February 1, 2017

Fun, Gift Guides

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

February 1, 2017

Fun, Gift Guides

There are myriad ways to celebrate Valentine's Day, depending on your preference, budget, and the season of life you're in. Chocolates and roses and teddy bears aren't for everyone, and anything your loved one loves makes for a great gift. I've got a little something here for everyone–your kid, your partner, your friend, or yourself. My other gift guides are still full of plenty of timeless ideas: start with my most recent big guide to see more!

Some links are affiliate links, which means if you click on them, I may get a small percentage of the sale. These links have no impact on my opinions or the products I recommend, and help me keep writing these posts.

1. Let's dive right in with my favorite February treat: See's Candies Hot Hearts. They're like the high-end love child of a jelly bean and a Hot Tamale.

2. Before you place your order, throw some chocolate in your cart. Milk hearts, dark hearts, or a special raspberry chocolate treat. Check out their complete line of Valentine's candies, including sour gummy hearts!

3. Keep your love hydrated and/or caffeinated with this thermos, which my friend Ali swears keeps her coffee scalding for the whole day.

4. Throw in their favorite tea or coffee beans, or order coffee online from Coffee Kind: they feature small roasters, and you can search by roaster, roast, or region.

5. And for your little sweetheart, a kid's water bottle. Because you love them and want them to stay hydrated. There are so many fun designs that it was hard to choose.

6. Donate to their favorite cause. Whether it's conservation, human rights, ending human trafficking, a children's hospital, or their favorite local charity or personal fundraising effort, they'll appreciate that you see them and know them enough to help them support what's important to them. Here is a shameless plug for one of my current favorite fundraisers.

7. For the book lover in your life, these delightful bookmarks. They bring me joy every time I look at them.

8. Throw in a sweet, light work of fiction while you're at it. I recently read the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and was utterly charmed.

9. And for your little loves, a twist on an old favorite with this sweet book by Eric Carle.

Looking at that book led me to a whole host of other sweet twists on favorite kids' books. Oh man. Please buy them all.

10. Llama Llama I Love You!

11. Pete the Cat: Valentine's Day is Cool!

12. This also seems like a good chance to share Giraffes Can't Dance. It's my favorite book to give to kids, because it's about learning to dance to your own tune, even when that's hard.

13. For a friend (or even for the right kid), a heartfelt note about what they mean to you and a pretty, potted succulent: something for them to love in turn. Trader Joe's often has great selections.

14. If you want to get a little fancier, this terrarium is very pretty.

15. Sweet treat note cards. Man, do I love a good note card.

16. People who enjoy sending cards and letters can never have too many stickers. This is my firm belief. Get seasonal on them with these hearts. Also a great choice for kids who are giving out valentines at school.

17. Alternately, I am sure these emoji stickers would be a hit!

18. Kid's banana jams! Because you're bananas about them.

19. For the lover of games and/or wordsmithing: Codenames. I gave this as a gift over the holidays, and we ended up playing it with a big group on Christmas. It was so much fun. Highly recommend.

20. Oh! Or a puzzle! Use it as an excuse to spend more time together. This one is pretty, and seems just hard enough without being so hard as to make you pull your hair out. (I'm looking at you, 500 piece Ansel Adams puzzle of a tree in the snow that I found in that cabin I stayed in that one time. You haunt me still.)

21. Anatomical heart necklace. Heh.

22. Date night memory bucket. For those of us who are not crafty enough to make our own. No shame in that game.

23. Handy multitool.

24. Handy cord and item organizer for the traveler, commuter, or organization appreciator on your list. I have one, and it's great.

25. This not-at-all-handy, but whimsically delightful unicorn ball popper. All ages, because whimsy.

26. All-ages artsy fun with these colorful scratch notes.

Celebrating Galentine's Day? I gave Treat Yoself gift bags to some of my cousins at Christmas, and they were a huge hit. I was even told I should trademark them. Alas, I can hardly claim "Treat Yoself", but I can share these ideas with you. The bags I put together had earrings, skincare, a book, and their favorite chocolates. Use whatever combination of gifts and price points makes sense for you: I just love the idea of a gift that is purely for the care and enjoyment of the recipient, especially if it's something(s) they might not buy themselves. Ideas below!

27. These heart jams! They are well-reviewed and come in plain colors, too.

28. Sheet masks! All the rage. There are so many to choose from, but this Tony Moly variety pack might be the best deal in town.

29. Glitter earrings! I have these and have given these. They're the perfect probably-wouldn't-buy-it-for-yourself gift. Various colors.

30. A beautiful, rose-plum nail polish. Essie says this is their most Pinned color, and I can understand why.

31. Fancy-yet-affordable soaps with great reviews.

32. Natural bath bombs. Made with shea butter and essential oils. 800+ reviews, 4.5 stars.

33. Fancy lip serum to keep your smart mouth hydrated.

34. Or! Fancy lip balm. I was lucky enough to receive this as a gift (thank you, Bria!), and I am absolutely in love with it. It's not overly rose-y; it heals and hydrates and soothes. When it finally runs out (it seems to last forever), I will hold a funeral for the empty jar.

A few more general purpose gift ideas before we wrap up.

