Tag: ovira

Gadget Gift Guide

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

Full disclosure—I am about the least tech-y person on earth. I didn’t even get a Kindle until like two years ago. However, boy, do I love a gadget! This gift guide could really apply to any kind of person, but given that I own at least a version of every single item on here, it is pretty tailored to a person…exactly like me. But, in fairness, don’t we all have a basic, millennial white woman in our lives? The prices range from $15 – $150, so whether you’re doing a Secret Santa or buying for a significant other, I’ve got your back!

For the Kitchen

  1. Dash Egg Cooker ($) – I’m obsessed with this thing! It makes perfect soft or hard-boiled eggs every time in minutes, and it comes with attachments to make egg patties for breakfast sandwiches or poached eggs. Truly the best $15 you’ll ever spend, unless of course you’re a vegan.
  2. Immersion Blender ($$-$$$)- This is the best thing I’ve ever owned in my life. The KitchenAid version is super budget-friendly and will pay for itself 100 times over. From potato leek soup to bulletproof coffee, this magic stick will puree basically anything, all without dirtying a blender pitcher. I will caution you NOT to try to blend ice cubes with it, though…I learned my lesson the hard way, and now my limited edition pink base has a white blender arm. It’s…colorblocked! If it’s in your budget, I’d opt for this set—everything you could ever need!
  3. Mandoline Slicer ($ – $$$) – I consider myself to have pretty excellent knife skills (thanks, chef Joe G from my former workplace!), but my chops (get it??) don’t come close to what this baby can do. I linked the one I have, but there are tons of options, even some as cheap as $15. So, true story: in my usual hubristic manner, I tried to use this slicer without reading the manual…it was such an epic fail (though I somehow managed not to harm myself!) that I let it sit in a drawer unused for about three years. But I finally braved it again (this time armed with the manual) when I started making these pickled onions and now I am a total convert. Is it just me, or are uniformly sliced vegetables kind of sexy?
  4. Milk Frother ($$) – This is the simplest way for even a home-coffee novice to get gourmet results at home. This is the updated version of the one I have, but there are definitely cheaper options available (this was another wedding registry score). In addition to making lattes/cappuccinos, I use this to make hot chocolate and to reheat my coffee (way more delicious than using the microwave).

For the Bedroom

  1. White Noise Sound Machine ($$) – I am the world’s lightest and worst sleeper. I won’t say this cures all of my ills, but it’s a huge help in blocking both indoor and outdoor sounds that could disturb your sleep. My husband is a night owl (his circadian rhythm is literally vampiric), and I can’t hear him in the house at all when I have this thing going. The model I linked is amazing since it whirs like a fan and has a consistent hum—it’s totally natural and easy to tune out. And it comes in pink, which is the most important thing.
  2. Weighted Blanket ($$) – This doesn’t technically qualify as a gadget, but it’s another must-have for my insomniac brethren. I can’t believe how much it prevents me from tossing and turning. I have this one (throw blanket sized), since my husband hates it and wants it nowhere near him. They come in a variety of weights, at a variety of price points. In a perfect world, I’d have a 30 lb weighted comforter that would basically crush me to death.
  3. Something NSFW ($ – $$$$) – I mean, this is a category of gadgets for the bedroom. Ahem, might I suggest this one? Make sure to do your homework and buy from a feminist, inclusive shop like Babeland or Spectrum Boutique!

For the Home & Office

  1. Light Therapy Lamp ($$) – Do you get crippling seasonal depression when nature steals the sunlight away from us? Then this is the gadget for you! I blast this thing at my face for hours a day, and I think it’s really helping. These come at a variety of price points, but they’re generally really affordable!
  2. Wireless Keyboard ($$) – When I started working from home, my back and neck started killing me from crouching down to work on my laptop 8 hours a day. I got this wireless keyboard and mouse set so that I could set my laptop back on a riser and it’s SO much more comfortable. The best thing about this specific set is that it has all the keys for a Mac and a PC, so it can be used with both.
  3. Bluetooth Speaker ($$$) – Investing in a quality Bluetooth speaker was a game changer for us! We have this one, which follows me from room to room, and this one, which stays centrally-located in our kitchen.
  4. Labelmaker ($$) – For the compulsives and organizers in your life. My labelmaker is what I would save in a house fire. I feel like I don’t even need to explain this one—you get it or you don’t.

For the Ladies

  1. Curling Wand ($$) – The curling wand is the one hair tool I could never live without. The one I use most often was a hand-me-down that retails for only $20, so this is absolutely something you don’t need to spend a lot of money on to get results. I just bought this one and can’t wait to see how it works! The bigger the barrel the looser the curl, but most wands are tapered so you can easily give your curls dimension.
  2. TENS Machine ($$ – $$$$) – *infomercial voice* Do you get debilitating menstrual cramps that make you want to commit a homicide? Then Ovira is for you! There are actually tons of different TENS machines online, some specifically marketed towards people who menstruate. Pain meds like ibuprofen are actually terrible for you and should be avoided if possible—I tend to vomit them up because they upset my stomach—so I was totally game to find an alternate solution to my misery.
  3. IPL Hair-Removal Handset ($$$ – $$$$) – I was a skeptic, but now I’m a believer. I haven’t finished the treatments yet, but I’ve already seen a drastic difference. I know, feminism, hair removal is bad, blah blah blah, but I’m sorry, I’m not going to change in this lifetime. Not having to shave every day will literally add years to my life. This is the one I have, but they’re available for as cheap as $90.
$25 and under$
$50 and under$$
$100 and under$$$
> $100$$$$

