I’m a Yankee candle girl, I really am. Candles are probably my BIGGEST guilty pleasure in this world. They are instant mood changers for me. I am pretty sure I have either a candle, scented oil air freshener, or diffuser in every room of my home, with the exception of maybe the closets. Not all of them going all at once of course, but it’s safe to say that when you visit me, my home will always smell delightful; and if there is a power outage, we’d be saved from darkness for years!! I am not ashamed, and I’m also not lying.

Yankee is expensive, it’s like the Godiva of candles. I try to catch them on sale and stock up but there are times where I just can’t afford them. It’s a happy day when I can put out a Yankee though — I’m not gonna lie. But, I also have my less expensive alternatives. I have been through alot of different types of candles. Many store brands and different boutique types.

Electric warmers – I prefer Glade scented oil warmers for air fresheners. They are inexpensive and have a big variety of scents. They are often on sale, and cheaper even when combined with coupons — which are aplenty. They send my bathrooms into happy places. Airwick and Febreeze are strong competitors, but Glade comes in first for me.

Diffusers – I was purchasing the Yankee candle diffusers, but I bought the Mainstays fragance oil at Walmart one day and refilled my diffuser with that. I was impressed! It’s a fraction of the cost and I have happily purchased their oils ever since. I have one in my bedroom and one in the entry way to combat the smelly shoes that live there.

Candles – I buy anything that is inexpensive to try, but obviously Yankee jars are my hands down favorite. The Mainstays line is good, but I hate it when I have 1/4 of a jar of wax left after the wick has burned out and no longer usable. I can salvage the leftover wax and burn in a tart warmer, but I feel like it’s a waste. I wish they burned a little cleaner too - lots of soot billowing out of those things. I have tried every store brand. My favorite store brand would have to be the Empire ones from Fred Meyer. Their seasonal scents are strong and if you are buying an apple scented one, your house is going to smell just like apples. I like them pretty well. I stock up on Yankees when they go on sale — they have some good ones a couple of times a year that make them no more expensive than the jars at Fred Meyer or Walmart. My least favorite would have to be the ones at Michaels. They smell okay, but I always end up feeling disappointed with how horribly they burn and the overall lack of scent.

Tarts — these little buggers are my favorite. I have tried several varieties. I found a seller on eBay a couple of years ago that made tarts in scents that I love, Bath & Bodyworks scents, Downy/Snuggle scents, fruity, seasonal, etc. You name it, she makes it. She left eBay awhile ago and I now order from her at Tart Candles By Kim. She sells 3 tarts for $1.50 (Yankee is $1.99 for just 1). I can light a tealight twice and it still have a relatively strong scent even after that, so they are not just single uses. *I haven’t been endorsed by Kim, I just really love her product! I think I prefer these tarts to any other type of candle product at the moment because they last a set amount of time — a tealight lasts between 3-6 hours, burns out and the tart solidifies. So I don’t have to worry about putting a candle out. Most of the time I don’t need it going longer than 3-6 hours anyway.

Votives – I don’t use these a whole lot. I’ll buy a few when Yankee has their .99 cent sale, but the size just isn’t my absolute favorite. They are mostly just used to give me a reason to pull out my cute little votive candle holders I have. I rarely buy anything but Yankee in that size.

Car Scents — I buy the car jars by Yankee, they are probably my favorite. I don’t like the gel scents, I think they are a waste of money. I like the Glade car scents okay, but they just don’t last very long. I think they are a little overpriced also. I used to get the Glade wisps for my car, those are the units that are battery operated and release a small puff of fragrance every few seconds. Those are actually probably what I’d consider my favorite, but they make them in these giant bowl shapes now — which are just a pain.

One last thing to speak of on smelly stuff - While I have resisted buying CANDLES from Bath and Bodyworks, I could live at one of those stores. I love everything in there… and generally all I buy for body wash, spray, soap, santizer, lotion, etc. Love them, but I just feel like their candle lines (White Barn and others) are just too overpriced and even on sale not that great of a deal. So I figure if I don’t know what I’m missing, I can’t become addicted. Yankee is enough for me. I love EVERYTHING else in that store. And, I do mean everything.

On a final note, I highly recommend signing up for the Scented Yankee Catalog — that is truly a gift! Every page has a scratch and sniff reveal where you can get a real sample of each scent. It’s A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

So there is my smelly review on smelly stuff. Now go get your smell on!

I am tethered to my computer most of the day working from home, and I get pretty BORED with it. I find my mind and eyes wandering… and today I had a glass of soda on my table next to me. For some reason it just caught my eye and reminded me of something. I wasn’t sure what…. and just kinda stared at it for a bit… If my vampire self was going to pour a glass of chilled blood, I think this would be pretty similar in appearance. Kind of a weird thought, right? I know. Since reading Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, I’ve been vampire crazed.. watching any and all vampire tv shows, movies, reading vampire books. Etc. It’s not that I really believe there are vampires going bump in the night — but they are fun to imagine anyway.

What do you all think? I think it might be a little on the light side, but maybe the victim had alot of water to drink?

It was actually some delicious Cherry Crush. This stuff is yummy. It’s a little sweet to consume regularly, but it was a nice treat anyway.

My kids all thought I was losing my marbles when they saw me drinking from a wine glass (ha! We just don’t do that here I guess!) and a further step towards crazy… taking pictures of it. I told them they have robbed me of my sanity… so, it’s all their fault!