In which I show you some of my favorite things
Posted by Isabel on January 10th, 2012For the last two Christmas’ I’ve attended a “Favorite Things” gift exchange with some of the ladies from church. This gift exchange works a little differently than others I’ve attended in the past. The assignment is to pick one of your very favorite things (priced $5-$8) and bring three of them to the party. You get a turn to stand up and explain why what you brought is one of your favorite things. Names are drawn out of a hat and in the end you go home with three things that are others favorites.

Last Christmas I brought three different lip glosses from Sephora. While I love lip gloss, that wasn’t technically my favorite thing. I explained that my favorite thing was the little black and white Sephora bag. Just seeing one of them makes me giddy because you just know whatever is in inside is magical.

This Christmas I brought three pairs of silver hoop earrings. I love hoop earrings so very much. And not the little ones that barley fit around your ear lobe, I’m taking the bigger JLo style hoops. I’d bet that I’ve worn hoops 95% of the time in the last five years. I don’t know how my love affair with hoop earrings started but I know it’s true love and it runs very deep. (The top picture is of JLo. That’s me below.) (You know, in case you got confused.)

Last year I went home with bubble bath, fancy dish soap and a romantic comedy. This Christmas I went home with a huge thing of hot chocolate mix, a bag of Seattle Chocolates and some chocolate covered Oreos. Most people didn’t bring food items, so it was kinda of off that I ended up taking home so much food. (I’m not complaining!) Other things people got were soap, lotion, pie filling, washcloth, socks, and even salad dressing!
I’ve been thinking about what I’s pick if asked what my favorite things are, sans $5-$8 price limit. While I try to not be super materialistic I do own some things that I love so very much and feel they are worth every penny spent on them. I don’t have a lot of disposable income to spend on myself so what I have I cherish.
We’re not at a party and I don’t intend on buying three of these things to share, but here are some of my favorite things and the reasons behind them.

While saying that “boots” are my favorite thing is a little too general I have a few pairs that I especially love.
Last winter The King was at the REI “basement” looking around. (The “basement” is where you can go and buy returned items at a discounted price. REI has a Lifetime Guarantee on everything they sell. Because of this they get a lot of returns. Your kid grows out of his shoes, take them back. You bought your gear to climb Mt. Rainier but don’t plan on doing that again, take the stuff back!) While checking out the shoe section he came across some brown Merrell Tetra boots in my size that were marked about 75% off their retail price. Naturally he bought them for me. They needed a new insole and after contacting Merrell directly they mailed me one. At no cost! This winter The King found another pair of the same boot (in black!), again in my size, again marked WAY below retail. Being a super good husband, he bought me the black pair as well. These boots are great because not only are they functional (totally waterproof and comfortable) but they look good with pants, skirts and dresses. I love them so very, very much.

My other favorite boots are my pair of Aerosoles Gather Round boot in camel (faux) suede. I bought these at the end of season years ago and at first I wasn’t sure they’d go with too many things. But then I saw a picture of Heidi Klum in a maternity dress (I was pregnant with Rerun at the time) wearing a gray dress with camel boots. I figured if Heidi Klum could do it, then so could I. I’ve been rocking my camel boots with jeans, skirts and dresses ever since.

For this last Christmas’ party I waffled between taking hoop earrings or Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer (in Watermelon!). The hoop earrings won, but only by a hair. I’ve lost count at how many tubes of this I’ve gone through. I used to use my Border’s 40% off coupons to buy these. I was super sad to see Border’s go out of business because now I’ll have to pay full price for my Burt’s Bee addiction.

I love saving money, bringing my lunch to work every day and pizza. Put that together and you’ve got the Safeway Eating Right brand frozen pizzas. They cost $2 and are yummy, yummy, yummy. I eat one for lunch 98% of the time. I prefer the pepperoni or four cheese.

No matter how many times I’ve seen it before watching an episode of “Arrested Development” cracks me up. The only bad thing about this show is I can never decide who I like more; George Michael, Michael or Gob.

Right before I got knocked up with Rerun my bestest friend May told me about her love of the Old Navy roll over knit skirts. She told me she had one in every color and suggested I do the same. I bought a black and gray one and they got me through my entire pregnancy. I didn’t buy the maternity version because I knew I’d be able to wear the non-maternity ones when I was pregnant and then keep wearing them after I gave birth. I’m still wearing them. They look just as good in the summer with flip-flops as they do in the winter with boots. The King bought me a new brown one this Christmas to complete my set. (But get this, I don’t have one single top to go with the brown skirt. FOR REALS!)

The King and Babboo surprised me and bought me a Lulu Lemon hoodie (in black!) for Mothers Day a few years back. This is a splurge that I would have never bought myself and yet I love it so much. It’s so thick and soft and cozy and every time I put it on I think to myself “this is so worth $100!” (There is a Lulu Lemon outlet on the way to Canada that we always stop at. Their hoodies are much cheaper there and I was able to get a purple one last year. The King has some too.)

I knew I didn’t want to take my Coach purse (bought at the outlet) on our trip to Europe this summer. After much research I decided the Harriet bag from Timbuk2 (in black!) would be the perfect fit for my needs. The straps are adjustable and it even has a hidden zipper at the bottom to expand it. It’s so perfect in fact that I’m still using it while my pretty Coach bag sits alone in my closet. (I noticed last night that some of the stitching on my Harriet bag is coming undone. Timbuk2 has a lifetime guarantee and I hope they’ll be able to fix my bag. I sent them a request and pictures this morning. Cross your fingers. I’d hate to have to stop using my Harriet!)
I know a lot of people found fancy new iPads and iPhones under their trees this Christmas, but not me. I’m still rocking my iPod classic (in black!). I bought it probably six years ago with a bonus from work. So what if now it looks antiquated and nerdy, it’s full of my glorious music and I love it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I was gifted a subscription to “Sunset” magazine by a close friend who is a big fan of the magazine. It’s full of fancy recipes and local insights. The King and I have been converted and not a week goes by that we don’t make a couple of “Sunset” meals for dinner. (The King got a “Sunset” cookbook for Christmas. LET THE COOKING BEGIN!)

I recently bought myself a Book or Mormon study guide to use alongside my daily scripture reading. Using it has helped prompt me to new thoughts and revelations. I started using it towards the end of reading the Book of Mormon. I look forward to starting from the front once I’m done with this reading.

I teased The King about the Moleskin planner he used for years. (NERD!) That is until he bought me my own last year. It didn’t take long for me to realize how awesome it was. My MIL gave me a pen loop (in pink!) for Christmas which I promptly put on my planner. It made this perfect planner even more perfect.

And last, but not least, Sally Hansen’s Super Shine Top Coat has been true and faithful to me since I started using it ten years ago. It continues to make my nails look pretty. While I love OPI for colors, I also use Sally Hansen’s for my top coat.
Would any of these things be on your list of favorite things? I’d love to read posts from you guys about what your favorite things are. I’m always looking for new things to love.
So tell me, what are some of your favorite things?



