review - Stuff Parents Need

Natural Products for Baby, Including Cloth Wipes Solution

November 2, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 106 Comments

I’ve noticed lately that my little one has a strong affinity for chewing on her fists. I think we are in the very early stages of teething. Oh joy. Because her hands are always in her mouth, they are starting to get quite sticky. This made me wish that I had some sort of all natural product for baby that I could quickly and easily wipe her down with. I went to Etsy to search for something, and I found the solution at BareBebe.

BareBebe is a new company to Etsy, having been in business for about 7 weeks now. The inspiration behind the business came about 4 years ago, though, when Alison (the owner) started her family. She says, “I really became focused on not only what we put into our mouths, but what kinds of things we put on our skin.” When she decided to fully commit to cloth diapering with her third child, she had a really tough time finding wipes that weren’t really cheap and detergent that fully disclosed its ingredients. With cloth diapering, this is particularly important, as some ingredients can ruin or at least diminish the effectiveness of cloth diapers. So she did was any creative person would do; she started making these products for herself! Soon after, a store was born featuring 3 signature items: PureBebe detergent, CleanBebe wipes and FreshBebe wipes spray. There are other great items in the store as well. Alison says, ” I realized I had many things in my home, made by me, that would be great additions to my store (ie. BabyBreathe Eucalyptus balm, MightyToSave dryer balls, and BareBebe milk bath) All these items are natural replacements for the most commonly used items in my house.”

Alison was kind enough to send me the BareBebe Sample Pack, so that I could try out her products for myself. The sample pack contains the following:

~2oz. FreshBebe wipes spray
~Enough DryBebe (powder) for several diaper changes
~One gender neutral CleanBebe cloth wipe
~Enough PureBebe laundry detergent for 3 loads of laundry (6 loads for HE)
(all of this is only $3.50, by the way!)

I was excited to try every product, but I was especially eager to try out the FreshBebe wipes spray. It was created as a wipes spray, especially for sensitive skin, but its uses go way beyond that! I’ve found it to be an excellent item to have on hand to quickly wipe down Darah’s hands throughout the day, and I have absolutely no worries if she starts chewing on her fists 3 seconds after I used the spray on her, because it is a natural product.Alison says, “FreshBebe contains a naturally derived mild soap and tea tree oil. Both of these have antibacterial qualities and guarantee your little one will be clean.” FreshBebe comes in a variety of scents. I chose tangerine vanilla, and it smells fabulous but light. I am really happy to have found a great solution to my problem with little miss sticky fingers! A 4 oz spray bottle is a very reasonable $4.50. She also sells 8 oz refill bottles!

DryBebe was another great product in the sample pack. It is a talc and cornstarch free powder option for little tushies. Alison has blended some essential oils of lavender, vanilla and lemongrass to create a scent similar to lemon poppyseed muffins! The powder is tan, which surprised me at first. As Alison points out on her site, though, “it’s all natural, and you can’t find many things in nature that are pure white.” Good point! I got about 8 uses out of my sample pack of DryBebe. It helped to keep Darah nice and dry, and it smelled great, too. An 8 oz bottle is $7.75, and it will last a long while.

PureBebe is a laundry detergent th at is enzyme, dye, perfume, soap brightener and softener free. It turns out that all of these elements can possibly irritate the skin of a baby. It comes scent free, but essential oils can be added to give it a very light fragrance. I requested lavender essential oil to be added to my sample. The product smelled great. I’m pleased to say that Darah’s clothes have done well with this detergent! PureBebe is $6.50 for 38 loads (72 loads in a HE washer).

The Clean Bebe wipe I received was soft, but also very sturdy. It is two-ply, which means it can really handle some business. One side is made of soft cotton jersey and the other side is made of cotton flannel, which makes it a bit more helpful for, well, the big messes! The cloth held up beautifully after being put through the washer and dryer, and is ready for its next mess! Best of all, these come in a variety of really cute patterns! A package of 4 of these costs $4.00, just about the same price as a package of disposable wipes. You can see how these will pay for themselves rather quickly!

