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Can I recommend my own prints? Ok I will! I just threw up three...

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Can I recommend my own prints? Ok I will!

I just threw up three prints from my Iceland trip. Since people asked if they could get prints, I made it possible thanks to Etsy!

The prints are all 11x14, printed on demand and waiting for your purchase!

Visit my shop over at Etsy.


Timex Weekender Watch - A simple $30 dollar watch that I weirdly...

Ursa Major Fantastic Face Wash

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Ursa Major Fantastic Face Wash - I’ve finally found an affordable, long lasting (4 months / 2 times a day), 99.5% natural face wash that smells nice and doesn’t freak me or my skin out.

I like this company a lot. They’ve put a lot of thought into their ingredients and brand and I appreciate it all. I’ve been using it now for 4 months and I’m going to be sticking with it. Since I have skin that if you touch it slightly funny it can get irritated it was nice to find this. A lot of stores are stocking it in NYC and around the USA, so it’s easy to get as well.

Benefits:

  • Thoroughly cleans without dryness or irritation (sulfate-free)
  • Robust alpha/beta hydroxy acid complex dissolves dead surface skin cells, leaving skin brighter & clearer
  • High % of aloe soothes irritated skin
  • Concentrated formula should last 3-4 months (2x/day)
  • Zero toxins, no irritating synthetic chemicals
  • 99.5% natural, 51% organic

Smell: An enticing blend of premium, whole essential oils including cedar, spearmint, lime, lemon, rosemary, black spruce, owyhee, vetiver and lavender.

Ursa Major Fantastic Face Wash over at Amazon. ($26)

Also now that the winter is over I recommend their Fortifying Face Balm which is very light and soaks in nicely.

For more info visit their site.

EasyAcc 10000mAh Battery Pack

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If you live in NYC, travel a lot, and/or you have a job that has you running around all day, it’s probably a good idea to add a backup iPhone or iPad charger (works with other devices too) to your bag. There are backup battery cases but I’ve never liked the added bulk. These are more versatile and shareable. Friendship!

I searched for a long time for a powerful enough / cheap enough / cool looking backup battery and ended up not caring about looks and just going for power/value. The EasyAcc will charge your iPhone 5-6 times before it needs to be charged again all for under $30 dollars. Recharge the battery using USB or wall charger and you’re back in business.

I’ve been charging people’s phones using mine whenever someone’s dies. Unknown brand, but has been a workhorse and has great reviews on Amazon. It can also charge other USB devices/phones.

Hope it works out for you!

Buy it now: EasyAcc 10000mAh Battery pack ($29.77)

ps. There’s a million options on these. I just tried to find the most powerful/cheapest that would be reliable. This was that for me.

Everlane Twill Snap Backpack

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The NEW Everlane Twill Snap Backpack is here.

I have used the older version of the Snap Backpack since I got it back in December. I think I’ve used it more than any bag I’ve ever owned. I still love my Archival Clothing giant tough canvas Rucksack but this Everlane one is the most versatile one I’ve had.

With a padded Laptop sleeve, side pockets, front pocket, inside pocket and enough main compartment room to carry my Camera, an extra lens my laptop and other randoms, it’s the perfect everyday bag.

I’ve traveled to Vietnam, Iceland, road tripped and everyday carrying of things with my bag and it hasn’t let me down yet. For the price of $65, the looks, space and durability, you can’t go wrong. It’s highly recommended.

Purchase the Everlane Twill Snap Backpack ($65)

off of Zentropy.

Flood Coats: Parch My Heart find more at floodcoats.com.

The Financial Lives of the Poets: A Novel

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I don’t read a lot (ok almost never but like I try whatever….) but I started reading this book finally the other day and I haven’t stopped except when I had to. So I am recommending it for making me read after a long hiatus of not being able to fall into any new books. It came out in 2010 so I am a little late to this one.

Jess Walter writes like my brain thinks and I think that’s why “the stream of consciousness inner dialogue” style of writing gets me. It’s an awesome coming of age late late type tale of being an adult and trying to make things work.

The Financial Lives of the Poets: A Novel (Amazon)


All Dogs - Buddy (acoustic) I like this band a lot. Maryn rules...

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All Dogs - Buddy (acoustic)

I like this band a lot. Maryn rules too. (She also plays in Saintseneca)

Check out their stuff via Spotify or Bandcamp for purchasing.

I’m excited for the new season! Check it out over here.

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I’m excited for the new season! Check it out over here.

Shyp: The Easiest Way To Send A Package

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Shyp: The service that picks up your items, packs, and sends them anywhere in the world using the lowest cost, most reliable option.

I’ve been shipping very often for a long time, but sometimes there are items that are harder to ship because you have to find the right box, bubble wrap, international customs forms… it gets expensive and it can get confusing if you don’t do it often. From finding the best/cheapest shipping method, to having to use weird shipping stores (especially if you’re in NYC) that charge you extra, and dealing with lines at the post office, most people just give up.

