I do not know about you, but from the start of this pandemic, I have had all sorts of internal conversations with myself rationalizing so many purchases both on Amazon and Target. Most of which have ended with "of course we need this, we are in a middle of a pandemic!" #hereslookingatyoukidskitchenknives
I would say the bulk of it came in the form of cake mix, frosting, and Pillsbury pizza crust. How I ever survived without the Toy Story pizza maker is beyond me (it is the real McCoy and 100% worth the price). Once I could get my hands on cake mix, we bought A LOT of it thinking of all the cupcake making nights we could have with EV and I do not regret the purchase one bit. Well maybe the amount I spent on Rainbow Chip frosting from Amazon, but it was totally legitimate at the time.
Florida has two types of weather....raining and not raining. With that being said and with me working from home, we had to come up with a lot of ideas that we could do with the kids indoors on days we couldn't let them run amuck outside. We do not have a pool, but we have a pretty large backyard, so we filled it with every water inflatable pool and activity you could think of (HERE). The weather can go from gorgeous to a monsoon in seconds so being prepared has become necessary. I was almost embarrassed to go through my recent purchases in Amazon, but in looking back and seeing how much we have used what we have ordered made me feel slightly less aghast.
As you can see from above, although there is no rhyme or reason to any of these things. Just know they were 100% "essential" (go with it) and made a world of difference in our day to day....or just mine.
Hubs and I truly enjoying cooking from home, but we were also quite the frequenters of restaurant dining. When the pandemic occurred obviously we rediscovered the excitement of homecooking again (thanks Chrissy Teigen), while still partaking in the contactless restaurant delivery now and again. As you are aware, there were some "kitchen" items that were harder to get than others. We never had a problem with toilet paper as Sam's always had an abundance (or at least ours did), but disinfectant wipes were impossible to get (and still seem to be) and we were using a lot of them (#kids and #momlife). This was also said for things like ziploc bags, aluminum foil, and the bane of my existence....yeast! We were using A LOT of aluminum foil and because it is not great on the environment, Hubs and I tried to find other options that would not destroy our baking dishes or the planet with one fell swoop. Plus, we were going through it so fast we weren't sure if we would even be able to get it again. We bought the baking mats (pictured above) from Amazon and really were not expecting much. Now I don't know how I have ever cooked without them. Food never sticks and everything is cooked all the way through. You can use these mats for positively everything, cookies, chicken, french fries, roasting vegetables...EVERYTHING!!! I have no clue why I do not see more people using these or maybe they do and I am just late to the baking mat party. They come in a set of two and when we are done I put them on the top rack of the dishwasher, side by side, and just run the dishwasher as I normally would (easy-peasy). We have not touched the foil once since we have purchased the mats.
The second thing although not essential to the survival of the pandemic, were those set of three kids kitchen knives (or maybe they are essential). EV is getting older and she has been loving spending more time with me in the kitchen. I wanted to give her more opportunity to help me other than just with baking. Introducing...kids kitchen knives!! I know what you are thinking, I thought I was crazy too, but they are plastic and good for things like chicken, and other soft foods and she feels super important when she gets to use big girl knives to help me shred chicken.
EV and I prior to the pandemic had gone to PF Chang's and our amazing waitress had given her kid friendly chopsticks. she not only loved them, but was quite good at them. EV had never seen Mulan and she loves to watch Disney "warrior" Princesses (Leia, Ahsoka, Elena of Avalor lol), so we thought it would be a fun to have an "Asian" inspired night, watch Mulan and order PF Chang's. Prior to purchasing a Mulan costume, we had matching Mulan shirts (thanks Target) and we bought her THESE chopsticks that help kids acclimate to the real thing. They come in a pack of five, are very durable, wash well and are great for tiny hands. EV absolutely loved them and being able to add to her own set of kitchen utensils.
We needed a new Bamboo Cutting Board (yes, more expensive, but they last much longer), so we ordered THIS one in the extra large size and it is perfect! Hubs is primarily shopping at Sam's to assure that we are going out as little as humanly possible (we like to pick out our own meat and veggies or else everything would be ordered), so it is nice to have a super large cutting board space to break down chicken, steak, pork chops, etc. We separate everything into ziplock bags and ration out for dinners so we are only taking out the amount we need. We had bought a couple of really large cutting boards at Homegoods and they were just the ones that you could throw in the dishwasher and in hindsight it seemed great, but overtime, they began to omit a strange smell and with us cooking at home all the time now, it was unbearable so we got rid of them. I would say we had them less than year, so again the money we saved was pointless. Our bamboo cutting boards we have had for years, so in my minds eye, that is money well spent. I love the notches on the new board for runoff and scraps and again it cleans easily. I mean it is a bamboo cutting board...is there anything else that can be said about it?!
Being home with EV meant coming up with fun activities, but it also meant not wanting to be the person that when the activities were done I was sticking her in front of the television for the rest of the day. By NO MEANS am I shaming anyone that does this! I definitely have had my share of being in a pandemic slump, being exhausted and hearing "mama" for the last time, so Vampirina or Elena had become our babysitter for the afternoon. However, I also felt that I had the time and I wanted us to work on things like the alphabet, sight words, and spelling. As mentioned, I made room in our linen closet that had all of her activities (HERE) so it was easy to grab whatever we were working on and it was in one organized space so that the Hubs wasn't searching around either. Mornings are a lot easier to hold EV's attention for these things rather than after her nap, so this is where we carve out an hour or so. THESE alphabet cards with numbers are awesome. I cannot tell you how quickly EV learned her ABC's with these. They are extremely durable and my only complaint is the same that you will see on the other reviews. I had multiple duplicate letters and it was missing a "Y". This wasn't a big deal as we had a "Y" from another wood puzzle that fit perfectly, but if we hadn't had it, it would have been seriously frustrating #firstworldproblemsiknow. Especially since delivery took forever with the pandemic in full swing when we ordered them.
