My New Favorites

The Barker Beauties are back, showcasing some of my new favorite discoveries!

First up, Breyers Fried Ice Cream. Jake actually found this one....he LOVES ice cream and is always coming home with new, exotic flavors. This one tops my list because it tastes just like the fried ice cream that you can order at Mexican restaurants. Y U M! Also, take note of JJ's hat, we'll come back to it below.

Here we have the Vick's Soothing Vapors Plug-in. It plugs into the wall just like an air freshner, but instead of lavender vanilla or apple cinnamon scents, you get the lovely aroma of Vicks! We used it when Jayla had a repiratory cold a few weeks ago....it is a bit better than doing my Grandma & Grandpa's method of putting slimey Vick's all over the chest, throat, and yes, they even put it up their nose! We also don't have a humidifier, and I thought it did really well at opening up the air ways so Jayla could have a good nights sleep while she was so stuffed up. Also, take note of Jayla's dress here, we'll talk about it again below.

Have you ever wanted to make the PERFECT egg, cooked sunny side up/overeasy? Then you have to get this skillet. My mom bought this one for me. It is kind of hard to see in this picture, but it is a tiny, tiny non-stick skillet that cooks one egg perfectly. No more eggs running all over the place when you slap em on the skillet!

My newfound delight...the Panera yogurt parfait. This is the best parfait I have found....it even beats the McDonald's one (but not in price). I have tried making these at home, but they just don't compare to the tastiness of the real thing. JJ and Jayla love these too.
And, lastly we have good old TJ Maxx. I had people telling me that I should shop at TJ Maxx for YEARS, but I never tried it. Once Jake's gym moved to Ankeny I was driving by the Ankeny TJ Maxx every single day....and one day I decided to stop because JJ needed some new shorts. And, I found the BEST DEALS! Especially for JJ's type of clothing which is mostly Nike, Adidas, and ISU things. I was able to get him a bunch of Nike outfits that in a normal department store would run around $40...but at TJ Maxx they were anywhere from $6 to $15...and this was for a set of shorts & a shirt combined. That ISU hat above cost me only $4....and Jayla's puma dress had a MSRP price of $35 but TJ Maxx had it for $12. I could go on and on about this store...not only do they have clothes for the kids, but they have women's & men's clothes, an entire section of ISU & Hawkeye clothes/items, shoes, luggage, purses, kids toys & books, home decor, etc. In fact, I even found a red, twin sized Ralph Lauren comforter for Solomon's bed....normally $65 and I got it for $25.

Let me know some of your new favorites!