A Wildwood Story

Pre-Christmas Encouragement for You & a Biscuit Recipe

December 20, 2019 by Rachel

(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)

∇ What I truly want for you is peace and joy. I read these reminders from Morgan Harper Nichols and it was exactly what I needed to be told today.

Please do something for yourself that is self-care. A foot bath. A tub soak. Gazing at your tree with a glass of wine and square of dark chocolate. I got a massage this week, which is the best gift Past Rachel could’ve given December Rachel the week before Christmas. As someone who has dealt with chronic neck pain, this literally saved my neck during a really full week.

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Christmas Gift Ideas

December 13, 2019 by Rachel

(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)

Hello my festive little Christmas elves!

If you, like me, aren’t *quite* ready for all things Christmas, take a deep breath (*takes a deep breath*) and think about what truly matters to you. Recognize the difference between those things and extraneous things. For me, that’s focusing on Advent through simple devotionals, spending time with my immediate and extended family, reaching out to people grieving during the holidays and…actually, that’s it. Literally everything else is joyful bonus stuff. Even though I’m not as prepared for Christmas as I’d like (still a few more gifts to pull together) I feel remarkably relaxed about it all because: PERSPECTIVE.

Here are some things I have not done this year:

baked Christmas cookies for the fam

sent out family photo cards

100% decorated the house

That list is much longer, but you get the drift! Of course, I’d love to do those things, but I’m also fine with letting them go because they aren’t as precious to me as my top three. If you need help letting something go, reach out to me and I will talk through it with you, because I am preaching this to myself, too. If there’s something you can’t completely let go of (say, you’re hosting a holiday dinner), then how can you simplify it? Ask me or someone else for ideas on how to problem-solve whatever is nagging at you, and have the most beautiful holiday with what you have right where you’re at.

Okay, on to those gift suggestions-

I know this is an obvious reminder, but now is an excellent time to utilize the power of the internet and have gifts delivered directly to the recipient! Or to you, via Amazon or Target, for example, while you shop from your couch and gaze at the lights on your Christmas tree. Seriously, avoid the crowds if that would be anxiety-inducing.

Here are some things I have done and will be doing for gifts (and if you are in my family then just stop here because SPOILERS AHEAD YOU’VE BEEN WARNED):

∇ Easy homemade bread wrapped in a tea-towel or parchment paper. And I do mean easy-if you’ve been to my house lately and seen my large glass canister full of rising dough, this is the magic happening. No-kneading required, no skills needed. It just takes a little thinking ahead and about 2 minutes to mix up the ingredients. You can find many variations of this recipe; here are two: Homemade Artisan Bread and Easy No-Knead Overnight Artisan Bread. Half of my neighborhood has now been given a loaf of this bread; can’t stop won’t stop! {you could also add a jar of locally produced honey or jam~seriously the homiest and yummiest gift}

∇ Do you know anyone who has skin? Yes? Do you also like to support women in business? Me too. Then gift your people some skincare and/or makeup from my friend Jo, who I’ve known for over 22 years and who creates small-batch, clean ingredient products. {I mentioned JO Custom Cosmetics on my Black Friday post, too.) She is not asking me to brag on her, and I’ve gladly spent my own dollars on her products because I love her and them. {Fun fact: Hosanna has been using her lavender serum the last year-it lasts forever- and I’ve been wearing her lip gloss every day this week!} Her products come packed so adorably these would be perfect to send directly to your intended recipient. I asked her for a discount code to share with my friends, and she gave me one for 10% off your total order! Here it is: wildwood10

∇ Earrings are everything, and these handmade clay beauties have been on my list for a while: Nova Vita Co. If you live in the St. Louis area, her Instagram account mentions some local shops you can find the earrings at. If you order from her directly, she will ship them using recycled materials! Guess what? Not to brag or anything but I also know the maker, Avery, and her family. She’s a killer volleyball player and has played with my husband and kids (but not me because I don’t jump) and is the real deal: genuine and kind and OBVS creative. She was featured in STLMag, read about her HERE! Then go buy some earrings for your mom, wifey, sister, best friend…

∇ Let me state the obvious, now and forevermore: BOOKS. I will never get tired of giving or receiving books. Don’t forget the life-altering power of a good book! The perfect any-gender gift. Your person not a reader of novels? Then consider one of these (all ones I own or have given!): puzzles, adult-coloring, hand-lettering, photography, graphic novels, or a cookbook. Another idea~ I gave a book subscription to my sister once from a local independent bookstore: The Novel Neighbor

∇ Movie Theatre gift card: one of my kids’ aunties has done this in recent years and it is the BEST idea! I love experience gifts like this. Going to see a movie with the entire fam really adds up-we rarely do it unless we have a gift card. Also-we utilize theatre $5 days and other discounts to make this gift last longer!

