January 2019 Favorites

I love favorites posts. They’re one of my favorite kinds of posts to read (or videos to watch). 🙂 If it’s shared by someone I’ve been following for a long time, then it truly feels like I’m getting recommendations from a friend! And recommendations are so much better when you already know and trust the person. So, my hope for today’s post is that you feel like you’re hearing these recommendations from me as your real-life friend! 🙂 I’m only sharing things in favorites posts that I actually use and like!

I’ve been keeping a note on my phone for the past month or so, keeping track of things I’ve been loving lately so that I could share them with you. I know this post is a bit belated, considering we’re halfway through February already, but I figured it’s still worth it to share these favorites now! I’d love to hear if any of these are favorites of yours, too!

January 2019 Favorites

*Some (but not all) of the links below are affiliate links. This means that if you use the link to purchase, I earn a tiny commission from it. Thank you so much for supporting Just Bee and for helping me keep the blog up and running!

Food/Drink:

Milk Frother with Stand // Bjorn got me this milk frother for Christmas and it has been so much fun! It’s such a great way to elevate any warm beverage at home. I like to make homemade steamers using whole milk and flavor syrups – and then I use the milk frother to give it that true frothy/foamy coffee shop feel! 🙂 It also makes coffee time extra fun when we have friends or family over.

Munchkin Miracle Parent Water Bottle // I love this thing! Whenever I’m at an event with other moms, someone always comments on it because we all recognize the design: it’s the same as the little kid 360 Munchkin sippy cups! It’s just a more classy, adult version. 😉 I love how it doesn’t spill, and how it allows me to really chug water! I’m generally terrible at hydrating but I’ve found that these water bottles help me to drink even more in a sitting. I highly recommend these to anyone! I bought the 2-pack set that includes both a black and a white water bottle.

Books:

Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life // My friend Jordan recommended this one to me. It’s beautiful. It’s full of such good, wise reminders of how we can incorporate an understanding of the gospel message into our everyday lives.

The Little Book of Hygge // I got this as a Christmas gift from my sis-in-law, Aeli. I’m a super huge fan of hygge, so this little book full of tips and explanations has been so fun to read! (Related: 7 Simple Ways to Bring More Hygge Into Your Home)

The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships // It took me a long time to get on the Enneagram bandwagon but I’ve enjoyed learning about the various types! If you haven’t heard about it, the enneagram is a personality typing system that covers nine main personality types. It’s been surprisingly accurate in terms of my number, my husband’s number, and for other people we know. I have always loved personality theory (even took a college psych class on it for fun) so I eat this stuff up! The only book I have on enneagrams is this one, because now that I know my type, I really want to dive into how I can best connect with and interact with my husband and others I know! So far, it’s been really insightful with some good points. It’s led to some interesting and helpful conversations between Bjorn and me!

Let Sleeping Vets Lie by James Herriot // Anything written by James Herriot is a favorite of mine. Bjorn gave me this boxed set of his books recently and I’ve been enjoying reading them! The current one I’m working through in the evenings is called “Let Sleeping Vets Lie.” Herriot is so, so witty, he writes stunning descriptions of the scenery and the people he interacts with, and he’s just plain interesting to read!!

Clothing:

American Eagle No-Show Socks // I love having no-show socks to wear around the house if I’d rather not be barefoot…plus, they work well when wearing flats! I snagged this 5-pack in a variety of neutral colors from American Eagle and they are definitely a new favorite! They have several lines of silicone or some kind of grippy material inside the back heel, which helps them to stay on well.

Media/Technology:

Yummy Toddler Food (@yummytoddlerfood) on Instagram // This is a fun account to follow if you have little ones! Amy has great meal ideas for toddlers, and I also really appreciate her tips on portion sizes and even bite sizes or how to present the food to kids at different ages.

YouTube // It’s been really fun for me lately to discover new YouTubers to follow. I love Blair Lamb and have followed her for a long time, but I have recently started following along with mamas like Natalie Bennett, Now That I’m a Mother, Justine Marie, and Pretty Neat Living.

