Watts in Florida?: Valentines Vacuum, "Bona"fide Bliss, and dinner at Scott's on Fifth!

Many people would scoff at the idea of a vacuum for Valentines Day . . . but Justin gave me a life-changing gift this year! After owning several different types of vacuums (upright, dust buster, dust buster on a stick with a cord, another upright, canister . . . ) we have found the one that works for what we need.

Sandy, as much as we love her, is a major shedder. Our house basically needs a spot vacuuming every day and it was too annoying with our current canister vacuum. We needed something easy that was good on hardwood floors and carpets. We were intrigued by the Dyson Slim . . . especially because it's CORDLESS and did some research. At $400 ($200 for a re-furbished), we weren't ready to pull the trigger (haha, literally, that's how you use that particular Dyson, there is a trigger at the top). Not only because of the price, but because there is no way to turn off the roller, and we don't need a roller on hardwood floors. I thought we tabled the idea for later, so you can imagine my surprise when a Hoover box arrived at our door step the day before Valentine's Day . . .

Justin researched (shocker of the year) and the Hoover Platinum Linx got great reviews. Things he really liked about it:
1. The battery is on a charging station. We ended up hiding the charging station behind a plant in the kitchen so you can't even see it!
2. The roller turns off for hardwood floor cleaning.
3. You can get 20 minutes of vacuuming on one charge (which is more than enough for me to vacuum the whole house!)

This vacuum has changed my life (does that make my life sad? I think not. It just makes it clean!) It is so much easier to grab it and vacuum up Sandy's hair on the daily basis. And the vacuum is so light that I'm able to vacuum while holding Lila. Ah-mah-zing. Here's a picture of my new BFF:

You can check it out at the Hoover website here. Now I know it's not Friday, but I do have to brag about how frugal Justin was about getting this vacuum. Right now, it's on sale for $159, usually $179. He found a re-furbished one on the Hoover website for $99. Then he had a 20% off coupon, and a free shipping coupon. Shipped to our door for $84. He has a gift for deals, I'm telling you.

And just in case you were worried that we had a totally unromantic Valentines Day - he also sent me 30 beautiful tulips. After 7 years of tulips for Valentines Day, it still doesn't get old. I love receiving my favorite flowers!

Now on to the "Bona"fide Bliss segment of this post:
We now have the dog hair situation under control. Next on our list was making our hardwood floors look really good. We were currently using "Squeaky Kleen" and a Quickie microfiber mop. It involved me spraying the cleaner and then mopping it around. It was annoying, the cleaner had a strong smell, and when I was finished the floors didn't even look that great. I think it was leaving some kind of residue on the floor, and it always felt a little tacky when you walked on it barefoot. Justin did some more research (I know, you guys are just completely shocked by this) and we picked up the Bona Hardwood Floor set at Bed Bath and Beyond ($32 with a 20% off coupon). The system has a built in sprayer on the mop, the mop itself is much more sturdier, and the cleaner has no scent whatsoever. But the best part? Our floors look GREAT! The Bona microfiber has more texture than most microfiber, so it actually scrubs, and it took up all that nasty residue on our floor. Once it was dry, Justin and I couldn't believe how clean it felt underfoot. I can't say enough good things about this system. Hence the "Bona"fide bliss. Love.

Finally, the really great part about our Valentines Day - Justin arranged for Pauline and Grandad to watch Lila last Friday night and we had dinner at Scotts on Fifth. (We went there for my 29th birthday). The food was excellent - still hands down the best food in Brevard County. It was a great surprise and a really nice night out!