And you get a Favorite Things list, and YOU get a Favorite Things list…

TODAY’S BREW: Peppermint Mocha made at home so Not That Good Peppermint Mocha

By Julie 

I WANT TO MAKE A LIST OF THINGS I WISH I COULD GIVE TO EVERYONE SO HERE WE GO. Granted, I could make 100 of these lists, but these are the ones I can think of right now, so go. Because you have gifts to get, and the majority of this stuff will be totally cheap because I am cheap. Not like that. Creeps.

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1. Star Wars Galactic Dice. This game is small, so you can keep it next to you to play spontaneously for quality time when your kids look at you and say they have nothing to do. It’s totally fun, there’s math so learning, and if you’re awesome you can get the R2D2 tin. Best thing ever.
2. Thirty-One Double Duty Caddy. I have approximately 749 different Thirty-One bags around my house because they are endlessly useful, super cute, and really sturdy. They hold all my things. Files, books, severed heads, art supplies, animal supplies, animal art supplies, school supplies, small toys with nowhere else to go, big toys with nowhere else to go, socks, makeup and stuff… They’re a good spot for throwing all your stuff at the end of the day, like keys, pocket pickins’, your phone, gloves, all that stuff.
3. Folger’s Simply Gourmet Coffee. Folger’s is not just your elderly great-aunt’s coffee anymore! As one who is endlessly seeking the just-standard-enough coffee to be delicious but not fancy pants, for everyday use, I was totally blown away by the Folger’s gourmet line. Even the bags are pretty. It’s insane. Sorry, there is no Chock Full o’ Nuts coffee I can recommend still. That’s still your chain-smoking uncle’s coffee.
4. Burt’s Bees Lip Crayons. Oh my god, I’m so pretty in this it’s ridiculous. These things have great color, they’re hydrating, and I can’t live without Redwood Forest. They’re the perfect lipstick/balm.
5. Brave Soldier Anything Ever. But particularly the antiseptic healing ointment. We are constantly hurting ourselves or having surgery or something, and this stuff heals you instantly basically and takes away all your pain, except the emotional damage. Nothing helps that, not even time.
6. St. Ives Coconut & Coffee Scrub. This shit saves my life daily. I cannot explain what it does, but there’s magic involved. A friend told me it literally takes a layer of skin off your face, but my argument is that this was a used layer of skin anyway. Do yourself a favor, man, woman or beast, use this stuff.
7. THE LANGUAGE OF THORNS by Leigh Bardugo. If you read anything from fairy tales to cereal boxes, you’re getting this book for Christmas. If you go to a Barnes & Noble store, you can probably score yourself a signed copy. It’s the most stunning collection of short stories/original fairy tales that I’ve ever seen or read. Reading them out loud to my oldest son every night now. And it smells so good. And don’t try to touch my copy.
8. Woot.com Nutcracker Crapvent. I adore Woot.com because of these things: A) Daily Tees. $8-11 t-shirts that are awesome. B) The Derby. They host a themed t-shirt contest a couple of times a month or so, and artists submit art for tees. You can vote for as many as you want, and hopefully they’ll get made and sold for the Daily Tee.  C) Daily Deals. On all kinds of weird crap. (see also the Nutcracker Crapvent.)
9. The Raskog. This 3 tier rolling cart is not just a charming Swedish product–it is a way of life. I don’t know how I evened before the Raskog. I sing it songs. “Julieeee does like it/ build the Raskog/ build the Raskog.” My entire workstation is now mobile. It is covered in magnets, and bins and hanging folders, all kinds of clever little ways to dress the sucker up so that you never have to find anything again. I have two now. I want 5.
10. Piece of Cake cupcakes. This place doesn’t get the attention it deserves because the delightful Cupcake Charlie’s is basically across the street. But while the selection and the cute-itude of Cupcake Charlie’s is fantastic, I like the actual cupcakes at Piece of Cake far more. Not to mention that it’s a little delicate sort of tea shop and just soothing and charming.
11. Cupcake Charlie’s. So, this place. It has incredible cupcakes with frosting that might make your teeth fall out? But so what. And the shop has a Willy Wonka-ness about it that’s just so much fun, and we love hanging out there at the little outdoor tables.
12. Konditor Meister Since this whole thing is about cake now, this is the only cake shop I would actually travel to just to get a damn cake. We’re talking the awful exit where you have to cross three lanes of traffic in .5 seconds and will most certainly sit in traffic on the way home for 45 minutes. But this place. This cake.
13. Artsonia Kids Art Gift Shop. FINALLY, kids’ art products made cool. You can get your kid’s artwork made into jewelry that has interchangeable snaps to feature whatever artwork you want. You can become fans of specific kids’ artwork, so it gives them great encouragement and 20% of sales go to the child’s school art program. I love this place.

OKAY, I think that’s enough for now. We can resume with all the stuff I love another time, but until then order from these places and be happy.