“Child-ish Gam-bi-no
And Tara Westover
Luke Bryant ballads and Infini-ty War
Pictures of my girls those cutie pah-toots
These are a few of my favorite things “
-Clare Kennedy
This post was inspired by my beautiful friend Alix at APintSizedLife.com and her favorites blog post.
I am so, so happy to flip my calendar over and ring in 2019! As I mark the end of 2018 I am compiling the wonderful things that made me happy, made me think, made my life easier, made me shake my booty, and made me snort with laughter, kept the earth a bit less trashed. Here they are, my top twenty favorite things!
ACCESSORY: DODGER HAT
Messy hair, don’t care. 😉 My trusty hat is so comfy and great for a streamlined look with my black hoodie, black leggings, and Adidas. I get lots of compliments when I wear it out except the Giants fans in my circle. C’est la vie!
BEAUTY FIND: B. COUNTER
My friend Sarah introduced me to B. Counter. They are fantastic and aim to be the safest beauty products on the market. I bought their makeup, soap, and lotion this year and plan to replace my daughter’s shampoo/ conditioner/ sunscreen and my deodorant with their version next. If you haven’t
BABY BOOK: INDESTRUCTIBLES
These cute baby books, made with non-toxic paper, are indestructible. Check ’em out!
BOOK (COMEDY): THE LAST BLACK UNICORN
Oh Tiffany, you bright, beautiful, booty assassin, I love you! Tifanny is funny as hell, but she is also a domestic violence survivor of her parents and her husband. Not politically correct, her delivery will turn some readers off (those with different abilities or those who have loved ones who are differently abled could be offended. . . or they could think her story is funny, sweet, and relatable too). Her resourcefulness is pretty damn amazing. As a teen she makes Richard Pryor take notice and it is awesome to see her heal her pain with laughter. By the end of her book, she is hanging out with her buddies Will and Jada Pinkett, getting ready for the red carpet in designer gowns. By the way, do her story justice and listen to her tell it on Audible. It’s so fun it will make your next road trip fly by. <3
BOOK (EDUCATIONAL): THE READ ALOUD REVIVAL
Sarah will teach you how to connect with your kids through the wonderful ritual of reading, teaching empathy to your kids, fostering critical thinking, and creating a book club culture with popsicles, picnic blankets, and outdoor bookclub meetings. This book explains why if your kiddos are doing other activities while you read aloud to them they are not distracted they are still taking it in so it is a great idea for us parents to have fun things for them to do during this read-aloud time. Set out things for them to be able to draw, paint, knead play-doh, do stickers albums. I highly recommend it give your child the world which was incredible and I could not add the books discussed in her book fast enough. (This book and Give Your Child the World are both incredible resources and probably doubled my Amazon wish list size.
BOOK (MEMOIR): EDUCATED
My friend Kay recommended this book and I am so glad I read it! It’s
BOOK (PARENTING): BABY SIGN LANGUAGE MADE EASY
Lane has written a wonderful book and check out her website too!! I LOVE seeing my baby sign “More cookies please!”. So cute! So amazing! So neat! Babies can understand our words before they can speak them so give them a tool to communicate with you now and watch their vocabulary explode.
ECO FRIENDLY PURCHASE: MY SPORK
Since
EVENT: MY DAUGHTER’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
This was the best for me, because I had my mom, my dad, my brother, my hubbie, my girls, my aunts and uncles, all with me on one day.
MOVIE: AVENGERS INFINITY WAR
This movie is so epic. Ten years in the making it shows! It left me with my mouth wide open saying: “What?! Ha?! Hooow?! Why?! No! Whahhh!!”
ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCT: BABY KEEPSAKE BOX
My mom got this for me for each of my baby showers. I have one for each of my two daughters, and one for our wedding day. Put all of your most precious things in here and feel confident knowing where they are for when you are ready to enjoy them. No more baby’s first haircut momento shoved in a random drawer or your baby’s hat from the hospital lost to household clutter.
PHONE APP: AUDIBLE
Audible has changed my life. I downloaded A Man Called Ove and was super entertained during my pumping breaks after maternity leave ended and my commutes in to work. Highly recommend this. I use it every day. It has doubled the amount of books I take in each year.
PHOTO: THE GREAT LOVES OF MY LIFE
Hashtag Real Life, Hashtag Real Mess, Hashtag Miracles Do Happen
SONG (COUNTRY): I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD
Hooray for LGBT support in country music! I love that Luke features gay couples and same-gender parent family configurations among a diverse group of people. Yeah boy.
SONG (HIP HOP): THIS IS AMERICA
I love this song, the contrast of the gospel and the rap music and listened to it over and over again. Donald Glover is a genius and I adore his music.
TV SHOW (COMEDY): S.N.L.
Some people try to say that Saturday Night Live isn’t funny anymore. Those people are wrong.
TV SHOW (DRAMA): THE WALKING DEAD
When I think about describing TWD to people Kanye at Taylor Swift’s speech comes to mind. Greatest show of ALL TIME!
TV SHOW (REALITY): QUEER EYE
Because kind is the new cool henny!! <3 !
BLOG POST: 16 AMAZINGLY DOABLE WAYS TO SPREAD LOVE AND KINDNESS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
I think that this is one post that could be shared a million times. What can I say? This is my passion and I am giddy to see this post take off as it did. My goal is to provide you with
Amazingly doable ways to spread love and kindness this holiday season
This is a great list. I agree and I absolutely LOVED the new Queer Eye! It was funny and smart while also making me tear up a few times from the genuine and beautiful interactions. Such a good one!
Tessa thank you so much for reading and writing to me! yeah, i fell in love with all of those guys and followed them on social media. i love karamo’s pep talks, toni’s recipes, and jonathan’s ice skating videos. <3
That baby keepsake box looks awesome! And I love how many great baby sign language books there are now. Great finds/favorites for 2018! 😀
thank you natalie! i got the blod/green one for my six-year-old and the orange/pink one for my one-year-old. i am hiding the baby teeth until she learns the truth about the tooth fairy, but i have her hospital footprints and that type stuff in there now. she likes to go through it and see her baby onesie and hospital bracelet.
I heard about B. Counter fairly recently and it sounds pretty cool! :] I may have to check it out after I finish off my current skin care products!
And ah, Avengers! I can’t wait to see this year’s movies!! Gotta find out what happens. :'(
yes, b. counter is fantastic. i am loving the foundation. avnegers can’t come out soon enough for me!
I had no idea you were a Marvel fan! That’s awesome. I’m a huge crybaby so Infinity War tore me apart, and I can hardly wait for End Game to be released! Whatever happens, it’s bound to be super emotional!
i’m like did spiderman fall asleep on the bus and this was all a bad dream?! haha i love that the avengers actors got matching tattoos. so sweet. i am a big black panther fan. ok all of the marvel movies.
I like how you shared and talked about your discoveries, thank you for your generosity in your sharing and you have a beautiful family! <3
thank you so much morgane <3
Yay! Thanks for sharing your 2018 favorites. Infinity War was totally epic 10 years for that?! Like WHAT?!
yes, it was a long movie, but when it came to a close i didn’t want it to end. <3
great roundup of faves. i think the new queer eye is hilarious!
thank you. i binged the whole first season so fast. the second will be savored in little pieces. 🙂
What a great list ! Tiffany’s book was a great read !
thanks, leesey! i haven’t loved a comedian as much since kristen wiig.