The Best Lip Products for Dry, Chapped Lips

Fall is one of my absolute favorite seasons. But as the leaves start to change colors and the temperatures start to drop, every year - without fail - my lips start to dry out and get chapped. I am always on the hunt for the best lip products for dry, chapped lips. 

Also, wearing masks seems to have made the situation worse for me as far as I can tell. Last fall brought with it the worst chapped lips I've seen in a very long time, so I kicked my quest for the perfect lip product into high gear. I was determined to have better results this fall season! So, since I have been searching to find the best solution to prevent chapped lips, I thought I would share the products that have worked for me.

This is a review of my tried-and-true recommendations for those with dry, chapped lips. I did my best to include as many different price points as I could. All of these products have worked wonders for me, but not everyone will have the same results. I hope you will find this post helpful!

Best Recovery Lip Balm for Severely Chapped Lips

I'm starting with the big guns. If you have severely chapped lips that need repair and healing, this is is the lip balm I would start with. Lanolips Original 101 Ointment Multipurpose Superbalm is a super-thick lip balm that penetrates your dry, cracked lips and seals in moisture. Made from humanely sourced, ultra medical grade lanolin, this cruelty-free lip balm gives the absolute best hydration for extremely dry and chapped lips. 

In addition to the traditional Lanolips 101, it also comes in flavor options such as strawberry, peach, green apple, and lemonaid, as well as tinted options like rose gold, bronze gold, and rhubarb. If you're looking for a tinted lip balm, this might be the best option for you.

Best Everyday Lip Balm

This lip product was at the top of my list to try simply because it's been around for decades and the formula has not changed. I wanted to find out if it lived up to all the hype - and boy did it ever! 

For severely chapped lips, Vermont's Original Bag Balm makes a great everyday lip balm because it contains ingredients like petrolatum and lanolin to lock in moisture. The Bag Balm formula has remained the same since 1988 (with only 4 ingredients and no added fragrances, colors, alcohol, parabens, or phthalates). Because this is the original, cruelty-free Bag Balm formula (only in a convenient lip balm sized tube), you can use it on any part of your body that is dry, chapped, or cracked.

If you don't need the lip balm sized tube for on-the-go use, you can order the larger sized Bag Balm in the tin. The ingredients are the same.

Best Lip Balm with SPF

Stick with me on this one - it's actually from a men's skin care line. But as far as I'm concerned, if a product works, it works. And since there's nothing inherently "male" about this (or any) lip balm, it can really work for anyone. 

Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm offers SPF 25 sun protection; skin conditioners like beeswax, shea butter, and lanolin; and antioxidants that soothe and relieve dry, chapped, irritated lips. This cruelty-free lip balm also comes in flavor options such as natural mint, black tea & blackberry, grapefruit & ginger, mango & mandarin, lavender, and pineapple mint. If UVA and UVB sun protection are at the top of your list for skin care products like lip balms, then this is the right product for you! 

Best Nighttime Lip Balm

The name of this product says it all: My Favorite Night Balm. It truly is my favorite. And if you're a daytime lipstick wearer, then this product is definitely one I'd recommend for you because it works all its magic at night. Can't get any better than that!

This deep moisturizing lip balm helps repair seriously dry lips while you sleep with ingredients such as shea butter and lanolin. Apply this 8-hour recovery balm liberally before bed to hydrate your lips overnight. Developed by C.O. Bigelow, the oldest apothecary in America, it's available at their flagship store in Greenwich Village in New York City, at their online store, or at other online retailers like Bath & Body Works or Amazon. 

This is actually the only product to make my list that I've been using for YEARS. I went back to the drawing board on all of my daytime lip balm products, but I couldn't find anything to hold a candle to this nighttime lip balm. It's the OG of night balms in my book!

