I hope you guys are having another wonderful week! I hopped on a plane yesterday to head to Asheville, NC for a Type-A Parent Super Summit. Do we have any readers from that area? If so, let me know what to catch in your town! I’m rooming with Kelly from Centsible Life and looking forward to making lots of memories with my friends while hopefully learning how to manage this business better for you. After almost 12 years writing online, this old dog could use a few new tricks!
Before I get started with the happy, I know that this is the season where we are selecting names from trees and giving gifts to those in need. The dollar limit on the names I gathered was $20 for each child. The items listed? A warm coat, shoes, pants, and shirts. How can I deny these kids good coats? $20 wasn’t going to go very far so I actually checked thredUP for my kids this year and I got BEAUTIFUL coats and adorable tops for the amount that I was allowed to spend. If you prefer new items, you can click under Condition and select that option. I opted for barely used so I could get more for my money. If you use this link, it will give you $20 to spend on your first order- that’s about all you would need to help one kid. Consider grabbing an extra name and giving a gift to a child in need this year! I can’t wait to wrap up these beautiful Gymboree coats I scored!
Let’s get to this week’s happy!
Aroma Electric Kettle
We are already almost through our first batch of diy hot cocoa mix for the season. This electric kettle was gifted to me by Celestial Seasonings last year when I visited their headquarters. I honestly had never really considered an electric kettle before and had always been content with the good old-fashioned variety. This kettle is incredible though and makes the hottest water ever in about two seconds. I can see my kids running up to the door, put the kettle on, and have a cup in their hand in a matter of minutes. You can have the water keep warm so when one kid gets off their bus they have cocoa and an hour later, the other kid has a hot mug too.
I really loved this on the world’s most miserable weather day (Halloween) and made myself a tall mug of cocoa after being the world’s best mom and visiting every house in the neighborhood.
Like I said, who knew an electric kettle was so awesome? It’s definitely bringing the happy in our house!
Taco Tuesday (And Other Great Themes)
One monthly membership we splurge on is our Spotify membership. You don’t have to have pay for a membership to enjoy it, but you do have to endure the advertisements (which I didn’t love during our family meals). Regardless of the type of membership you have, I really love to listen to all of the different stations they have assembled for you for every mood you are in. We started taking advantage of all of their Dinner stations to go with our dinners and the kids absolutely love it. For Italian dining, we enjoyed our Italian station, for taco night the Taco Tuesday station was just perfect, and Sundays including A Soothing Supper (it’s good for the soul!).
As a kid, music was very important to my Dad and to me. I played the violin, sang in the choir, and did musical theater so music was such a big part of my life growing up. On occasion my Dad would find a composer or a music that would go along with the theme of the meal. I remember those as such special meals and I really want the kids to have that too.
As I prepared Taco Tuesday on Monday (hey, you can’t have everything!) my daughter came in from her dance classes with my husband and heard the music. In her leotard she started dancing around our kitchen while I made the tacos and it made my heart happy. Music is everything and I love how a little themed dinner music can make our family meals more special.
Eye Makeup Remover Pads That Really Work
I’m still sampling lots of offerings from ePantry for our feature here and I decided to give these Yes to Cucumbers Eye Makeup Remover Pads a spin. I absolutely hate removing eye makeup and my eyes flare up with everything. Waterproof makeup is a real struggle to get off and I usually end up with swollen and achy eyes. These didn’t look like they had a lot of product on them so I was doubtful that they would do a good job. After a night out with particularly gooped up eyes, I gave these a shot and they work like a DREAM! My eye makeup came off with minimal rubbing and my eyes didn’t feel awful after I took the makeup off. These worked even better than my old trick of using baby oil. You must try them- they are so good! This link should give you $20 to spend if you want to give the ePantry thing a try, otherwise I am sure you can find them wherever you shop for your toiletries!
That’s all the happy for this week! If you want to follow me eating my way through Asheville in my stretchiest of pants, you can catch me on Instagram this weekend!
Happy weekend, friends! xoxo
*this post may contain affiliate links- I only recommend what I love though. Check out past editions of It’s the 3 Little Things!
Now it’s your turn! What’s making you happy this week?