- Crunchi: my everyday skincare
- Jo’s Custom Cosmetics for 10% off your first order, use code: wildwood10
- Jovi for $20 off, use code: racheleldredge
- Pixie Cup for a discount on your order, use code: rachel15
December Cozy Things Giveaway
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I wish I could send these three items to everyone who commented on my Instagram giveaway post…thanks for participating!
Here are the sources in case you’re interested in collecting them for yourself (the coffee scrub makes an excellent stocking stuffer, I might add!)
The mug is hand lettered by Gale Nation. I love her work! This exact mug isn’t available any longer but you can find her other products here.
The coffee scrub is one I first tried from Grove Collaborative-a home essentials delivery service I’ve used for years and love. It’s gentle and moisturizing. {full disclosure: following my Grove link and placing an order gives you a free gift set and me $10 per referral}
If you can’t find it at your local store that carries Yes products, you can also order the scrub from Amazon, and right now it’s on sale for $8.86 plus a coupon for 15% if you add it to your subscribe and save order!
…Thanksgiving Food 2020
∇ Roasted turkey using this method
∇ The best make-ahead creamy mashed potatoes (I once made gallons of this for a wedding rehearsal dinner and they were a hit!)
∇ Roasted butternut squash, pureed with a little maple syrup, a dash of salt, and some butter (I used cultured vegan butter to make it dairy-free)
∇ No-knead dinner rolls (dough can be made ahead!)
∇ Broccoli salad (so many delicious versions of this)
∇ Corn Pie (an old family favorite, see recipe below)
New to me recipes this year:
…
Favorite Prime Day Deals
(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post (at no extra cost to you, whew!). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. You can read my disclosure here.)
If you are an Amazon Prime member, and you’ve been watching for deals, this is the last day to get some great discounts! I have made zero monies as an Amazon affiliate (insert laughing emoji here) but still share links here for my own record and because I want to be full of helpfulness and might as well? Anyway, if you are on social media and following big Amazon affiliate influencers you have probably been inundated by links and deals. I don’t want to add to the overwhelm so will keep this simple by just sharing 10 things on sale that we personally currently own and love:
{Numbered list here; photos below} 1. Silk pillowcase 2. Sharpies 3. Instant Pots 4. Contigo insulated travel mug 5. AirPods 6. Echo Dot 7. Macrame Plant Hanger 8. Solar-powered LED lantern 9. 25% off select books and 3 for the price of 2 10. Tea strainer
- Silk pillowcases. The ratings speak for themselves on this one, and I’m ordering a second because the one I received for Mother’s Day is very DEAR TO ME:
2. Now let’s pivot to Sharpies. My colorful collections brings me so much joy:
3. I’m sorry, but you can’t mention Amazon deals without going here….the instant pot. I no longer have a slow cooker and use my two instant pots for everything! (Rice, perfect hard-boiled eggs, dried beans, spaghetti squash, stews, frozen meat, to name a few.) I bought both of mine during big sales like this one. The original:
Also verrrrry interested in this (has a sous vide feature, wut!) but doubtful I can make room for it in my kitchen. Well, I guess I could if I got rid of all the mugs…
4. Next we have insulated Contigo bottles-the 20 ounce kind! I refuse to use anything less than 20 ounces. (In our house we have either Contigo or a Costco variety.) They stand the test of time plus aren’t a great monetary loss if one should, say, accidentally run over one or something:
5. My husband gave me AirPods a couple years ago and they still work beautifully. If you know me at all you know it’s a miracle I haven’t accidentally flushed one down the toilet or somehow irretrievably lost them:
6. The Echo Dot. I do love it! Excellent for timers, music, and a myriad of other things. Now that I reflect on how useful it is, I think I’m going to order another one for the basement, so all levels of our home will be dotted:
7. It took me awhile to join the macrame tribe, but now that I’m here I’m all in. My bathroom pothos plant is hanging in one of these:
8. Solar-powered LED inflatable waterproof lanterns are where it’s at! We’ve had one for several years and it’s one of the most useful things I’ve bought. We throw them into the canoe for whenever we go downriver and find a cave to explore. Heading to the scary bathrooms when we’re tent camping. I use it on my back deck, or when I’m walking at dusk. They’re fun in water, too.
9. I buy a lot of books through Amazon, for school and otherwise, and today they’re offering 25% off select titles. There is also a “three for the price of two” deal going on! Favorites titles that would count for that:
10. And lastly, something that gets used literally every day in this household:
or
Happy Prime Day Hunting!
Would love to know what you bought yesterday or today, if anything!
Six ordinary summer favorites
(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)
Here are some random things that brought great joy to my life this past summer. Can a cheesy hashbrown casserole actually do that, you ask? Yes, yes it can. Here is the proof which I first made for Father’s Day breakfast and will probably become a fall favorite as well:
∇ Easy Breakfast Casserole with Potatoes & Ham
I owe everything to food bloggers.
