Great thread! For cleaning -- mix of alcohol and water with a bit of lavender oil --got this from CatMom on Kitchens -- works well for stainless Also like Caldrea Basil Blue Sage --cleaner, dish soap, anything they make with this scent. Also like the old fashioned scent balls -- Aura cacia and others sell it -- because you can use pure oils. For my face: Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant -- it is expensive for what you get but it really does seem to make a difference. Tretinoin-- just the plain generic stuff -- and also some of the products from Skin Laboratory -- such as salicylic acid -- Shu Uemura eye shadow -- but they discontinued some of the best colors

Oh, CB Sue. No worries. You are such a hoot. Like I said it was very short lived that I was feeling stupid. Went something like this....Saw "morgue drawer" on the post....felt like an idiot...called a friend...she burst out laughing....knocked some sense into me because I was taking it too serious (knowing I usually have a great sense of humor)...I was over it and have thought it was fun ever since. (We all need friends like that, don't we?) I looked at the post again today. Funny how I told fori that I thought it cracked me up. Took a few hours but it did! (My friend still says that I was just mad that I didn't think of the term morgue drawers first.) Thanks squirrelheaven. You are the best. That darned thread just keeps getting bumped every once in awhile.

OklaMoni - I suspect that you won't like cheaper products after using EL (depending on the EL that you use) and of course your skin type. I can't use EL except, surprisingly, for the Verite cleanser that I can just use to wash my face. I wish I could use any of the products mentioned - I can't. I have very thin, fair, naturally extremely dry skin, and am allergic to just about everything - especially botanicals (and antihistamine) and of course can't use any form of acid/retinol/C - or fillers. Skin is right colour for laser, but skin is too thin. So I have always used the most hydrating toner I could find along with a hydrating serum/cream, followed by a night cream during the day (this was post the period when SPF started being added to day creams - can't use a combo product). Finding a sunscreen that doesn't cause a rash is the devil - and I need one that is moisturizing and doesn't eat my makeup. I am 63 and agree with those who posted that they can see aging basically all of a sudden. It happens - and often in 5 year bumps. My face is thin - always has been, even when I weighed 200 lbs. during my teen years. At 63 it is still thin which does not help. I am not overweight now but my weight is all on the bottom. I have a long waist and short legs - so always wear long skirts (and at 5'7" hard to find) - of course I use to be taller. Cost is definitely becoming a problem - not developing a burning rash from a product is of course a primary concern - but absorption of a product is key. Products that I have tried that cost less and resulted in a rash also did not absorb. My foundation contains oil - has to - and since I am yellow based with a ph of 3.5 everything changes on me - so not easy either. I guess it is a good thing that I have only one lipstick, blush etc. since I have only been able to find one shade in everything that I use - and they have now been d/c. I hate reformulation - everything these days is about actives and botanicals - deadly for my skin. So I need high end products - but fortunately I am at the low end of the high end due to my botanicals/actives issues. I will try just about anything provided there is a chance it will work - I will not rule out say one botanical or 2 if they are at the bottom of the list - but when the listing starts off with Linden Blossom, Lily, Lavender, Rose etc. - forget it. Forget anything "natural". I can't even make a cheap masque using honey and egg due to the honey. I can't use yogourt on my face because of the lactic acid - this will guarantee a rosacea attack. Soy is also a major problem. And forget perfume/fragrance. I can't even use Clinique - there is something in the products - I know it was Aloe Vera at one time - maybe still is. I have been trying to find cheaper products that work especially with the high cost of living and my husband's retirement looming. I worked for a company that did not provide a pension. Then there is hair. My natural hair colour is auburn. I greyed in my 20s - and it is ugly iron grey that does not look nice with a yellow-toned skin. How I wish I had that gorgeous silver or white hair with a pink-toned complexion. But I don't. I tried on wigs in other colours - horrible. Natural auburn (nothing with a purple tone) is perfect for me but now that I can't get the colour shade at the drugstore - not to mention the full grey that I would now have - it would be tough doing it myself as I did until 15 years ago because I would have that awful line of demarcation - and I do need to pull the colour through. Red fades, no doubt about it. I always wear a hat. I have extremely thick, very dry, naturally wavy hair that grows like a weed. Last time I went for my colour the growth was twice that of the normal person. And living in Toronto going to the hairdresser is not cheap. I need to have my hair cut by someone who knows how to cut curly hair and I need to have layers so that it will curl properly. I do not suit it really short - and I would look (I know because I wore it short until I was 30) like a brillo pad. There are people that I know (my husband is one) who can use anything. And yet, I could look worse - well I am about to. I have been on HRT for 6 years - so am about to be taken off it. There were no health reasons for me not to take it so I did - my reason being my very dry skin.

dan1888, on the surface of things, you are making sense. Housing prices in San Francisco are so insanely high, that a pretty full replacement of the kitchen is "only" going to add another 1-5% to the purchase price. So, well within reach of a HELO. But realistically, no, even in this price range, the kitchens aren't "meant" to be replaced. Somebody spent a lot of time designing this kitchen. Their design goals were simply different from Rita's, as there always is a big difference between designing for your own personal needs vs. designing to ensure a fast sale of the property. We had a similar issue with our house. When we bought it, it came with a new'ish Viking range. I hate that range with a passion. It's not that it is horrible. But it is decidedly mediocre, which just annoys me knowing how much it cost and what could have been bought with that money. And of course, that's the same reason why I felt I couldn't simply discard it. We eventually moved it to the in-laws and instead installed a Bluestar. But it took me about 5 years to do that ... even if I could easily have afforded to do so earlier. It just doesn't feel right to get rid of a perfectly good, new, and expensive item. My advice to Rita is to fix those things that clearly bug her now and that won't ever get better. Everything else, wait two or three years to get a good sense for what she really wants. Then fix the rest. We waited 12 years with our kitchen remodel and we are happy we did; a lot of the things that we are doing simply wouldn't have occurred to us before living in the space for a good while. And yes, our kitchen has a lot more issues than Rita's