Hi hi friends! Instead of doing a traditional gift guide, I decided to share with you everything we've bought so far this Cyber month and what we plan to buy on Black Friday and Cyber Monday as we move full swing into Cyber week!
I know so many people do gift guides with picks – but don't have first hand experience and really wanted to do something that was realistic and practical. So this is everything we've gotten/are getting for ourselves are are giving as gifts to others this year!
Plus we are in a super unique position because we are re-doing our offices (thus getting lots of work from home items) and my daughter is about to turn 2!
What We've Bought So Far:
For the home / work from home situation:
Mid century Modern / Boho Daybed:
I JUST bought this and put it together last week and am in LOVE! We decided to get rid of our queen bed set in our guest room and convert it to my office that can double as a guest room if need be. Basically the queen bed we had in there consume the whole room and it was becoming a total panic attack every time we walked by with boxes and toys piled on the floor/bed. We couldn't even walk in there! It was a total nightmare and I needed some storage solutions but also wanted to keep a separate sleeping space (this was SO handy when R was a newborn, I'd go sleep in the guest room after the 3 am feed and E would give her a pumped bottle at the 7 am feed so I could get a good stretch of sleep).
Mattress:
Obviously with the new daybed we needed a new mattress. I don't love daybeds that look like beds trying to be couches so I was really focused on how tall the mattress was. Fortunately our favorite bed-in-the-box brand: Nest Bedding has a kids twin mattress that is thinner than most twins and organic! Organic mattresses are really important to me since we literally are BREATHING what we sleep on. We've had our king bed from them for 3 years now and love it and they are doing 25% off all mattresses, furniture and bedding with code HIBERNATE through 12/6/2020!
Bedding:
I knew I wanted really gorgeous linen bedding for this set up and discovered Magic Linen. The colors are gorgeous, it gets great reviews, and they are currently doing 20% off most items! I got a mix of white, cinnamon, tan, and sage bedding (throw blanket, duvets, throw pillows).
Shelving:
A big part of the office swap is getting some solid storage in place. For the walls I got 2 of these circular shelving units.
Bookcases:
My old office is pretty small, and once again I couldn't see the floor things were getting so messy! I needed thin and tall bookcases to rectify the situation so I turned to Ikea. I got this one for $30 and this one for $99. For the more expensive one, I measured the depth to make sure my printer would sit on it. Then drilled a hole in the back panel for the printer wire, and for our mini-generator power-strip which sits in the bottom drawer (this room doesn't have a lot of outlets so this is basically a main hub for getting electricity in this room). E will be taking over this office space.
External mic to attach to my DSLR for video recording. Currently I use this camera for my Youtube videos- and I love it – but also wanted to test out a different set up my friend recommended to see if it enhances the audio of my videos. I haven't quite figured out the settings yet though.
For the toddler:
KiwiCo Subscription
Current KiwiCo Promo Code: Merry for 1, 2, or 4 months FREE here!
We LOVE KiwiCo STEM based crates! Check out my KiwiCo Panda Crate Review for 13-18 month olds here!. So we took advantage of their current deal and renewed a 6 month subscription. These are great for kids of ALL ages (literally have lines for newborns to 114 year olds!).
Counting Bears:
Our speech therapist brought these the first time she came and my daughter LOVED them. I look up every toy our speech therapist brings actually haha! But decided to get this one since I know it's something we'll get years use out of. It's great for montessori learning at home and has a whole activity booklet. Plus it came with extra tweezers (something we use for a lot of at home toddler activities), a storage box, and a chutes + ladders type game to play. Great value pack.
Lacing Toys:
A set of wooden montessori toys working fine motor skills and this 3 pack was under $15
First 100 Animals:
My daughter LOVES animals and loves flap books and this book has been a total hit with her! It works colors, teaches about animals, and has jumped to her favorite book of the week! Even better? It's under $10!
Tie Dye Lounge Set
My daughter picked it out and loves it so much. I was a little disappointed with the “china smell” when it arrived, but it's soft and she's so excited about it so I'm just washing it a few times before letting her wear it.
Socks
My daughter is OBSESSED with putting socks on. Her feet are the areas most affected by her eczema currently so she's very particular about how many layers of pjs/socks/shoes she has on when she's uncomfortable and asks to wear these every single day.
For him and for her:
Kopari Sugar Cookie Coconut Melt
Literally feels so luxe and makes the skin feel amazing!! I always opt for this as a gift for people when putting together a little pampering package.
Araminta Bracelet
Dainty, classy, perfect for stacking and comes in a few colors.
Monogrammed trinket dish
Trinket dishes are one of my favorite gifts to give. We all need a little catch all container in the kitchen, bathroom, bedside table, and on our desks IMO.
Bandana
Perfect for COVID and super stylish!
Insulated Tumbler
I've heard SUCH great reviews about this cup and finally got it! It keeps drinks cold for so long and fits in my strollers cup holder! WIN-WIN
Cryosphere
Yep, it's worth the hype. It combines the power of ice therapy with traditional myofascial release to make this two-in-one rollerball that targets specific areas of the body while reducing inflammation and boosting recovery! Before my husband used a tennis ball to roll out knots each night, but this has been a game changer!
What Is On Our “To Buy” List:
For the home / work from home situation:
VPN:
A VPN is a virtual private network that gives you online privacy and anonymity by creating a private network from a public internet connection. In other words, it's a secure and encrypted internet connection that's more secure than even a Wi-Fi hotspot. Your web traffic and IP address can't be tracked with it.
We had been talking about getting one for a long time (because of the nature of E's work), and finally decided it was time. We are going with this brand and paying for the lifetime subscription upfront rather than annual. With the way the world continues to evolve, data and privacy protections are things that are really important to us and I believe will only become more important.
Mesh Network:
Part of the reason the guest room was never my office was due to the fact our internet didn't reach that room. Literally you walk into it or my daughters room and there is 0 reception. So the mesh network will actually cover our whole house with solid internet. We are getting the router and 1 access point which covers 3800 sq ft.
Rug for my new office:
I chose this one but haven't ordered it yet. Keeping an eye on it for better deals as the week goes on!
Air fryer:
We've talked about it for years and are finally doing it!!!! Send me your favorite recs, otherwise I'll be getting this one!
External monitor:
I've had this one for 4 years and love it – but plan to get E this one though for his new office set up. He tends to move around a lot when working so I don't feel like spending as much on his. Plus he doesn't do video/photo editing and has a tendency to break/get over things quickly so I don't typically splurge on tech for him haha!
For the toddler:
Tool Kit:
R is always taking the hammer and screwdriver and drill bits when I'm building furniture so I figured this montessori tool kit with 3 toys/activities would be the perfect present for her this Christmas or for her birthday!
Music Instruments:
E and I are NOT musical but we want to cultivate a love of music in our kids so we thought this music instrument beginner pack would be a fun little addition to the playroom.
Busy Book:
This busy book (aka quiet book) comes with a few pages and works fine motor skills for buttoning, zipping, snapping and more! Perfect for car rides or just as another toy/activity at home.
For him and for her:
Boka Toothpaste
My FAVORITE toothpaste brand! We decided to ditch fluoride earlier this year for a ton of reasons and went with Boka toothpaste which uses hydroxyapatite – a really cool compound that remineralizes the teeth. I plan on buying this in bulk if they do a Black Friday deal! This podcast episode does a FANTASTIC job explaining dental health, its connection to the gut microbiome and COVID and I highly recommend!