Buy it!
BareBebe has some truly fabulous products that are good for your baby and kind to your wallet. Please check out her site and snag something special for your little one. Also, for the duration of this contest, Alison is offering you a 10% discount on anything in her shop! Simply put code, “Stuff Parents Need” in your message to her at checkout, and wait for her to send you an invoice with the discounted amount.

Win it!
Alison has generously offered a $15 BareBebe gift certificate to one very lucky reader. This contest is open to residents of the United States, and will close on Sunday, November 8th, at 7:59pm CST. I will contact the winner via email, and that person will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected.

How to Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Go check out all the amazing products at BareBebe and come back here and tell me how you would spend the gift certificate if you won!

Additional Entries:

1. Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS. Leave a comment with your email address for the subscription (2 entries, so leave 2 posts)
2. Share about this giveaway via any method found at the bottom of this post (stumbleupon, digg, etc.) (1 entry for each method)
3. Make a purchase at BareBebe (3 entries). Leave 3 comments with the email address you used when making the purchase.

Disclosure: I was given a sample pack of BareBebe products to try for this review. No other form of compensation was received.

Reusable Paper Towels Review and GIVEAWAY

October 25, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 68 Comments

Do you use dish cloths in your kitchen? Almost everyone does, it seems. They are so great to have around to wipe off your hands or the occasional mess. In my own home, I’ve been wondering for a while why I have no problem using reusable dish towels, but I am still buying paper towels for other messes. It seems a bit silly. A few weeks ago I decided to do something about it, and so I went online and found un-paper towels, also known as reusable paper towels, at a fabulous Etsy shop called Unique Rabbit. I’ll tell you more about what I ordered a little later. First, Let me tell you more about Unique Rabbit and Kimberly, the owner.

Kimberly has been happily married for 10 years and has two boys, ages 2 and 8 weeks (brand new!). She has been a crafty gal for as long as she can remember. Her shop has a focus on earth-friendly products that support a sustainable lifestyle. The inspiration for this has come primarily from seeing what things have worked for her family and creating these products for others to use as well. This includes the paperless towels and wipes, as well as organic cotton lunch sets, cloth shopping bags, and flannel hankies. Kimberly says, “I really believe in the products I make and love that with every sale I am helping someone else live a little ‘greener.'”

Paperless towels are cloths meant to replace paper towels in your home. They are not only gentle on the planet, but also gentle on your wallet in the long run! I predict that these napkins will pay for themselves within about 6 weeks at my house, and depending on how often you use paper towels, they might pay for themselves even faster in your home. Kimberly is selling a set of 6 handmade cloths for $5.50. You heard right, just $5.50. That’s a downright bargain, folks. A jumbo single roll of Bounty can cost as much as $2.00, and of course it has to be replaced frequently. I was so impressed with the quality and the pricetag, that I ordered sets for about half the folks on my Christmas list!

There are a rainbow of colors from which to choose, which was really nice. I ordered a set that would match the color scheme in my own home. While some paper towels have cute little designs on them, I don’t know of any that coordinate with your color scheme, unless of course your entire house is white. Kimberly will do a custom order for you, with any combination of colors that she has. She will even customize the thread color around the edges, if you so desire! And if you like those adjust-a-size paper towels so you can use the right size for the mess, she can make smaller or larger towels for you, as well.

I laid out one of my paperless towels on top of a paper towel. At 10 1/2 X 10 1/2″, they are just slightly smaller than a standard paper towel. These are made from a very soft flannel. They certainly feel a lot nicer than paper towels do. I can see how they would also make very good reusable napkins. I’ve even grabbed one of these a few times to wipe my infant’s face. One other great feature of these paperless towels is that they aren’t going to tear on you in the middle of a job that involves a bit of scrubbing. I really appreciate that! I’m also happy to report that they are holding up just great after going through the washer and dryer a few times.

