Friday, February 17, 2012

Leaf by Mohu Review - Best HDTV Antenna

Since I've been living alone one way I've found to cut my monthly bill costs is not pay for satellite or cable television.  And I do not miss it, mostly I do not miss those insane bills!  Between local television and things like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and internet tv there is plenty for me to watch.

Since analog television went extinct and we are left with digital television, aka DTV, I was frustrated with the reception of the signal I was receiving with DTV.  Between not getting local stations and then the few I was getting constantly digitizing and me having to do everything I could think of to get reception back... I decided I was fed up and there had to be a better antenna than the one I had with the big huge rods sticking to the sky and the stupid round pointless thing in the middle.  I had enough of cutting the power off to things and turning it back on, adjusting rods and changing channels.  I was spending more time just trying to keep a signal than I was watching the show.  Despite over the past year what I was experiencing with DTV, I still wasn't so frustrated that I was willing to pay huge bills every month to watch tv!!!


So began my reading of reviews, and more reviews, and even more reviews.  I wasn't sure how much I was going to be willing to pay for an antenna but I was seriously looking at reviews for everything from the cheap stuff to the ones into hundreds of dollars.  It had to be an indoor antenna since I live in an apartment.  I finally found it on Amazon.com, yes I know I refer to Amazon a lot but I am an avid shopper of Amazon and I find my best deals there and I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't shop there myself!  So what did I find on Amazon?  It's called the Leaf HDTV Antenna made by Mohu.  It is a paper thin indoor antenna and it is made in the USA.  It also has a black side or a white side so you can fit it in with your color scheme, or you can put in a window or behind some furniture, or I saw pictures where people just taped it to the back of the tv.  There is a super thin ring of plastic around it that they have provided if you'd like to secure it with push pins instead of tape.

I read dozens and dozens of reviews about it on and off of Amazon.  There are over 700 customer reviews on Amazon, actually that is what caught my attention because I believe it had the most reviews of any of them that I saw there.  It of course had mixed reviews as expected.  Some people live in areas where they really just aren't going to have much luck no matter what they use.  However in over 700 reviews less than 100 were 2 stars and under, 5 stars being max.

So I decided to give it a try!  I ordered it on Sunday and it arrived today on Friday via USPS mail.  The I opened it up and it resembled not much more than a piece of laminated paper with a wire attached.  I had it delivered to my office and had said to my coworker as I was showing her my new technology discovery, she has a love of technology like I do, that I was going to be pissed if I got home and it ended up just being a piece of plastic that didn't do anything!

I get home I take it out of the packaging, take the old crazy bulky antenna and toss it to the ground triumphantly now that I wouldn't have to look at the eyesore anymore, and hoping that this Leaf actually worked!  Oh no did I break the eyesore?  Well if I did it doesn't matter because the Leaf works beautifully!  When I first hooked it up there was no change in the channels and everything was still digitizing and I was like dang it!  Noooo!  Then I thought to go into my tv menu and have it re-tune the channels doing an auto-scan and my tv who is much smarter than I automatically tells me as soon as it starts the scan that it detects a new antenna and will be rewriting all the previous saved channels.  Why do I love technology?  That's why I love technology!  I'm thinking maybe this is why others had issues with the Leaf is because they didn't take the time to go into the menu and have it reset and wait on the tv to re-auto-tune the channels.

I checked with TV Guide online and looked at what the actual local broadcast area channels were for me and I now receive all but one with the Leaf!  From what I understand some areas have lots more channels available to them, and some people assume that since it was so widely broadcasted when the switch was made that it was going to be better because there would be so many more channels now, however that does not mean that they are all actually broadcasted in your area.  I suggest going to TV Guide putting in your zip and seeing what available to you.  Also the other exciting part, besides more channels, is the tv has been on for 7 hours and not once has it digitized!  I'm so excited over this more than anything because the digitizing was bad.  It would do it every few minutes before and sometimes I'd fully lose service for hours at a time. I would get so frustrated with the digitizing I'd just switch to watching a movie or tv show on Amazon Prime or Netflix! 

