Rachel's Fab 4 (2010 edition)

I made a list like this last year and thought it was time to make a new one! These are 4 things that have given me joy or less stress, or just made me laugh in the past couple of months.

1. Pandora.com

Oh, Pandora, what would I do without you? After years of doing my job every single day, longing for some stress relief, I finally discovered Pandora about a year ago. If you're not familiar with it, it's like online radio... but you decide what type of music you want to hear. For example, one of my stations is the Steve Tyrell station. On this station I hear Steve Tyrell (obviously) plus a lot of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Michael Buble, Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, etc. I also have stations that play music from GLEE (actual Glee music along with lots of 80s classics), Wicked (more modern Broadway), Thoroughly Modern Millie (old Broadway), Selah (praise & worship) and of course I have a Christmas music station.

Listening to this music puts me in a better mood so that I can go about my day. Thank you, Pandora!!

2. E-mealz.com

I love to eat. I love to cook. I'm a Pampered Chef consultant, for crying out loud! But I still struggle with grocery shopping and not over-spending due to poor planning. This is where e-mealz.com comes in. You pay $15 for 3 mos worth of recipes, grocery shopping lists, and meals plans and it is WONDERFUL. I get online every Thursday to print out the meals for next week and make my grocery list. I usually cook at the most, 4 meals/week b/c I'm often times gone in the evenings for meetings or volunteering. Not all of the recipes are tasty, but for the most part they're good. I have to substitute a lot of times b/c the meals call for dried noodles in a bag (for exampe) which I will never make. I still make a ton of PC recipes and try to mix them in with the e-mealz recipes as well.

I have chosen the option to have "Low-Fat Wal-Mart meals for 2" as my weekly meal plan so I'm not throwing away lots of food. You can choose almost any store in your area, and any type of food like low-fat, low-sodium, vegetarian, etc. I love it! AND if you enter the coupon code "Dave" (Dave Ramsey) then you can get your 3 month subscription for just $12! Thanks, Kim, for recommending it to me!

3. LA Gear Walk & Tone shoes

Remember LA Gear? Remember HOW COOL it was to have a pair of LA Gear shoes and not the Target knock-off? I do. 4th grade, baby. Well for a while I've been wanting some of those toning shoes, with the balance-ball-inspired technology. I found some! Here's the irony... they are LA Gear and they hail from the shelves of Meijer... now LA Gear is the cheap knock-off! Either way, they are great. When I wear them, my legs get tired quicker so I know they're working. I wear them when I do ordinary tasks like housework or shopping. They work, y'all! My shoes look just like these:

4. Brother Label-Maker

Oh how I love thee! Mike bought this for me the week before we moved and I was PUMPED. Then it got packed away in a box and I actually forgot we had it! Since I found it, I have become a labeling maniac! I started with the binders on my bookshelf, and made it to my closet...oooo the possibilities! Can you tell I'm excited? I labeled all of my sewing stuff and my PC things. Plus, since it's almost back-to-school time, folders and binders and those plastic totes with lids are all on sale! Organizing makes me so happy in this house! Finally, everything has a place!

What is part of YOUR Fab 4?