Friday, December 7, 2007

Spice-O's

Have you ever had a million dollar idea, but didn't follow through with it, or didn't really think that it would work?

Well, my friend Megan and I LOVE to come up with 'million dollar ideas'. We each come up with about one a month. We call each other and talk about all the details, how great it will be, why it will work, why there is a need for it, and all the romanticism of the idea. Our husbands have heard so many of these ideas, that they kind of shrug and say, "yeah, that's cool, sounds like a good idea". They know that in a couple weeks, we will be out of the current phase, and onto a new idea. But, I know I can count on Megan to get excited about the idea and indulge me in my dream. The best part is that she doesn't criticize me for not following through with any of these ideas, she understands it is just fun to dream them up. Some of our 'million dollar ideas' have included restaurants, magazines, pop-up books, a birthing center, miniature towns, book stores, toy stores, and, the list could go on and on! Now, these weren't just regular ideas, but new and exciting twists on old things.

Well, Megan and I came up with a million dollar idea back when we were about 14 or so. It was a new twist on a tried and true product. Little did we know how great our idea actually was. It is now being mass produced!!! And to think, we could have been millionaires at a mere age of 14.

This is a picture of us when we were about 14. I'm on the left, and Megan is on the floor up front. We look like aspiring millionaires, don't we?


Our product was called Spice-o's. I think we were really bored one day and decided to make ourselves a snack, so we fried up some Cheerios and added a bunch of spices. It was so good, that we made it often and even came up with a name for the product.

Well, I needed something at Sam's Club. As a bribe to get my kids to go to Sam's without complaining, we make the rounds to get the free samples. We pulled our little cart up to the first sample and it was a new Cheerios product. I grabbed a little cup full for each of us. I think I almost fainted right there when I tried it. They must have stolen our recipe!!! It tastes EXACTLY like the Spice-o's we made 13 years ago. Who would have thought two obnoxious little girls could have come up with an amazing million dollar product!

If you want to try a the knock-off of Spice-o's that Cheerios came up with, here is what the bag looks like:


Now, if I could just convince my husband to get me a personal assistant to sort through these ideas that I come up with, and help me follow through with one of them, maybe I will actually be recognized for having the next million dollar idea!

What is your million dollar idea?

21 comments:

Vanalee said...

You could have been millionaires at the same time you were making me crazy running Chinese fire drills around my car???? Amazing and I love the picture.

Kathy said...

well - stephanie and i have a great idea. sock ladies anyone? it would take forever to fully explain. essentially it's a group of ladies, dressed like socks that deliver whatever you need. ok - it's too hard to explain - steph, care to take over?

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about Chinese fire drills until a couple of weeks ago. I saw some kids in the car in front of me doing one. My first reaction, was "HOW FUN!!!" Then the mom instinct in me said, "How dangerous!" Then I remembered all the times we did it in your car on the way home from Young Women's. Like I have said before, you all have a HUGE mansion in heaven just for putting up with all of us.

Vanalee said...

I don't need a huge mansion. I just want to be there with all of you! I actually loved putting up with all of you!

Stephanie said...

oh my gosh. i have a trillion millon-dollar ideas.

-drive-through grocery stores for just the necessities (diapers, milk, bread, formula...)

-camelpaks for babies (for milk- for a hands-free approach to feeding, but it only works if you bottle-feed, obviously)

...just to name a few. and nick has had a few inventions/ideas of his own that we've actually looked into patenting, but since we're still renting a house we obviously haven't made much progress.

ANYways, great picture!

RightHahn said...

A lysol/purell bomb - used the same as a bug bomb - but to disinfect. For schools, indoor play areas (like McDonalds), hospitals, nursery, your home after (or during) a sickness....

Germ-a-phobs would be in heaven;)

Lindsay

Amber said...

I LOVE the picture! You haven't changed a bit!!!

Whenever you pick an idea to sell, I'll be happy to market it for you!

Unknown said...

Ok, I need a little more explanation on the sock ladies!?!?!?

Steph, they just started a drive through grocery store in Orem for the necessities. I'm sure you feel the same way I do right now about the spice-o's!!!

Lindsay, I LOVE the lysol bomb! Genius!

megan said...

It kills me every time I see my idea made into a reality by someone else- I'm like - see Michael - I AM a genius! Right now I am dreaming of opening a family bed and breakfast in the mountains of Idaho. Cuz most bed and breakfasts don't really want kids there. This one would be exclusively for families. AND I thought of writing a book teaching people how to live poor - like recipes and tips - because no one knows how to be poor anymore - that's why we are all either in debt or so living paycheck to paycheck. And then you'll only have to be poor for a while. The only problem with that one is that I don't know how to write.

megan said...

p.s. All of you are wanting to go get your hair tightly permed after seeing my hair in that picture, aren't you? HOOOOTTTT!

Jennifer said...

When Kyle was born waaaay back in January 1996, I thought, why can't any of these car seat companies make something that fits into a stroller?

Wouldn't you know it! I could have been rich -- well, at least enough to maybe afford one of those carseat combos.

I did Chinese fire drills coming home from Young Women's, too! One difference: you haven't aged a bit from that pic. Me . . . sigh.

Post your recipe!

Stephanie said...

here's the story behind sock ladies: when i was in college, my roommate and i were lying in our beds EARLY one saturday morning, and our EXCEPTIONALLY LOUD roommate who was in the ROTC was up getting ready in the bathroom right outside our door, and she was talking up a storm, at 6 a.m., at the top of her lungs. it was sooooooooooooo loud and obnoxious. so in my half-asleep state i muttered something like, "please let a sock come down from heaven and go into her mouth." my roommate busted up laughing, and from then on we've joked about wishing socks could come down from heaven and do things for us. hence, the idea of "sock ladies" was born. ladies, dressed as socks, who could perform the duties we would wish of a heavenly sock.

Stephanie said...

and are you SERIOUS about the drive-through grocery store up there??? WHERE IS IT? I want to fly out there just to see it with mine own eyes. and kick myself for not actually doing it. I KNEW utah would be the best market for it.

Unknown said...

Steph, They even had one in Porter, TX. Me and my sister would make sure to go to it every time we passed it. It had some classy Porter name too, like Grub Hub.

But, I'm sure you could do it much better than anyone else could!

megan said...

The porter drive-through market is called the "quickie pickie". ingenious if you ask me.

Stephanie said...

i vaguely remember the one in Porter- wasn't it in a barn or something? is that the style of the one in Utah? please say no.

Unknown said...

Ah, Quickie Pickie...Brilliant!!! Stephanie, I haven't actually seen one here in Utah, but it was on the news a couple months back.

Unknown said...

OK, here is the article about the quickie pickie in Orem:

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/225003/

Stephanie said...

*KICKING MYSELF*

well, not that i have the background or experience that guy does, but i SWEAR i had this idea before he did. ;)

Nora Mair said...

My past idea was kleenex boxes that stick to the inside of closet doors--like the hospital dispensers but cute and classy. I'm sure it'll involve a 3M sticky back adhesive....My new one is a shampoo stretcher for kids shampoo. Like two drops of shampoo can clean 3 kids if it's diluted with water into a ton of foam. Sock ladies, what a riot.

Robyn said...

Years ago we were on a camping trip eating bagels. I told Dave they should make cream cheese in a can like easy cheese. Last year he came home one day and whipped out a can! I could have been rich!

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