Below are some of my favorite items. Everything you see is something you’d find if you snooped in my cabinets or checked out the many packages delivered to my house. Some have affiliate links, some don’t. This isn’t a guarantee you’ll love these same items, but simply a sneak peek into my go-to personal items.
Books
Best Lap pillow for reading…the last thing my wrists need is to hold my kindle while I read for hours!
I have a ton of these laying all over the house. They look weird, but man, do they save my eyes from being on a computer all day long! If you’re on a screen a lot, give these a try. My family teased me about wearing them, but now they wear them too!
Can’t forget my favorite reading device! The Kindle Paperwhite! I read on my phone with the Kindle app for years, but you know, age and that tiny screen don’t really go together. Last Christmas, my husband bought me a Paperwhite and I don’t know why I didn’t get one years ago!! I love it because I can read it in all different lighting situations. I’m outside a lot with my kiddo and her sports, so no glare is a huge bonus!
Fitness
Love using these bands for so many exercises. They feel so much better on my joints than lifting weights. Shut up. I’m not old.
This stuff has saved my bacon more times than I can count. Have kids who play sports? Do you work out and are past the age of 40? Trust me. You need this stuff.
Personal Care
Some of my fave oils that I diffuse while I write. Yep, I’ve become the crazy essential oil lady. It’s not even the individual oils so much but all the other products that doTerra has. I seriously order way too much. The blue rub stick is life-giving to my wrists….rub some on and boom! A chapter appears. I use their shampoo, conditioner, leave-in spray, laundry detergent, bar soap, toothpaste, beard oil for my husband, and deep blue rub/lotion on my daughter every time she has an injury (or when she was young I used it for her growing pains). Seriously, there is not a product doTerra has that I don’t like.
I got this gua sha stone to help flatten a scar from a recent surgery, and it did! But now I use it on my face, and holy moly! Puffy eye bags be gone!
In an effort to lower my usage of toxin filled beauty products, I’ve started using this spray as my deodorant. And it works! Yep, I even made the hubby do the armpit sniff test and I passed. Lucky him. Now, if I’m going somewhere special or anywhere hot I put on real deodorant, but for most days, this stuff works wonders!
Do you have growing kids? Do you have curvy hips like mine and a smaller waist and therefore jeans WILL NEVER BE MADE FOR YOU?? I’m not bitter, I swear. Because I have the best invention since someone saw a coffee been and decided to grind it up and pour hot water over it. The button pin. Buy jeans that fit your hips and then add this button ANYWHERE on the waistline to create your own tailored pants. My daughter would literally be flashing the entire world if we didn’t have these buttons on every single one of her shorts and jeans.
Cleaning/House
This is what I’m getting my hubby for Christmas. Not even kidding. He’s that rare unicorn who likes to clean because he can think deep thoughts or some shit while cleaning. Hey, I’m not going to interrupt that awesomeness. BUT. He uses bleach like it’s water and my burning eyes and nasal passages can’t take it anymore! Enter Branch Basics with their all natural cleaning line. Shit gets clean, my eyes can still see my computer screen while I type. It’s a win-win.
I know what you’re thinking. Marika really lost me on this one. I know, I know. But think about all the time you’re outside at the kids sporting events, or on vacation, and someone invariably says “my phone died.” Cue the whining. Not if you got my handy-dandy solar charger!! This sucker charges right there in the sun (or fold ups real nice if you want to toss it in your bag) and then two phones/tablets can be charging at the same time (no fighting kids!). One full charge of this panel can fully charge 7-8 iphones. Booyah. Mom for the win.
Addictions
I’m a writer and a mom, which means I’m addicted to coffee. However, my afternoon Starbucks run was breaking the bank. Even my very non-frills iced Americano with cream was running me $3.75 per day, ‘er day. Enter Organo brand coffee. It’s mold free, some versions are organic, and it has reishi mushrooms in it so it’s like drinking a freaking multi-vitamin. Have you googled what all reishi mushrooms help with?? Organo makes S-bucks coffee seem like sewer water in comparison. Organo is around $1.50 a packet (it comes as an instant coffee which means I can easily make my iced coffee at home!) as a wholesale customer, which means I save over $60 per month by this one little switch. Oh, and the good part? The reishi mushrooms makes for nice smooth energy, not the caffeine jolt and dump like regular coffee. They even have a reishi mushroom hot chocolate my teen daughter LOVES! But don’t say anything to her…she has no idea it has reishi mushrooms in it!!