In addition to my order, Kimberly was nice enough to send me a sample set of reusable wipes to try out. I’ll be honest; I was REALLY nervous about this! Since I don’t use cloth diapers (at least not yet), I wasn’t sure if I would really be cool with having cloths with pee on them sitting in my laundry bin. But the truth is that I do laundry so often (every other day now) that it’s no big deal. I will confess that I didn’t use the wipes for poo situations. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it, and that’s ok. One step at a time, right? But seriously, I really didn’t mind using the reusable wipes. They were very soft and sturdy, and the wipes solution recipe that Kimberly sent along was even more simple that the one I’ve used before, and it worked great. I will keep these wipes on hand to use with pee diapers, and that is going to seriously cut down on the amount of money I have to spend on wipes. Yay! UniqueRabbit also sells double thick wipes, which are perfect for, well, messier messes! You can get 12 single or 6 double thick wipes for $6.00. I think 12 wipes is enough to get you through one day, at least most of the time!

Edited: I noticed that Kimberly has taken a break from the business, but no worries! You can find a rather amazing selection of reusable paper towels on Amazon! I’ve tried the Skoy products (read my review here!) and quite liked them, myself.

Buy it!
In addition to selling reusable cloths of all sorts, UniqueRabbit also has other earth-friendly products and hand-made toys and accessories. The prices are incredible, so hop on over! Kimberly is even offering Stuff Parents Need readers an additional 10% off until Sunday, November 1 at 7:59pm CST! To get the discount include a note when you check out on Etsy with the coupon code “Stuff Parents Need” and don’t pay until you are sent an invoice by Kimberly with the discounted total.

Win it!
Kimberly has generously offered to give one lucky reader a set of paperless towels and a second lucky reader a set of reusable wipes! You will even get to customize the colors! The contest will run until Sunday, November 1st at 7:59pm CST, when the winners will be chosen at random and emailed. The winners will have 48 hours to reply with their contact information. You must include your email address in your comment or make sure it is listed in your profile! If I can’t find your email address, a new winner will be chosen. You must complete the mandatory entry in order for any subsequent entries to be counted. Open to residents of the United States.

How to Enter:
Mandatory entry: Go check out Unique Rabbit. Come back here and tell me your favorite item sold there other than items mentioned in the review. Also tell me if you would prefer the paperless towels or the wipes.

Additional Entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS. Leave a comment with your email address for the subscription.
2. Make a purchase at Unique Rabbit (5 entries). Leave 5 comments with the email address you used when making the purchase.
3. Blog about this giveaway (3 entries). Leave 3 comments with a link to the post.
4. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a url for your tweet
5. Share this post via any of the venues at the bottom of this post (digg, stumbleupon, etc.). Leave one comment with a link for each way that you shared!

Disclosure: I purchased the paperless towels myself, and received the reusable wipes as a sample for the product review. No other form of compensation was given for this review.

How to Clean a Breast Pump for Lazy People: Medela Quick Clean Micro Steam Bag Review

October 22, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

If you are a pumping mama, then you have by now realized that you have to learn how to clean a breast pump.

You’ve likely also learned that it takes more time than you have to give it, seeing as how you are trying to deal with an infant at the same time. But thank goodness for folks who make products that solve problems, because there is a line of products that can help.

The Medela Quick Clean Micro-Steam Bag is yet another product that I would have absolutely never purchased had it not been given to me. Honestly, I’d never even heard of them before I received them, but if I had noticed them in the store, I would have thought that they were kind of silly. I mean, it isn’t rocket science to know how to clean a breast pump, right? Just clean your pump parts, people! What’s the big deal?!

Thank God for the mothers who have come before me! Once I started using my pump (I use an Ameda Purely Yours) I actually realized the following:

a) there are a lot of parts that get used when you pump,
b) they all need to be cleaned after every use,
c) they are sort of a pain to clean.

Fortunately, I remembered that my friend had given me some of these Medela Quick Clean bags, so I tried them out. Basically you put your parts in the bag, put about 2 oz of water in, and pop it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. Remove the bag (carefully…think of popcorn bags an the steam that comes out when you open it). Take out your parts. You are pretty much done after that! If any parts still look a little milky, just run water over them. Most of the time I found that the parts looked squeaky clean. Furthermore, everything in the bag got really hot, which means that any bacteria or other such yuckiness was eliminated. I can’t guarantee that when I hand wash them, because I tend to wash things with warm water, not hot water (my poor hands just can’t take the heat!)

Each bag will last for 20 sessions. There are little boxes on the bags so you can take a magic marker and check off a box for each session. Otherwise, it would be impossible to remember how many times you’ve used it!

