The Chronic Consumer

I posted a few days ago that I bought a nice button-down oxford from Gap Kids for my son. Well, I was at the mall again today and stopped by the same store. This time, they had a very cute (ok, some would say dorky!) sweater vest that would look perfect with the oxford I bought. It’s made from 100% cotton, has a roomy fit, and is just the wardrobe piece for fall or winter layering. I’ve already made my son try it on with the oxford and a pair of khakis, and I think we have our Thanksgiving outfit right here!

The sweater vest was also on sale, but I didn’t get quite as good a deal as I got on the shirt. The original price for the sweater was $24, and it was on sale for $14. So basically I got two very versatile pieces of classic kids clothing for $23 plus tax. Not too shabby!

Now that hockey season is here, it’s time to break out some of my Blackhawks gear. That’s not easy, as I have just recently become a fan of the team again. To give you an idea of where I’m coming from, the most current Blackhawks jersey I have is the #10 of Tony Amonte. Yeah, it’s been a while!

Anyway, after last season’s nice playoff run, I bought a couple pieces of Blackhawks merchandise to celebrate the team’s revival, including this “third logo” t-shirt that I got from NHL.com. Made by Reebok, this is a nice long-sleeved t-shirt that is perfect for colder weather. It’s made of 100% cotton, with a screenprinted logo on the front, as well as the word “Reebok” underneath the team logo.

Actually, I’m not sure why this is considered an alternate logo. To me it looks exactly the same as the regular logo! Oh, well… I didn’t even notice I was buying the “third logo” anyway, so it doesn’t matter to me!

This Blackhawks Third Logo long-sleeved t-shirt was just $21.99 at the official NHL shop. That’s not a bad price for a long-sleeved tee, especially when you consider that it’s only $2 more than the short-sleeved version.

Anyway, I’ll be wearing this shirt with pride during the 2009-10 season. Go HAWKS!!!

I’ve been wanting to try Crest Whitestrips for a long time, but had to wait until my braces were removed in order to do so. Once my braces were removed, I actually had to have another touch-up procedure done, which required having a virtually invisible block of resin on my front tooth for a whole year. Now that the resin has finally been removed as well, I was able to try Crest Whitestrips Premium last week.

There are several different home tooth-whitening systems on the market, and several different variations within the Crest brand. I went for the 7-day Premium package, which guarantees whiter teeth after just a few days and results that last up to 12 months.

The 7-day system required me to wear the whitestrips on my upper and lower teeth twice a day for 30 minutes each time. The strips are “coated with a tooth whitening gel containing peroxide”. It is this peroxide that is supposed to penetrate tooth enamel to bleach the surface white.

The strips were relatively easy to put on, but I was surprised to see that they only covered about 8 teeth on top and 6 teeth on the bottom. I guess for most people that’s sufficient, as those are the teeth that get noticed most often, but still, I thought it was weird. The gel didn’t taste terrible or anything, but I definitely got sick of it by the seventh day. And there is also a noticeable increase in tooth sensitivity during the seven-day treatment period. But again, none of these were exactly major issues.

So, did my teeth get whiter after using Crest Whitestrips? It’s hard to say. I think the upper teeth are perhaps a bit whiter, but that could just be wishful thinking on my part. No one has actually told me that my teeth look better, and my husband couldn’t really notice a difference either. Then again, my teeth were pretty yellow, so it might take one or two more applications to get decent results.

(One thing’s for sure, though: there’s no way in hell anyone is going to get their teeth as white as the models in the instructional pamphlet that came along with the product. Their teeth was just ridiculously white and looked fake as hell.)

Anyway, I’m not ready to give up on Crest Whitestrips Premium just yet. Lots of people have reported good results, so I’m going to buy two more packages and see if repeated treatments help. I hope so because I’d love to have whiter teeth!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and in recognition of this very important issue, I’m going to try my best to buy pink from some online or bricks and mortar retailers. Whether it’s a pink ribbon, t-shirt, rubber wristband, or a jacket, part or all of the proceeds will go to help fund things like free mammograms and research. Perhaps there’s even a program to offset prescription costs, which I know would always be welcomed by families coping with this catastrophic disease.

Whatever you can do, whether it’s donating a few dollars or a few hours of your time, please do something this month. We owe at least that much to the women in our lives!

Like most 6-year-old boys, my son doesn’t like dressing up for special occasions. He prefers wearing his favorite t-shirts and shorts or jeans, no matter the season. But of course I have to make sure he has something decent for the occasional night out at a nice restaurant, lunch at a country club when we go on the frequent Myrtle beach golf packages that my husband’s company gives away, or a family gathering like Thanksgiving or Christmas. While I was at Gap Kids the other day, I came across a terrific deal on this long-sleeved basic oxford shirt, so I bought it.

The shirt is made from 100% cotton and has a nice soft feel to it. It’s also roomy so my son can grow into it, and since it’s from the Gap, I know that it will be durable enough to hold up through many washings. The shirt has a single pocket on the left breast, as well as a “locker loop” on the inside. It also comes with two replacement buttons.

The regular retail price for this Gap basic oxford shirt is listed as $24.50 online, but I bought it on sale for around $9 at an actual store. As I said above, that’s a terrific deal that really can’t be beat for a shirt of this quality. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have bought it at full price, but at nine bucks, it was a no-brainer!