What I’m Loving Right Now: January 2025
It's time for my monthly favorites!
Here is everything we've used and loved lately…
Food
Siggi’s Vanilla Yogurt – I generally don’t care for flavored yogurts, but I really like this one. Sometimes I will stir in a spoonful of almond butter or sunbutter, delish!
Clothes/Beauty
Brooks Ghost 16 – I needed a new pair of sneakers and tried on (and returned) countless pairs. Ultimately, these were a huge winner for me; they are lightweight and super comfortable!
Aquaphor Lip Repair Stick – This continues to be my very favorite lip balm, and the kids use it, too.
Color Wow Dream Cocktail – I asked my husband for this for Christmas, and I absolutely love it! My hair has definitely become thinner over the last few years, and this gives the appearance of thicker, fuller hair. A go-to now, for sure.
Books
I've read a few books since we last talked! Here they are:
People We Meet on Vacation – While I liked this book, it was probably my least favorite Emily Henry to date, though I know so many people that LOVED it.
Beartown – This had been on my to-read list for a while, and I’m glad I finally got to it. While it was a bit of a rough story to read, it was wonderfully written, and I really enjoyed it. I plan to read the next in the series, Us Against You, soon.
The Friend Zone – I discovered another (older) Abby Jimenez trilogy and wasted no time diving right in; gosh, I love her books so much!!
The Happy Ever After Playlist – This is the second book in the trilogy mentioned above, and I think I liked it even more than the first. If you love her books (or Emily Henry or other similar writers), definitely grab these!
House
Weekly Planner Notepad – I bought this in November because, even though we have and use a Google calendar, apparently, if I don’t look at it, I forget what’s going on. This has been SO helpful, I fill it out each week and put it on the fridge. It’s also been great because the kids have always routinely asked “what do we have tomorrow?” or “is there anything going on after school today”? Now it’s all right there, and they look at it every day and know who has a practice or after-school activity, doctor’s appointment, or anything else. I LOVE this!
Dishwashing Gloves – I finally bought a pair of dishwashing gloves; I’ve never owned a pair but my hands have been taking a beating this winter, and they have helped so much when there is a sink full of dishes to wash!
Kids
Most of the items below are things the kids received for Christmas and are loving!
Girls Fuzzy Socks – Isabelle got these for Christmas and wears a pair every single day, she says they are so cozy!
Automatic Card Shuffler – This was a joint Christmas gift for the kids and they LOVE it; they think it’s so fun to use, but it also gives them the independence to play card games on their own and be able to shuffle the cards.
Books – Dominic has been really into history recently, and he got the following Magic Treehouse books: Buffalo Before Breakfast, Revolutionary War on Wednesday (he read this in one sitting!), Warriors in Winter, and Viking Ships at Sunrise.
Picturepedia – This was a joint gift for all of the kids, and I am amazed at the pictures included and the breadth of information in this book; it would make a wonderful gift for kids of any age!
Plastic Army Men – These were for Dominic and he loves setting up battles; great for imaginative play, definitely one of the favorite and most-used gifts.
What were your favorite finds this month?



Since I know you’re a fellow bookworm I want to check and see if you have read the Chet and Bernie Mystery series. Now granted, Chet is not a Golden Retriever, but that is its ONLY failing. I suppose….granted, not every perfect dog HAS to be a Golden. What sets it apart from every other mystery series, its more or less told by Chet the dog. By the way, Chet did fail police dog training academy, on the very last day. He won’t say what happened, only that it involves a cat, who have become his biggest nemeses in the world. This is how he ends up with Bernie, a former Army Ranger or something like that and a former state police detective or something like that. I can’t remember if it says why he left the police force or not. All this occurs (most of the series) in Arizona which is interesting for a change. Author: Spencer Quinn, First book in series: A Farewell to Arfs.