Nothing fancy, just a list of really great gifts that we’ve given, own, have on our wishlists, or are considering giving to our loved ones. With sales popping left and right this week, my hope is that somewhere in this list, you’ll find something that speaks to a personal connection with one of your loved ones (always the best gifts!) — or will at least get your wheels turning :)
For husbands, dads, and brothers: — A phone tripod he can keep in his wallet (we have and love this!) — An at-home car wash. I did this when John started a new job a few years, and it made his car look mint condition. — The Psychology of Money. A fantastic, compulsively readable book. Would be perfect for any grown-up! — A Solo stove. At least in my circles, this seems to be the gift of 2021, and I’m here for it! — A National Parks Pass + Landmark tee — Red Clay Hot Sauce variety pack. We bought this Southern trio for our hot sauce-loving brother-in-law a few years ago and it was a hit! — A Ted Lasso mug. This would make me so happy to sip from every day, but alas I do not regularly drink a beverage that requires a mug. — A handful of smart plugs to set a scene — A new game — Anything from this post I wrote about John’s wardrobe favorites (so many good things in there!)
For moms, sisters, and best friends: — A sweatshirt for your favorite reader — Or the “anywhere” sweatshirt from my pal Merrick for your wanderlust gal — The best conversation cards (I wrote them! :)) — Half Baked Harvest Super Simple or any cookbook by Jenny Rosenstrach (my favorites: How to Celebrate Everything and The Weekday Vegetarians). Make it extra-special by earmarking recipes you love or think she should try first! — A Write the Word journal and Faith action deck. Most WTW volumes have been out of stock for awhile but as of today they’re almost all back, including two of my favorites: Confidence and Fruit of the Spirit! — These pajama pants are clearly needed by some fabulous person — If you live close enough, a restaurant gift certificate and a night of babysitting, if needed — These serving trays from Rifle are absolutely gorgeous. It was so hard to choose but I have this round blue and white one to keep things corralled on my dresser and I love it so much. — The most darling butter dish. I love the yellow and green palette! — Pretty gold beaded hoop earrings — A subscription to The Atlantic, Our State, or your news media of choice. The media landscape is having a tough time to the detriment of us all – if you think a publication is doing a good job, support them.
For parents or in-laws: Obviously many of the above options would be good fits, but a few additional ideas…
— A Skylight digital photo frame. We gave one of these to my in-laws a few months ago and it has been a hit! So easy – you can send photos straight to it from your phone, so it’s easy for us to send new snaps at the end of a busy weekend or driving home from a hike. — A fresh wreath (coastal or buy one locally and add a bow – these are the ones we use!) — Something beautiful from Farmhouse Pottery. I think the style of their goods is just so timeless and beautiful. Go for a petite pitcher and pair with a jar of maple syrup or splurge on a pantry bowl and pair with a Stonewall Kitchen pancake mix (the best!!). — Floral tea for one set. So lovely and obviously I’m biased because of the name :) — Tickets to go to a game or show together. (For example, my Dad loves the UConn women’s basketball team and for awhile we’d buy him tickets whenever they were playing a team close to where we were living.) — Thymes Frasier Fir candle (absolutely magical) or a National Park-themed candle (whose purchase supports public lands) — A charcuterie board from a local company. In the Triangle, we’re lucky to have both Raleigh Cheesy and Boards & Bites to choose from! — A flexible book light that goes around their neck for easy reading in bed (or repair work, knitting, camping, and more) — A gorgeous pastel rainbow wind chime for their garden — This coffee table book of timeless hymns — A photo mug with the kids or grandkids (yes, they are 30% cheesy, but also beloved) or a photo wall calendar
Lots of fun ideas in last year’s guide, too. And of course, keep in mind that these categories are just starting points – mix and match to your heart’s content! You know your loved ones best!
Up next: Annie’s birth story! Perfect for the week of Thanksgiving :)
If you’re anything like me, your internet life is absolutely awash in gift guides right about now. I have NEVER seen them this early and in such force. Not without reason, but still – I kind of feel I’m drowning in them.
And here’s the thing about gift guides – though I scour them compulsively, 80% of the ideas in most are immediate nos for me. Even in the very best ones, only 50% or so are even worth considering at all.
And yet – I still read them, because sometimes all you need is just one gift that perfectly speaks to your loved one. I hope you find a few of those special things in my gift guides for 2021. Most of the ideas are pulled from items we own and love, have gifted, or have enjoyed at the home of a loved one.
Over the next few weeks, I plan to share a gift guide for your favorite grown-ups, one for stocking stuffers, my personal wish list, and the actual gifts we’re getting our three kiddos this year.
Today: kids!
