Daily Steals

Ready, Set, Summer!

There's no better feeling than stepping outside, with the expectation of being greeted by a bitter wind, and instead being pleasantly surprised by a pleasant warmth. These days, all of us here at Daily Steals have been doing some spring cleaning, trading out snug cold-weather comforters for minimal sheets, and heavy winter jackets for light cardigans, in anticipation of the humid heat ahead (Ah, the joys of east coast living). We're also getting ready for a summer selection of gear and steals like you've never seen before. If you thought iced tea and backyard BBQs made your last summer, you're about to experience a summer like never before. We're boosting our outdoors selection, bringing you even more of the cool tech accessories and hardware we've always offered, and doing everything possible to make sure your house is the go-to spot on the block. Ready? Set? Summer! 

Mother's Day: In Which We Buy Into the Hallmark Thing

Mother’s Day is the one holiday a year when we allow ourselves to shamelessly buy into Hallmark marketing. We agree that occasions like St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day are entirely self-indulgent days, and legitimate reasons for skipping celebration. But there’s really no excuse to ignore this goodhearted day. Because no matter how independent you claim to be, someone in your life was responsible for changing your diapers. For some of us, Mother’s day inspires weeks-long planning of an activity-filled, daylong festivity. For others, a simple breakfast in bed or freshly picked bouquet of peonies does the trick. We’re not suggesting elaborate surprise plots here; in fact, we’d point out that a little recognition every day can serve as a much more authentic representation of your gratitude. So please, show your mother (or whoever warmed your bottles) some love!

Spring is here!

Having to wear one less layer means spring is here! We’re excited to phase out winter coats for sandals and cardigans, but even more thrilled by the prospect of BBQs and dinners out. There’s a special kind of satisfaction that comes from sharing meals in the company of friends and nature; maybe it’s our innate kinship with all things living and green rooted in our primordial past. Maybe it’s the charred crunch of meat one can only get from a grilled meal out on the patio. Or perhaps it’s the extra hours of sunshine that make evening fiestas three-hour social ordeals. In any case, we’re ready to trade our winter blues for spring cheer!

Daily Steals Takes on the Great Outdoors!

This week, we’re introducing a new Outdoors section on our website to promote all the items we deem suitable for an active lifestyle.

The launch comes after months of head-scratching over how to better meet our customers' expectations. We considered many suggestions – Car giveaways! Free massages! A lifetime supply of green tea! – but ultimately decided that the best way to meet your needs (at least within our means :P) was a broader offering of products. And we can’t think of a better category to add than one that promotes wellbeing.

An active lifestyle can be hard to accommodate. With demanding work hours and social obligations crowding out our schedule, spending just a few hours on exercise each week can easily fall to the bottom of our task list. And unfortunately, these avocado turkey sandwiches do add up.

We understand that a hefty price tag is not the most encouraging step in the get-fit process. We hope that our latest price-reduced additions will finally motivate some of you work-obsessed office fixtures to make treks further than the water cooler. From Zumba capri pants to LED lights for your backyard, included in the new category will not only be all the items previously featured in our Toys tab, but all additional ones fit for your outdoors and entertainment needs!

As if you needed another reason to schedule time outside of your workplace, our Outdoors collection will, as always, present the very best prices on the web. Now, get moving! That extra-white-sauce gyro isn’t going to burn itself off!

Introducing Forever Free Shipping

The ideal shopping experience involves more than finding the best deals on the web.  That’s why this week, Daily Steals is officially promising free shipping on all items ordered on our site. Not just this week, or any limited period, but forever!

Since we’re all about steals and deals, we can’t think of a better way to offer a lower bottom-line price than eliminating those pesky shipping fees that can inadvertently double your final charge. Next time you’re browsing around Daily Steals, the price you see, is the price you get.

You’re welcome.

Sometimes, We Draw

We’re constantly working towards making our office a cozier and more relaxing environment.That’s why last week, we put on our painter’s overalls and colored our rec room with chalkboard paint.

During its single week of existence, the wall has morphed into a multifunctional inspiration board of sorts. We’ve caught buyers, admin staff, and designers alike mingling and de-stressing over their chalky creations, and made some discoveries about the hidden talents of some of our team members (Although truth be told, we think non-art staff are non-art staff for a reason ifyaknowwhatimean). When the wall isn’t subject to our creative whimsies, it also doubles as a ping-pong scoreboard. And let’s just say, chalk is more difficult to erase than dry-erase marker.

All in all, two fresh coats of unconventional paint have turned our lunch breaks into visually stimulating experiences. The wall has been so warmly lauded, we’re wondering if it’s an office-wide renovation we need to consider!

Blue Valentine

We miss the days when Valentine’s Day was an effortless holiday. In grade school, all you had to do was come to class and you’d go home with a brown bag full of cartoon Valentine’s Day cards and enough high-fructose goodies to last you through Halloween. Even in high school, your awkward first boy/girlfriend could be contented with a simple dinner out or bouquet of roses.

