Califia Farms 

Cometeer Coffee

Bombas

Hydrow

Liquid Death

Nuun

Supergoop!

Muji

The Ordinary

Four Sigmatic

Pens 

Notebooks

homeware

PLAY Everyday Lotion SPF 50

Buffet

Plastic storage containers

Almond Milk

George Howell Alchemy

chill cacao 

moisturizer

gripper socks

Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 

glycolic acid

SPARKLING WATER

Niacinimide 

This is the greatest non-brand ever created. I have to been to the stores in NYC, Boston (where I live), London, Dubai, and so many others. My 8th grader only uses their notebooks for school. I cut my nails with clippers from them. My house smells like Muji at times because my wife called the manager of the store to figure out what essential oils to put in our vaporizer. I used to even have their soundtrack of their store in my soundcloud.

I like them. I love them. They're a cool brand making good stuff, not pricey and shopping there makes me feel good.  You should go there.

Let's agree that this is the standard bearer in packaging over substance. I like the product, don't get me wrong- I'm actually mostly made of water myself and my planet is mostly covered in the stuff.

I have only have the regular black can of sparkling and it's "fine". I felt cool drinking out of the can, but that's about it.

We buy the huge SPF pump every year (maybe 2?) and we have small tubes of it all over the house. This is our standard stuff. I really like the product, I think it works well. It does cast a white shadow on my golden bronze head, but that might be my fault. I've found the Trader Joes' face SPF to be a good solution here.

This is so much better than you think and I'm a coffee snob. I had George Howell's Alchemy in this format and I could not tell the difference between what I made versus what I make on my high quality Technivorm with Baratza setup.

My family is a big fan of James Hoffman on YouTube and while I didn't get a chance to do the taste test he did recently, I love the idea. 

I think you have to really believe in the functional aspects of the adaptogen promise-- I'm not sure I do. But the product tastes okay, I think I do see a cognitive difference between taking this versus regular coffee. We had a chill product (hot chocolate) that my daughter liked before going to bed.  

This is my favorite brand of cosmetics. While I think that I am a enlightened guy, I'm not one to spend a lot of money on fancy face creams and moisturizers (mostly because I forgot to use them). I started ordering directly from the company and they put me through a tree system to figure out which products I should use to solve which problems. I then started to buy it from Sephora and target to replenish. I think the products are nicely packaged and very reasonably priced. 

The only thing I would change is that the droppers are more than I can handle. Putting it in a simpler dispenser would be better- one of them shattered in my sink when it fell from the shelf. 

My skin is probably better than it would be if I didn't use it- but there really isn't any control in the experiment.

A friend of mine gave me gripper socks to wear in the house. I think they're really great, and the pattern that I got was Norwegian and cheerful (two words that don't go together usually). I get advertised this brand all the time for their socks, and the experience with the gripper slipper socks, gives me some confidence that the socks are actually pretty good as well. I have not washed my gripper socks yet, so I don't know the durability, but I think they feel substantial. They weren't particularly cheap, so expect them to last a year or two or three.

We often buy their unsweetened almond milk, especially when we have guests that are coming to town who always want a dairy free option. I also like their different seasonal varieties that are tasty and often not as sweet as the "real thing". Don't get me wrong they're still sweet.

Almond milk is problematic because of the environmental impact, but oat milk is problematic because it's just a bunch of sugar hitting my system at once. I think the Almond Milk from Califa is worth buying - not sure whether buying more expensive almond milks makes much of a difference as we don't drink it plain. I've tried their creamers as well and have found them to be pretty decent. But I still like the real thing.
 

I never imagined that we would become a rowing household.  For the past 3+ years, it has been a pleasure to see how much my now 13-year-old loves rowing.  She had never rowed before and now is on a team rowing on the Charles 3-4 / days week in the Spring and the Fall. She's even going to winter rowing (not on the chilly winter river) which is indoors.

Here's the deal- yes, it's kinda expensive. Yes, it's pretty damn big. Yes, there is a fee. But my 13 year old daughter apparently runs a 6:45 mile and can literally do 450 squats.  I give Hydrow all of this credit- because we're not pushing her to do any of these things. 

The machine is very well made, the screen programs are great and mix in some non-rowing into the mix. The personalities aren't like Peloton- meaning they're not just selling sex. They're actually great rowers and supportive. They're in the FB groups- they're actually "high fiving" my daughter on the Hydrow app after a workout. 

It's a much better product for someone who doesn't want to go to a gym and just wants to make sure they're doing something that will work out almost 90% of your muscles. The monthly fee is expensive, there are live rows- but probably not enough. But honestly, our entire household shares that monthly fee and it's not any different than other models.

These are really great to travel with, whether it's on longer flights or when going to Vegas (conference or hard-core partying). I have found the flavors to be sometimes a little too strong for me, so I just use half a pack.  It takes a while sometimes for the tablets to dissolve, not really very difficult to understand the purpose and the value. 

I'm sensitive to the way tap water tastes in other parts of the country- so this is a great solution so I don't buy random sweet beverages.

Reviews and discussion