Gifts for your favorite babies:
I like to keep gifts for babies (and their parents!) simple and practical. My best suggestions are in my “favorites” series – see here for gifts for babies at six weeks, five months, eight months, one year, and fifteen months.
Gifts for your favorite toddlers and preschoolers:
— A big box of colorful Duplos (hugely used by our kids for so many years) — A set of MagnaTiles, because yes, they’re as good as everyone says they are. If you already have a set, add an extension like the cars or the bases. (MagnaTiles and PicassoTiles are interchangeable!) — A sweet felt outer space and planets set — A play kitchen (unsurprisingly, PB has gorgeous ones) + play food (anything Melissa & Doug is perfection!) — A Micro Kickboard scooter. These are hands-down the best scooters – we’ve gifted them to both of our kids around age 2, 3-4 is the sweet spot, and June still enjoys riding hers at almost 6 although she more often rides her Razor, which the grandparents got her. — A sweet princess-inspired dress that’s fun for dress-up but simple enough to wear to school. June has the Aurora! — A mini shopping cart. It makes sense that these are metal because they are absolute magnets for kids of all sizes. — Horse leggings (soooo many cute options from Boden!) — Alice & Ames dresses, because they are the twirliest with the best patterns (this is my favorite print right now!)
— A comfy pillow for her bed so she can cozy up and read (we got this one for June when she started kindergarten!) — A baking set: the prettiest pink baking sheet, a pale blue cutting board, confetti tools, the best baking book, and/or a Liberty of London apron — A flexible book light for reading in bed (this sunshine one is also cute!) — A bold “read more books” pennant for his room (lots more options here!) — This very adorable hand-drawn coloring book — A framed story map from her favorite book (so many amazing options: Hogwarts, Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, the Hundred Acre Wood…) — A bike (we LOVE June’s Priority Start!) — Walkie talkies. I think our kids would be obsessed with these. — A sweet shirt with a sweeter message from a company started by a teen with autism — A Kiwi Co subscription. This is a perfect grandparent gift. June (5, almost 6) looooves her Kiwi boxes and can do them independently. Shep (3) just started receiving the Koala crate and he loves being like big sister. June or a parent needs to help him complete his projects. — A game you can play together: try Cover Your Assets, Ticket to Ride, or Boggle (more ideas here!) — A Highlights magazine subscription — Personalized stationery like this colorful shadow text set or this firetruck set. (June would also LOVE the monogrammed notepad from this same shop.) — Piccolina has the sweetest tees and dresses inspired by trailblazing women — Bike wheel lights. We’ve gifted these to several nieces and nephews and they are always a hit! — This stunning set of The Chronicles of Narnia. Expensive but WOW what a statement (and no better books to splurge on!) — Our favorite type of gift: an experience. Try tickets to a game or show (even a high school musical or college basketball game!); a membership to a museum, zoo, or aquarium; a ride on a local train; a tea + pedicure date; or movie tickets.
Gifts for your favorite teens and babysitters (mostly girls, let’s be honest):
— The happiest mugs — An instax camera with extra film and LED photo string lights (this is what we got our high school babysitters who helped us all spring and summer when school was closed and it was a HIT!) — Or this instax smartphone printer (for a heftier gift!) — A disco ball. We have one of these in the CWM office, and June is OB-sessed. So maybe also a great gift pick for your five-year-old? — A stack of pretty pastel bracelets (June – and I – would also enjoy these! The perfect gift for everyone, ha!) — Maghon’s Happy Hand Lettering book — A paint-your-own keychain kit. We did these at work – so fun! — Or a classic O key ring — A book of Catherine Newman’s life advice for teens (love her writing so much!) — A very cool, very beautiful rainbow basketball — The best socks — A monogrammed toiletry bag like this bold striped one — A Herschel wallet (this is the one John has!) — An Eno hammock — Our favorite type of gift: an experience. Try tickets to a game or show; a creative class; a barre or workout class or membership; a tea + pedicure date; movie tickets; Top Golf; or a jump park.
Whew! I hope that’s helpful! I’ve rounded up a bunch of ideas, but remember, kids don’t need much to be happy – in our family, we’ve actually found that too many gifts can be overwhelming and dull the whole experience. So choose wisely, and with joy – giving our kids good gifts is a really fun part of being a parent! :)
I was doing a little blog organization this week, sketching out the posts I want to share before the end of the year, and it turns out there are 20. (And these are, in my mind, just the must-dos – gift guides, year-end round-ups, major events I want to capture in the same calendar year, etc.) This is not great news, as I average 5-8 posts per month and November and December are busier than usual months, but I’m looking forward to all of them and I am determined!
