Hey friends! Long time no blog, eh?!? I’m actually stuck in the bed with a lovely case of the flu so, while there are literally 39 other things I should be doing instead, I’m blogging again! My loss is your gain! 😉

Anyway, in case you also have a case of procrastination OR you, like me, just really love seeing what other people are buying/gifting, here are 13 things I’m ACTUALLY giving the people on my list this year. (Lots of them are on sale now and can still be ordered and delivered in time for Christmas too!!)

Grown-ups —

Simplified Planner* – Of course this tops the list!! I give my mom an Emily Ley Simplified Planner every year, and she has come to expect it. You really just can’t beat Team Simplified’s beautiful, intentional, quality products; and nothing makes me happier than a fresh new planner to start a new year! I might have ordered myself one of these too!! (The deadline for Christmas shipping has passed, but I STRONGLY recommend a gift card if you still have someone left to buy for. Picking out your own cover and style is, really, the best part!!) *affiliate link

Fab Fit Fun Winter Box – my sister is a make-up and beauty JUNKIE, and I am decidedly… NOT, which makes shopping for her tricky sometimes. Last year, I got her a Fab Fit Fun Winter Box, and she was thrilled with all the great products in it; so, naturally, I got her another one this year! This is really like 10 gifts in one, so you can’t go wrong! Also, in case anyone is wondering, I’m only posting about this here because she saw the box sitting in my dining room this week and the “surprise” was ruined. Oy vey! (I think a Fab Fit Fun gift card or – better yet – a seasonal subscription – would make an awesome gift!)

Aerie Chenille Oversized Sweater – this is another gift for my sister that I promptly ordered after seeing it in a “last minute gift ideas” post on Living in Yellow yesterday (see – I’m just paying it forward). Kathryn will love this. I know it, because I texted her a photo of it to confirm her size and color preferences. 😉 Are we the only sisters that always tell each other what we bought before Christmas?!? (It’s 50% off right now, and I *think* is still available for Christmas-Eve delivery.)

Theater Tickets – I shared this on Instagram already, but Jeff and I recently gifted his mom and dad tickets to see JERSEY BOYS at The National Theatre in Washington, D.C. and they LOVED it. It is such a fun show for anyone (I saw it several years ago), but especially that generation. They said they knew every single song!! I think grandparents can be so hard to shop for because – let’s be honest – they have everything they want/need and aren’t trying to accumulate more “stuff,” so I love this kind of experience gift for them. *If you’re near The National Theatre, JERSEY BOYS is showing through January 5th, and they have an awesome 2020 lineup!

Chatbooks – We’ve been buying Chatbooks for ourselves and each set of grandparents for more than five years now – we even went back and back-ordered so we have one from every year we’ve had kids. The concept is SO great and user friendly – you literally just sign in to your Instagram account and it puts all your photos + captions and dates right into a beautifully simple photo book – and the company is GREAT to work with (this year, I accidentally left out my half marathon photo and contacted customer service about adding in a couple of pages before printing, and they were awesome about it!) We look at these over and over and over, and they are probably the first thing I’d grab in a fire at our house (besides my kids of course). It’s too late to order these in time for Christmas, but I actually think it’s better to wait until the end of the year anyway, and you can get 15% off right now with the code BYE2019. I also think the subscription option for this would be a super fun gift for out-of-town/ non Instagram grandparents.

Kiddos —

Crayola Art Case – My kids have one of these that they got as a gift from my Uncle last year, and it gets A LOT of use. Our little niece loved it when we traveled with them over Thanksgiving, so we got her her own for Christmas with a Baby Shark coloring book, of course! (15% off with Target Circle!)

Hexbug Robotic Soccer Arena – When you have a kid that loves nerdy robotic things AND soccer, you don’t really expect to find something that combines those two things… So, when you do, you grab it! Santa is bringing this to Sam this year, and I’m not sure if he or Jeff will enjoy it more!!

