People have mentioned that they appreciated the recommendations of my three favorite health and fitness devices, so I thought I’d provide a list of a few things that I love beyond health and fitness (BTW – I get no $$$ for linking to these things).

1. Leesa Hybrid Mattress

We thought we had a good mattress previously, but the Leesa Hybrid has taken the comfort of our sleep to a whole different level. I spent a lot of time and effort researching mattresses and found that most mattress review sites are biased because they get paid. I ended up buying the Leesa because reviews by the NY Times and Business Insider highly recommended it (even though they probably get paid as well) and because we were able to lay on it at West Elm.

My wife and I have slept on the Leesa Hybrid for two months now and it does not disappoint. We think it has the perfect combination of softness and support. Importantly, when one of us moves, the other is not disturbed. I’ve found that the quality of my sleep has improved since sleeping on this mattress. You can buy the Leesa direct and they send it to you in a box. Here’s a link: Leesa Hybrid

2. Samsung The Frame TV

I learned about these TVs when our firm re-did our offices a few years ago and we installed some in our conference rooms. The Frame TV looks like a painting when turned off but is a high-quality QLED 4K TV when turned on. What we love about it is that we don’t just have a big black square above our fireplace. Instead, we have a work of art that we can change by selecting different art works from the Samsung Art Store (which costs $5 per month). It comes with a black bezel – which is fine – but you can also choose from some other colors (we went with white). Here’s a few pictures from our house with different art selected:

Link: Samsung The Frame

3. Lutron Caseta Smart Light Switches and Dimmers

We recently moved and our new house came with a few Lutron Caseta Smart Dimmers and I LOVE THEM and have added more throughout our first floor. They can be manually operated just like any other dimmer/switch but are also controlled through WIFI so I can turn off or on the lights via the Lutron App or can do so via voice control using Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant. If we sit down to watch TV and we want the lights dim, I just say “Hey Siri, dim the Family Room lights to 10%” and BAM they dim. If you are a bit handy, they are easy to install in the place of your regular switches/dimmers. You can buy them at Amazon, Home Depot, Lowes, Etc. Here’s a link: Lutron Caseta.

4. August Home Smart Lock

Our front door has an August Smart Lock which we love. The lock is connected to our WIFI and we can lock/unlock the door from anywhere using the August App or by voice control using Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant.

We also added a keypad to the outside that allows us to assign a unique code to various users. Each family member has their own code as do our cleaning crew and our contractor. This allows us to see who is accessing our house. For example, the other night while we were in bed we thought we heard someone come in through our front door so I quickly pulled up the August Lock App and saw that our daughter who goes to college about 45 minutes away had unexpectedly stopped by. We can also time limit lock access based on user. For example, our cleaning crew’s code only works on Thursday. When we had our floors re-done, the floor crew’s code only worked for the week they needed access. Link: August Smart Locks

5. Ring Doorbell and Security Light

Our new house came with both a Ring Doorbell and Security Light. The doorbell is fantastic. I’m alerted on my phone when someone rings the doorbell and I can see them and talk with them. This has been helpful when someone comes to our door and we’re away. A few times, it has been someone I need to let into our house and I’ve said “I’ll unlock the door – hold on” and then used my August Lock app to unlock the door. The doorbell also provides alerts when motion is detected so that you can see when packages are dropped off or if there is unwanted activity.

We also have a Ring motion sensor security light with a camera in the back of our house. It’s nice to be able to see out back and have the light turn on if we hear something.

Link: Ring Security