So – let’s kick things off with a recap of our late summer/early fall visits to Atlanta, specifically the neighborhoods of Decatur and Virginia-Highland! We parked in Atlanta on both ends of our vacation to Florida’s 30A – it was the perfect midway stopping point to break up an epic road trip. On the way down, we stayed in Decatur, a small-ish city outside Atlanta proper, and on the way back up we stayed in Virginia-Highland, a neighborhood near midtown Atlanta.
These were very brief stays – just one night in Decatur and two nights in Virginia-Highland – but they were both an absolute delight! As I wrote about here, we were hoping to go deep instead of wide on these visits. In the past, we’ve found ourselves criss-crossing cities to check off “must visits.” Instead, we wanted to pick a neighborhood, park ourselves there for the day, and leisurely walk from a breakfast spot to a park to an activity to lunch and back to our Airbnb. And that’s exactly what we did! (This was especially helpful after a long car ride for little kids who were eager to stretch their legs.)
I’m happy to share a little peek into our adventures in case it might be helpful for a future trip of your own!
First: Decatur! We left the Triangle on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, and opted to stay with my sister and her family near Charlotte that night to help break up the drive. From Charlotte, it was about a 4.5 hour drive to Decatur; we left early enough to arrive in time for lunch at the Brick Store Pub on the Square. It was a gorgeous day and we were able to eat outside at their cafe tables (they also have a beer garden with more outdoor seating in back!). We didn’t sample any of the beer, but the sandwiches were delicious. Their menu is American with a European twist: I had a chicken salad melt with havarti and marinated tomatoes and John had the turkey sandwich with smoked gouda and peppadews. Yum.
After lunch we drove about five minutes outside of town to pick up our timed tickets for the Fernbank Museum. We were trying to limit our time inside at this point, so we opted to mostly explore the grounds with our crew.
The museum has 75 acres, including walking trails, a canopy walk, and nature playgrounds. It was nice (and again, a beautiful day!) but we are absolutely spoiled by our local Museum of Life and Science and Fernbank fell a little short for us given the ticket price. My favorite part might have been spotting the most ridiculously beautiful home through the woods on one of the walking trails, ha! To be fair it was magical:
We spent about two hours at the museum, and then hopped back in the car to check in at our Airbnb (about a five-minute drive away). As always, John did a phenomenal job scouting our stay – this Airbnb was one of our favorites we’ve ever stayed in! Everything was sparkling clean, there was music playing when we arrived and chocolates to greet us, a cute porch swing, and comfy beds. The only slight drawback was that the driveway was very intimidating – it was long and seemed to rise almost straight into the air, without much room to turn around at the top. But we managed!
After feeding Annie, exploring the house, and freshening up, we drove back into the Square, Decatur’s town center. We chose this Airbnb because it was close enough to walk to the Square, but in the end we opted to drive to dinner because our crew hadn’t napped that day and we felt like a 20-minute walk there and back would be pushing our luck (plus, we’d be in the dark). But if you stay in this Airbnb, you could totally walk! It would be a bit hilly, but would take you through an adorable neighborhood and there are sidewalks on the main road. I snapped a few photos out the car window, thoroughly embarrassing John per usual.
For dinner, we ended up at Leon’s Full Service. We were hoping to eat at No. 246 (an Italian spot next door to Leon’s!) but they didn’t have any availability until 10. At Leon’s, a former gas station, we were seated right away on their outdoor patio. Our food was good, but the menu was a little exotic for even our adventurous eaters. After dinner, we walked across the Square for ice cream at Jeni’s (delicious, as always!). We ate it on the green space in the middle of the Square, which was so neat.
The next morning we picked up bagels from B-Side Bagels for a quick breakfast, again eating them on the Square. Yummy, though we’d try something else if we returned. After that, we hopped back in the car and got on the road to Florida!
You all were so generous to share SO many great Decatur restaurant suggestions, and we wished we had more time to explore them! On our short list for next time: No. 246, Chai Pani, Victory Sandwich, The White Bull, Iberian Pig, and Sweet Melissa’s. They’re all grouped right around the Square and they all looked good.
Up next: probably the first gift guide, then our stay in Watercolor, Florida!
This month, I’m trying something new – assigning an Admin, Analog, and Connect day each week. (Side note: I find it fascinating that I can think so much about household and life management and STILL come up with new ideas I want to try. It kind of feels like I should already have thought of them all, ha!)
You may remember that I use a simple Word doc for my perpetual to do list. This system works well for me, but when I stumble in how I spend my time, it’s usually because there are too many loud, competing priorities and I can’t decide which one to work on, so I work on none. And, I find it hard to switch from one type of task to another – specifically, as lazy as it sounds, once I’ve sat down on the sofa in the evening, it’s hard to get up and do anything else :)
So this is what I’m going to try: on Sunday of each week, I’ll look ahead at our schedule and choose an Admin, an Analog, and a Connect day. (Fridays and Saturdays cannot be assigned, and I should really say I’ll assign an evening, because these boundaries are for the hours between the kids’ bedtime and mine.)