Beyblade Burst Bey Master Game – If you have a little boy in your life, I can almost guarantee Beyblades are somewhere on their wish list. Sam got the whole arena set two Christmases ago, and he still plays with it weekly — come to think of it, it might be the most played with toy in our house EVER. Anyway, I was so excited to find this board game to surprise him with this year since, goodness knows, he does NOT need more beyblades. (On sale at Target!)

VTech Kidi Star Karaoke Machine – Let’s be honest, I’m probably going to regret this one, but it just SCREAMS Nora (right up there with the glitter light up rain boots and cat-ear bike helmet that Kathryn is giving her because I just couldn’t bring myself to do it). Haha! This will be her “big gift” from Santa this year, and I’m already mentally preparing myself for all the shows I’m going to get to watch. (We got ours from Target, and it is 20% off there now if you can find it in your local store!)

Osmo Little Genius Kit – I’ve been singing the praises of Osmo for years now (both of our kids LOVE it, and the activities are so educational and fun), but this is the first year I’ve seen the “Little” Genius set – specifically made for 3-5 year olds. We grabbed the costume game separately for Nora and bought the starter set for our nephew, and I can’t wait to play it with them! (Little Genius is on sale now, but won’t ship in time for Christmas. The regular Starter Kit is also on sale though AND has 2-day delivery!!)

Piccolina Trailblazer Tee – I’m seriously so obsessed with these shirts for little girls! There are more than 15 awesome women to choose from including Susan B. Anthony, Frida Kahlo, Amelia Earhart, and Malala Yousafzai, and the style is very Mini Boden-esque. (P.S. Amazon says they will still arrive by Christmas and select styles are 20% off!)

Sofia Valdez, Future Prez – I LOVE Andrea Beaty’s books (Iggy Peck, Architect; Ada Twist, Scientist; and Rosie Revere, Engineer), so when I saw that this one was coming out – just in time for an election year – I HAD to have it. Ummm.. I mean, NORA had to have it. 😉

Well, there you go! That was fun.

Be on the lookout for some end-of-the-year book reviews and other fun stuff in the coming weeks too.

Happy Holidays!!

E

P.S. Check out my favorite gifts I gave and received last year here + our “Santa strategy” (that’s still going strong) explained here.

Creative title, I know. 😉

Today marks the first day of SUMMER VACATION for me! Woohoo!

To celebrate, I thought I’d share a few summer-y things I’m loving these days!

Amazon Button-Down Midi Dresses

I got two of these (blue stripes & yellow palm leaves), and they are SO great! The material is kind-of odd – 85% polyester – BUT, I love that it makes the dresses mostly wrinkle-free and a good bit stretchy. Plus, they really don’t look cheap. I’ve also washed and hung to dry mine, and they held up great and dried SUPER fast. The length is just right, the straps are adjustable, and – my favorite part – the buttons are fake (just sewn on), so there is NO pull in the chest area!!! They can be dressed up OR down and I have gotten SO many compliments on these dresses. Oh, and they are only $21.99. Seriously, this is a unicorn. Go order one – or six!

Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Summer Reading Guide

This time of year is my FAVORITE for reading (duh), and I love all the guides that come out for “summer reading.” Especially, Modern Mrs. Darcy’s. I anxiously await its release every May and then add a bunch of books to my TBR list. This year, I love the format of the guide, and I found a couple of cute love stories, one family saga, and one riveting suspense title that I’m excited to dive into!

P.S. I just finished The Mother-in- Law and thought it was excellent! (Full review coming soon!)

Walmart Time & Tru

Have you seen all the hype this brand from Walmart is getting in the blog/Instagram world lately? I have to admit, I was suckered in, and I’ve not been disappointed!

I’ve purchased all of the above items recently have been pleasantly surprised by how much I like them! The quality (especially for the price) is great, and the styles really are on point!