Shyp is an on demand shipping service in SF, NYC and Miami (Soon LA). Once you download the app, Shyp makes it so easy to ship an item or multiple items, just by taking a photo of what you’re shipping and entering the destination (international or domestic). A ‘Shyp Hero’ picks it up from your house within the hour (sometimes as fast as 15 minutes) and for $5 + shipping they pack and ship it for you. You can specify cost/speed of shipping in the app and see price estimates in real time.

It almost feels like magic being able to hand off an old Alarm clock you sold on eBay (I literally tested it out by selling an old, heavy iPhone alarm clock that I didn’t have a box or bubble wrap for) to a Shyp Hero, who places your item in an individual canvas bag before driving off into the night (Shyp will pick up items from 8am-8pm). Like Uber, you can track your Shyp Hero until they arrive for pick up; they then send notifications as your item is being packaged and shipped, with the total price and a tracking number. The four packages I’ve sent (including one to New Zealand) have arrived safely, with no issues.

So if you need a little extra help shipping and you don’t mind paying an extra $5 (which you’d probably spend anyway getting the right supplies if you don’t have any boxes or tape on hand) it’s a really amazingly helpful service. Also, I have had the same ‘Shyp Hero’ pick up my packages three times; we high five now and I wonder what he thinks about my random packages.

Another great way to use it is returning online purchases. A lot of places like J.Crew, Amazon, etc will give you return labels but maybe at that point you’ve thrown the box away (recycled it I hope) or don’t find time to get to a drop off location or print out the label at home, so you never return your item. In this case you can request Shyp to pick up and package your item for $5 — but they will use your FREE return label to ship it for you. So if you have a lot of holiday returns and just can’t find time, I’d say it’s 100% a great service to help you get that all done. Read more about that here.

Shyp is currently available for pickups in San Francisco; New York City in Manhattan and Brooklyn (see coverage area); and in Miami and Miami Beach (see coverage area).

Click here to signup to get a FREE shipment to try it out (up to $30 value).

Please send me a tweet to @mattrubin if you end up using it and like it or have any other comments!

P.S. There’s always those reviews in the app store that say they never sent a package, lost things or used too expensive of shipping. I can only go off my experience and I’ve enjoyed it a lot for those moments I wanted a little extra convenience. 

UrbanStems: On Demand Artisanal Flowers, Delivered in Under An Hour

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UrbanStems: Artisanal Flowers Delivered in Under An Hour (DC/VA/NYC)

Usually when ordering flowers online you’re in a rush. It’s your mom’s birthday today, you have 10 minutes before the 10.30am same-day delivery cut-off. You’re given a lot of choices (most of which aren’t good), confusing up-selling of vases, shipping fees and service charges. It’s never a great experience.

UrbanStems fixes all of that. With its beautiful design, even more beautiful flowers — delivered in an hour or less, transparent pricing and simple three-bouquet offering, it makes all of this so simple. Each month or so UrbanStems will offer three new bouquet options, priced at $35, $45 and $55, which all include free shipping within the hour. Right now the Snowfall Mix (pictured above) is $45 shipped, and my favorite. The delivery person will even photograph the flowers before they hand them off to let you know they’ve made it.

I’ve never had an easier time sending flowers (and, to be honest, an easier time being in the good books with my girlfriend). The bouquet arrived exactly as pictured, and the quality is impressive, too (the flowers lasted almost two weeks). The website is clean and easy to use on desktop and mobile; and should anything go wrong, customer service is on hand to answer any sticky questions. I would highly suggest this company if you live in Washington, DC, Arlington, VA or NYC (Manhattan only for now.)

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(Photo from my girlfriend after she received her’s from me)

Give it a shot using my coupon code “MATT5” for $5 dollars off your first order upon checkout over at http://urbanstems.comAvailable in: Washington, DC, Arlington, VA or NYC (Manhattan only for now.)

Any questions? Send me a tweet. Also if you use it let me know via twitter as well! @mattrubin

Listen to Kevin Morby

UE Boom Mini Bluetooth Speaker

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Ultimate Ears Boom Mini: A tiny bluetooth speaker that sounds really good (even the bass is clear and it’s loud), has great battery life, far Bluetooth range and costs $99.

I don’t think anything will replace my dreams of putting Sonos speakers in every room, but when it comes to having something compact around the house that you can travel with (to the beach, on camping trips etc), the UE Boom Mini is perfect. (The bigger UE Boom is also a great sounding speaker, if you want a little more oomph and fullness, and are ok spending a little more money.)

In the past I’ve had an original Jambox and even recently tried the new Nude Audio Super-M and from the size, sound and price, my favorite is still this UE Boom Mini.

