Just popping in to share a few things that I’ve been really loving over the last few months. I feel like I wouldn’t be a good friend at all until you at least know about them. This list is random, quirky and a bit weird, but since that about sums up my personality, I think we’re good. (No affiliate links; just direct links to products I adore right now so feel free to shop around.)

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1) My Aunt Marilyn and her family introduced us to Saboteur (a simple but super fun card game) while we were staying with them a few days prior to moving into our new house and we.are.hooked. Get your game face on because you might have to do a teeeeensy bit of misleading in order to win. We are the ultimate game lovers and this one has skyrocketed to the top of our list of favorites to play.

2) So I’ve spent the last few weeks wondering why on earth it took someone this long to come out with these reusable plastic storage lids for canning jars. Hello! Can we say revolutionize my life? No more rusting canning rings and yucky lids while the jars of delicious jam, syrup, peaches, you-name-it hang out in our fridge. These lids are pure dreaminess for the canning obsessed and can be reused time and time again.

3) I’m an extreme minimalist when it comes to makeup so it goes to figure I’m probably a latecomer to the 3-d fiber mascara party. I was a bit skeptical when my cousin Camille told me I had to try this Younique Mascara <—non-affiliate link to Camille’s website>, but hey, what girl doesn’t want longer lashes now and again, so I gave it a try and it’s pretty nifty stuff. I’d post a picture of my eyelashes but that would go against every fiber of my emotional being so you’ll just have to take my word for it. It works, ok? I don’t use it every day because I just can’t be bothered to take more than about 86 seconds to apply makeup in the morning, but from all the rave reviews it gets, there are some long-lashed, happy women out there using it daily (or more for all I know). I usually pull it out on Sundays when I get ready for church or if I’m actually leaving my house for a real, live appointment somewhere during the week. It’s so crazy how your lashes can go from short and stubby to long and luscious in just minutes. And if a total makeup lame-o (me) can figure it out, trust me, you are set.

 

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4) After the mascara talk, this is going to seem ultra-boring, but let me tell you, this foot cream is utterly amazing. I’ve been putting a dab on my feet every night before bed since about April  and never, ever in the history of ever have I gone through a summer (I wear flip flops all the live long day) without getting yucky, cracked heels. It isn’t fancy. It isn’t expensive. It doesn’t smell like cherry blossoms (actually it doesn’t smell like anything) but it is 100% the only stuff that has kept my feet so soft and smooth and I tell everyone I know about it because I’m a nerd like that. Please bless you never end up standing in the checkout line at Target next to me because I promise you, I’ll pull a muscle in my hamstring lifting my heel up to your face just so you can see firsthand what I’m talking about. I have the working hands cream, too, but usually don’ t have to pull that out until the winter when my fingers like to get all cracked and bleeding and I walk around saying “Poor, poor wittle Cinderella” while I rub it in.

5) A week or so ago my Aunt Jeanette (I have awesome aunts, what can I say) was in town and zoned my feet for me (have you ever had that done?). She’s amazing and is the one I run to when I have questions about essential oils. At the end of the zoning, she put lime and Balance on my feet and I…just…have no words. Ok, actually, I do (shocker). The combination is fabulous! Since then, I’ve been putting a drop of each of those oils in my foot cream (see #4) each night and I’m officially enamored with the combo. The scent is refreshing and clean and relaxing and my personal study has shown that I fall asleep about 1 1/2 seconds faster than normal. I am a moderate, equal opportunity EO customer (meaning, I like to do my research and buy from a variety of companies). I get my lime (and many of my other oils, actually) from Butterfly Express and Balance from doTerra.

6) I’ve been wearing these Jambu Blossom shoes all summer when I can’t find my flip flops (which usually turn up in Maggie’s doghouse whereupon I think unkind thoughts about our sweet pup) and can’t say enough about them. They are cool enough to wear on hot days, so comfortable you can wear them on an 8-mile walk straight out of the box (ok, I didn’t officially try that but my speculation and experience lead me to believe you’d be just dandy), and are so cute, you’ll get compliments every time you wear them. Just think what would happen if you wore these while sporting 3-d fiber lashes and smelling like lime. You go girl.

I can’t believe I made it through six favorites with nothing food-related. That’s a miracle and leaves me thinking I better just dedicate an entire future  favorites list to food and cooking. Count on it.