If you are pumping more than once in a day, here’s a little trick: put your pump parts in the Medela bag, and then put the bag in the fridge. The cold of the fridge will keep bacteria from growing (well, at least slow it down quite a bit) so you can re-use the same pump parts for your next session that day. At the end of the day, put them in the microwave so that they are clean for tomorrow. I’m planning on bringing a bag with me when I go to work and using this exact method. This cuts down on the work you have to do without sacrificing health and safety for your baby. Woo hoo!

Edit: And if you like this product and want more from the line, they also have Medela Quick Clean soap. This either wasn’t available when I originally wrote this post or I just didn’t know about it!

I hope this helps you learn how to clean a breast pump in the real world, when you can’t head to your kitchen sink after every pumping session! Or if you are lazy! Both apply in my case.

This post contains an affiliate link at no cost to you. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Great Bulk Purchase: Kirkland Baby Wipes

October 14, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

(Image from Costco.com)

Tim and I are members of a wholesale club, Costco. Since we are only a family of 3, sometimes we have a hard time finding things to purchase at Costco, especially when it comes to food purchases. We often can’t eat the food fast enough before it spoils! But we have found a great deal that we will purchase again when it comes to Kirkland baby wipes at Costco. And little Darah has no fear about us buying 900 wipes at a time. Trust me, she’ll use them!

If you are a Costco member, you can get 900 Kirkland wipes for $27.99. That’s 3.1 cents/wipe. If you aren’t a member of Costco, you can still purchase Kirkland Baby Wipes at Amazon, and right now, they are the same price as at Costco!

I like to try to get wipes for around 2 cents/wipe, but that’s very difficult to do without coupons, and sometimes I just don’t have coupons or the mental energy to scope out deals. That’s when paying just a wee bit more is fine with me. They are still cheap baby wipes!

I’ve found the baby wipes by Kirkland to be a little bit thinner than Huggies wipes (which are my personal favorites), but they are still highly effective, and I don’t have to use any more wipes than normal to get the job done. They have a light, pleasant scent, and best of all, they are environmentally friendly by being made from renewable resources, being 100% biodegradable. Woo hoo!

I really liked purchasing so many wipes at once, because it means that I don’t have to even think about wipes for a few months. That makes my job as a parent just that much easier!

Stay tuned for a crazy cool experiment at our house: we’re going to give reusable wipes a try!

Do you have a favorite wipe, or a price point that you look for when purchasing baby wipes?

This post contains an affiliate link.

Disposable Nursing Pads Review:The Good, The Bad, and The Bulky!

October 13, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 4 Comments

Affiliate links to the best disposable nursing pads included. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a little while, you probably realize that I’m a thrifty gal. I love a good bargain, and I’m not inclined to dish out extra money just to get a brand name. I do value quality in a product, but before I stick to something with a hefty price tag, I’m at least going to try out the less expensive competition! Such was the case for me with disposable breast pads or nursing pads. Before I began using them, I was solely fixated on getting the best bargain. Here’s what I learned about the best disposable nursing pads (and the worst)!

A girlfriend gave me Lansinoh nursing pads at a baby shower, so they were the first breast pads I used. They worked great, but I had no point of comparison. I also was given some Gerber breast pads (pads on the left). I used those second. I realized pretty quickly that the Lansinoh pads were better. The Gerber pads were thin, which I appreciated, but they simply could not contain what I was producing (sorry, I just don’t know how else to put it!) Gerber pads are pretty inexpensive, but I guarantee you that you’ll have extra laundry to do if you use them!

For where to buy breast pads, I personally headed to Target (though you can easily find them at Walmart or even on Amazon). I saw that a 60 count box of Lansinoh pads was $9.00, and a 100 count box of Avent breast pads was $10.00. Despite having already had an experience with an inferior breast pad, this was a no brainer for me. I purchased the Avent breast pads (on the right). These were so unbelievably bulky! There was absolutely no way that I could leave the house wearing these, because there was not a single shirt I owned that could disguise the fact that I had giant cotton discs on my breasts! Seriously! I used up the box, and I hated every stinkin’ minute of it.