Starbucks Blonde Iced Coffee

It’s no secret that I LOVE iced coffee – especially from Starbucks – and this (although still not super cheap) is a great alternative to spending $3.11 every afternoon for a Venti Iced Coffee from the drive-thru. 🙂 And this blonde roast? DELICIOUS. I top it off with a little half and half for a luxurious treat around 3PM most days.

Amazon One-Piece Swimsuit with Tummy Control

Another unicorn. This really is flattering/slimming, has great coverage (up top and from behind), AND it doesn’t look like an “old lady” suit. Plus, you can’t beat the $31.99 price! It comes in LOTS of different colors and patterns, and there is also a keyhole style that is SO cute and would look great on the right person (but didn’t work for me). You’re welcome. 😉

Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs

Ok, my sister gave this to me, and I was SUUUUPER skeptical. I mean… LEG MAKEUP?!? But… It is so, so good. Basically, it’s a heavy spray that you rub into your legs (or wherever I guess). I have this light color, and it goes on very light and just evens out your skin and gives it a very subtle bit of color. Honestly, I don’t know how I ever wore shorts/dresses in the early summer without this. I LOVE it. (They also make a cream that I’m interested in, but I haven’t tried it yet.)

Target Universal Thread

My summer uniform = solid v-neck tee shirt + pull on shorts and Universal Thread has me 100% covered! I just stocked up on a couple of these (only $5 each right now) and a pair of these (only $12). They are PERFECT for running around with the kids etc.

Well, there you go! What are some of your favorites for summer?!? Please share in the comments!

Last Friday night, I went to a Favorite Things party that my friend Jen hosts every year. The idea is that everyone brings three of their “favorite thing” that costs roughly $10 – $20.00 each. Then, we do an exchange of sorts (while also drinking wine and catching up with girlfriends) and everyone goes home with three fun, new items. 

I shared the photo below — of the three Emily Ley At-A-Glance planners + stickers that I took (because, of course I did) — on social media last weekend, and I got several questions about how the party worked, so I thought I’d do a quick write-up about it here in case anyone else wants to try it out. It would be SUCH a fun party to throw for girlfriends around Valentine’s Day, but it works any time, and I highly recommend it for a great girls night in!

Really, it’s all super simple. Jen sent an invite to 25+ friends about a month in advance telling us to bring three of the same item – our “favorite thing.” We were to spend $15 – $20 on each item and bring them unwrapped.

Then, on the night of the party, she had her dining room table cleared with room for each person to display her items. (I think it would be fun to cover your table with brown kraft paper and let everyone do a little write-up of their item too — but that’s just me!)

Once all the guests had arrived and enjoyed some socializing and eating/drinking, Jen had everyone go around and introduce themselves + tell what item they brought and why. I actually really liked this part because – even though I wouldn’t get to try everything that night, I still learned about all 25 things. Then, everyone drew a little colored piece of paper from a jar. There were three colors total, and the color you drew determined in what order you would get to “shop” the Favorite Things table. So, everyone that drew a blue square shopped first – for ONE item; then everyone that drew a red square shopped for one item; and, finally, everyone that drew a yellow square shopped for one item. We repeated this process for three rounds. *Jen used a different jar of different colored papers for each round; but, you could keep it super simple and just switch up the order that each colored group gets to shop for each round. (Blue goes first one round, red goes first the next, and yellow the third.)

In the end, everyone enjoyed a night out with friends and came home with three fun new items to try! (I got mascara & lipgloss, a candle, and a new novel, in case you were wondering.)

As a variation on this, you could invite a smaller group of girls (say, 5 of your BFFs) and ask everyone to bring 5 gifts. Then everyone goes home with everything and there’s no need for any “shopping.” Jen did this one year and had cute little bags with each of our names on it for us to take our things home in – a nice touch.

