#2 He Buys Me New Ben and Jerry's Flavors

There is one true enemy to all women. Something so horrid, yet delightful, so depressing, yet uplifting, that we are bound to succumb to it in our moments of weakness, excitement, or even, boredom. No, I do not speak of an immoral or illegal substance, despite its addicting quality that should have it banned from all local convenience stores. Yes, dear reader, I speak of that item in which women have been bound to for ages: ice cream. Specifically: Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

One thing you must understand about me to start with, In the food department, I am a sucker for anything labeled as "new". I actually get excited to try new things. When I hear those words "all new", my heart pitter patters, my breath grows short and quick, and I must get myself in possession of that "new" item before it soon becomes "not new" (also known as "old").

The newest Ben and Jerry's flavor, which I simply had to try out of sheer curiosity and attachment to the newness of it, is called, "Late Night Snack". It involves vanilla bean ice cream, a salty caramel swirl, and fudge covered potato chip pieces. Yes, you read me, potato chip pieces.

The sheer unusualness of such a concoction makes me want to try it. However, it does not always dictate that I will enjoy such a treat. There are two prerequisites to enjoying this ice cream. You must like salt and you must like potato chips. (Yes, I know this might seem obvious, but must still be said.) You must really like potato chips. As in, they must be something you crave for more often than chocolate (and is that even legal for a woman to do??). The fudge covered potato chip pieces are good on first bite. However, the chip pieces stick to the insides of your teeth, in turn, leaving a strong salty/potato chip flavor that goes with you as you continue to eat the ice cream, and even stays with you after you have finished. The salty caramel has a subtle salty taste and mixes well with the vanilla bean. If this was just a salted caramel vanilla bean ice cream it would be sublime.

The bottom line, perhaps potato chips are not meant to be mixed with ice cream, even if they are fudge coated. As much as I love caramel (salted or regular) and vanilla bean, I do not think I will be purchasing Late Night Snack to fulfill my womanly ice cream cravings. I would much rather hand dip potato chips into chocolate fondue, while eating caramel swirl vanilla bean ice cream.

#1 He Lets Me Make-over the Bathroom

My mother bought me a cartoon ocean animal shower curtain when I was first married. It was certainly cute enough, so I built on that theme in my bathroom. Using gift cards from my bridal shower, I bought the matching octopus trashcan, the seahorse toothbrush holder, the soap holder shaped like a crab, and the turtle cup holder. It was in this way that the one and only bathroom of the house remained decorated for the first three and a half years of my marriage. The problem that arose was that: 1. An ocean theme in turn is also a summer theme, and in New Jersey, it is not summer all year round. 2. An acquaintance used my bathroom and upon exiting said, "Do you have kids?" When I answered in the negative, their response was, "Oh, I just thought that, with the way the bathroom looked..."

Most certainly, time for a change.

Now, the problem, which most housewives face, is how can I update and change my look without spending more than I can afford? I certainly did not have the funds to do an all out make over to my bathroom, though I desperately wanted to. So I did a mixture of two things: I slowly began my bathroom transformation by getting rid of the old and adding less childish pieces to the bathroom. This started with tossing the soap holder shaped like a crab, which had pieces of soap packed into the claws and paint peeling off in more than one spot.

Luckily, a friend of mine had gotten a little crafty and created something to replace my soap holder. Her piece helped to spark my redecoration plans for the room.

I really wanted to make a toothbrush holder out of another mason jar, but due to lack of time and current ability to do so, I went to Walmart. The mason jar soap dispenser was soon joined by a simpler metal toothbrush holder (cost $6.99).

Now it was time to switch up the rest of the room. Around the same time, my boss had given me a bag full of bathroom linens (towels, curtains, bath rug) that were my favorite color, orange. So, in went the orange. I switched my old magazine holder with a basket that had been in my bedroom, and added two orange vases that had previously been in my kitchen.

The next problem I faced was a corner shelf that the octopus trashcan had once sat on. I wanted something simple and decorative, but didn't want to spend more than $10.

Enter in Ross. Ross can be a great store for home decorations, but you have to have in mind what look you are going for, or else you are bound to end up with a lot of cute knick knacks and no place to put them. At Ross I found the mustard yellow (love that color!) jar, $2.99, and the home tea light holder, $3.99. I added the reed diffuser, which I already had, as an extra touch and a freshener to the room.

Finally, what started it all: the shower curtain. I love shower curtains with designs on them. Originally, I wanted to get a brown zebra or giraffe shower curtain. But that would then have been the highlight of the bathroom. With the other pieces I put in the room, I felt I needed to go simpler. Dark brown shower curtain to match the wood in the vanity and magazine basket it is! There was one on Amazon.com that looked like it had a nice texture to it for $19.99, but I really wanted to go cheaper. So, I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and found a solid brown cloth curtain for $12.99 and it did the trick!

In the end:

The final cost of a completely different look with minimal effort and cost: $28.84 (tax included!).