BONUS - Best Lip Scrub

As an added bonus, I thought I'd share another favorite lip product: Eco Lips Lip Sugar Scrub. Use this to exfoliate your lips once a week to help prevent them from getting chapped in the first place. It instantly reveals softer, smoother lips after just one use (and another bonus: it tastes good too). 

Use it at night to exfoliate dry, rough lips with sugar while conditioning them with coconut oil to get them smooth and ready to apply your nighttime lip balm. Pure and 100% gluten-free and organic, this lip scrub is made in the USA, is Fair Trade Certified, is cruelty-free, and is earth-friendly. It's available in your choice of brown sugar, mint, vanilla bean, or mint truffle flavors. Pair one of these flavored lip scrubs with an exfoliating lip brush and you're in business!

Useful Stocking Stuffer Ideas

When they say that the best things come in small packages, in this case, it's absolutely true. Don't forget that these must-have lip balms and scrubs are small enough to easily fit into a stocking, so they make great Christmas gift ideas too! They're all under $20 and some are below $10 (with discounts for buying multipacks). So it's easy to buy for everyone on your list. Fill everyone's stockings this year with something they'll love (and actually use). 

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Happy Hallo-WINE!!

Just in time for Halloween, The Harris Sisters have yet another Covid-19-friendly Halloween option for you to try.  How about a virtual or socially distanced wine and Halloween candy pairing this year?- for the over-21 crowd, that is...  On our recent Girls' Weekend getaway trip, we did just that.  We sampled a mix of five wines with an even bigger selection of popular Halloween candy, and we offer our feedback on the pairings below.    Read on for all the details on these surprising and sometimes frightful combinations.  

Getting Started

Whether you are looking to pair a few candies with one good bottle of wine, or like we did, try several different combinations, your first step is finding a good list to provide you with great wine and candy matches.  Use our notes below to try the pairs that we tried and see how you like them.  

We paired 5 wines with 11 different types of candy. Here's the full list of supplies you'll need. (Substitutions for wines are listed with each review.):

Wines We Used 

• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Chardonnay
• Moscato
• Prosecco
• Red Table Wine

Candy We Used

• Almond Joy
• Butterfingers
• Candy Corn
• Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars
• Kit Kat
• Nerds 
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Skittles
• Snickers
• Starburst
• Twix

Sweet White Wine Pairings

For this pairing, we chose to use Moscato as our wine, but you could also choose a varietal like Malvasia or Riesling, depending on your preference.   This wine is said to pair well with Candy Corn, Skittles, Starburst, and Hershey's Milk Chocolate.   After sampling all these pairings, we all agreed that Starburst and Moscato, as well as Hershey's Milk Chocolate and Moscato, make excellent pairs.  We agreed less on the other two pairings.  Misty liked the Candy Corn when paired with Moscato.  Donna did not, and I was completely undecided after the tasting, so the jury is still out on that one. And both Donna and I agreed that Skittles and Moscato make a tasty pair.  Misty was less sold on this combination, but we all agreed that it could definitely depend on which flavor(s) of Skittles you are pairing with your wine. 

Rich White Wine Pairings

We chose to use Chardonnay for the rich white wine pairing, but you could also use Marsanne or Viognier instead.  This time, we sampled Candy Corn, Hershey's Milk Chocolate, and Butterfinger with our Chardonnay.   And this time we were completely in agreement.  The Harris Sisters give both the Butterfinger and Hershey's Milk Chocolate a thumb's up when paired with Chardonnay.  And we gave the Candy Corn pairing a resounding MEH- this was neither great nor awful- just somewhere in between.

Sparkling Wine Pairings

For these pairings, we used Prosecco, but you could certainly also choose a Sparkling Rose or Champagne instead.  I should preface this particular review by saying that Harris Sister Misty is not a fan of sparkling wine in general.  Having said that, she was also not a fan of any of these pairings.  We sampled the Prosecco with Candy Corn, Nerds, Kit Kat, and Almond Joy.  And both Donna and I enjoyed all of those pairings.  But the pair of Almond Joy and Prosecco was a surprise in that it topped both of our lists, and I personally would not have predicted that one.  Trust me though, it was a winner!  