It turns out that you really do get what you pay for when it comes to disposable nursing pads. I found the Lansinoh pads to be ultra thin, so you can wear them outside of your house with confidence. And wow, they can really hold a lot of liquid, people. I don’t know what is inside of these pads, but whatever it is, it keeps moisture off of your body, which is awesome. They also have a lining on the back so that your clothes don’t get wet (learn from them, Gerber!).

So go ahead and fork over the extra dough for these breast pads, as I think they are truly the top rated nursing pads for a reason, and they are worth the price difference. Nothing else really compares, and this is not an area where being thrifty pays off! And if you might be interested in the best reusable nursing pads, check out a post I wrote on that very topic!

The Baby Bouncer Chair We Love: Boppy Cradle in Comfort

October 9, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

image from bedbathandbeyond.com

Our good friends loaned us the Boppy Cradle in Comfort Bouncer to use while Darah is still small. The bouncer seat can recline or sit a bit more upright for infants who can utilize its “bounce” feature. Darah is still in the stage where the seat needs to be reclined. People, she LOVES this seat! LOVES IT! For that reason alone, I’m going to say it is the best baby bouncer chair out there.

I think there are a couple of reasons why it is so popular with our baby. First and foremost, the Boppy baby bouncer, itself, appears to be very comfortable. It really does “cradle” the baby! The material is very soft, and the angle of the chair is just right.

Second, and almost as important as the first point, is that this chair VIBRATES. Oh yes it does. Darah will only sit in the seat for a few minutes without the vibrate feature on, and then she’s over it. But once you hit that button, she’s golden, and she’ll stay in the seat for a solid 30 minutes most of the time. She will often even fall asleep in it. The vibrator turns itself off after 20 or 25 minutes, and she will wake up when that happens. Turn it back on, and she’s good to go again!

Sometimes I think of this chair as an extra pair of hands around the house. I don’t abuse it and put her in it constantly. If I did, I suspect she would rebel a bit more. But she finds herself in it for various amounts of time maybe 3 times each day. It’s also highly portable (even with the baby in it). I’ll move her all around the house in it and go from room to room straightening up while she watches. She really likes to sit in it and watch us make dinner in the evening.

Bed Bath and Beyond is selling this for $54.99 right now. We were lucky enough to get to use it for free (thank you, friends!). I have to say, I don’t know that I would have thought to put this item on my registry if it hadn’t been loaned to us. If you are expecting, my advice is to get one. It is SOOO worth $55! I’m guessing that I’d get maybe half as much done during the day if I didn’t have it. It definitely makes my job MUCH easier. I hope this bouncer review was helpful!

Best Dr. Seuss Book: Green Eggs and Ham

October 8, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Reading is such an important activity to do with your children, no matter how young they might be. I fully believe that Darah already has some favorite books, and she’s not quite 2 months old! While she likes it when we read just about anything to her, I’ve noticed that she seems particularly excited when we read certain Dr. Seuss books to her. Does your child have a favorite Dr. Seuss book? Even at such a young age, mine does! Her very favorite is Green Eggs and Ham. She also enjoys Fox in Sox (a super tricky book to read, since it’s all one big tongue twister!). My theory is that the patterned rhythms found in Dr. Seuss’ books are enjoyable for her to hear at this age.

Since Dr. Seuss is one of the most popular children’s authors of all time, we have found every single one of her Seuss books (and I think she has around 10) at yard sales. I have also spotted them for decent prices at places like TJ Maxx and Marshall’s. Make sure that your child’s library has at least a few books from Dr. Seuss. We’ve found them to be something that makes our little girl smile!

Stimulating Activities for Babies: What Works for Me

October 6, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

New parents are well aware of the fact that babies don’t come with instruction manuals. But most new parents have gone to to libraries and bookstores to make up for that fact and borrowed or purchased a ridiculous number of books that teach us how to swaddle, soothe, feed and change a diaper. I was definitely one of those moms-to-be who read at least 20 books on such subjects. I am very thankful for those books, because they gave me helpful information to ensure my baby’s basic survival. But pretty much all of these books came up short in one department: stimulating activities for baby! But I found a book that highlights the development of an infant through play and that taught me how to play with my baby.

image from librarything.com

Enter Baby Play. I found this book on Amazon and purchased it used (thrifty is SO HOT, people!). I flipped through it before the baby was born and found it to be loaded with the best activities for babies. The book has games for you and your baby organized by age (0 months and up, 3 months and up, 6 months and up, etc.).