∇ Free Panera coffee! If you never signed up over the summer, you can still do so and get your first month free. {Not recommended for coffee snobs; best for frugal ambivalents like me.}
∇ Reading in general and my new-from-Goodwill book Lilac Girls: recommended by literally everyone I asked about it. {It gets over 4,500 FIVE STAR reviews on Amazon, I checked!} I did find this historical fiction piece fascinating. It’s based on real people and is a well researched story of what happened to a group of women who survived concentration camp “experiments” and those who waited for them back home and became their voice, their advocates when they had none. Have you read it? I’m always behind on the popular books as well as basically everything in pop culture.
∇ Our new Target outdoor sectional that I waited and watched for and bought on sale and which we all love so, so much. (it’s frequently sold out-just click the “notify me when it’s back” option!) At least two people nap on it daily. I call it our Napping Couch.
∇ Postable-for when you don’t have just the right card on hand and want to skip the store and send something immediately. In addition to sending cards throughout the summer, I’ve been using Postable for years as an online back-up address book. They have a great selection of cards to personalize and they print, stamp, & ship for you because you don’t have stamps, either! Postable tells me this about referrals: “Send your friends your personal promo code MRQ85DUI and when they sign up and spend $20 you’ll both get $5 of credit!” Also of note: they frequently offer discounts.
∇ Being outside: camping, canoeing, hiking, walking with a friend regularly, and did I mention just simply sitting outdoors on comfortable furniture and reading a book?
These are a few of my favorite things!
Bidets & Such
(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)
Over on Instagram,* we’ve been snickering about using a bidet during this time of toilet paper crisis but if you know me in Real Life, you’ve seen my bidet (and perhaps even dared to use it?) and know that I am COMMITTED. {Also, yes, a few people have walked out of my bathroom with Questions or spoke in hushed tones to their children.}
I wrote a lot of words on why I have a bidet and how to use it, but then it all sounded weird so I erased it.
We have one small bathroom in this house, and a few months ago Tom (with much eyebrow-arching, admittedly) installed an add-on bidet to the toilet at my most humble requests.
Like what can I say? It’s an easy, eco-friendly way to clean one’s nether regions. Using a bidet wastes less toilet paper (and therefore saves money which can be spent on coffee); it’s eco-friendly and kind to our septic system. You may be rolling your eyeballs right now, but HAVE YOU TRIED IT? Here is the one we have from Amazon, which gets excellent reviews:
…Flu Prevention & Treatments
(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)
Hello from your friendly neighborhood mom! *waves awkwardly* *spills coffee* Let’s get a few disclaimers out of the way, shall we? This is not medical advice; nor is it intended to diagnose and treat whatever ails you. Please seek the advice of your preferred healthcare professionals. I am not a doctor, I’m a mom doing my own research and making the best informed decisions I can for myself and my family.
With flu bugs hitting hard and the coronavirus (aka COVID-19) cloud looming over everyone, I thought I’d share some of the things we’ve done in an effort to boost our immune systems and hopefully prevent or lessen the impact of illnesses we’re exposed to.
Current Book Preorders!
(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)
I don’t often pre-order books, but when I do it’s definitely because I admire the author and want to support their work! Pre-orders are hugely important in letting the publishers how much much interest there is in the book and therefore what to print. Additionally, many authors offer really lovely incentives to readers who pre-order, as a thank you. For example, this first book I pre-ordered came with lifetime access to a corresponding video course, by the author, that complimented the topics covered in the book:
Stop Calling Me Beautiful: Finding Soul-Deep Strength in a Skin-Deep World. It’s actually arriving this week, while I’m away in Denver, so I told Hosanna to watch for its arrival and begin reading it before I return and get my hands on it! I recently found Phylicia on Instagram and look forward to hearing her speak at an event soon. She’s really encouraged me to look at the Bible differently than I have before and her mantra is “Every Woman a Theologian!”
Here are three other books I’ve pre-ordered with a release date of March 3, 2020:
…What is giving me life this week
(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)
∇ This tea, gifted to me by a Dear Aunt:
I’m taking it with a spoonful of monk fruit sweetener and a splash of half-n-half thank you verrrry much.
∇ This book on sale:
I gave away my extra copy of Crystal Paine’s Money-Making Mom book but an Instagram friend (thanks, Rocky!) pointed out to me that the book was literally just $4 on Amazon as of today. So get yourself a copy if you’ve been wanting to read & own it!
Post-Christmas Ramblings
(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)
∇ Does anyone remember the Mannequin Challenge of 2016? For your viewing pleasure, I present to you, What the Nails* Do on Christmas Eve:
∇ Believe it or not, I’ve never made Christmas Crack before until now! I found this recipe by Amy Hannon and used it as my foundation. I also added this, this, & this.
∇ When I was prepping food for Christmas (specifically, the four quiches I made with varying degrees of meat, gluten, and dairy) this is the podcast series I listened to: Heavyweight Season 4. Favorite episodes? #27 and #30.
∇ I’ve played two new {to me} games this week that were surprisingly fun in vastly different ways: this board game and this active competition of bizarre coordination: instructions and visual guide!
Happy Christmas week to you! What have you been making, playing, doing?
*my parents and siblings
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase after clicking through one of my links, I may receive a {very small} commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog! It means the world and a load of Christmas Crack to me.