On Admin days, I’ll plow through management tasks – think: placing online orders, booking travel and appointments, updating the budget, or email upkeep.
On Analog days, I’ll do non-computer things, like house repairs or projects, tidying or cleaning, making a new letterboard, arranging a new mantel, writing thank you notes, painting my toenails, working on Halloween costumes or my Advent calendar, reading a magazine or book, and if all else fails… going to bed early (what a concept!).
On Connect days, my schedule will remain open and available for connection with John. We might watch a show or movie, play a game, go for a walk, or just chat. This day was a compromise born out of the fact that I have a dozen pRoJeCtS going on at any one time and he mostly just wants to hang out with me in the evenings, ha. It’s not that we won’t connect on other days, just that this day will be specifically set aside to do so!
There’s more I could say, but I want to try it first! Will most definitely report back if it’s a success :) Here’s to another month of exploration, examining what’s not working, and trying new things.
On my calendar this month: — Making a family gratitude poster. Even though people have been doing these for years, it’s new for our family! Shep and I cut out a bunch of leaves and I put them in a little bowl in the center of our table with a glue stick and marker so it’s easy to each fill one out at dinner every night. Two thumbs up so far! — Sharing gift guides! I have been thinking so much about gifting this year, not in the least because it already feels like we have everything we could ever want, and am excited to share some of these thoughts – and gift ideas, yes! – soon. — Clearing the decks. This is a favorite part of my November holiday prep, and it’s always a breath of fresh air!
What I’m loving right now (media edition!): — Speaking of a breath of fresh air, Bari Weiss’s podcast Honestly definitely qualifies. The description: “The most interesting conversations in American life now happen in private. This show is bringing them out of the closet. Stories no one else is telling and conversations with the most fascinating people in the country, every week from former New York Times and Wall Street Journal journalist Bari Weiss.” I find this to be an interesting, serious, and engaging listen every week. You will surely not agree with everything you hear, but Bari and her guests will leave you thinking (and wanting to continue the conversation with a friend!). — Another podcast rec: John and I listened to two episodes of the Live No Lies mini podcast by John Mark Comer (with David Brooks and Jon Tyson) on our drive home from Black Mountain, and they were fantastic and filled with wisdom. Even if you don’t consider yourself a Christian, I HIGHLY recommend the David Brooks episode. — The new season of the Great British Baking Show is an utter delight. The contestants are just perfectly-pitched and so quintessential GBBS. This is cozy fall and post-partum content at its apex.
You can see all the things I’ve loved in my goal posts over the years right here!
What I read in October: — The Dearly Beloved | Finished it, loved it as much as I thought I would. In fact, I loved it so much I sent copies to two friends who I thought would also enjoy it. — Ignore It! | John likes to tease me that all of the non-fiction books I read could be half as long. I strongly disagree in most cases, but in this one, yes, it probably could have been a tidy PDF or at least fewer than 100 pages. I was hoping she would address two specific issues we’re dealing with, and she didn’t really, but it’s still a worthwhile read if you’re dealing with annoying behaviors in your kids.
A little update on my 2021 reading list: it’s trucking along! So far, I’ve read 14 of the 24 books on the list. It doesn’t seem like I’ll get to all of them before the end of the year, but I hope to finish 7-8 more before December 31st! Next up: Next up: Self Portrait in Black and White and Nobody Will Tell You This But Me.
Revisiting my October goals: Complete the backing for our Advent calendar (The embroidery is *almost* complete – I actually ran out of floss, so Purl is sending me a bit more!) Create our Halloween costumes(Yes! Loved them!) Listen to an upcoming sermon series for a church we’re exploring (We listened to the first of six on our drive home from the mountains! There have been three so far, so this is a partial completion.) Plan and enjoy our Black Mountain trip(Yes! It was really, really wonderful. We had perfect weather and truly so much fun together! Recap coming soon!) Re-introduce our evening Peloton stretch sessions (This was largely a fail, ha. Exercise of any sort is just not a top priority right now!) Find that lumbar pillow(Done! I chose this one.)
As a reminder, many of these are drawn from my 2021 goals!
November goals: — Complete the backing for our Advent calendar: finish embroidering the numbers, sew the pockets, sew the tree — Finish the sermon series — Make gift plans for all the people and execute as much as possible — Edit Sheptember — Embroider shirts for I, J, M, C, and T — Do my November holiday prep (including designing and ordering our Christmas newsletter and card and making a spiritual formation plan for me and the kids) — Begin my 2022 PowerSheets
Let’s discuss: have you tried anything new with household/life management lately? I’d love to hear!
