Tiny bubbles

We have a machine in our apartment that gives me ecstatic pleasure nearly every time I use it.

No, no, sillies, get your heads out of the gutter, it's not what you're thinking. It's our Sodastream!

Before I graduated from college, I didn't really like seltzer. We always had it around when I was growing up, my parents drank about a liter a day, but for some reason I thought it was gross. Things have certainly changed. Maybe it was all about not drinking what my parents drank, maybe I just got old, but for about the past ten years, I've been a bonafide seltzer addict. 

Evan eventually got tired of having millions of one-liter seltzer bottles around, so he suggested we buy a Sodastream machine. We went with this one, which is the least expensive model. We love it: it's so easy to use, we're saving money by having it (one carbon dioxide canister makes about 60 bottles), and we feel like we're doing our part in helping the environment by nixing the plastic bottles. You can even make your own soda; Evan likes the diet cola mix, but I say, why mess with a good thing? Just give me a lemon wedge, and I'm good to go.

Someday I'd love to get this model, where you can customize the size of the bubbles. How indulgent! (And super cute - it looks like a penguin!)

Nellie and Jack have both tried seltzer and think it's more hilarious than delicious.

One funny thing, I hated seltzer when I was pregnant! How strange is that? It made me gag - I could only drink flat water. But at all other times, seltzer is key. A few years ago my boss even gave me two dozen cans of seltzer as a Secret Santa gift (they were gone in about three days). And when Evan and I lived in San Francisco, we discovered that seltzer was really a regional thing - we both grew up in the northeast, where bubbles were abundant. In San Francisco, as well as other places we'd visited, mineral water was everywhere but it was hard to find just plain old carbonated water. Oh, and recently, I tried ordering seltzer at a Mexican restaurant and the waitress confused it with salsa. Seriously! It reminded me of that Seinfeld episode.

Would you try Sodastream? What's your favorite store brand? (I love Vintage and Poland Springs.) Did you know you can get fresh seltzer delivered in Brooklyn?!

*Photos courtesy of Sodastream
*This post is not sponsored by or affiliated with Sodastream in any way. I just think they're great!