Ebates // I didn’t know what to think of Ebates when I first heard about it, but it is a wonderful, free browser extension that gives you money back if you shop online!! Ebates pops up with a button alerting you if a site offers cash back – something like 2% or 4% cash back, oftentimes – and then all you have to do is click a button to activate the cash back! Basically, they want to reward you for shopping at particular sites. The neat thing is, though, that it’s available on so, so many sites! So, Ebates is definitely not encouraging me to spend more money, or buy something I wouldn’t have, because it’s just giving me cash back on sites I already shop at. Living far from a Target and a mall, I do make a lot of purchases online, so Ebates has been perfect for me. For example, I’ve gotten cash back for purchases made at American Eagle’s site, Ulta, Target, JC Penney, Shutterfly, and even Etsy! Ebates literally sends a check in the mail to you quarterly. It’s amazing. Sign up for Ebates using this referral link, and they’ll give you $10 for free! What a great way to start out receiving your cash back!

Yoga With Adriene // If you read my November 2018 life update, then you know a bit about my anxiety. One of the ways I’m combating it is through yoga! I’m so, so glad I started. Adriene is so funny and quirky, but she’s also really, really good. My favorite quick yoga practice to do is her 7-Minute Bedtime Yoga Practice. But many of her practices are 20 to 30 minutes and they’re so good! Side note: To be perfectly honest, I don’t dive in deep with yoga practices that offer a spiritual side of things. So I’m a bit cautious about that. But I’m all for focusing on healthy breathing, positive thinking, relaxation, strength, and things like that. So those are the kinds of yoga practices I spend my time on. I’ll skip over anything that I don’t feel comfortable with. But there’s been very very little that I haven’t totally loved from Adriene!

McDonalds App // This seems like a silly one, but I just have to share! I don’t stop at McDonalds all the time, but I’ve been stopping there to pick up a smoothie, or blogging there frequently enough that I wanted to take advantage of their deals! There seems to be an ongoing deal (at least in our area) where you can buy 5 drinks, get 1 free! So now I pull up the app and scan it either in the store or while coming through the drive-thru. It’s an easy way to add up some rewards points, basically. And I’ve enjoyed a couple free smoothies in the past couple months, as a result! 🙂

Beauty:

Dream Cream // This stuff has been a lifesaver. I went to the dermatologist back at the start of November because my hands were so bad – painfully, painfully bad. I had tried every cream and every strategy I could think of, and I was out of answers. While I did get prescribed a very strong cream, I actually haven’t needed to use it because of this Dream Cream!! (A huge thanks to my friend for recommending I try it!!) I put this on every night before bed (and often put beauty gloves on, too) – and not only does it smell good, it helps to heal my dry, sad hands overnight!! I’m seriously so impressed because it works better than hydrocortisone did for me. If your skin is struggling, definitely go order some Dream Cream. It’ll make a world of difference.

Dove Dry Shampoo // I’ve floated between dry shampoo brands a bit, and finally over the past couple months have settled on my favorite! I use the Dove Refresh + Care dry shampoo pretty much daily, and I love it. I buy the “Volume & Fullness” variety, and I’ve been really impressed with how it works. This is definitely the brand of dry shampoo I’d recommend to anyone out there!

Physician’s Formula Lip Color in Pinkini // Honestly, I’ll probably need to do a whole post/video about my favorite makeup products, because I’ve recently been reworking my whole makeup routine and I’ve discovered some amazing new-to-me products that I know I’ll be using for a long time. This lip color is one of them. I don’t know that I’ve found a color before this one (Pinkini) that feels as flattering! I have a very fair skin tone (and one with a cool undertone, I think). I do love pinks and reds, but I never want to go too extreme. This lip color boosts my natural lip color perfectly and makes me feel put together. I only need to apply a little bit of this creamy color, so I know it’ll last me a long time.

Urban Decay All-Nighter Makeup Setting Spray // This is a product that the old me never would’ve thought I’d use. But doing about 4 sprays of this on top of my finished makeup in the morning really, truly, helps to keep my makeup in place all day! Hooray! I’m a busy mom of a one-year-old, and I’m not overly cautious about not touching my face during the day, so I used to struggle with my makeup rubbing off during the day and needing to be reapplied before heading out the door again. Not the case anymore! Blair Lamb recommended this on her YouTube channel and it sparked my curiosity, since I was sick of reapplying makeup. It is a bit pricier but I think it’s worth it because it is saving me the time, effort, and money involved with reapplying makeup later on in the day when I don’t want to worry about it. What a neat product!

