Hello, my dear friends!! I'm back to talk favorites! Today, I'm bringing you a few of the things I'm loving these days.....a random collection of items (although they seem to have a Christmas theme among them today!) that I've tried and love! Hopefully these are things that you can enjoy too (or perhaps you already do)!
First up, coffee.
Um, have you tried Starbucks' new Chestnut Praline Latte??? It is YUMMO! I think we might be in a test market for it, but if they have it where you are, you might want to give it a try! I like it because it's not so crazy sweet as some of the other holiday drinks, and yet it's still sweet and delicious and oh-so-holiday-ish. Try it. Let me know if you like it! :) It's my new favorite holiday drink!
Also, I'm hoping that if I talk about it enough, maybe enough people will go try it and like it, Starbucks will put it on the holiday menu permanently! Haha!
Ahhh.....it's the perfect drink for Christmas shopping, to get you in the holiday spirit, or just to start your day with! You can even get it in decaf (just as yummy) and of course, with your choice of milk. 2% for me, thank you. :)
Hallmark holiday movies! Oh my gosh, these make my list of favorites every year, but I have quite a few good ones to share with you this year! Some of them, I've shared before, and some are new this year, but if you haven't seen them, set your DVR to record them all, and then watch at your leisure!
I loooooove playing these movies in the background while I'm working in the studio!! Although, I have a very strict rule. The FIRST time I watch a new one, I have to actually WATCH it. THEN, and only then, I can play them in the background while I'm working! Otherwise, I get too distracted by the movie, and want to see what's happening! Haha. Once I've watched it for the first time, then it becomes a happy sound in the background and I can listen much easier. :)
Here's a link to Hallmark Channel's complete schedule! (Click "more" next to each movie, to see all the dates it's playing.)
The first two movies on my list are new ones just this year, that I love! I have already watched them both like 5 times each! Haha. They're good and not ridiculously cheesy! Watch them and let me know what you think!
A Bride For Christmas
A Holiday Engagement
A Princess For Christmas
An Old-Fashioned Christmas
Baby's First Christmas
Catch a Christmas Star
Christmas Song
Debbie Macomber's Trading Christmas
Hitched For the Holidays
Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade
Pete's Christmas
The Thanksgiving House
As for all the others on the list, they are mostly movies from previous years that I look forward to each year. There are also a couple more that we recorded over the weekend, that I haven't watched yet (first time rule and all that!) but am quite looking forward to -- Window Wonderland and Fir Crazy! Hopefully they'll be new favorites to add to the list too!
Here's another I've shared with you in the past -- Garrett's Popcorn!! Oh. my. gosh. SOOOO good. I wanted to share it again though, because they just sent me an email the other day with a promo code for discounted shipping now through Christmas Eve, so I thought I'd pass that on to you! This popcorn isn't cheap, so any discount I get on it, I'm happy about! Haha. This makes a GREAT gift for anyone, including those guys that you just don't know what else to get. We have some pretty famous popcorn here in Kansas City that I have to say doesn't hold a candle to Garrett's!
Our favorites are the Cashew Caramel Crunch and the Cheese, but they've got quite a few flavors to choose from!
Try it! You won't be sorry! (And if you're heading to Chicago any time soon, you can also head to one of the Garrett's popcorn shops in town!)
Next up, my water bottle! This is another item that might make a great Christmas gift for someone on your list. I got it at Target and have loved it! You can't see it in the photo, but it holds 32 ounces and is marked on the side of the bottle at 8, 16, 24 and 32 oz. and also includes the ml. measurements. If you're like me and don't always remember to drink enough water during the day, then this is just the ticket! I take it with me in the studio and when I leave the house! I wanted a big bottle, but they did have quite a few in smaller sizes too. I like that I can close the mouth-piece on it. I like the handle -- makes it easy to carry with me. I like that I can even bring it in the studio and not have to worry about dumping my water all over my desk. I also like that it's a great price!
I will tell you that it is slightly too big for the cup holders in the console of my SUV, but it fits snuggly in the cup holder in the door.
One more before I go......I've told you (probably more than once!) how much I love orchids. Did you know that you can get them at Trader Joe's? They have them in a variety of sizes and colors, starting at $8.99! They make LOVELY hostess gifts....just something to take along to your hostess when you've been invited to....say.....a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner! Haha! They're awesome for teachers and for welcoming new neighbors to the neighborhood! They'd make a lovely Christmas gift for a friend or co-worker.
The nice thing about them, is that you just have to remember to give them three ice cubes, once each week! Easy peasy. And the best part is, they'll usually last at least a month or two, before they go dormant or whatever it is they do when the flowers fall off. Haha.....we have 3 of them in our bathroom....waiting for them to bloom again at some point. We have a great system going. We buy one, enjoy it for a couple months until the blooms fall off, move it up to the bathroom (lovely skylight there) and get a new one for the kitchen table and start the process all over again! lol. Hopefully at some point next year, the ones upstairs will start blooming again and will be moved back downstairs for us to enjoy until the blooms fall off and then they'll move back upstairs again. Haaaa! I'm a tad skeptical, but we'll see. Regardless, we keep one on our kitchen table all the time these days and they're just so lovely to walk in the room and see! A perfect spot of color as we're heading into winter.
In case you missed them, you can see all of my previous FAVORITE THINGS posts here!
All righty, that's if for me today, but I hope you've enjoyed this installment of My Favorite Things! Have you tried any of these? What did you think? Is there some other fabulous product that you're loving? Share it in the comments section so we can all check it out!
xo,