∇ Stocking stuffer ideas: popping ears, blue light glasses, chewing gum, cozy winter socks, $5-$10 coffee gift cards, fruit (canned or fresh, oranges are perfect!), chapstick or lip balm (Jo Custom Cosmetics!), portable charger, hand sanitizer, chocolate, snacks (all sorts), mini kleenex packs

I hope these little ideas were helpful to you; I’d love to hear some of your favorite gift ideas!

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 Merry Christmas to me. 🙂

Black Friday: a few of my favorite things

November 29, 2019 by Rachel

(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)

We all love this day so much because of pumpkin pie for breakfast, right?!?

I am not a big Black Friday in-store shopper, though I’ve done it a couple of times and it’s certainly fun with friends and family! (I’ll never forget the time I kept losing my brother Ian at the mall and he kept calling from the Apple Store to find us.)

In recent years I’ve been trying to be thoughtful about my holiday purchases and where and why the money is going. That money, I tell ya-it’s slippery like a newborn baby.

via GIPHY

My preferred way to shop Black Friday sales is via my own internet and cozy home with the aforementioned pumpkin pie and a cup of coffee on hand. I am sharing a sampling of things here that I have purchased myself and love:

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Thanksgiving Week Prep

November 25, 2019 by Rachel

(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)

I am in a festive baking mood! How about you? Cooking from scratch or enjoying a restaurant or catered meal this year?

This year we are traveling (just an hour and a half) to spend Thanksgiving with Tom’s family at the Eldredge Farm, only instead of being there for just the day as we have the past couple years, we’re leaving mid-week and staying through the weekend, which means I have more food prep and planning ahead to consider.

We’ll stay at our home at the family farm, while the current occupants (dear family) are traveling, so that means I will have a kitchen to use and space to be messy and also perhaps lazy (Friday morning and pumpkin pie, I’m looking at you).

The actual Thanksgiving day meal is held in my mother-in-law’s home, and each family brings their favorite contributions to the big feast on Thursday. We have the main meal around 1pm and then all the desserts are saved for dessert dinner in the evening. This is the Way of the Eldredge’s, a long tradition dating back decades. I wear comfortable clothing.

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Birthdays, Art, Embarrassment

November 11, 2019 by Rachel

I recently had the pleasure of spending some rare moments with one of my dearest childhood friends, which always puts us in a frame of mind to recall the awful and hilarious things we’ve been through in life. Purple fondue. Yeasty homemade wine. Breaking and entering. Here is one story that stands out, which features one of my Most Embarrassing Moments.

Candace and I try to celebrate our June birthdays together, and one year we decided a day at Forest Park, in which we would play the role of Elegant Ladies, would be just the thing. The men and the children could watch themselves for most of the day, leaving us free to wander the St. Louis Art Museum without a care in the world, have lunch at the museum restaurant because that is what sophisticated ladies do, then end our day with an outdoor performance of Romeo & Juliet at Shakespeare in the Park {to be rejoined with our families at that time because it couldn’t be helped}.

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Fall Favorites

October 25, 2019 by Rachel

(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)

Anyone who knows me knows I dearly love summer but it’s also true that fall is the coziest, and I WILL be cozy. I insist on coziness.

Here are a couple things that are charming me this fall…

First of all, the Harry Potter books are best read during cooler months with a hot cuppa and preferably under blankets, which is exactly how Drew {12} and I have been reading them aloud together. Usually at bedtime, and then I have to pee in the middle of the night because of all that hot chamomile.

