Today is the fifth installment of an ongoing post series, What I’m Loving (June edition, July edition, August edition, September edition), where I share what I’ve been loving lately in the following categories: Food and Drink, Makeup and Beauty, Home Décor and Products, Entertainment (TV, Music, Books, Internet), Clothing and Accessories, and Priceless. Let’s get started!
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Food and Drink
- Homemade London Fogs- Half a mug of steeped Tazo Earl Grey tea, half a mug of steamed and frothed milk (I use an Aerolatte), and a tablespoon more/less of vanilla syrup. It is so good. The perfect fall pick-me-up!
- Caramel apples- Our grocery store makes fresh caramel apples, and I buy one (or 30) every time I shop. They are so delicious and crisp and perfect! Yum.
- Lindt Intense Orange chocolate– This chocolate bar is the best. It’s delectable and rich and I love the orange undertones and almond pieces throughout. If you like orange and chocolate together, you’ll love it.
- Homemade chocolate chip cookies- No explanation necessary. I just pulled a giant chocolate chip cookie skillet cookie out of the oven 10 minutes ago for small group tonight–our house smells heavenly! (Wow, the month of healthy food this is not!)
Makeup and Beauty
- Tree Hut Shea Sugar Scrub in Almond & Honey– I’ve shared this before, but it’s so good that it’s worth mentioning again. I use it on my legs before I shave them, and the hair grows back significantly slower. I hate shaving, so this is a big plus for me. It also smells heavenly!
- Burt’s Bees chapstick– I’ve loved Burt’s Bees chapstick for years and years. The original is great, but I recently picked up a special “Mint Cocoa” seasonal flavor (scent?) at Cracker Barrel (weird) and it smells like peppermint hot chocolate. I love it!
- MUJI Soft Cut Cotton Unbleached Squares– After hearing from so many bloggers and beauty gurus rave that Japanese cotton squares are top-top notch, I ordered these on Amazon. They are so soft. I use cotton squares to remove mascara and tone my face, and there is a noticeable difference in how these feel versus how the cotton squares I usually buy from the grocery store feel. At around $7 for 180 of them, they’re not even much of a splurge. I highly, highly recommend these.
Home Décor and Products
- My new planner– I shared in this post how and why I created my own planner; I’ve been using it for a couple of months and it suits my needs perfectly. If you can’t find a planner that organizes what you need it to organize, you should totally make your own, too!
- Riley’s Bose headphones– Riley hoarded Amazon gift cards last year and bought these headphones. When he’s not using them, I love to borrow them. They’re cordless and the sound quality is fantastic, making getting things done while listening to podcasts or music super easy.
- Charley’s squirrel toy– Okay, this is the cutest toy ever, ever, ever. We gave it to Charley in late September for his third birthday, and he has taken to the three little squirrels like they’re his children. It’s adorable to watch him carry them around with him all day. The toy comes in a variety of styles, and they’re all precious. If you have a dog, get him this for the holidays! 😉
- Mrs. Meyer’s laundry detergent– Since I’ve gotten into essential oils, I’ve been more averse to strong synthetic fragrances and have been “turning them down,” so to speak, around the house. I switched from Tide to Mrs. Meyers Lavender, and I really like it. It has a light lavender scent (which is still synthetic, for the record), but once washed and dried, clothes only smell a little, nothing like the super-strong scent of Tide. I’d love to find an even better option, but it’s hard for me to justify spending a lot of money on laundry detergent, you know? I’ve heard good things about soap nuts and the like, but they’re so weird that I don’t know if I can make the leap!
Entertainment (TV, Music, Books, Internet)
- Jane the Virgin– One of my friends suggested this show, and it’s really lovable and funny. The main character, Jane, is a virgin (clearly), when she gets accidentally inseminated by her doctor and becomes pregnant. The show takes place in Miami and is structured like a telenovela–every character is over-the-top, the plot is ridiculously layered and highly dramatic, but all in a quirky, almost satirical way. Plus, there’s a lot of Spanish-speaking in the show, which is a great, fun way for me to brush up. (I studied in Spain 4.5 years ago!) I like it a lot!
- For the Love– I read this book in two days and laughed/cried my way all the way through it. Jen Hatmaker is a fantastic writer–you will not be disappointed! The book is a series of essays on different topics, all around the central theme, “fighting for grace in a world of impossible standards,” which is the book’s tagline. In the midst of all the election ugly (#sooverit), the words in this book were like a warm hug.