Also, the budget is totally flexible. Three $15 – $20 items made the quality of things brought a little nicer, obviously; but, there are plenty of great things you could buy for under $10 or eve $5 if you wanted to keep it more low key. (See my list of favorite things under $10.00 below for ideas.)

If you’ve been to a party like this, or hosted one, I’d love to know how it worked for you!!!

And… Just for fun, here are 10 of my favorite items that are UNDER $10 and would be perfect for something like this:

1. My favorite pens
2. Sideways large initial necklace (I wear mine all the time!)
3. Essie Petal Pushers nail polish
4. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
5. Voluspa Petite Candle
6. Acrylic Drop Earrings
7. Anthropologie Monogram Mugs
8. Spiral Hair Ties
9. Rifle Paper Company Pocket Notebooks
10. Pores Be Pure Skin-Clarifying Mask

What’s your favorite thing under $10 these days?

Have a great weekend!

E

One of my favorite bloggers recently did a post like this, and I thought it was so fun. So, today, I’m sharing a few of the gifts I was most excited to give AND to receive at Christmas this year…

*This is totally unsponsored but there are a couple good old fashioned affiliate links in there. 🙂 #thanksforyoursupport

GIFTS I GAVE:

Every baby/toddler on my list this year got a copy of Classic Lit A to Z: An Alphabet Primer by BabyLit. I love everything Babylit does, but this is especially awesome because it includes SO many classic characters etc. in one simple little board book.

Sam got this very cool Comic Book Making Kit from Lulu Jr. that we’ve just started working on. He’s super excited that it gets “published” and turned in to a “real book,” when he’s done.

I bought the Winter FabFitFun box for my sister, and she was thoroughly impressed with all the good stuff that came in it – especially this dry shampoo and this eye-brightener from Thrive Causemetics.

Nora’s teachers (who are both young and adorable) got plaid leather earrings from One Delightful Shop (+ Starbucks gift cards – duh) and were tickled.

I gave my mom her standard Emily Ley Weekly Simplified Planner and a few matching accessories from the Target line. She’s almost as crazy about EL as I am! (P.S. There are only a few styles left, but all Simplified Planners are 20% off right now if you haven’t already grabbed your 2019 planner!)

My sister and I went in together to get my dad a carry-on suitcase from AWAY for all the traveling he’s been doing lately, and it really is SO nice.

I gave our former nanny/my close girlfriend a copy of Kelly Corrigan’s Tell Me More – one of my favorite books of the year.

And both sets of grandparents got photo books of pictures from the year that I made and ordered from Chatbooks — I know there are lots of places that make these, but I love the look of these and that they upload straight from Instagram with dates, captions, etc. They are always a huge hit. (Also, how adorable is that photo my friend Trent took of Sam & Nora?)

GIFTS “I” GOT:

My mom gave me a pair of camo Rothy’s that I’m OBSESSED with. #worththehype

Kathryn (my beauty guru) hooked me up with all kinds of awesome beauty products, but I’m especially loving this Origins moisturizing cream and MAC Prep + Prime spray.

My uncle gave me Michelle Obama’s new book – something I’m so excited to read and super happy to own so I can pass along to friends, etc. *I’ve been highlighting the heck out of it so far!!!

Jeff’s parents gave both kids a new Osmo game that they’ve already thoroughly enjoyed. (Side note: If you have a kid ages 4+, you NEED an Osmo. We got the creative kit (pictured below) when Sam was about 4, and it is one of our all-time favorite purchases. Plus, new games are released every year so the fun just continues!)

My sister gave Sam this fun Escape Room game, and my parents gave him The Great States game (super educational and easy to play) that we all enjoyed playing over break. As a bonus, I used it in my classroom to liven up a Grammar Escape Room this week, and it was a big hit with the teenagers too (though Sam is way better at it).

And Nora got her first American girl doll – Tenney – from my mom.  I’m not sure who is more excited – her or me!

Wasn’t that fun?

What was your favorite gift this holiday season? I’d love to hear in the comments!