Have a drink on me.

I have an unhealthy obsession with portable drinking vessels. Containers in which to transport liquid with me both around the home and when out and about. I never want to be caught without something to drink. You never know when you'll need it. Even if you think you won't--"it's just a short trip across town" you say, when suddenly you vurp with nothing around to drink. Ew.

We aren't the type of people that grab a new glass each time we want a drink. We each have our own and that's what we continuously drink out of all day long. I have high standards for these particular vessels.

1. It must be insulated. No sweating allowed. I want it to keep my water cold for hours. I love cold water. I don't love drinking room temperature or warm water.

2. It must be non-porous, non-leaching and BPA free. In fact, I have said in times past that it must be stainless steel, but I did stray from that briefly. I really, really prefer stainless steel.

3. Since my quest for the perfect drinking container includes the other 3 members of my family, I prefer that they come in different colors or designs, to be able to tell them apart.

4. Non-spill and very portable. Ideally, I can throw it, upside-down if I desire, into a bag or cooler and not have it spill all over.

Years ago, I found what I considered the perfect beverage holder. Behold the Thermos Foogo:

The Foogo was a dream. It literally kept the ice in my cup frozen overnight. It was easy to use--simply flip the lid with your thumb and drink out of straw. I should note that I love drinking out of a straw! Since they came in so many different colors and designs, both of my kids got one as well. They are very portable and non-spill. This was our go-to container for a few years. But...at just 12 ounces, we found we were emptying them quite quickly. Not such a big deal at home, but on the go, I was looking for something bigger.

In the meantime, I'd strayed from my number 1 standard: Insulated. I went ahead and tried both the Sigg and the Klean Kanteen bottles. Two issues with these were the sweating and the fact that my water went to room temperature very quickly. The Kleen Kanteens do fit our bicycle water bottle holders very well, so I have kept these around.

Still in love with the Thermos bottles, I found they made larger ones. Hooray! For my youngest, his current Foogo (in an Incredible Hulk print) still worked well for him, but I upgraded to the Thermos Intak:

This one doesn't have a straw, but a spout. I'm ok with a spout. This is 18 oz. so a whole 6 oz. more than the Foogo. I have loved this water bottle for a couple of years now.

THEN...we bought a new refrigerator. One with one of those water and ice thingies in the door. I love the ease of it, but our Thermos bottles have a more narrow opening. One that is not conducive to using the in-door ice dispenser (and getting ice out of the actual bin inside of the freezer is a colossal pain in the ass). *sigh* So...I then decided that we will use the Thermos cups for on-the-go and we would try something different for at home. Enter the plastic (but BPA free!) tumbler with straw.

This was a pretty good choice for home use. It had a wide-mouth for easy ice filling, double-walled for some insulating properties, came in many colors, had a cover in case of accidental spills or dog hair gone awry... Though our tumblers were working well for us at home, I had gotten kind of lazy about the on-the-go vessels. I found that I rarely brought my Thermos bottle in from the van and then when it was time to go again, I didn't want to go out there to get it, wash it out, refill it, etc. I found myself grabbing bottled water more often than I used to and that doesn't fit any of my standards!

I'd been eyeing these Contigo Autoseal stainless travel "mugs" (I wouldn't consider them mugs...there's no handle) at Costco for a while now. They come in 2 packs in nifty colors and they are pretty cheap. I finally  purchased a 2 pack (they had a coupon, making them even cheaper). I liked it so much, I went back and got 2 more. Now we have 4 in all different colors. They are stainless, insulated, portable/non-spill, have a wide enough opening for easy ice filling...pretty much the perfect vessel! We have all decided we will use them at home and on-the-go, eliminating the need for 8 different cups/bottles hanging out around the kitchen. My only complaint so far is that they are only 16 oz. and I would prefer a little bigger, but I'm sure it will be just fine.

Mine is purple.