When we brought Darah home, we really enjoyed staring at her and holding her. These are both terrific things to do with your newborn, by the way. But then we realized that we had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how to play with babies. I went to the bookshelf and opened to the 0 month section, and found many different things that we could do to stimulate and entertain our baby when she is in the mood to play. Most of the activities include baby play toys that you likely already have on hand (a blanket, a ball, etc.).

I highly recommend this for any new parent who does not have extensive experience playing with babies. Who knows? If we hadn’t purchased this book, we might still just be staring at our baby!

This post contains my Amazon affiliate link. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

The World’s Worst Cheap Baby Wipes…and How I Rescued Them

October 2, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 8 Comments

I am definitely a bargain hunter. I started stockpiling diapers and wipes when I could get a great deal, oh, about 5 minutes after I found out I was pregnant. Kacie over at Sense to Save is a kindred spirit in that regard. She made a fierce diaper and wipe spreadshe et to keep track of her deals. I was inspired by her quest to get her baby wipes cheap and I did the same.

Where to Buy Baby Wipes Cheap

One thing I quickly noticed is that she found these Sesame Street Baby wipes at the Dollar Tree. One package of 80 wipes was, you guessed it, $1.00! Any new parent can tell you that boxes of wipes typically retail for between $3-4.00/package, and many of the packages have fewer than 80 wipes in them. One dollar for 80 wipes seemed almost too good to be true. I went out and bought 3 packages of these cheap baby wipes, and then decided to hold off, just in case they somehow didn’t work (but how could a wipe not work?). After Kacie’s baby was born, I wrote to her and asked her how she liked the wipes. She told me that they definitely weren’t her favorites, and that she would use what she bought, but not purchase any more. I was sad to hear this, but took it as a sign to also not buy anymore, at least not until I could try them out for myself.

So about a week ago I decided to try them out. And people, they were terrible. Simply terrible. The wipes have a strange sort of spongy/scratchy feel to them, and they are the driest wipes I’ve ever used. Yes, it is true that I bought them several months ago, but I kept them in a temperature controlled space, so I think that they simply are this dry. As is, you would need to use far more wipes, especially for any sort of blowout situation. Having to use more wipes than you normally would, of course, makes these not such a great deal.

In addition to being a bargain hunter, I’m also terribly cheap. Tim wanted me to throw out the wipes, but I couldn’t bear to do that. So here’s how I salvaged them for use: I went to the beautiful world wide web and looked up a recipe for DIY wipes. I found a recipe here. Basically I combined 1 cup of boiling water with 1 Tbsp Baby Oil, 1 Tbsp baby lotion, and 1 Tbsp Baby Shampoo. I mixed them all together until dissolved with a whisk, and then I poured the liquid over the wipes so that they would once again be moist. Tim agreed that the wipes were once again usable. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about the scratchiness of the wipes, which is really the main reason I won’t be purchasing them again. That’s right, folks, I’m so cheap that if the cloth had been softer, I would have purchased more and just enhanced them myself with this little recipe, because even with the added work and ingredients, they would still be an awesome deal.

I hope you can take two things away from this post. First, is that if you want baby wipes for cheap, you have to factor in more than the sticker price. Avoid the Sesame Street wipes, if for no other reason than the fact that they are scratchy. Second, if you find yourself with any brand of wipes that has lost its moisture, there is a solution so that you don’t have to pitch them, and making that solution took all of 5 minutes.

And if you want good cheap baby wipes, then you’ll need to do some combination of bulk purchasing and couponing. My opinion is that the best newborn baby wipes are from Huggies and if you watch sales and also carefully watch for coupons, you can get them at a good price (always check Amazon, too…sometimes they charge too much, and sometimes their prices are totally fair). And if you don’t have time to deal with sales and coupons, I think the Kirkland brand wipes at Costco are solidly good and a very decent buy.

This post contains affiliate links. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.