Favorite Things – 7 Things That I Am Loving

Today I am sharing some of my favorite things that I am loving. From technology to meal planning to sweet muscat wine – here are a few of my favorite things.

Favorite Things

I made a video over on our YouTube channel featuring things that I am loving (you can watch below) – I thought I would share with your here on the blog as well.  Let’s get into it!

Carrie Elle Meal Planner

Carrie is a friend of mine that I met thru blogging. Funny story, when we met, we found out we lived just a few miles apart, in the same neighborhood. While we are no longer neighbors, we do lunch often and I always love hearing what she is designing next.

So my gal Carrie not only blogs (see CarrieElle.com) – she has a line of planners called Carrie Elle Planners. Keep reading, she is giving away one to a lucky reader! Her planners range from life to teaching to what I am sharing with you – her Carrie Elle Meal Planner. This planner has been a game changer in meal planning for our family.

First, you should know I AM NOT A PLANNER. When Carrie kindly gifted me a planner earlier this year, I thought – are you sure we are friends? Don’t you know that I DO NOT PLAN MUCH IN LIFE? But alas, maybe she had an intervention in mind or something. Whatever it was, it worked. I now live by meal planning. 

Meal Planner Features

WIth 4 kids, our life is a wee bit cray-cray. You can view the complete review of the Carrie Elle Meal Planner in the video below, or here are a few highlights of things that I love about it and why it’s one of my favorite things. These features are on her new designs.

• 12 monthly calendar pages (blank) for those of you who like to meal plan a month at a time
• 60 weekly meal planning pages, with a place to plan out meals for the week and a place to write your grocery list. The pages are perforated so you can rip off the grocery list to take with you to the store, and stick the menu for the week on the fridge (although some people like to keep the menu in their planner to refer to later)! There is also enough room for most people to write out breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each day.
• 10-holiday meal/dinner party planning pages, with space to plan the meals (and even supplies you need to buy) and a place to write your shopping list. The pages are perforated so you can rip off the grocery list to take with you to the store, and stick the menu for the dinner on the fridge.
• 10 lined pages at the back of the book for notes/recipes/helpful websites
• Space to keep track of your favorite meal planning resources
• Freezer Inventory sheets
• Pantry Inventory sheets
• Pantry Inventory sheets
• Double-sided pocket folder (keep your recipes, grocery store flyers, and coupons here

Click Here to Learn More

KEEP READING! We Have a Meal Planner AND Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

Kindle Fire 7

So here is the deal. I had a Kindle Fire 7, loved it. Some mean person stole it, with my credit cards when in Washington DC on a road trip. It was a crappy experience, but after not having the Kindle Fire 7 – after having a Kindle Fire 7 – it was missed enough for me to replace.  

While my primary use of the Kindle Fire 7 is for reading, you do have the ability to install various apps from the app store. But again, my main use for this is reading. It’s a perfect size, and hello – it’s yellow! 

As I mentioned in the video, I purchased the Special Offers Kindle FIre and have zero regrets. It was cheaper and the ads are non-intrusive. So if you are debating on going with the special offers kindle vs no ads, if the savings is worth it to you – the ads are not overly annoying or anything!

Kindle Fire Stats

Here are the stats on the Kindle Fire 7:

• The next generation of our best-selling Fire tablet ever – now thinner, lighter, and with longer battery life and an improved display. More durable than the latest iPad.
• Beautiful 7″ IPS display with higher contrast and sharper text, a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, and up to 8 hours of battery life. 8 or 16 GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for up to 256 GB of expandable storage.
• Now with Alexa, for quick access to the information and entertainment you want. Ask questions, play music, check your calendar, get the news, weather, and more – just press the home button and ask.
• Enjoy millions of movies, TV shows, songs, Kindle eBooks, apps and games – including Netflix, Facebook, HBO, Spotify, and more
• Prime members get unlimited access to over a thousand books and magazines, millions of songs, and thousands of movies and TV episodes – at no additional cost
• Watch downloaded videos anywhere with a Prime membership, Netflix plan, or Showtime subscription
• Enhance your entertainment experience with features you only get from Amazon, including ASAP, X-Ray, On Deck, Blue Shade, and FreeTime Parental Controls

Click Here to Learn More

Exploding Kittens

If you need a good family game that injects a little humor – EXPLODING KITTENS is it. This card game was created by the dude who started The Oatmeal (Matthew Inman) and 2 other dudes who worked for Xbox (Elan Lee and Shane Small).

Exploding Kittens first launched on Kickstarter and was at one time the most-backed Kickstarter project ever. Here is how the game is described per the back of the box:

The game is a highly-strategic, kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette. Players draw cards until someone draws an Exploding Kitten, at which point they explode, they are dead, and they are out of the game. UNLESS that player has a Defuse card, which can defuse the kitten using things like laser pointers, belly rubs, and catnip sandwiches. All of the other cards in the deck are used to move, mitigate, or avoid the Exploding Kittens. 

Exploding Kittens is perfect for ages 7+ and 2-10 players. We play with our 6-year-old, but we typically play in teams to make it a little fairer for him (and to help reduce meltdowns when he loses.) 

Click Here to Learn More

How to Play Exploding Kittens

Here is a great video to show you how to play Exploding Kittens

Holy Guacamole Shirt

Sister (aka Dallas Socials) bought me a HOLY GUACAMOLE shirt for my birthday. I’m obsessed. Here’s a similar version:

Click Here to Learn More

Woodrose Winery Sweet Muscat Wine

We spent last weekend in the Texas Hill Country, wine tasting for my birthday. It was amazing and my favorite part – finding a new fave wine! I love my Texas Hills Vineyard Orange Moscato, but I think I may like this one a little more.

If you are a super sweet white wine lover – try the Woodrose Winery Sweet Muscat. It is delish and pairs well with cheese and crackers (duh.)

Click Here to Learn More

Young Living Essential Oils

As mentioned in the video, I’ve been a Young Living distributor for the last 3 years. Love me some essential oils. We use the diffuser daily in both our office and in the bedrooms. You can learn more about Young Living Essential Oils here. 

Click Here to Learn More

Sally Henson Miracle Gel Nail Polish

While my favorite manicure is NextGen, I just don’t have time to go to the nail salon and keep them up. I bought Sally Henson Miracle Gel nail polish and am impressed. While it doesn’t make me paint my nails any better – it stays on a lot longer than a normal manicure!

This is my favorite nail painting meme. I suck at painting nails. 

Click Here to Learn More

Carrie Elle Meal Planner & $25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Carrie is giving away a Carrie Elle Meal Planner to a Digital Mom Blog friend and we are throwing in a $25 Amazon gift card so that you can buy something that is hopefully one of YOUR favorite things!  Enter below for your chance to win. The giveaway ends at 11:59 pm on November 20, 2017. 

Carrie Elle Meal Planner & $25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

And Those Are a Few of My Favorite Things!

This wraps up this episode of my favorite things. I want to hear what you are loving! Leave a comment below or on YouTube and let me know what your favorite things are. 

Digital Mom Blog