I’m excited to
share some of my favorite things that I’m positive you can’t
live one more day without knowing about. Here’s the bonus:
many of these would be fantastic for Mother’s Day gifts if you
are already on the hunt.
Just like I love
hearing about other people’s favorite things, I love sharing
mine with you (it’s so fun to hear back from you when one of my
faves has solidified a place in your heart, too!).
As always, none of
these items/links are sponsored. They are just things I’ve
been loving; I’ve either bought them myself or been gifted them
by awesome friends/family and I want to share them with you. There
are a few Amazon affiliate links scattered throughout the post for
the products I’ve bought and loved from there. Of course, feel
free to shop around for the best price and value!
1. One of
you blessed readers recommended these
double-sided measuring spoons to me last year and if
it were deemed acceptable to write poetry to measuring spoons, I
would. I heart these so much. It’s not so much the magnetic
feature (although awesome), it’s that there are two sides to
them. Meaning, I can use ONE measuring spoon for vanilla and
baking powder. Revolutionary.
2. My sweet mom sent me
one of these wrought
iron picnic caddies and it is super! There’s a
spot for paper plates, plastic utensils and napkins and it’s
heavy enough, ain’t nothin’ blowing away in the wind at
the park. We’ve used ours both indoors and outdoors for
get-togethers. I’ve linked to the one
on Amazon although they are a few dollars cheaper at
Sam’s
Club if you have a store/membership in your neck of
the woods (sigh, I don’t).
3. Another
recommendation from one of you! I collect whisks like some people
collect ceramic chickens. This cool,
little ball whisk is awesome. I bought it months ago
after one of my favorite whisks broke (sob!) and this thing is sturdy
and trustworthy. My only caution is that I don’t love using it
on nonstick pans or even in my stainless steel saucepans but it is
fabulous whenever I’m whisking something up in a bowl (like, 20
times a day).
4. If I
could be in
love with a colander, this would be it. I spied it
over the holidays when I was visiting Portland, Oregon (where I have
to always stop at the Crate and Barrel store much to my family’s
chagrin).
It is life changing.
You know how sometimes you set your colander down in the bottom of
your sink (because you don’t have three sets of hands) and pour
in all the contents from the huge pot of boiling pasta and all that
water bubbles up and around the noodles being drained with who knows
what kind of germs from the bottom of your sink? Does that gross
anyone else besides me?
Well, this colander
fixes that problem — not to mention it just frees up having to
hold the colander until everything is drained and ready to go. I
spread this baby out across my sink and pour in whatever needs
drained and just leave it there to do its job. I was worried the
metal would rust and wear poorly but after almost five months of
nearly daily use, it’s in perfect condition (I hand wash and
let air dry).
5. Brian got me this
ice cream maker for my birthday in February. We’d
had the
smaller model for over a decade (thanks to a generous
wedding present) and we used it often, but I can’t say enough
about how much more I love this slightly larger version (it makes
more ice cream at a time, how could I not love it?). It’s
faster, a little bigger and really pretty, you know, cause that
matters.
6. Speaking of ice
cream, these amazing
little homemade ice cream containers have made me a
happy homemade ice cream maker. My friend, Makita, had them at her
house when our family was there devouring-with-no-shame her homemade
ice cream and Brian surprised me with the red one along with that ice
cream maker. They keep the homemade ice cream soft and creamy without
freezer burn – plus, they come in really cute colors. I only
have one right now but that green one is on my wish list.
7. I have
been dying to share this
hand cream with you. Dying. If you’ve
read some of my gift guides in the past, you know I really love hand
(and foot cream) and am very, very choosy (some would say picky)
about the kind I use.
I can’t get
enough of this stuff. It smells amazing — not overpowering,
just super light and fresh and lemony and sweet and it makes my hands
so incredibly soft. Not just that, it’s actually helped heal
several of the deep cracks I get around my fingernail line (curse
this dry climate!).
I can’t say
enough good about it — I’ve given it to several of my
friends over the past few months and it’s an understatement to
say everyone raves and raves and raves about it. The company
(Perfectly Posh, sold through consultants; I found out about it from
my famous
Aunt Marilyn) has a lot of other great products (like
this make-out
magic sugar lip scrub — funny name and all) but
this hand cream is by far my favorite.
8. Self-tanning is a
very personal thing (as in, some people love it, others despise). I
have the whitest legs known to mankind and like to get a little color
on them without baking in the sun but self-tanners are not created
equal. This inexpensive Flawless
Fake Bake one is pretty darn good. I don’t go
for super dark — just light color — and it doesn’t
look fakey-fake. My other favorite is this foam
tanner from Rodan+Fields (looks like they are sold out
right now, bummer).
9. I’ve raved
about my favorite, favorite lip butter from Korres before. I use it
daily and was doing (bad) cartwheels when I saw they had a new
and improved version in a tube (as opposed to digging
it out of the cute little tub with my finger). It’s just as
amazing as the original
lip butter. I love the Jasmine color.
10. Games!
We love them so much and play them all the time as a family, so of
course I’m excited to share our new favorites. First up is
Wackee
6. I think it’s been around forever but is new
to us and it is a riot. It’s a simple card game (think a
crazier, chaotic version of Skipbo). Cards fly all over the place and
elbows may be thrown, but it’s all in the name of fun.
11. We just recently
played this Word
on the Street game at my aunt and uncle’s house
and I think it might be my favorite game ever! I love word
games and this is a clever game that was equally fun for me as it was
for my kids.
12. I’d been
hearing for years how hilarious Telestrations
is and we finally bought it over the holiday season last year. I can
honestly say this game has made us laugh harder as a family than
probably any other game we’ve played. Words just can’t
even describe. We bought the party pack with 12 players and it has
come in so handy when we have extra people over. Fun for kids and
adults (or a combination).
13. I know.
Pens. Yawn. Except these Sharpie
pens are so awesome, you’d disown me as a friend
if I didn’t tell you about them. I am still an old-school paper
planner girl and I use these colored pens to color code my life every
week. They don’t bleed through, they are smooth as butter to
write with and I just love ‘em so much.
14. And if not pens,
then let’s talk chocolate. My super sweet brother, Nate, sent
me Zoe
Chocolates for my birthday this year and I have never,
ever had such a unique chocolate tasting experience (and I’ve
eaten a lot of chocolate in my day). These gourmet, delicious
chocolates are perfect if you need a gift for someone who really
loves and appreciates good chocolate (and unique flavors!).
Melanie Gunnell is a food-loving, chocolate-obsessed mom who has a desperate need to share
her favorite tried-and-true recipes with the world. In a past life she graduated from Brigham
Young University with a degree in public health, but for the past ten years, stay-at-home
motherhood has been her job along with blogging-from-home for the past five.
She resides in the brilliantly cold tundra of Northern Minnesota with her husband and their brood
of five children: four boys and one tiny, bossy girl. Dark chocolate (particularly the act of
shoving chocolate chips in her mouth whilst hiding in the pantry) is her coping skill of choice for
both the never-ending winters and the never-ending wrestling matches in her front room.