Your eyes do not deceive you, yes those are laundry mesh bags and they are AWESOME!! I use these for everything! I put my bras and underwear in one, if EV and Baby D have really nice clothes/pajamas that have bright colors I will separate those in another bag, their lovies and most importantly costumes or my Lilly Pulitzer. I hate dry-cleaning with a passion and the act of driving to said dry cleaner, I hate even more. I put anything that is nice in these bags and I will separate them by type of clothing. IF it is something that requires a light cycle (such as; Lilly Pulitzer), I will put everything in a separate bag, wash on cold and then take everything out of that one bag and air dry it. Having it in separate bags means that I am not forgetting anything and risking missing anything that is going into the dryer. I loved this set of laundry bags as they were good quality, the zippers were durable and the large black bag that you get with it is perfect for EV's gorgeous costumes from (they can also be used for pillow pets if you have them as it is quite big). Many of the costumes have a lot of poof and intricate design (all the glitter) and this keeps them looking brand new every time. If I am washing EV's costumes, I will put them in the large black bag or separate them into more than one (depending on the size and type) and I wash them on their own sans anything else.
EV has been living her best costume life during the pandemic. We purchased the Elena of Avalor costume HERE, but it is also being sold on Target for the same price and often you can get a percentage of with Cartwheel and if you have the Target RedCard, you will get another 5%. Honestly, I never looked on Target and with Amazon, shipping when back to normal so we received it next day with Prime. EV has been discovering new (for her) Disney shows during the pandemic (thank the Clubhouse gods) and is currently going through an Avalor stage (she just about lost her mind during the Princess Sofia and Avalor crossover episodes) and because there are limited Elena items available online, it was nice to be able to find the costume for her. They do sell the scepter as well, but EV is three, not the most graceful and can sometimes be annoyed by her brother so it just seemed an unnecessary purchase as much for her as us and more so, Baby D. #explainingasceptoraccidenttoahospitalduringapandemicsreamsbadparenting.
Probably the most boring and surprisingly unused item that is shown above are the silicone cupcake liners. In hindsight, they were super cute and perfect for Baby D's birthday, but they were kind of a pain in the patootie to clean. If you are going to purchase them, I suggest the big ones and not the mini ones. I could not put the mini ones in the top rack as they kept falling through the grates and when I put them in the section of where the silverware goes, they wouldn't clean all the way so I could only put in a few at a time to assure all the cupcake was cleaned off. Normal sized cupcake liners, no problem. Looking back, I could have hand washed them, but whyyyyyyyyy?!
Moving on....
Man oh man, Amazon bathing suits are the CUTEST, so well-priced, plus the quality of the ones I have purchased have been insanely good (maybe not higher end good, but Target good and a quarter of the price since you have to consider that Target charges you for both a top and a bottom). I seriously think the only thing my laundry has consisted of since the pandemic started has been shorts, graphic tanks and bathing suits. When purchasing a bathing suit off of Amazon, consider a few things; read the reviews, pay attention to the height and weight of the person reviewing, check out the pictures and lastly check the sizing that is listed and have someone measure you. I bought one bathing suit based on a blogger who I follow who is about my size and yes, the bathing suit is adorable, but ummmmm there is quite a bit of side boob, which causes me to have to play around with the bust area and the straps and it is definitely something which although cute, I would not feel comfortable traipsing around one of the Disney pools in (soooo much work not to show off the goods). However, THIS one pictured above was super cute on and I love the high-waist (c-section mama high-five). Most importantly, I felt that could throw it in a suitcase and feel good about the selection if it was the only bathing suit I brought. My only gripe is that the top is NOT adjustable and there is a metal clasp in the back. I tend to like tie backs instead, but the top still fits nice, so it is a minor thing I would have preferred.
Being in Florida and constantly in the sun, I wear A LOT of sunblock, but I always try to have my face covered when by the pool. THIS sunhat has been a gamecharger. I do wear baseball hats a lot, but I love myself a good floppy sunhat. Again #firstworldproblems, but when we went on the Disney Cruise in February, I brought not one, but two huge floppy sunhats (#mamaisextra), but when I was not wearing it, such as; at the buffet, character meet and greets, or just walking around indoors, I had no where to put it. I didn't want to ruin it, so I couldn't cram it underneath the stroller with the baby bag, so therefore I was forced to carry it. I know, completely trivial, but we had two strollers and it was just something else to hold in my hands when mama would have preferred to be holding a cocktail. Let's be honest...this was the real reason!
I wasn't sure how much I would love this sunhat as it is a sunhat visor and therefore leaves my hair exposed, but I do not even care, I LOVE IT! I use an SPF conditioner spray for my hair that protects my color and my highlights while I am in the sun, so I am not too distressed about having my hair exposed. I love that it has a velcro closure allowing me to size it to my head and more importantly, I love that it rolls up (with a tie to keep the roll in place) and I can just throw it in my bag (keeping its shape), and I love how it looks a floppy designer sunhat to look without the cost. Hopefully when things resume to normal somewhere in the year 2027 and we can cruise again, this will be nice just to throw into my day bag and not have to worry about it getting wrecked.
Yes, we are wearing matching Minnie swimsuits! #noshameinourtwinninggame
Honestly, I am still ordering off of Amazon, but I figure I will save that as a Part Deux and I can do one based off of Target and ShopDisney. I can't be the only one with crazy pandemic Amazon purchases right?!
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