Answers to FAQ about the UE Boom Mini below:

  • You can wirelessly connect two UE MINI BOOMs together in stereo via the UE MINI BOOM app to double up the awesomeness with even huger sound
  • The rechargeable lithium-ion battery lasts up to 10 hours (tried and tested, the battery life is great)
  • You can stream music from any Bluetooth enabled device from up to 50 ft. — which is 50 per cent further than most other Bluetooth speakers

Buy it over at Amazon ($99 sometimes on sale for $80 from time to time) (And feel free to read more reviews, it has a lot of great ones.)

Parcel: Never Miss A Delivery Again

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Parcel (currently Manhattan and Brooklyn only): A new way to never miss a package, for $5 per delivery.

Instead of having packages sent to your home address, where you miss your deliveries, you can use the Parcel mailing address with your unique user number. Once your package arrives, Parcel will deliver it to you — on demand — for $5 at the specific time you’ve requested. Parcel delivers Sunday through Friday from 7am-11pm, assuring you will never miss a package again.

How it works: 1. Once you sign up for Parcel you’re given a unique Parcel mailing address. 2. Next time you order that package on Amazon, input your new Parcel address. 3. Once they receive your package, Pacrel will notify you by text and ask when you’d like it delivered. You’ll be charged $5 for each on-demand delivery, which can include multiple packages if you decided to stock up, and have them all delivered at once.

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So in the end I think it’s worth the price for important packages, the heavy ones (no more walking home from work with oversize boxes!), and the fact that you can have multiple shipments delivered all at once for $5. No to mention never needing to call UPS to work out when you’ll be home, ever again. Instead you just get notified from Parcel, request a time, and you’re done.

Try out Parcel with your first delivery FREE by signing up here.


Andy C. Jenkins - Hazel Woods

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So excited that today I got to resurrect my record label Paper Brigade again to release a single by Andy C. Jenkins today, called “Hazel Woods”. Two songs to bring on Spring that you will listen to over and over.

Purchase over at iTunes or Amazon
Stream over at Rdio and Spotify or Soundcloud

Read more about the record and Andy C. Jenkins over at Paper Brigade!

Canopy: Amazon, Curated.

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Canopy: is a curated, beautiful version of the best products on Amazon. It truly has made it possible to find really amazing things that I can buy with the ease of Amazon /Amazon Prime. It gives it the polish and beauty that let the products stand out and every time I can’t believe some of the stuff they find (but really how do they make all look so good!?)

Curated by category, price, collections, save things to your own Canopy for later, etc.

You can use it on the web or their beautiful iOS app.

Go check out Canopy.co

Frog - Kind of Blah

Digit - Automate Your Savings

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Digit: Save Money Without Thinking About It.

That’s exactly what it is. Digit is the easiest way to save for a rainy day or a specific purpose. It’s all done over SMS with easy updates and commands to text it for updates and changes.

Once you connect Digit to your checking account, Every 2 or 3 days, Digit transfers a little bit of money (usually $5-$50) from your checking account to your Digit savings. It will take only the amount possible based on the amount you have, income, the trends it learns, etc. They promise it will never overdraft your checking account, so you don’t need to worry about that. And when you’re ready to withdrawal, you just text message Digit “withdraw” and how much, it’s that simple. If you want to login they do have a web Dashboard was well.

It’s really has been amazing to see it grow to $500, sometimes it’s even hit $800 before I ever withdrew. Did I notice that money was gone? No, not unless I checked via SMS or read the texts it sends with updates in detail. I think that’s the magic of it. My most recent transactions were messaged to me as “The last 3 times I saved for you were $0.23 6 days ago, $39.08 8 days ago, $11.33 9 days ago.” It just proves that little bits here and there can really help when needed.

I really suggest this if you just really can’t figure out how to save. This is NOT a high interest savings account (which barely exists anymore), this is meant for short term goal oriented savings. A makes a nice little safety net that accidentally grew and grew that sent you messages that were really fun and made you feel like saving was all a game.

Get started today. Learn more and start using Digit by going to digit.co. Good luck savings! Feel free to tweet at me how it goes to @mattrubin.

UE Boom 2: Bluetooth Speaker

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UE Boom 2: ($199)

Since it’s the gift giving time of year I wanted to let you know about my favorite portable bluetooth speaker. The UE Boom 2 (also love the Megaboom but it’s huge) has amazing 360 sound, waterproof/shockproof (yes, I use it in the shower), super durable and has up to 15 hour battery life. I’ve tried all different ones and for what you get at this price, it’s a very strong recommend.

Features:

  • Loud 360 degree sound with deep bass
  • Waterproof*, shockproof, designed for adventure (* IPX7 rated waterproof up to 30 minutes and a depth of one meter)
  • 15 hour battery life and 100 ft. Bluetooth wireless range.

Buy now over at Amazon.

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