 Enter college and the post-adolescent romantic scene. For people enduring the label-sensitive stages of a new relationship, flowers and candied delights can seem like overly bold gestures. At the other end of the spectrum, more serious partners have higher expectations for forms of romantic affirmation. We can’t help but feel like suckers every time we buy a box of chocolates. Such obvious purchases connote laziness, and in the eyes of our loved ones – gasp! – lack of affection. Truly conquering the holiday requires forethought.

Here at Daily Steals - where we’re all about unexpected finds - we recommend novel twists on conventional Valentine’s items. Instead of red roses, opt for pastel-colored flowers. And skip the predictable truffles and prepare a homecooked dinner instead. Because nothing screams indifference like a prixe fixe menu. 

How to Survive the Super Bowl

This Sunday, more than 100 million Americans will unbuckle their pants and consume 8 million pounds of guacamole. New Year’s diet resolutions will break, coastal rivalries will rekindle, and Beyoncé fans will celebrate. You can’t expect much less from the year’s biggest televised event of the year - The 47th Super Bowl (for those who can’t decipher Roman numerals), will bring together football fans and non-fans alike this year in the name of 15 minutes of game time and most importantly, a legitimate excuse to eat seven-layer dip.

Unfortunately, athletic hyper-fanaticism and unbridled gluttony come at a price. And until the White House approves our petition to make the Monday after Super Sunday an official holiday, here are a few guidelines to maximize your watching experience and minimize your post-game regrets.

1. Watch the commercials. Sure, the game is important, but the scenes you really want to remember are the commercials. They’re the bits that’ll pepper water cooler conversation a week after the game is over. And with the record-breaking $4 million invested into their respective productions this year, we’re sure they’ll be more like mini-films.
    
2. Exercise pre-game. As the second biggest day of eating next to Thanksgiving, Sunday’s bound to upset a few scales. We’ve heard a light jog before feasting helps induce higher metabolism. It’ll also make the feast a more guilt-free experience.
    
3. Pee during the game. Come halftime, you’ll be joining a quarter of America in a flushing marathon. Sneak a washroom visit between plays and you’ll save yourself the worry of missing out on television’s most expensive 30-second spots (See #1).

Finally, to all the New Yorkers tuning in: Save the real emotions and gastric capacity for next year. NYC/NJ is set to host 2014’s first outdoor, cold-weather Superbowl. 

New Year's Resolutions!

So, the New Year is in full swing and we should all now be realizing whether or not our idealistic resolutions were in fact realistic. I, myself, have determined that, perhaps, I was a little overzealous when I resolved to cut chocolate out of my diet. If you read my last post, I was clearly having "a moment", vicariously enjoying chocolate through writing and a preemptive Valentine's day meditation on my most cherished vice..Anyhow! That's me. Let's talk about the gym.

I bet a lot of you out there are realizing that you were not the only one who resolved to get in shape this year, as evidenced by the humongous spike in your local gym membership sales. If it's not hard enough to keep yourself in shape, now you have hundreds of sweaty bodies vying for the elliptical machine that was next in YOUR workout routine. Dumbbells are perpetually misplaced by newbies, and the pool looks like it has been hijacked by some flailing, uncoordinated octopus of hairy arms and legs.

So, what do you do now?

The easy answer is to cut your losses on your paid-up-front, 3-month membership and make a newer, easier resolution to say, read more books, or eat less Chinese food. However, what I suggest you do is to lay low for a weeks--say, until the 2nd week of February. Then, what you do is take a trip back to the gym. What you will notice is that most people did exactly what you only "pretended" to do, however, unlike you, they reverted back to their old ways, having rationalized with themselves that the busy gym, and painful hours devoted to exercise were interfering with their "quality of life", therefore nullifying their New Year's resolution, which was supposed to make their life better.

Really, though, they were just being LAZY. You, however, will find that the gym once again has vacant elliptical machines, organized dumbells, and a clear pool for knocking out all the laps your amphibious heart desires.

Happy New Year's Resolutions!

Holiday Party - DailySteals style!

At Daily Steals, we do our best to maintain the small family feel that we started back when we we were actually small. This is what keeps us going: a fun and laid back environment that makes everyone feel like they are staying over at a friend's house. We throw our shoes off, make a bowl of cereal or a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, kick back at our desks and make it happen. Maybe even squeeze in a game of table tennis. Every single day. It's rare to find such a comfortable workplace, and we are proud to have cultivated this laid back, highly productive environment for ourselves.

Of course, sometimes, we have to completely let loose. Rather than liken the office to a friend's house, it became a night club for our Holiday Party. It's time's like these that we remember how much we love the people we work with. With nearly 100 employees and friends packed into the office, we had a bar tender, DJ, and even a photobooth. Some of Daily Steals' best talent made their debut on the dance floor, surprising everyone. Dance circles formed, hair flung back and forth and the lights strobed like it was 1979.