Clothing and Accessories
- I don’t think I bought any new clothing or accessories in the past month, so I don’t have anything to share here! 🙂
Priceless
- Sunset walks- The sun is setting earlier and earlier (boo!), and it’s made for some gorgeous after-dinner walks. We love taking Charley and walking around our neighborhood for 45 minutes-an hour each evening. The weather is beautiful, the wind is breezy, and it’s such a nice time to decompress and chat.
- Neighborhood kids- We have the cutest kids in our neighborhood! I love driving by their basketball games, trampoline-jumping parties, and sidewalk chalk coloring. They make my heart so joyful and I love that they always make a point to say hi and pet Charley when we’re taking a walk. So darn adorable!
- Evenings on the couch- We are obsessed with the sectional in our den; it’s affectionately referred to as “dream couch,” and we love lounging on it with cozy blankets for a while each night. Sometimes we’ll sip hot tea or coffee and chat, sometimes we’ll both work on our laptops, sometimes we’ll watch a TV show or movie. Whatever we’re doing, it’s really cozy to curl up with Riley and Charley and relax.
// That’s what I’ve been loving lately! What about you?
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Related: What I’m Loving (June 2016) & What I’m Loving (July 2016) & What I’m Loving (August 2016) & What I’m Loving (September 2016)
Speaking of laundry detergent (and cleaning products), I have just switched to a natural, lavender-based detergent too called “Mrs Whites” – not sure if you can buy it in the US, but I took the leap here in the UK from my usual £6 bottle of Persil to this much more expensive detergent: http://www.roullierwhite.com/mrs-whites—laundry-maid-machine-wash-1000ml-1670-p.asp … I’ve run a few washes with it, and like yours, it leaves behind a subtle lavender smell. I think it’s fab, but am not sure if I can justify the price tag to buy it regularly!
This month I have discovered Herbivore coconut bath salts (made in the US) – it contains just a few ingredients and leaves my skin feeling baby soft after a long soak in the bath.
And candles! I can’t get enough of them! I love the Ecoya soya candles from Australia (French pear) and have just discovered Woodlot’s candles (from Vancouver).
Your post about your new planner inspired me to go on the hunt for a new planner myself! This month I ordered a monthly (undated) planner from Danish brand Kartotek, and the matching weekly tear-off planner, and I am in love with both! They fit my needs perfectly.
Jane the Virgin comes back tonight!!!!!!!!! I binged the whole thing last month and every episode leaves me in tears or cracking up and sometimes both. It might be the best show currently on TV!
I always look forward to these monthly lists!! So much fun. I just had a London Fog the other day for the first time, but have never made one at home! Would you ever consider putting together a quick tutorial? 😉
I watched your cleaning routine videos last night and been thinking about what you said about making your own cleaning supplies, and now this post about laundry detergent. Have you ever heard of Melaleuca?I think you’d love it, I do! I’m the same way – prefer the natural way, the less chemicals the better. It’s online, affordable, and safe. There’s a whole variety from cleaning solutions, detergent, dish soap, shampoo/conditioner, acne treatment, toothpaste to even food, breath mints, vitamins, make up, candles, etc. Best part is it’s all natural and non-toxic. My baby niece accidentally got into my sister’s concentrated bathroom cleaner and drank it..the company assured her it was as safe as water, and she never even got a tummyache. My sister got my mom hooked when she wrote with a sharpie on her granite countertops, scaring her half to death, then it completely went away with “Sol-U-Mel” (one of their cleaners). You should totally check it out! Thanks for your post, I’m addicted!!
Have you considered making your own laundry soap? I have a recipe that I got from my future mother-in-law that uses baking soda and Zote soap among other things. It’s mostly older brands that existed before all the chemicals and it lasts me for a long time! It does use Purex crystals though, which you may not like but those are just for scent purposes. I’m sure you could use essential oils or something else. 🙂 there are also tones of recipes on Pinterest 😉
Also, I hope you’re doing a future post on all the cleaning supplies you make. I’d love to see how you do it/get a few recipes! I’m moving toward that direction myself although I like Mrs. Meyer’s cleaning supplies. Every ingredient is at least 85(?)% biodegradable and it’s all natural ingredients. They even have explanations of why they use each ingredient on their website!