I know I've only had this thing for a few hours and it's working beautifully now and maybe I'm jumping the gun on writing this this long review, however I just couldn't wait to share this new discovery of mine with you.  And since I had read so many reviews where people had them for several months or over a year and they worked great I feel confident in telling you about this now!  But I promise if I have a problem in the near future I'll definitely make an update and let you know.

If you are frugal like me and prefer to not pay some corporation your hard earned dollars just to subscribe their overpriced service to watch television and are sick of only having 3 channels that you can barely watch anyways then I suggest try out the Leaf!

OH WAIT!!  I forgot one of the best parts!  This miracle antenna only cost me $37.59 and it was free shipping!  What what!  Yep that's right!

Ok Balue is sick of me giving you guys so much attention and is now laying here pawing at me and would love for me to spend some time snuggled up with him watching our perfectly clear awesome television picture.

Much Love! Have a wonderful weekend!

UPDATE: 5/1/12 - Antenna still works awesome!  No digitizing in months.  LOVE IT!




Thursday, February 16, 2012

Plum District Savings for Women

So I discovered this totally awesome new website tonight much like Groupon and Living Social, except it's completely geared towards women!  I love it!!  It's called Plum District.  If you sign up now you get a $5 credit! 

I'm so ecstatic I found the site today because in less than five hours this totally awesome deal ends to receive a $130 credit for only $30 towards hair tools or hair extensions on the NuMe website.  I spent the evening reading tons of customer reviews not only on the NuMe website but on other sites as well, as well as watching youtube vids of people trying their products.  The tools seem pricey but to me if they actually work and last then they are worth it!  You get what you pay for!  AND not to mention with $130 credit for paying only $30 at Plum District you've now paid the same price for an expensive superior tool for the price of something cheap!  AND IT GET'S BETTER.... Can you tell I'm excited?  Since I signed up tonight I got a $5 credit on my Plum D account, and I found a coupon code for another 10% off if you use a visa to pay.  SO I paid $22 for $130 credit!!  OH M GEE!  Oh yes I just said that.  I love saving money and awesome deals!

Now I'm going to head over now and buy this totally rad Wet to Dry flat iron they have on the site.  I have curly hair and I haven't met a flat iron yet that really does it's job.  Plus it's such a hassle to blow dry then flat iron I usually just sport the curls.  So I'm excited to be able to flat iron my hair from wet!  I see they have it at RRP $350, sale price $145, so I just paid $37 for a $350 professional grade flat iron!

Ok ok I'll stop so you can snag the deal.  You have less than 5 hours to get it so do it!!  Click here for the $130 Credit at NuMe!

If you missed that deal I'm sure Plum District has many more super deals ahead for us, as well as the great deals they already have listed now.  Start saving money ladies!

Click here to go to the Plum District site and sign up and receive your automatic $5 credit.


MUCH LOVE!  And happy saving!


Best Box Brownie Mix

This evening I experienced the best boxed brownies ever.  Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix is superior awesomeness.  I've always loved their little candies being the chocolate phene that I am, but the brownies.... holy cow!  Not only is it dark chocolate mix, but there's chocolate chips in the mix making these gooey super awesome... really I need to stop before I drool on my desk.

I would love to visit the Ghirardelli factory some day.  If you want some fun facts for next time you are having some water cooler chocolate chat visit the Ghirardelli Difference page to see what makes them so special!

If you want to wow some people without going through the work of making some kind of insanely intense homemade brownie batter take the easy route and give these a try!  You will be in looove!  If your local stores do not sell them click here to buy Ghirardelli brownie mixes at Amazon.com.
 

I'm in love.
Why don't I marry them then?
Well I would if I could, I'm pretty sure our relationship has been consummated.

Much Love and chocolate!
 

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Homemade Strawberry Syrup

I woke up this past Saturday thinking I wanted pancakes.  However I did not have any syrup and I always wondered how it would taste homemade so I proceeded to read about 6000 recipes. I got the jist that the bulk of them used one part brown sugar, one part white sugar and one part water.  I had all of those things and some strawberries I needed to use up.  Swwwweeet! 

