Starting out with one of the very best things – coffee! I recently learned about HiLine Coffee and I was totally excited to find this alternative to Nespresso brand capsules. They fit Nespresso machines just as the normal capsules do, but they are recyclable, cheaper than Nespresso brand capsules, and (in mine and Ben’s opinion) taste way better. (That’s right – I brought Ben over to the dark side. Yay coffee!) Since we loved them so much, I reached out to the good people at HiLine to see if they would be willing to share some of their awesome products with my readers. They agreed and provided a generous prize, so please head on over to the giveaway page for a chance to win some HiLine capsules for yourself! And of course, if you don’t have a Nespresso machine yourself, maybe you can give them to a friend who does and then they can share with you :)
My old immersion blender got partially melted in the dishwasher two years ago and somehow I made it through all of last fall/winter (i.e. soup season) without replacing it. Pouring hot soup into the food processor and having it slowly leak out = no bueno. As soon as I started craving soup this year, I vowed to find a replacement before I got cooking. I read tons of reviews, compared so many features, and finally opted for this Cuisinart model. I am so glad I decided to upgrade a bit here. The stainless steel won’t be dishwasher melting anytime soon, and I especially love having the whisk attachment. Now I don’t have to lug out the mixer every time I want fresh whipped cream and this makes it in about 15 seconds. I’ve been on a major roasted tomato soup + grilled cheese kick for the past month, and the blending attachment has been fantastic so far.
A blog reader/internet friend pointed me in the direction of an Etsy jewelry shop OhKuol several months ago and I’ve been eyeing their beautiful pieces ever since. The day after I got my boards results, I had a mini Etsy shopping spree and bought a few pieces of jewelry from this shop. I love everything I bought but I think these grey druzy earrings are my favorite of all. Every time I wear them they get lots of compliments. The shimmery sparkle of druzy stones is just hard to beat, and I kind of want them in every color.
Okay, so this lip balm. I am so excited about it that when I first tried it out a couple of months ago, I wanted to do a “things i’m loving” post right then just so I could tell you about it. But then I’m like, “Annie. It’s just lip balm. Settle down.” Two months later, I still love it so…it’s time to share. I used to be big fan of the Philosophy lip shines, although the flavors could be hit or miss. It seems maybe they are steering away from selling those individually and I’m not about to buy a big gift set just for lip gloss, so I started looking at other options. This Sugar Fresh lip balm had some of the highest ratings and tons of positive reviews so I decided to give it a try. I’m sold. I don’t like lipstick, lip liner, etc. so this is perfect for me. It is moisturizing, has a clean fresh scent (but not much taste), feels light and adds a hint of color without being too much. I have a feeling I’ll be adding one of these to every Sephora purchase until I have most of the shades.
Because I am a super cool and exciting person, the highlight of my day earlier this week was when the pair of slippers I had ordered finally arrived. I’ve had my eye on these printed slippers from Boden for quite some time. I don’t really do black Friday shopping (::shudders::) but I did snag these online from the comfort of my own home. My eternally ice cold feet have been remedied. Comfy, cute, and I love them.
After I finished my boards, I finally was able to do some fun reading for the first time in months. I had come across this book, The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg on NPR Books and decided to give it a try. I didn’t know what to expect but this was a very twisted suspense/mystery that kept me up late many nights racing to find out how it would end. It reminded me a lot of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I also loved (well, in whatever way you can love a book about a rather gruesome crime, I suppose) and this is also set in Sweden. Only after I finished this did I learn it was one in an ongoing series. I will definitely be reading more from this line of books.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova- oh, what to say about this book? It tells the story of Alice, a professor at Harvard who begins experiencing odd lapses in memory and is eventually diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. This story is many things – heart-wrenching, terrifying, bittersweet. And though I certainly wouldn’t classify it as happy in any sense, it is still a book I would recommend to anyone and everyone. Even though it isn’t a pleasant thing to think about or imagine, it certainly lends a perspective that everyone could benefit from pondering a bit.
Knitting-wise, I’ve been up to all sorts of things lately and have really loved all the projects I’ve completed recently. Of them all, I think these baby leg warmers I made for Caroline have been my favorite. I mean seriously, I’m already obsessed with her cute little toes and add the fun colored stripes on the chubby toddler legs? It’s just too much cute. I posted this photo on Facebook when I finished them and a few friends quickly requested that I make their babies each a pair as well. I’m going to be starting those pairs soon and can’t wait to see more of them on even more cute baby legs! For anyone who is a beginning knitter, this is a super simple and easy project, made even easier with this self-striping yarn from Knit Picks. And if you’ve never knitted with double-pointed needles (DPNs) before, this is a good reason to try them out. Really, they are not complicated and they only take a few days to make – promise!
Lastly, next week my oven is going into overdrive and I’ll be all about the holiday baking. I have a feeling I’ll be using some of these awesome free printables from Paper Crave and to jazz up my Garnish packaging. My favorite time of year!
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with any of the products or companies mentioned above, and they don’t even know I’m writing about them (except for HiLine, because I asked them to share the love with my readers.) I’m just sharing things I love with you, because I love them!
