Daily Chatter: 12/13/12

I wore a hole in my new socks yesterday.  I seem to have a problem with wearing holes in the heels of my socks, so a couple of months ago I used a coupon at JCP to get a package of Gold Toe socks to see if maybe something other than Target brand would last longer.  Nope.  It was just two months and I had my first hole.

Granted, I have been wearing these socks probably six out of seven days, but that still amounts to only about 10 wears per pair of socks (I bought a six-pack).  Jeremy says it has to be something with my feet, and I guess it must be because I can’t seem to prevent it.  I don’t think I walk around on my heels all day, but apparently I do.  Anyone know of a brand of socks that has reinforced heels – and fits narrow feet well?

On a related note, I have realized this year that I prefer buying one expensive item that I really love to four inexpensive items that I bought only because they were cheap/on sale (which usually ends up costing about the same as the one expensive item, and yet I tend to go for quantity rather than quality).  So, these days I’m only buying things that I really, truly love – which means I’m not buying much, haha. :)

Anyway, I would really like to know what brands of clothing I can depend on to be high-quality and not pill or stretch after a month or two of wearing (or after one washing *headbang*).  I’ve been sorely disappointed with clothing I’ve purchased at a couple of local boutiques with Groupon deals, and I have no clue where I should go to buy clothing that holds up well.  I was also somewhat disappointed in a pair of Gap jeans than faded a lot faster than I thought they should.  Suggestions?

Yesterday I filled gas and as usual, had a mild panic attack (overstatement) that I was going to push “yes” when it asked if I wanted a car wash.  No, I never want an overpriced car wash but I’m always scared that I will have fat fingers and push yes.  It’s kind of like the fear of dropping your keys in the elevator shaft.  Not likely to happen but I think about it every time anyway!

I bought a Duncan Hines brownie mix for an experiment for my in-progress From Garbage to Gourmet ebook and was shocked to see that it calls for 3/4 cup of oil.  What on earth?!  It used to only call for 1/3 cup!

Granted, it’s been probably nine months since I bought a brownie mix so maybe this happened a long time ago and I just now realized it.  It’s quite slick, actually – I’m sure it costs them less to make it if the consumer has to add more oil.  There’s still partially hydrogenated oil in the mix, but I suppose if we have to add more oil maybe it’s healthier less bad than before.  So it’s a win-win, right?  Hmm…

Now I’m curious as to whether all brownie mix brands have done this, and maybe cake mixes have, too?  I feel about as betrayed as I did when Breyer’s started making frozen dairy dessert.