Stuff I Like: Rescue dogs, Junior League Holiday Mart, unboxing videos

Here’s what news aggregator Lisa Gutierrez is into now:

Rescue dogs

I lost my beloved Coco Chanel in May. She was a purebred shih tzu — blond, stubborn and sassy: a born diva dog. The wound of that loss is deep. But it’s being filled by a little stinker we adopted from a shelter over the summer.

She was listed online as a shih tzu. Turns out she’s got terrier in her, and that’s the DNA that has her running like a deer all through the house, jumping up onto high places and over the backyard fence. (She is safely sitting under my desk as I write this at home.)

We kept the name the shelter folks gave her, Tiffany, and she is truly the jewel of our household now. Rescues rule. Go save one now.

Holiday Mart

The Junior League of Kansas City’s annual Holiday Mart gets my holiday juices flowing early. Spread out in expansive Bartle Hall, this is a shopping extravaganza on steroids, with jewelry, clothing, toys, food gifts, holiday decorations and way more — this year from more than 200 specialty vendors. Two tips: Wear comfy shoes and bring your holiday shopping list because you might polish it off here.

This year’s Holiday Mart runs Oct. 20-23. Hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Go to jlkc.org/holidaymart for more information.

The Cambridge Satchel Company

The adage that you get what you pay for could not be truer when it comes to the handbags made by hand, in England, by the Cambridge Satchel Company.

They are not cheap — only the tiniest ones and rare sale items cost less than $100 — so I started my collection last year as a birthday treat to me.

I was sucked in when I saw trendy It girls carrying them, but these bags are more than lookers. They’re sturdy, everyday workhorses that I will use for years.

I shopped a sale so I was able to afford two for my birthday this year. For Christmas? I’ve been a good girl, so a certain little red patent saddle bag might be coming across the pond to my house in December.

Dos Reales

One of my favorite Mexican places in town is Dos Reales, which has locations in Shawnee and Overland Park. My go-to on the menu are the carnitas — juicy pork tips cooked in the restaurant’s “secret recipe.” There’s always enough in one serving for two meals. Lately we’ve been ordering the Queso Fundido appetizer. Ask them to make it with ground beef instead of the chorizo if you’re not into the whole spicy thing. I could eat a bucket of the stuff.

Unboxing videos

My new late-night guilty pleasure: Watching unboxing videos on YouTube. If you’ve never seen one, they are literally videos of people opening boxes of goodies that UPS/FedEx/DHL/USPS left on their stoop.

I watch fashionistas open their latest Louis Vuitton purchases. I’ve watched tech geeks rip into their new iPhones. I recently just watched a woman unbox her online pot purchases. (I kid you not.) It’s like watching little kids open their Christmas loot.

According to Mental Floss, unboxing videos are routinely among the most-viewed YouTube watch lists. One psychologist said they feed our primal curiosity and desire to know what’s hidden inside something.

Yep. There’s that. Then there are all those dreams about the UPS guy.

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Stuff I Like: Rescue dogs, Junior League Holiday Mart, unboxing videos."