The Merrylandgirl Stamp of Approval

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for over a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, I picked the topic: What person (not a close friend or family member), place AND thing would you put your stamp of approval on and stand behind that stamp 100% of the way?

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

My topic idea was inspired by How I Met Your Mother. (Shocking, huh?) There was an episode where they were talking about being a "stamp tramp." This meant putting a stamp of approval on anything and everything, even if it wasn't good. Marshall was guilty of giving anyone and anything his stamp of approval, getting him into some hot water at work. Ted realized that he was piggy-backing off of other people's approvals, such as when Lily told him that Dishwalla was a great band and he thought he originally gave them the approval.

I think I'm more particular about who and what I endorse. Having said that, here are my top choices in the "Who," "What" and "Where" categories.

Who: Hands down, my dental hygenist. I think finding a really good dental hygenist is, for me, even harder than finding a good hairstylist. You're trusting this person to put all sorts of dental tools in your mouth. The hygenist is usually the one who spends the most time with the patients, so it's in their hands to make the experience pleasant or torturous. When we moved to Maryland, a friend recommended a dentist nearby for us. I was instantly won over by the hygenist and her easygoing, friendly personality. She acted as if she had known me her whole life. We have a lot of similar interests. It's hard for her to clean my teeth when I just want to chat with her the whole time!
When it was my sons' turn to get their teeth cleaned, she was incredible with them, as well. My older son had been to the dentist previously and thankfully had a good experience in NJ too. However, my younger son isn't always the easiest with cooperating. There were times he'd just refuse to cooperate with the nurses at the doctor's office, and that was just to measure him for height and weight! So imagine my pleasure when the hygenist convinced him not only to sit nicely on the chair, but also keep his mouth open so she could look at his teeth. She was so sweet and patient with both my sons. I feel it is so important for a child's initial dentist experience to be pleasant or they'll spend a lifetime dreading that bi-annual visit. My hygenist has completely taken that worry off my plate. I know she'll make the experience just as wonderful when it's my daughter's turn in the chair.
Since that first visit, she has switched practices. When our local dentist stopped taking our insurance, I found out where she worked and was thrilled that they took our insurance. It's a bit of a schelp to get there if I'm taking the kids for appointments, but so worth it to have her cleaning their teeth. I am not giving her name here as to protect her privacy, but if you live in or near Montgomery County (MD) and need a good dental hygenist, feel free to contact me!

What: One thing I hate even worse than folding and putting away laundry is ironing. I don't even remember the last time I ironed, but that is thanks to Downy Wrinkle Releaser. With a few spritzes and a little smoothing with my hands, my clothes look like they were just ironed. It's perfect for those mornings when I realize I let something go too long without folding and need it for work or shul. A while back, I couldn't find it at either of my local Targets and was freaking out because my supply at home was low. Then I found it on my next Target run and bought a few bottles to have on hand. My older son thought I was crazy for getting excited over laundry spray!

I also want to mention the Zyliss Lock-n-Lift manual can opener. We've gone through our fair share of lousy can openers. Our electric one even stopped cooperating with us. When my husband found this one, we haven't had a problem opening cans ever since. I love this device!

Where: I have a thing about where I buy groceries. The store has to have reasonable prices, a wide variety of products, and also lots of Kosher items. While I greatly appreciate an all-Kosher store, they tend to be overpriced on some products I can find elsewhere. When I lived in Illinois, I was all about (the) Jewel. In New Jersey, Shop Rite was my go-to store (even though I heard it has gone downhill in the last few years). Since moving to Maryland, I've gone back and forth between several stores. Magruder's left our local shopping center to make room for a Kosher supermarket. While the location was between stores, I had to go elsewhere. Suddenly, that "elsewhere" became Giant. I totally love going to Giant. It has everything I seek out in a grocery store. The sales are great and I even tend to find some fun surprise deals. They carry Kosher items and most of their generic products have a valid hecksher. It's always bright inside and the displays are attractive. On Fridays in the summer, I would stop there on my way home from work and could spend a lot of time roaming the aisles when Shabbat still started at 7:00. I miss going there and look forward to when we spring ahead and can make it part of my Friday routine again. The other Giants that are closer are nice, but the one by work has an even better Kosher variety and I already know my way around. Another thing is that the cashiers are so friendly. They even have a service where people will help you out to your car, if needed. And if I'm having trouble finding something, I can go up to any employee in the store and I know they'll be helpful. As a side note, Giant is lucky that Wegman's isn't too close to where I live because that would be major competition for them. I went to a Wegman's only once and was blown away. Given I'm usually the one who goes to the chain grocery stores (my husband does the Costco runs), it's important that I'm happy where I shop and Giant definitely fits the bill.