Medium Red Wine Pairings

We chose a Red Table Wine for this pairing, but most Red Blends or a Merlot would work here as well.  The medium reds are said to pair well with Kit Kat, Snickers, and Hershey's Milk Chocolate.  We all agreed that Snickers and Kit Kat paired extremely well with the Red Table Wine.  We were more divided on the Hershey's Milk Chocolate pair.  While Donna and I enjoyed it together, Misty did not.  But both Donna and Misty pointed out that I eat Kit Kat wrong.  I didn't know there was a right way.  They both break off one bar and eat from that.  I don't break it.  I just bite it across the top.  Let me tell you, they were deeply disturbed.  

Bold Red Wine Pairings

For this final set of pairings, we used Cabernet Sauvignon, but you could also try a Malbec or Syrah if you prefer.  We paired the Cab with Snickers, Reese's, and Twix.  Harris Sister Misty did not enjoy any of these pairings, but she also typically does not enjoy bold red wines.  Both Donna and I agreed that the Snickers and Reese's paired with the Cab were among the best pairings of the night.  However, the Twix definitely did not measure up.  On a related note, Misty and Donna were once again disturbed to learn that I don't love Reese's.  In fact, I would say I really don't like it at all.  I would never seek out a Reese's; however, when paired with the Cab, it was off the charts good.  Maybe that's what it's been missing for me all this time.  

So there you have it.  The Harris Sisters are nothing if not committed to in-depth research involving wine and candy.  Feel free to call on us if you decide to host your own pairing, and from all of us to all of you, Happy Hallo-WINE! 

OK to Wake Alarm Clock for Kids

I've been meaning to share this nifty little life-changing clock with you for a while now.  If you, or someone you know, have little ones (as in too young to tell time or understand that 5 am is too early to wake up for the day), then read on for how this little clock has changed my life!

Let's face it.  Sleep is important.  I am a sleeper, and thankfully, our daughter inherited that trait from me too.  She has been a good sleeper her whole life.  She was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old.  She has always been an A+ napper- still is, and she's almost 5 years old now.  She never ever once tried to get out of her crib when she was a baby and when we switched her to a "big girl bed", she would stay there even after she woke up in the morning until I went in to get her.   

But inevitably, kids grow up and start to test to the limits.  So I decided quite a while back to install this OK to Wake Alarm Clock for her in her room.  It works like this.  You set the time on it that you decide it's ok for your child to get up and start moving about each day.  In our case, that's 7 am.  So when 7 am rolls around each day, the clock starts glowing green.  It doesn't alarm at all; it just lights up.  So if your child is still asleep, it doesn't wake them up.  But if they are awake, once it starts glowing, they know it's time to get up- or at least that it's ok to get up.  It remains lit up for 30 minutes so if they are still asleep, but they wake up within that 30 minute window, then they will see it's glowing green and it's ok to go ahead and get up.  

For our family, this clock has worked like a charm!  Lexi usually wakes up on her own around 7 am each morning anyway.  But if she wakes up a little before that, then she knows to stay in bed until the clock starts glowing at 7 am and then she gets up.  If she is still sleeping at 7 am, it turns green anyway and when she does awake, she sees that it's already lit up and comes running.  Honestly, I'm pretty sure that this clock has "reset" Lexi's internal clock to go off at 7 am, because she is like clockwork with waking up right at 7 am everyday, which is wonderful!  We have had zero issues with her getting up and moving around at weird hours of the night or early morning.  This clock is worth every penny!!

Oh, there is a nap mode on this clock too, so you can do the same thing when it's ok to wake from nap.  We don't really use that, but it's a nice feature that is available.  There is also a snooze button feature that will dim the light and cause it to light up again when the snooze period is over.  You can also press the little buttons on the clock's "feet" and it will make silly little faces. There is a night light feature on the clock if you want to use it.  And apparently, this clock can convert to a regular alarm clock once your child is ready for that.  It's cute and does have a lot of extra features on it. 