And sweet it was.  I had mixed the strawberries that I strained out of the syrup into the pancake batter and that was actually my mistake when it came to sweetness.  I rarely come across anything that is too sweet for my sweet tooth and the basically candied strawberry pancakes were it.  The next day I decided to give it a second try since I had leftover syrup and without the candied strawberries in the batter it was great.

The syrup had a fun pink tint to it due to the strawberries, however I'm not as handy with a camera as I am with a skillet.  The strawberry flavor was a nice light tone and not overpowering.  However if you'd like super strawberry flavor use more.  You can also use other berries, fruits, butter, maple or other extracts, only brown sugar, dark brown sugar instead of light, or only white sugar and other variations if you'd like a different flavor. 

I know what you are thinking "STOP JABBERING and get to the recipe!"  Your wish is my command....


Ingredients:
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup White Sugar
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Sliced Strawberries
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1 Large sauce pan, it needs boiling room.

Directions:
Put strawberries and brown sugar in sauce pan.
 
Over medium heat slowly stir in the water and stir constantly until brown sugar is dissolved about 1-2 minutes. The mixture will just be starting to get warm.

Slowly pour in white sugar while stirring and constantly stir until the white sugar is dissolved.

Turn heat to high bringing mixture to a boil for 2 minutes while constantly stirring.  
(Do not stop stirring at this point or it WILL overflow.  
If it starts to bubble too close to the top just lift off the burner 
for a few seconds until it pipes back down.)

Turn heat to medium low.

Add vanilla and stir.
 
Simmer for 15-25 minutes stirring often. I did it for 25, the longer the thicker it will be the shorter the thinner it will be.

Strain into a bowl.  Figure out something yummy to do with the strained fruit.

Use a funnel to transfer the syrup from the bowl to a mason jar or some other kind of containing/pouring device that will be convenient to transfer your super yummy syrup to your pancakes, waffles and other culinary awesomeness creations.

The syrup will keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator.  

Reheat in the microwave at 50% power until it's the desired temperature.
 
Text all of your friends and brag about what a domestic goddess you are because you just made homemade syrup and none of those store brands have anything on you.

Mmmmmmm!

 

Who would have thought homemade syrup was actually this easy?

I hope you not only enjoy eating it but enjoy making it!



Much love and super yumminess!



Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Be My Valentine or Here's Some Great Songs

Happy Valentine's day!  Do not have a valentine?  Take a moment to reflect on how much you love yourself today.  =D

My first love will always be music.  Here's a few of my favorite love songs, there are so many it was really hard to stop! 

MUCH LOVE!!
















Yes I just posted 3 Beyonce songs, and I could have posted more, what can I say, the woman loves love. =)


I had to...











I'm ending with Meatloaf. His music is epic!


Saturday, February 11, 2012

Speak Up

I find it super sad that Whitney Houston passed away today, growing up in the 80's she was everywhere.  I know they haven't released the cause of death yet, however I am of course drawn to the fact that she was very publicly addicted to drugs and basically threw her life away for a high... well many highs.  It's very sad to me and I hate to see anyone take that path.  I've had loved ones on that path as well, and have even lost people very near and dear to me due to addiction.  Watching people you love die young that way takes a toll on your heart.  I now straight up tell my loved ones how I feel if they are drastically addicted to drugs or alcohol, which I know many did with Whitney as well.  I do not care if it makes them mad or hurts their feelings.  Unfortunately we cannot force people to change, however we can tell them we love them and we do not want them to die and we do not want to have to go to their funeral mourning the loss of a person we loved who died way too young.  I really hope those in my life, and yours, who are addicted to things that will one day kill them will get their lives together.  Take a moment to pray for them or have a thought or whatever you believe in.  And when you feel afraid to confront them, just keep in mind that maybe you speaking up will be what plants the seed in their heart that will one day drive them to make a real change that will save their life.  You may not be able to change the whole world, but just speaking up may change someone's world.


Much Love!

Please enjoy some of these great songs that I love by Whitney Houston who died way too young, only 48. 1963-2012












Whitney's all time #1 song was "I Will Always Love You" that she recorded for The Body Guard, a great movie that I loved in my youth. I hope that she finally has peace and she will always be loved and missed by everyone she left behind. RIP