses? If anything it's a great way to try out a style you might have been too chicken to try.