You can find these clocks on Amazon.  Check out all the information and the reviews!  It's highly rated and I'm not the only mom who swears by it.  Just passing along the good stuff to you.  This one is a winner.  Whoever invented this deserves my complete gratitude.

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Dry Your Hair in Half the Time!

I found a new product that I have tried out recently, and I have to share it with you all.  It's a hair towel that actually delivers on its promise to help cut your hair drying time in half.  A little hard to believe, I know, but it really does work!

I have super fine hair, but a lot of it.  And I have color treated my hair for years.  Apparently that combination is the perfect one for hair that takes forever to dry.  My hair just holds onto water, even when I towel dry it first.  It still takes way too long with the blow dryer.  So when I found this magic towel on Amazon, I swooped it up.  It has well over 2000 reviews and still gets close to 5 stars.  People were swearing by its claims.  I figured if it didn't do what it promised, I would just return it. But that never happened.  It was awesome right out of the gate, and well worth the asking price.

So here's how I use it.  After I wash my hair, I squeeze out the excess water and then twist it right up into this towel.  **I should point out that this is not a full sized bath towel.  It is smaller, but just the right size for my hair.**  I then proceed on to my after-shower moisturizer routine, etc.  I probably leave my hair in this towel for somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 to 5 minutes before taking it down.  Then I give it a quick towel dry with the same towel and just start blow drying.  It used to take me at least five minutes before I would notice even the smallest amount of drying of my hair once I started blow drying. Now, I notice my hair is starting to dry almost as soon as I turn my hairdryer on! It really is amazing!  In fact,  I liked this towel so much, I bought a second one for my daughter, and it's working wonders on her hair too!

Just wanted to share this new-to-me product with you guys.  It's the real deal, and I bet you all will love it too.

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Honest Reviews: Home Chef

According to Dr. Seuss, "Unslumping yourself is not easily done!"  There is no place where this is truer than the kitchen.  Whether you are constantly chauffeuring your children all over town or you are just tired of the same old same old, mealtime can become downright tedious.

Recently, I learned about a new online meal delivery service that is making the rounds. (through my Facebook feed, anyway)  I decided to give it a whirl and ordered a few meals for my family.  There are several of the services out there.  I tried Home Chef.  Each week, on their website, they have a menu. You select how many servings you would like and which meals catch your fancy, and they do the rest. They ship you everything you need in a neat little box right to your doorstep.

So, this is what the contents of your box will look like:

Each meal is packaged separately, as well as any meat.  They also send a binder and recipe cards for each meal.

They only send just what you need to make the meals, so there is no waste.  You won't have herbs dying a slow death in your fridge while you think of new ways to insert them into some other meal, and you will be able to use some oddball ingredients that you may not be able to find at your local grocer. 

This meal service may not be your go to for every meal because it can be expensive.  However, if your family is small, it's a good option to have.  It would be a great present to your college kid, and it's also awesome for vacation.  I happened to remember it for our recent annual Girls' Weekend Trip to St. Simons Island, GA.

We usually rent a house with a kitchen.  By thinking ahead, and using HomeChef, I was able to just order what we wanted (including Vegetarian options) and bring the box with me, so we didn't have to hunt down a grocery store while we were there.

We just poured some wine and broke out the meals. 

It was practically painless!

....and did I mention healthy?

Just look at the finished products:

Be sure to check Home Chef out.  Let the unslumping begin!

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Product Review: Hay Max

You might remember that I recently discovered yet another thing I seem to be allergic to- Christmas! Well, it seems that just about everything has my "seasonal" allergies going bonkers lately.  And I hate to just keep popping allergy meds, especially since so few of them seem to do much for me anyway. So it was recently that I started looking into alternative forms of allergy relief.  And in doing so I stumbled onto a new-to-me product that I am really liking.  It's called Hay Max and it's not a medicine at all.  

