There was a foul and mysterious odor coming from my disposal. On my last trip to Publix, I happened upon this product called Disposer Care® plus Bleach Alternative that you shove into the garbage disposal in your sink and turn on the power and watch it foam away grunge! I was skeptical but was quickly impressed. It's so easy and I can multi-task in the 2 minutes it takes to do it's job! Just run hot water into the disposal for a minute, then place the packet (looks like a sachet) deep into the disposal while a thin trickle of hot water trails into the drain area (not directly in). Flip the switch and watch the blue foam rise up faster than a live keg at a fraternity party. Two minutes later it's all gone and your sink smells lemon fresh. I put a recurring appointment in my calendar every Tuesday to do it. It's fun! (about $4 at Publix, Target, etc for 4 packets). Click the link to watch the how-to video (http://disposercare.com/).

Some upgrades are SO worth it! I couldn't stand for ONE MORE SECOND the roaring frieght train of the ceiling exhaust fan in my master bathroom. Every time I turned on the light, I had to hear this excruciating noise, whether I was using the shower or not! We ladies know that lots of stuff goes on in the loo... and most of it doesn't require an exhaust fan. Plus, the builder had installed the CHEAPEST fan on the market so it was just wretched. Enter KC Wiremasters Electric of Miami. Their handsome electrician (hello there!!) came and brought the quietest, almost silky-sounding bathroom fan I've ever seen/heard. After installation, I can actually hear my kids tear each other to pieces as I'm putting on mascara, instead of wondering what trouble they were getting into while I was primping and pruning. Genius! (costs roughly $120 per fan, plus installation-- call KC Wiremasters at (305) 378-4011 and mention IATM for 15% off service charges).

Gotta love this: 30 minutes (less if you DVR it and fast forward) of vicarious shopping/treasure hunting/collecting punctuated by shouts and groans and back-stabbing of the four major players in these abandoned storage unit auctions in Los Angeles. Totally awesome. Three of them have re-sale shops, one of the dudes is a "collector" type-- i bet his house is CHOCK FULL of weird and super-cool antiques/retro stuff. I even heard while they were filming season 2 that one of them found like $500,000 worth of gold coins from a sunken pirate ship in an old chest. I can't WAIT to see that one. Good production values, talented auctioneers ("don't forget to pay the lady") and boom or bust mentality make this a perfect guilt-free entertainment over the holidays. Find it on A&E channel. Yuuuuuup!

My son adores his "Monster/Dump Truck" watercolor and ink piece of art! We all know that blankies, dollies and other assorted "loveys" aren't FOREVER. But art is! Erin Chainani is a Yale-trained artist and mother of twins, formerly of NYC and now living in Miami. She creates unique, hand-painted portraits of dollies, stuffed animals, trains, action figures or even toy garbage cans (go figure!). Aside from these super-cool portraits, she NOW offers coordinating note cards, return address labels, gift labels & other stationary items, very reasonably priced. It's easy-- just go to her website (http://firstfriendsportraits.com), click "Store" and select the size portrait you'd like. Then add it to your cart, enter in the coupon code MAVEN15 for 15% off everything in your order. Next, email a good-quality, well-lit photo of the toy or grouping of favorite toys to her (just pose the toy in the photograph as you'd like it to be painted). Your custom toy portait will arrive at your door in about two weeks. Be sure to capture your child's screams of delight when they open their present! From $65 (not including Maven discount that expires on 11/30/11).

Ok, I went as Lisa Vanderpump from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for Halloween this year. I needed to seriously eye-makeup myself in order to keep the rest of my face neutral (bless her fair English skin). Plus, it was a rainy night! Enter Tarte Cosmetics with their naturally-waterproof, long-lasting, easy to apply, no-tug, no mess little pot of Amazonian Clay fabulousness. I used a slanted brush for easy application. It set in less than a minute and lasted through several rainshowers and some seriously sweaty dancing to an awesome DJ at the SoHo House Halloween Party. Subsequently, I found out it's paraben-free, phthalate-free, w/out mineral oil, SLS and synthetic fragrances. Plus it's natural mineral based and is waterproof due to some super-secret plant waxes. I'm gonna get it in other colors like bronze and plum to emphasEYES™ my greenish eyes. ($22 at tartecosmetics.com or other beauty retailers).