Home:

Erin Condren Notebook // I use the 7″x9″ size notebook for my to-do lists every day. The paper is thick and high-quality (so your pen doesn’t bleed through), and the notebook designs are gorgeous and beautifully customizable…what more can I say? I love Erin Condren’s stuff!! You can use my referral link to get a whopping $10 off your first purchase!! Go ahead and jump in! 🙂

Portable Bluetooth Speaker // This was a thoughtful Christmas gift from my parents. I love having music on during the day – especially my peaceful music Spotify playlist – and this bluetooth speaker is a blast to have around!

Plastic Tea Bag Storage Boxes // Over time, Bjorn and I were realizing we had a tea problem… our coffee station in the kitchen was getting messier by the day (and Sophie was trying to pull random tea boxes and individual tea bags out!). It was hard to tell what types of tea we had in there, so it was definitely time to organize it. I decided to get rid of all of the cardboard tea boxes in lieu of some more sturdy tea organization containers. I got this set of 2 on Amazon and I’m thrilled with them! They allow you to see the tea much more clearly, so you know what you have. It was totally worth the money and the time spent organizing our whole coffee station. Now making tea is fun again. 🙂

Diamond Dazzle Stick // This stick dispenses the cleaning fluid through a little brush, allowing you to scrub your ring well before rinsing it off. I was really impressed with how sparkly it got my ring again! It’s inexpensive, too.

Method spray cleaner // I’ve been using strictly Method cleaning products lately and loving them all! I have the Method Anti-Bac cleaner (approved for use on high chairs and more), plus the toilet cleaner, bathroom foaming cleaner, and glass cleaner. I’ve been using all of these Method products for around 2 months, and I’m a big fan!

Microfiber Cleaning Cloths // I’m a big paper product user… but I’ve been trying really hard to cut back on that lately! I love paper towels but I wanted to save us some money by using microfiber cleaning cloths for most cleanups instead. I feel like I’m late to the non-paper-product game, but better late than never! These cloths work so well – actually better than paper towels for some tasks – and then we can just pop them in the laundry when we’re done! I love the brand and the pack of cloths that I purchased, because it gives me enough cloths that I don’t have to worry running out of clean cloths on any given day.

Baby/Kids:

Sophie’s Hoerev Multi-Color Juggling Scarves // These are goofy sounding but so cute, and Sophie gets such a kick out of them! They’re so light that they can be tossed into the air and they float down gently…and sometimes Bjorn ties them all together and stuffs them all up his sleeve for a silly magician trick. What a fun, inexpensive toy!

Rub a Dub Dirty Dogs Bath Toys // Oh boy. These are some of Sophie’s most prized possessions. We got her this bath toy set for Christmas, and the three dogs have brown mud spots on them that can be “cleaned” or “rubbed off” when held under warm water! The set comes with a tiny green washcloth. This combines two of Sophie’s favorite things: cleaning, and dogs. 😉 They are way too much fun!! We keep commenting on what a great purchase this set was.

Sophie’s Silicone Suction Toddler Plate // I looked long and hard for a divided silicone suction plate that would fit on Sophie’s IKEA high chair. This one is so awesome! It can be washed easily and it’s the perfect size for her meals (and will be the perfect size for a long time).

Boogie Wipes // We only very recently beat an icky cold around here, and Sophie’s poor tiny nose had been so runny and miserable! I finally ordered some of these Boogie wipes and they helped so much! (No one wants their nose wiped with a tissue when their nose is sore and raw!) These wipes have aloe, Vitamin E, and saline in them, making them a super gentle way to clean a sad nose. These wipes are great to have on hand whenever your child has a chapped nose or face. They’re really affordable, too, and you get a lot of wipes that’ll last a long time!

Silky Crayons // You may have seen me talk about these crayons on my Instagram stories. These crayons are so lovely! They’re basically a cross between a pastel and a crayon, and they twist up as you need more. They’re non-toxic and they glide onto the paper so smoothly!! Sophie loves coloring with them – and frankly, I do, too! 🙂 I can easily wipe any “oops” marks off of her table and her hands.

Those are my favorites from the month of January! I hope you enjoyed reading some of these recommendations. I sure loved sharing them with you! 

Do you use any of these products? I’d love to hear! What are your favorites from the past month? Any fun new discoveries?