It's more of a balm that you just literally rub at the base of your nostrils (or just inside) and it traps minuscule allergens from making their way into your nasal passages.  If you aren't breathing them in, they can't bother you, right?  Simple concept, and yet surprisingly effective! 

I have been using the "Pure" version of Hay Max.  It has no color and no scent.  There are also "Lavender" and "Aloe Vera" versions too.  Of course, when you blow your nose or sneeze, you should reapply the product.  It's a small package and fits easily in my purse so I just carry it with me, and it's easy to have on hand. 

I found mine online and honestly have never looked for it in stores.  I'm not sure how widely available it is at local retailers.  When I initially discovered Hay Max, it was a British fellow who was blogging about it and singing it's praises.   

It sure it worth a try, and I promise it works!

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Donna's Favorite Things - Holiday 2016 Edition

Here's a brand spankin' new list of favorite things for 2016. This list is sure to give you ideas  for that hard to shop for person and maybe a few ideas for yourself! :-)

1. Essential Oil Diffuser

Essential oil diffusers let you enjoy the benefits of essential oil aromatherapy in any room in your home. This particular one automatically shuts off by itself when it is out of water and also has a light function (we use ours as a nightlight).

2. Keepsake Hard Bound Books

These classic books ranging from Little Women to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland have beautifully illustrated covers, which make them perfect for gift-giving. Originally only available for purchase at Anthropologie, these books with newly illustrated covers in retro floral patterns are now readily available on Amazon. Buy the whole collection or individually - both make lovely gifts.

3. Nessie Ladle

This is a fun gift for the practicing chef on your list (and also makes a funny gag-gift or White Elephant exchange gift). Is the famous Loch Ness Monster real? Sure! She's swimming in your pot of soup! 

4. Retro Board Games

What is better than a board game for Christmas? A retro version of that game! And if you're having trouble hunting those down, Target has a line of retro board games to help you out. Board games in the line feature a box with classic illustrations from different years. Pictured here are Chutes and Ladders 1978 Edition, Candyland 1967 Edition, and Clue 1986 Edition (which is the same version that I own - only mine is the ORIGINAL 1986 version). 

The full line includes Mastermind, Sorry, Guess Who?, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Candyland, Battleship, Clue, Scrabble, Rummikub, Skip-Bo, UNO, Rack-O, Monopoly, Payday, Trouble, and Chutes and Ladders.

5. Retro Toys

Another favorite for gift-giving is retro toys, and World Market still has plenty of these in supply. From Fisher Price Record Player to ViewMaster to Spirograph, these gifts cover a wide range of ages and can go to both boys and girls on your list.

6. Retro Candy & Soda

Stuff a stocking with retro candy and soda to bring back some memories of days gone by. Rocket Fizz has locations across the United States and offers up nostalgia in the form of both types of sweets. If you don't have one close to you, look for a local general store such as Mast General Store. Those types of stores will usually sell candy by the pound, and some offer glass bottled sodas as well.

Tech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

With all of the Christmas shopping, it's nice to put a little money back in your pocket. These websites and apps help you do just that! These are easy to use and pay you back for shopping that you're doing anyway.

7. Receipt Hog

Receipt Hog is a free app that you download to your iOS or Android phone. Once you create a free account, you can scan any and all new receipts you and anyone in your family brings home. You will either earn coins, spins for Hog Slots (opportunities to win more coins), or sweepstakes entries for each qualifying receipt that you scan. You will collect coins in your account and are able to redeem them for Amazon gift cards, magazine subscriptions, or payout to a PayPal account.

The boys like this particular app because it's easy to just take a picture of the receipts and they like to spin the Hog Slots wheel to see if we won coins. Jaxon, in particular, likes this one because its mascot is a pig and he is fascinated with all things pig-related.

