Shari Storm: What inventions have changed your life?

A friend recently posted on her Facebook page one interesting question: "What do you think the top three inventions of all time are?" The answers were plentiful -- and as varied as her friends.

My list was:

Cookie dough ice cream
Wonderbra bras
GPS

I remember when Ben & Jerry launched their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream in Seattle. It was the summer of 1991. My best friend and I were living in a ransacked fraternity house at the University of Washington (we were barely in our 20s at the time). We would drive all over the city looking for that ice cream. I wondered at the time how nobody had thought of that combination before. Nineteen years later, it is still one of my favorite desserts.

It was only a few years later that another roommate introduced me to the concept of the Wonderbra. I remember looking at my profile in amazement after trying one on. I had never felt so feminine or sexy. God bless the miracle of push-ups!

Just when I thought nothing could impress me again, along came the GPS. My husband's parents gave me one after I got lost in the mountains with our three young daughters and drove around the dark, snowy roads for hours. I have a horrible sense of direction, and that little talking unit in my car has changed my quality of life completely. I recently discovered that you can get luggage with GPS badges in them. How brilliant is that?! You never have to rely on the airlines to tell you where your luggage is again!

It was at about that same time that this Facebook game had me marveling over how drastically inventions can improve your life. Then I met Melinda Knight, founder of Womentorz. Melinda and I hit it off right away. She is funny, pretty, smart and nice. Her website is brilliant, too.

Womentorz is a website dedicated to female inventors. It features fantastic inventions: gloves that attach to your stroller (have you ever tried to manage a baby with gloves on?); bibs to put over your dining-room chairs; and (my favorite) Lizzie Lou flip-flops with fabulous bling.

I love the idea of featuring women and their inventions on a commerce site -- and Melinda has done that beautifully. Stop by her site. She deserves your support.

So: What are your three favorite inventions of all time?

Shari Storm is the author of "Motherhood Is the New MBA: Using Your Parenting Skills to be a Better Boss" (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Press). Storm earned her Masters of Business Administration from Seattle University. In addition to being an executive at a $400 million financial institution, Storm is a mentor for Seattle University's graduate program and writes for Working Mother Magazine's blog. Storm has three young daughters.