35. I'm a big fan of Shinola's American-made products. Their stuff is beautiful and the quality is fantastic. How about a linen hard cover notebook for your honey, monogrammed with their initials? Comes in a range of gorgeous colors.

36. My favorite beef jerky, because not everyone likes candy. Krave jerky is also widely available at Target and grocery stores.

37. My favorite peanuts, because not everyone likes candy.

38. Choco-covered salted peanuts, because they are so, so good. You can also get both types of peanuts together in a gift pack.

39. Scrubby soap. I like the Kiehl's one too, and it's not just for men. (As if any soap really is.)

40. And finally, a book that has was a big hit on a previous guide. Always happy to revive an old favorite.

In closing, you really can't go wrong with a gift that celebrates something your giftee loves or something they love to do. Give some thought to their favorite sports, their fitness or recreational pursuits, and things they enjoy like spending time with family, playing games with friends, going to the movies, or their favorite places to shop. At the end of the day, I think anything given with thought and heart is a good choice.

Thanks for reading, and happy Valentine's Day!

Caitlin Hannah

January 27, 2017

Friday Find, Fun, Physical Humor, TV

Friday Find: IDK, My BFF Retta?

Caitlin Hannah

January 27, 2017

Friday Find, Fun, Physical Humor, TV

Parks & Rec is my forever-favorite show. In fact, it's the only show I can re-watch endlessly, and I'm always at some point mid re-watch in the series. As I write this, I am drinking coffee out of my City of Pawnee, Indiana Parks & Recreation mug. Donna Meagle, played by Retta, is one of my favorite characters on the show (and oh, they're all such well-drawn characters). Her faces/physical comedy and impeccably hilarious delivery have provided endless opportunity for quoting. (MiMOsas.) Retta herself is also a dang delight, and I follow her on social media, including (and especially) Snapchat, where she's even been gracious enough to reply to my fangirling chats.

All of which is a long way of saying that this video of her and Seth Meyers* day drinking made me laugh so hard. It's perfect. ILU, RETTA.

*I can now only hear "Seth Meyers" in Olya Povlatsky's voice.

Seth and Retta Go Day Drinking (Late Night With Seth Meyers)

P.S. Bonus Friday OTTERING! Otter spy cam!

Caitlin Hannah

January 17, 2017

Fun, Liking Lately, TV

Liking Lately: January Finds

Caitlin Hannah

January 17, 2017

Fun, Liking Lately, TV

1. My Favorite Murder podcast. True crime is something that's always interested me but which I was always afraid to admit. If I say that I'm interested in true crime and serial killers, aren't I more likely to end up in jail, wrongfully committed? If you listen to the podcast, you know that talking about it is a super scientific way to keep it from happening ("it" being either wrongfully committed or being murdered yourself). Plus, it's nice to finally know I'm not alone: The podcast's Facebook group has more than 90,000 members. And it makes sense, doesn't it? If you're a normal, well-adjusted human being then it's sort of fascinating to see when someone isn't. And I suppose this human fascination is why murder mysteries, Law & Order SVU (Benson and Stabler 4eva), Bones, Criminal Minds, NCIS, and the like are so popular.

The podcast also reminded me of Michelle McNamara's website, True Crime Diary, which I've been hearing about for a long time. Unfortunately, Ms. McNamara passed away recently, but her work in researching and reporting on true crime cases and working toward solving them.

Photo from epicurious.com. Don't skimp on the cheese.

2. Roasted butternut squash and kale salad. I made this a week or two ago and I can't stop thinking about it. Roasted garlic dressing! Cheese! Add a protein and you've got a main course. The leftovers will be great the next few days as the kale tenderizes in the dressing. I never eat leftover dressed salad unless it's kale. Use Trader Joe's tuscan kale and butternut squash zigzags to save on the prep time.

3. Litsy. If Goodreads and Instagram had a baby, this would be it. It makes interacting over books fun, easy, and visually appealing. Post quotes, reviews, and blurbs, with or without your own edits. Add a book to your stacks directly from a friend's post, and collect points for your posts and interactions. I'm @TheCopyCait over there: feel free to add me.

Standing ovation with a sprinkling of copywriter envy for whomever wrote their tagline: "Litsy: Where books make friends."

4. Shameless. Not a new show, but new to me. Best described as a dramedy, this show has made me laugh and cry in seemingly equal measure. My husband and I started watching it a couple of months ago and pretty quickly got obsessed. I love getting into a show when it's far enough in that there are several seasons to binge on, while still a good season or two left in the tank. That's the sweet spot for me. You get the benefit of not having to wait for new episodes while still being able to participate in the fandom while it's going on.

5. Trader Joe's Mint Melange Tea. I usually take advantage of January to recover from the holiday chaos by slowing things down and coming back to center, so to speak. One way I do this is by sipping (decaf) tea at night. Mint, in various forms, has long been my go-to. I recently picked up this Mint Melange at Trader Joe's. If there isn't one near you, I understand it may be similar to Mighty Leaf Mint Melange. (It may well even be the same exact tea, given that TJ's contracts companies to make their products.) And of course, there's always good old Sleepytime.

What are you liking lately?

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

Friday Find: IDK, My BFF Retta?

Liking Lately: January Finds

Caitlin's currently-reading book montage

2022 Reading Challenge