8. Ibotta

Ibotta is a free app that you download to your iOS or Android phone. Once you create a free account, you unlock rebates on items that you are going to purchase. After you've purchased the products at a partner store, you scan the barcodes of the items you purchased and the receipt. The amount of the rebates you redeem is deposited into your Ibotta account within 48 hours (but my experience is that this happens almost instantly).

The bigger your team, the faster you earn. The more friends on your team, the easier it is to earn your Teamwork bonuses, each and every month.

When you join Ibotta with the referral code above and redeem a rebate, you'll get $10 deposited into your account.

Ibotta earnings can be transferred to a PayPal or Venmo as soon as you’ve earned. Or you can convert your earnings into a gift card.

9. SavingStar

SavingStar is a website that offers digital coupons for grocery items. They also offer a free app that you can download to your iOS or Android phone, but the app and the website work the same. Once you create a free account, you link your store loyalty cards and then click on items that you are going to purchase. Once you make the purchase, SavingStar deposits the amount of the coupon into your account. Savings will post within 2-22 days depending on the store.

You can cash out out to a bank account or PayPal account once you save $5. They also offer the option to donate to charity.

This is one of the accounts I've had the longest. My lifetime "earnings" with this account is $220.06.

10. Ebates

I wrote about Ebates all the way back in 2012 when we first started the blog, and let me tell you, I'm still a believer! Ebates is a website that offers cash back for online purchases. They also offer a free app that you can download to your iOS or Android phone, but the app and the website work the same.

Once you open a free account, you go to the Ebates website to find the website you want to purchase from. They have more than 2,000 stores to choose from, so no worries with finding "your usual store."

You click through their link to find extra coupons and deals, and once you're shopping through their link, it records your sale and puts a percentage of the sale back in your account.

Each quarter, they'll send you whatever amount of money is currently in your account. Christmas time is when I rack up the most! 

When you join Ebates with the referral code above and redeem a rebate, you'll get a $10 gift card upon making your first $25 purchase.

I've had this account for a long time, and my lifetime "earnings" with them is $860.10.

Bonus Favorite Thing!

I'm adding this bonus favorite thing because we needed a little help with a hard-to-find Christmas gift this year, and THIS website was the thing that saved our sanity. 

11. Now In Stock

After visiting toy store after toy store and then searching online to find the gift was out of stock at traditional retailers and only being sold by resellers at outrageous prices, we found this gem of a website to send alerts to us of when the product was in stock.

NowInStock is a free web service that tracks the availability of hard-to-find items online and alerts you whenever these items are available for purchase at the retailers they are tracking.

The only caveat is that you have to ACT FAST. For example, we received a text alert last night at 6:40 PM that our item was available, and by the time we went to check the retailer at 6:43 PM, the item was GONE.

(If you're wondering, we were lucky enough to score our item this morning, so I give this service and the elves who run it a ringing endorsement.)

Hope you're Christmas is shaping up nicely!

If you haven't had a chance to check out Deanna's 2016 Favorite Things List, go give that a looksee.

And don't forget to check out my previous years lists too:

Donna's 2015 Favorite Things List

Donna's 2014 Favorite Things List

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Deanna's Favorite Things - Holiday 2016 Edition

It's that time of year again! Time to make your list and check it twice. And since it has become a bit of a tradition for the past few years, I wanted to share a few of my very own favorite things with you. So let's get the ball rolling with number one:

1.  Garth and Trisha Christmas Together CD

I bought this CD a couple weeks ago, and have had it on constant rotation ever since.  It's a winner! Lots of traditional Christmas favorites mixed with several original Christmas songs, and all by Garth and Trisha themselves.  

2.  Orly nail polish, specifically in the color "Rage"

I just discovered this nail color, and I LOVE IT!  It's the perfect blend of sparkle, shine, metallic, and neutral.  And it looks great with my skin tone- pretty pale.  Most neutrals tend to completely wash me out, but this one is just perfect.  And the champagne colored shine just screams holidays to me!

