Friday Five - Fav iPhone Apps

It's Friday! Oh how I love Friday when there is a whole weekend to look forward to!

And of course, Friday means Friday Five!  Tell me you're as excited as I am?  Okay, maybe it's the hormones.

Today's topic - my Five Favorite iPhone Apps.

PS- If you have a BlackBerry or one of them other data phones, I bet you could get these apps too!

1. Shazam is an app that lets your hold your phone to the speaker of your car and tell you what song/skit/show/band/artist is currently playing.  I love music, but I am terrible at knowing who plays the song that I'm just dying to download.  This app is my co-pilot on long car rides.  In addition to telling you the song/artist/etc that is currently playing, it will allow you to view the video, check out the lyrics, download, and do pretty much anything else related to that song with a push of one button.  Bonus: it's an awesome long car-ride game.  Jon and I can spend an hour or two playing "Guess who sings this ."  Yeah - we're that cool.

2. Google is this crazy cool app that doesn't just let you search the web easily, It even lets you speak your search!  Its voice search is so impressive - I am rarely misunderstood (even though I have a Russian accent).  Aside from the ease of use, it's great when you are driving and don't want to be distracted by typing.  Bonus: you don't have to know how to spell something to search for it!  This impresses me daily.  (Not-so-bonus: you start regretting that this app was ever created when your husband yells to the iPhone every 10 minutes while sitting on the couch and watching TV because he just thought of something new he wanted to google).

3. The Epicurious app is a continuation of one of my favorite recipe websites.   Since I've gotten my grubby little hands on an iPhone, I've rarely reached for a real cookbook.  Why search, print, or leaf through bulky books when you can pull up any recipe you want, check out its ratings, and create a quick shopping list right there and then?  Oh, did I not mention the shopping list feature yet?  Epicurious has an extensive list of scrumptious recipes that can be quickly organized together and turned into an isle-by-isle shopping list.  It will combine like-ingredients, letting you shop more efficiently, while letting you check off what you have with a quick little check box.  Bonus: the recipe quick-searches change based on time of day, day of week, season, holiday, etc!

4. What to Expect.  Yeah, ok.  I get it.  This one probably doesn't appeal to everyone, but it is currently on my top Five list because Peanut is in my top Five.  If you're an expecting mother, father, brother, or curious bi-stander, this app is so freakin' awesome!  It lets you see where you are in your pregnancy along with a countdown on the days you have left (this always impresses my mid-wife when I know exactly how far along I am...or perhaps she thinks I am an obsessive freak - she's not wrong).  It also tells you how big the baby is (mine's the size of a Peach!).  It gives you a weekly update on you, your body, and the ever growing baby as well a daily hint or tip.  On top of it all, there is a forum where I can read all the other crazy theories people have who are probably as neurotic as I am - otherwise, why would they have this app at their fingertips?  Bonus: I think there is one for baby too!

5. And what kind of an Amazon.com freak would I be if I didn't mention my lovely Amazon app?  Something about having Amazon at my fingertips at all times that is dangerous and thrilling.  I'll tell you a story.  The other day we were shopping around (dilly-dallying really), looking for a new house phone and a cover for my Nook.  We spent a little time browsing through the selection of phones at Wal Mart and finally found one we like.  It was $70.  I didn't like that price.  I quickly pulled out my iPhone, started the Amazon app and looked up the same model online.  Finding it in seconds, I ordered it on Amazon for $40!  Then, at Barnes and Noble, we finally settled on a super cute cover for my Nook, but, as is my luck, they were out of stock.  The cover was $30.  On the way home (after some pouting), I searched Amazon via the app for a Nook cover and found an even cuter one for $15!  I ordered it (obviously).  Bonus: There is this Remembers thing on it that lets you take pictures of what you want to remember, save it on Amazon.com and even try to find a similar object for you!