one // two // three // four // five
Welcome to the first edition of my five favorite monthly things! These are just some of the things I have been loving the past month, both food and non-food related. Let us waste no time because this is going to be good!
one: Clinique All About Eyes Serum
GUYS! THIS. IS. LIFECHANGING! That may be a little dramatic but I can't live without this anymore. I first used this when my sister spent the weekend with us and I was rummaging through her things while she was getting ready to see what fun goodies she had I could try (it's a sister thing 😉 ). Lo, and behold I found this little guy and once I used it I was hooked! It is a depuffing eye serum type goodness which I am sure works magical wonders but I use it so often that I don't think puffy eyes ever stand a chance with me again! What I am addicted to the most is the metal roller ball that it has. It's incredibly cooling and it feels like little cold fairies massaging your undereye area every day (twice or three times 😉 ). It feels so good! I am not exaggerating,....you need this now!
Also, thanks, mom and dad for getting me this for Christmas. 🙂
two: Trader Joe's Flowers
Now I am a sucker for a bouquet of fresh flowers every time I go into TJ's just like the rest of us. I can't pass them up. They are too pretty and too good of a price. But at the beginning of the month, I found this little gem, a hyacinths bulb. Just one single bulb in this cute little clear glass vase that you could see the roots through. All that is required is a little sunlight (hello perfect office window plant) and to keep the water full. In about a week it bloomed the most beautiful pink stem of blooms and then the next week a second popped up. It was just $3.99 and has been the prettiest little addition as I have redone my office some this month. Unfortunately, I went to Trader Joe's yesterday and I did not see anymore (but they had tulip bulbs that were similar). However, highly recommend a fresh green plant or bouquet of flowers to brighten up any room!
three: Dellalo Acini de Pepe
Yes, I know, only food item this month....but it is ok! I feel in love with this tiny almost sand granule sized pasta that magically grows to 4 times its size when cooked. We have been living off soup this month since it decided to be way cold here and Italian Wedding Soup has been a household fav (Rex would even like it if we allowed him to have some). I can't wait to try some sort of cold pasta salad with this once summer rolls around!
four: Passion Planner
I have been using a planner since I was in 4th grade and I will never stop. I got hooked in elementary school when they taught us the art of writing all your homework assignments down every day and having to come back the next morning with your parents signature. You got in a bunch of trouble if it wasn't signed and I am pretty sure the scare tactic of moving your card to yellow engrained in us the disciplined art of using a planner. Thank you, Mrs. Gatliff; I am forever grateful. I'm a detail person so that wasn't hard for me. Once we weren't "required" to do that for school anymore I found I needed a planner to live and function by.
Now my iPhone calendar is nice and all but I will NEVER replace my pen and paper checklist/to do list/notebook/planner. There is nothing like it. I will never convert to all digital. There is just something for me about writing and crossing off things daily on paper. My planner never leaves my side.
I have used a lot of different kinds throughout the years and I am very particular in what I need and want in a planner. I need lots of room to write every day and I need lines. I use to think spiral bound was the only way to go but that was until I finally tried a Passion Planner last year. My biggest hesitation with it was it wasn't spiral bound but I was pleasantly surprised when I got it that it has tons and tons of small pages bound together so that it lays flat...HUGE KEY and a large planner must have.
This is my second year of a Passion Planner and I am not sure I will use anything else again. It has a monthly layout that is large and can be filled up, lots of room to write for the week and day, the days are laid out by the hour which is AWESOME and probably my most favorite thing about the planner for me is the monthly reflections. I didn't think I would like them when I first go it last year but it quickly became my most favorite thing and why I won't go back to anything else. I am a big journaler so this is the best of both worlds combined in one space. It has helped me so much to be able to take time and sit to reflect on the past four weeks each month. It helps me stay on top of goals I am working on, deadlines I have and life perspective on all the things. I literally could go on and on about this. If you are looking for a planner and like the kind of things I do then I I HIGHLY recommend you get this. Even Justin who isn't a huge planner person uses one now (the smaller sized one). There is nothing quite like having a fresh-brand-new-not-written-in-yet planner to dig into in January. This is probably my most favorite of them all!
five: Target A New Day Tunic
I don't need to get onto how great Target is and how you go about wanting 1 thing and leave with 10. That is a known and loved the fact about Tar-jay. I will go on about their new Women's clothing line, A New Day. I have gotten a couple items from them the past 2 months and have loved them all but this tunic is everything! This is what gets me....soft things. Soft, cozy, snuggly, never take it off things. I saw this, thought it was cute (I could wear this for work or dress it up ....SCORE!), went and touched it and I was sold instantly. IT IS SO SOFT! I purchased the grey color immediately. Wore it constantly. Was in Target a couple weeks later. Saw the hunter green color on sale and didn't think twice about coming home with it. End of story.
I have lived in this and love it every time I put it on. It is sold out online but hopefully in a store somewhere still. If you find it grab it!
Let me know what some of your favorite things this month were. Make sure you subscribe to the email list so you will have every food and favorite post sent right to you! Happy January everyone!
Leave a Reply