3.  Lush bath bombs

These are just plain AWESOME!  These bath bombs made by Lush are basically a huge ball of bath salts that dissolve in your bath water, but they are so unlike regular bath salts. 

First off, when I say they are huge, I mean HUGE!

But, here's what they do to your bath water.  They fizz and bubble, and color and scent your bath water like a little light show.  It is so so so pretty, I can hardly describe it, and when they are finished with the "show", your bath remains a gorgeous color (depending on which bomb you are using- they are all different).  But they don't stain you or your tub.  Everything goes right down the drain when you are done.  But the lasting scent remains.  This may be my favorite on my whole list!

4.  Trader Joe's gingerbread houses

Last year, when we were looking for gingerbread houses, I ran across several people saying that Trader Joe's had really good ones that were cute and different from the norm.  I called our local store and they were already sold out for the season.  But I didn't forget that little gem of information, and sure enough we scored one this year!  They are like little Swiss chalets.  

Just take a look!  Aren't they adorable?!?

5.  Pioneer Woman kitchenware, Christmas 2016 line

I have blogged before about the Pioneer Woman kitchenware line that is available at Walmart.  I am still a big fan of her and this line.  And what's more- she put out a new collection just in time for Christmas!  Here's a look at some of the pieces.  They are all so sweet and mix so well with the other pieces you may already have from her regular line.  And they are super reasonably priced.  

6.  Rimmel Lipstick, Notting Hill Nude

I have never really worn nude lipstick very well.  I love it on other people, but I could never seem to find a shade that didn't totally wash me out.  (the curse of fair skin and fair hair).  Until now... Rimmel's Notting Hill Nude is saturated with color, and provides just enough to offer a really pretty shade of nudy pink.  It actually reminds me a lot of Cindy Crawford's signature look.  And the price is right.  You can easily find this lip color for $5 or less. 

7.  Bath and Body Works 3 wick candles

I adore the three wick candles from Bath and Body Works.  They are so pretty and smell devine. They burn for a long time, and come in all sorts of seasonal and original scents.  But take it from me, never pay the full price for these.  They come and go on sale so wait for a sale to snatch them up.  They recently went on sale for $8.50 each and I grabbed up a bunch then.  I've never gotten them that cheap before.  Usually a sale will price them somewhere between $10-$12 each, which is still a great deal for what you are getting.  

8.  Brighton notepads

Here's another winner at a great price.  These notepads are only $4 each, and are the perfect size to toss into your handbag.  They have a little velcro closure so they don't accidentally open and bend the pages.  And they come in all sorts of designs and colors.  

9.  Gap striped sweaters for the family

This year Gap has done it again.  They have created a whole line of striped sweaters in sizes and shapes for your entire family!  I snapped up the ladies version for myself and the matching sweater dress for Lexi.  I did not commit to one for hubby, though I think the men's version is really cool too. Check them out.  They have lots of versions of all of these!

10. Brighton Reindeer Rock Collection

I actually went out and bought the necklace in this set as soon as it was available this year.  It was calling my name, and I've worn it a lot already this Christmas season.  In truth, I think the bracelet is my favorite of the three pieces (I love that double strand), but I need another bracelet like I need a hole in my head.  So I pass it along to you.  Maybe you need the bracelet, or the earrings, or the necklace.  Or all three!  Have at it!

And don't forget about these other favorites I have also blogged about this year:

Silk Pillowcases

E.l.f. Makeup primer

Photo ornaments

Wunderbrow Eyebrow Gel

And here are my "Favorite Things" from the past few years, in case you need to catch up, or just like to take a stroll down memory lane.

2015 Favorite Things

2014 Favorite Things

Oh how I hope you are enjoying this holiday season!  Merry Christmas, my friends!

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