The Weekly, 11.30.2020
I saw a meme on Instagram this weekend that read something along the lines of, “Who needs Black Friday? I’ve spent every Friday in 2020 shopping for useless shit I don’t need.” And that is accurate. This holiday weekend was…uneventful. Glorious, at some points, and at others, confusing.
In the past I have always loved post-holiday shopping – Black Friday (although never in person), and even more so, the day after Christmas sales at the mall in New Jersey was a major sporting event for my mom, aunt and cousins each year. I love a good sale, and usually, am totally drawn to shopping a great deal, but this year looked and felt very different. I certainly did not expect to spend my Friday in a strip mall parking lot in New Jersey eating sub sandwiches, tailgate style, and collecting my Christmas decorations from my parents.
It was certainly a Thanksgiving that made me appreciate this holiday as an opportunity for a holiday, just the two of us, where we dictated what we ate, what we did, and where we went (nowhere). While not something I plan to make a yearly tradition, it was certainly a refreshing experience that started off with these delicious homemade cinnamon rolls. And to continue the carb coma, we made these salted honey butter rolls to pair with our dinner, and they were super delicious and easy to make. It was a lot of cozy couch time, watching some of my favorite holiday movies, like, The Family Stone, and, The Holiday, which Chris hadn’t seen in years.
I spent the day on Saturday polishing off a book, and I haven’t finished a book in a day since the summer. I read, This Time Next Year, and I really enjoyed it. It’s the story of two babies born in the same hospital to two women who were strangers that ended up leading each other through labor. Flash forward 30 years to midnight on New Year’s Even when both babies are celebrating their birthdays, one with better luck than the other, on the surface. It’s a love story, and well-written. I would definitely recommend if you’re looking for a good, light read. And in an effort to support small businesses, please don’t shop for books on Amazon! Try bookshop.org, which sources from hundreds of small book stores, which need the money the most right now. You can wait the extra few days for shipping – I promise.
If you’ve been following along for the last few months, then you know my candle addiction is constantly evolving, much to Chris’ terror. I can’t stop burning and shopping candles, and now I have moved into the world of accessories. I bought this adorable match cloche canister this weekend from the Anthropologie sale, and have zero regrets. I cannot wait until it comes it because it is going to be perfect next to this hand-blown cloche I bought and love from this summer – a great small business to support when they restock!
I also picked up two new holiday-scented candles from Target, just to see if their more affordable price tag competes with the candles I have been buying. I grabbed this Christmas tree-scented and shaped one because I love anything that smells like balsam, and then I loved the design of this one from Studio McGee. And if you missed Olivia Muenter’s second Bath and Body Works tipsy candle review of the winter scents, please do yourself the favor and take a watch in her stories (or hopefully saved to her highlights). They raised $4,000 for Feed America before doing this. On my list? Eucalyptus Snow, which she reports to smell like expensive axe, or the New England Patriots locker room – v. luxe.
I resisted a lot of beauty sales this weekend (something that is very hard for me to do), but I did buy my eyebrow growth serum that I recently wrote about. If you missed that post, you are going to want to check it out for the before and after photos that I posted. I wasn’t prepared to add this product to my routine, but it has proven me wrong, so I bought the bigger size this time. Dermstore is ending their sale today, but if you’ve wanted to try, you can get it for 30% off today only.
If you didn’t get a chance to look through my holiday gift guides, I included the Mason Pearson hairbrush. A friend of mine has been raving about this and tempting me for months, and it seems like a holy grail hair product for a lot of beauty bloggers. I found a smaller size on QVC and decided to take a gamble. It’s too early to tell any results (they say to expect static for the beginning of use), but I will say that I think it is immediately nice. More to come on whether this item is worth the price tag, but as my hair gets longer and I wash it less, this brush is supposed to be helpful in transferring oils through the hair, bringing it from the hairline/scalp down to the roots because of its double bristle.
The only other thing that I bought in this weekend’s sales was another pair of the perfect vintage jeans from Madewell, which I bought and really liked earlier this Fall. I got them in a black washed color, and went with a size down, my normal Madewell size, for this pair, because they do stretch with wear being 100% cotton. I think they will be perfect for colder weather, worn with booties or sneakers. I love that these have that stiff denim jean look but with a better comfort factor.
In an effort to support small businesses this weekend, Chris and I found some gifts at a local toy store in Brooklyn that we picked up this amazing Lego Advent calendar for my nephew. First, I just love the idea of advent calendars, and we always had them growing up, opening one flap each day leading up to Christmas. My mom certainly had a thing for making the holidays special, and this was a tradition I am so glad to pass down to my nephew, but with Legos. You can grab one here.
Another small business that I have had my eye on on Instagram for a while and finally purchased some gifts for myself and for my landlords this weekend is Franca NYC, a Brooklyn-based ceramics studio with some gorgeous pieces. I picked up the Cara mug and this speckled mug for a little treat to myself, and then picked up this adorable little planter in the dog ears print that I will pair with a plant for my landlord who has an insane plant collection. Anything from this shop would make an incredibly special holiday gift for this year. If you’re looking for more small businesses to support, send me a message, and I’d love to help you discover a new something, as I love to be along for that adventure.
As always, I am surprised by how quickly time passes, and now we have the winter holiday season just weeks away. On my holiday wish list for sure is this gorgeous bag from a London-based brand, Demellier. It has a similar classic vibe to the bags I love from Polene, or even that same always-chic look of a Celine box bag. I found this brand because it is apparently a favorite of Meghan Markle, and she does no wrong when it comes to style, in my opinion.
If you’re looking for laughs, I love this Christmas ornament that I found from an Instagram ad. I know I said last week I am not at the stage of finding 2020 jokes funny quite yet, but I do have to laugh at this one. If you’re a collector like my family, this one is it – “Purehell.” I also adore this one, because I just really love cheese, so this cheese stack is a definite for me. As you can tell, I am officially now in full holiday mode now, and just installed my December tech background from EveryGirl – check them out here.
On a final note, if you’re looking to keep that same cozy vibe as me, I recommend checking out all of the amazing loungewear on sale at H&M today for Cyber Monday. I picked up this sweater top and matching knit bottoms – they look premium with a great price. Do yourself a favor and start your week with some loungewear to look forward to. Stay pretty busy!
Thanks for shopping my blog post! For full transparency, some of the links in this post may be affiliated links, which means I make a small commission off of any purchases you make using them. I only post what I love and buy at Pretty Busy Brooklyn.
