Thanks to Megan for keeping such thorough notes at our last gathering.  Listed below are a few of the Global Gals’ Favorite Things.

Susan’s Favorite Things:

·         www.pandora.com: a web site that allows you to enter a favorite artist and then plays songs by that person and similar artists.  If there is a song you don’t enjoy, then you can give it a thumbs down and it will alter the playlist accordingly.

·         Bumble & Bumble Curl Conscious for fine hair: All you do is stick it in your hair and let it dry. Smells nice.

Heather's Favorite Things:

·         Bella Sun Luci Tomato Pesto: You can buy this at Barrons, which is located in Del Mar Heights and OB (at W. Point Loma & Midway.)  The lid has recipes, and Heather love the chicken sundried tomato fettuccine.  Thanks for the samples, Heather!

·         Olympus Digital voice recorder: costs $75 - $80. You can record your own thoughts, but you can also hook it up to your computer and have the file.  This one Heather bought at Target and it is nice and compact.  She uses it to records her kid’s voices, but mostly to record random thoughts when she’s driving or doing other activities during which she doesn’t have time to stop & write it down. 

·         Orchid Garden Hotel: Green hotel in San Fran that Heather loved. 

·         La Pinata: Heather’s favorite restaurant which is in Old Town.  On Juan Street behind Guadalajara.  It’s the oldest restaurant in San Diego.  All the servers are women and most of them are older.  The food is traditional Mexican, decent margaritas, AND, for those of us w/ children, the food comes out FAST! Casual and kids can run around.  Don’t get the light menu: eat the lard!

Alexis' Favorite Things:

·         A giant zester that she found in Cook’s Illustrated.  It makes nice zest and hold it so it you have it all of it.  It’s great for parmesan cheese and fruit zest.  It came w/ the cookbook!

·         Alfonso’s margaritas on Prospect in La Jolla. 

·         Mama Mia’s Italian restaurant on Grand in PB.  Near 1932 Balboa Ave (between Grand Ave & Lamont St). Near a hair salon.

Lisa’s Favorite Things:

·         Vidalia Chop Wizard.  It chops everything uniformly.  It comes w/ two different sizes.  Lisa uses it not only for onions but also for salads and her daughter’s food.  She has sliced zucchini fries using this, too.  It also comes w/ a cleaner.

·         Restaurant:  Urban Solace at University & 30^th in North Park: Heather is an investor in their new restaurant, so she said GO!

·         Accupuncturist:  Liman Wang on Black Mountain Road.

·         www.acufinder.com: Finds acupuncturists for certain things.

Meg's Favorite Things:

·         http://www.sandiegohalfoff.com/intro.php: A website you can go to and get gift certificates to restaurants, spas, and other services, for half off.  Usually, you get a $50 gift certificate but pay only $50.00.

·         www.tripadvisor.com: A website where folks can provide feedback about hotels, restaurants, and local attractions from all over the world.  You can enter the location you plan to visit, and it will provide recommendations based on user reviews.  The reviews will often tell you exactly how to get to the place, where to sit, what to order, which room number to request, etc.  It’s great!

·         Blackberry: can connect to the Internet; can open Word docs and ExCel; GPS.  Meg uses hers for email, her calendar, and to play games.

·         Doublsided fabric tape: can be used to “fix” hems in a pinch or stick bras to shirts.  Can be purchased at fabric stores or at Target. 

Janice’s Favorite Things:

·         Janice loves any type of wipes.  Stain removal. Clorox Wipes seem to be everyone’s favorite.  Not only do they get the mold off lunch boxes, but they also clean stains off clothes.  Another favorite is “Kandoo” wipes, which are for cleaning one’s heiny.

·         Strawberry Husker (stem pickers): Julie has one but Janice can’t find where to buy it anywhere!  Try Great News kitchen store in PB.

Andrea’s Favorite Things:

·         The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease: Gives ideas for how to get a squirmy kid into a story, inspirational stories, and generally helps adults get into reading aloud w/ their kids.  It also has a list of specific books for recommended reading. 

·         In the Convent of Little Flowers by Indu Sundaresan: Book of short stories all about relationships written by an Indian woman.  Some stories about elder abuse, arranged marriages, etc.

·         www.sdmaritime.org: Maritime Museum at the Star of India.  You Pay admission to the museum and then can ride the pilot boat for $3.  Pilot boat holds 20 – 25 people. It’s $3 for 45 minutes to 1hour.  Andrea chose the $40/year long membership. 

Julie's Favorite Things:

·         Braun Handmixer (as seen at the UCSD cooking class):  Can use it to make soup, smoothies, etc.  Julie’s comes w/ a chopping and whisk attachment.  Tracy makes smoothies almost every day.  The Gals raved about making soups with this.

·         The wine vacuum: It vacuums the air out of the wine bottle and keeps the wine fresh.

·         Garlic press: presses garlic with no chopping or smashing with a knife. One doesn’t even need to peel the clove.

Have a happy day!

Jules