∇ Currently reading:

I’ve discovered a Spotify playlist appropriately titled, “Happy Harry Potter” for that perfect background feeling of Hogwarts:

∇ Harry Potter playlist

Fall makes me fond for all things British, including these wellies, which I’ve had for years (an old Target purchase!) and they serve me well come rain & muck:

∇ Joules Women’s Field Welly AKA RAINBOOTS

∇ Fairy lights. I have some that stay permanently on, it seems, because they are so perfectly cozy. I have these (Target) and these (IKEA).

∇ Stew. Stew is everything that is good in this world. Sometimes I follow a recipe, sometimes I follow my heart,* always is my stew simmering in a dutch oven for hours upon delicious hours. The best fix-it-and-forget-it meal!

What are your fall favorites right now? I’d love to hear and adopt some more! We need all the cozy we can get.

*my most recent stew included radishes, and nobody was the wiser! Hahaha I’m so clever!

This letter 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 cozy fall day to me.

Photo by Stella Rose, Sarah Ehlers and ERIC ZHU on Unsplash

A Little Collection of Recents

April 10, 2019 by Rachel

(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)

∇ Recent favorite read by two people I know and admire:

The Miracle of Working at an Ice-Cream Shop

∇ Recent finished books I can’t stop talking and thinking about:

∇ Recent pair of new shoes that I love and expect to wear for the next 50 years: Black solid flats

{And if you want to order a pair for yourself, let me know and I’ll send you a referral code for $20 off!}

∇ Recent song that used to be an old favorite and is now back in my listening rotation:

Letter 41 {A Week of Monday}

September 1, 2018 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

Monday morning, this is how it went:

I drop Caleb off at his Algebra 2 class. Not wanting to spend unnecessary driving to and from home, I plan on spending time at a nearby Starbucks to do some work before picking him up. After settling in, I learn their Wifi isn’t working, and hasn’t been for a week. A WEEK. This is the modern age! That’s simply inconceivable (and yes, I do know what that word means). I do a quick maps search and realize a St. Louis county library branch is within a mile. Perfect. I can use a study room there. I show up at the Library only to learn-it’s closed, for some reason I did not investigate.

Okay Monday, I get it. You’re having fun with me. But guess what? I am young and adventurous and also behind on email, and I can find another Starbucks since St. Louis is literally littered with them. They can’t all be out of wifi.

I am not ashamed of carrying my iced americano from Starbucks #1 into Starbucks #2. Starbucks understands.

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5 Favorites From July

August 6, 2018 by Rachel

July was a month of illness for our family, which shouldn’t be allowed in summer yet here we are, still blowing our noses and coughing up unmentionables. Thank you, modern medicine, for your merciful assistance. Thank you, essential oils and Vitamin C, for making me smell like an apothecary but also feel better.

Here you are, my five favorites from July!

∇ Essays on The Art of Simple. It’s where I go for self-help direction (ahem-always need more of that), life encouragement, and recommendations on all sorts of things. Here is one that I really needed to read: Transform Your Relationship With Your Teen…

∇ Birkenstock sandals. Up until this spring, I thought Birkenstocks were an ugly relic from the 70’s, but I was young and naive and now I am still young but also wiser. Wiser because apparently there are many styles of Birkenstocks and you don’t have to wear the kind your hippy aunt is still wearing from her flower child days, if you don’t wanna! My sisters Naomi & Keturah each bought their own pair and since they loved them so much and I want to be like them and do everything they do, I bought my own to try. I’d been wearing super flat sandals which just aren’t meant for constant wear and were causing my feet and legs to hurt. My Birkenstocks are a world of difference in support and I literally wear them constantly. {The first link is to the exact pair I purchased as an online-only special, but you can also find a variety of styles on Amazon.}

∇ Trendsend by Evereve. This July I received my fourth (fifth?!) box and while I’ve kept an article of clothing from each one in the past; this time it was a simple tassel necklace I adore.

∇Sniffle Stopper from Plant Therapy: this {kid-safe} essential oil blend has long been a favorite; everyone notices an improvement in their breathing when we diffuse it. LOVE

∇ Old favorite, often on repeat, thank you Ingrid dear:

You can find my June favorites here.

Photo by Brittany Neale on Unsplash

5 Things I’m Loving This June

June 27, 2018 by Rachel

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