Week Links [14 September]

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment
i worked all weekend on re-organizing and snazzing up my kitchen, and i realized that i have a wild affinity for the color i call “versailles blue.” literally, every louis xvi-era décor has this shade of blue–when the world reopens, check your local art museum to fact-check me. also, sofia coppola’s marie antoinette is an amazing and underrated film.
  1. Is it too soon to decorate for Christmas? I don’t really do Halloween (even though my wedding anniversary is 30 October…go figure), so I’ve started incorporating general fall decorations—pumpkins, jewel and earth tones, and wreaths. I’m sure my consumerism is ruining the earth (and not the 100 corporations that are responsible for 71% of global emissions…), but the Target dollar grab-and-go section (does it have a name?) is my jam for decorations. I actually reuse the stuff year after year, and I like not having to be precious about storing them in the basement. Also, being able to find $3 gems means that you can decorate for even the “in-between” holidays like Dia de los Muertos and Valentine’s Day. I was such a cynical jerk until my mid-twenties, when I realized that, given life’s general bleakness, anything that can inspire a little bit of joy or peace is totally worth it. Which is why I own two Christmas trees despite being a lifelong atheist. Anyway, where was I going with this? These wicker pumpkins are adorable, rainbows belong everywhere, and you’ve got to be kidding me with these cable-knit cuties.
  2. I had no choice but to buy this dress in pale mint. My hands were tied. Now we need a vaccine and a competent government so that I can wear it to an event.
  3. Caved and bought an Ovira. TMI warning: Despite having incredibly easy periods for about 15 years, once I hit my late 20s, my uterus decided to stage a coup against the rest of my body every 25 days, and it has been debilitating. Like, can’t get out of bed debilitating. I’ve tried everything under the sun—lavender oil, magnesium, liver-destroying amounts of ibuprofen and acetaminophen, heat, meditation, stretching, *extremely The Script voice* prayer to a god that I don’t believe in, screaming—and nothing has worked, so I’m hoping that shooting electricity into my abdomen will do the trick.
  4. My husband bought these and these 2.5 years ago, with the intention of rehoming all of his CDs and recycling the jewel cases, but, as he has yet to complete this task, I finally took it upon myself to do my own CD collection, and I cannot oversell how much room it freed up in my office. My bookcase has never looked better.
  5. The perfect tweet doesn’t exi—
  6. I’ve been watching Better Things on Hulu because I’m extremely current and on the pulse of what’s hot. Am I cancelled because Pamela Adlon was/is (?) a close associate of Louis C.K., or am I redeemed because she voiced Bobby on King of the Hill?
  7. I don’t know how I hadn’t heard of NetGalley before a friend of mine posted about it on Instagram but it’s so cool! I, of course, have not been approved to actually read anything yet because I have zero credentials (I’ve literally written two book reviews ever), but I’m hoping that if I start writing reviews here I can accomplish two things: 1. Getting more words on the page! Writing begets writing! 2. Be able to read tons of as-yet-unpublished books fo’ free!
  8. Yoplait started selling lids for those adorable yogurt jars as a part of a capitalist conspiracy to ruin me. My husband loves bougie-ass yogurt, so my house is littered with these types of jars. They’re backordered right now, but soon they will be mine.
  9. I got this Zip Top set in a Causebox and I’m a close to the edge of risking it all and buying the complete set. It was in the Add-On Market for Fall and I totally would have gotten it but $50+ seemed like a lot…until I realized that it retails for $90.
  10. I am so thankful for all the people doing the work that I should be doing and informing me about amazing black-owned businesses to support. Check out this list of 7 BIPOC-Owned Clean Beauty Brands.
  11. I read P.S. From Paris by Marc Levy this week and really enjoyed it. You can definitely tell that it was translated from French, so if you’re really attuned to stuff like that it might be a slog, but as a totally basic Francophile, I loved it. It takes…quite a turn like 75% of the way through. I won’t spoil it because I would have never seen it coming. My one real “note” is that we must end the tyranny of women characters called Mia in novels. These authors must be stopped.
  12. Gonna have to endorse this drug-store toner. I used “Winter Wheat” to tame the brass in my highlights.
  13. I took the Enneagram Test and got a 2, because of course I did. I had previously taken random online tests and gotten almost equal scores for 4 and 2. Just like when I did Myers-Briggs, I never felt a strong identification with a particular type. This time, though, I find myself most intrigued by Type 6. I’ve never heard of anyone else who’s a 6 before, and the more I read about it, the more it totally makes sense for me (in a bad way, unfortunately). Now I really want to read this book when it comes out to learn more.

To borrow a phrase from my fave podcast, “Until next week, have fun.”

-c