I don’t know about you, but I am happy to say goodbye to January and get going with the rest of 2021. This month has been a doozy for our family (Click here for our COVID experience) and I’m pretty much ready for Spring. Heck, I’m already ready for summer for that matter (yesterday I was looking at summer pool memberships). Anyone else?
I thought I would create this post with a bit of a life-update and also share my current favorites, becuase it’s been awhile since I’ve done a “Friday Favorites” post. These are some of my favorite posts to write (although they take forever) because, minimalist or not, I still really love sharing favorite products with my followers!
Thank you for shopping through my links! Some of them are affiliate links, so I might get a small commission at no extra cost to you!
Family Addition
My first favorite may be a surprise (it certainly surprises me) but we have had such an incredible experience with our Bernedoodle, Elphie! I didn’t know much about the breed but she has exceeded our expectations. She is really calm and mellow for a doodle and she sheds less than me….really! She is just really sweet and the perfect addition to our family. We brought her home last March and it has made our year so much more joyful. The kids adore her! I’m so glad we got to surprise them with a puppy. Here are some of my recs for puppy essentials!
Kitchen Stuff
This year we haven’t added much to our kitchen which totally makes me happy! However, we have had our Air Fryer/Toaster Oven combo for a year now and really love it. The best part about it was that it replaced our microwave and does SO much more than a microwave ever could. I honestly haven’t even scratched the surface of what it can do, but I love the convenience and speed. You also aren’t heating up the whole kitchen!
Another nice upgrade from this year, is switching to Duralex Picardie for all of our glassware. I love these glasses! None of them have chipped or cracked and we are pretty rough on them. They feel great in your hand, can handle hot beverages, are dishwasher and microwave safe and best of all are LEAD FREE! Here’s my video review for more specifics. Did I mention they are stackable?
Early this year my coffeemaker died and we replaced it with this Cuisinart 14 Cup Brew Central , I’ve been really happy with it. We got ours from Costco, but there are similar models on Amazon. One of the features I was looking for (and couldn’t seem to find) was the ability to set the coffeemaker ahead of time but TURN OFF the beep function because it kept waking up my son! This is the only coffeemaker I have found where you can turn off the sound. It also makes good coffee and has all the features I wanted (programmable, large capacity, auto shut off) and looks great on our cart.
The last kitchen item we added was this Trinity Kitchen Cart that we made into a beverage station, also from Costco (have I mentioned how much we love Costco). Our exact cart seems to be OOS, but here is a similar model from Amazon. We have still loved our Alexapure water filter and recently replaced the filters with Berkey brand replacements. I’m happy to share that they work perfectly, so this was a more affordable way for us to get Berkey-quality water at a discounted price! (When I bought my Alexapure, it was about $100 on Amazon. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen it discounted recently).
I can’t wrap up the kitchen topic without mentioning some of the things I *still* love even after owning them for years! My Instant Pots still get used nearly daily! If you haven’t quite gotten into using yours, just push through the intimidation and I really think you will love it!
I guess the next category is one that gets used in our kitchen a ton also, so it’s time to talk about…
Cleaning
It’s been awesome to have a cleaning product I can trust without worrying about toxins, respiratory risk, or low stock. I still use Force of Nature all over my home and I absolutely love it. I also use it in my preschool classroom. Right now, you can save BIG on Force of Nature’s Extra Value Bundle, just click here and use coupon code BUNDLEUP30.
Along with Force of Nature, I absolutely love ecloth for all of my cleaning ALL over my home. Here’s my video review where I talk about some of my favorite ecloth products. This is probably a whole post on its own, but some of my favorite items are the Home Cleaning Set, the Mini Mop, the Cleaning Pad, the Kitchen Dynamo, and the Window Genie.
Finally, I have upgraded my spray bottles to these Flairosol bottles and I LOVE them. They spray a nice even light mist and they look so much nicer than any I have owned in the past. The mist is so fine that I really don’t have to wipe up the droplets which is nice for disinfecting with Force of Nature.
It’s nice to NEVER have to pick up cleaning items at the store, because the above items cover all of our cleaning needs!
Closet
This year has been my first year to try Stitch Fix. I’ve really had fun with it and found some pieces I really love! I signed up for the Style Pass, so I don’t have to pay for my boxes for the rest of the year and I have racked up tons of referral credit which means FREE CLOTHES. If you are interested in trying Stitch Fix for the first time, my friend has a $75 credit that should work for another day or so. If you want to check out some of the clothes I’ve gotten from Stitch Fix, I have a playlist on my channel with some of my unboxings + try ons. Of course, thrifting is still my main jam, so if you are interested in some of my Thrifted Finds, click here!Oh yes, and if you haven’t checked out my post on the Magical Barefoot Dreams Knock-off sweaters, I wear them ALL the time. SOOO COMFY and comfy is my holy grail when it comes to clothing.
Shoes
Not much to share here, but I still wear Fitflops 90% of the time, unless I am home when I wear Oofos clogs (too ugly for the real world). This combo seems to be the best for my picky feet. When I am cold or going out in the cold, I still wear my Uggs. No one can stop me. I don’t care.
Purse
I never thought I would stick with one brand and style of Purse, but here I am years later, still wearing my Sash bags every day, every where. I haven’t looked at any other purse since I first tried them, I could not possibly love them more. This is one of my favorite products of all time, so if you haven’t checked out the Sash Bag, you are missing out, for real. Want more details? Check out this video review or this one!
Makeup & Hair
When I started watching my own YouTube channel, I realized it was time to get some new Makeup. I’ve kept my collection pretty minimal, but I have found a few new products that I have LOVED.
I found a whole line of minimal makeup called Subtl Beauty. It’s really amazing and I absolutely love the design of it, so easy to travel or grab and go. The quality is excellent and it blends beautifully!
The rest of the time, I still wear Bare Minerals because it’s just so dang easy for someone who isn’t necessarily gifted at applying makeup (I’m just not interested in spending more than a couple minutes on my face).
This year’s favorite lip gloss is this natural shade by Pacifica.
I’m really excited to have found a mascara that doesn’t irritate my EXTREMELY sensitive eyes, and that is Physicians Formula Organic Wear Natural Origin Mascara. The coverage is just ok, but my eyes can tolerate it, so that’s a win!
For hair, I’ve become completely obsessed with the Revlon One Step Dryer & Volumizer. I only wash my hair about once a week, then let it mostly air dry, then dry it with the Revlon Dryer. I love it so much I got rid of my regular hair dryer! The rest of the week, I just style it with a little bit of Batiste Dry Shampoo (this is basically my only toxic indulgence at this point…if you have a natural alternative please let me know. Not cocoa powder with cornstarch. Nuh uh.). Also, my friend introduced me to Large Hairpins (weird that these make me happy but they are SO much easier and more comfortable), so that’s what I use for styling my hair up.
Looks like this is going to be followed up with Part 2, because I’m not done sharing my favorites!