I’m excited to share a few more of my favorite things this month… lots of great holiday gift ideas too! And as always, be sure to check out some of my favorite things from past months and share your favorite things in the comments!
DISCLOSURE: None of these products are sponsored in any way; however, some of the links below are affiliate links — which means that at no cost to you, I may get a VERY small commission. However, I hope you know that I’m only promoting the products below because I use them daily in my own home and life. Read my full disclosure policy for more information.
Betty Crocker Hi-Temp Spoons
When we first got married, I found a really cute bright red mixing spoon at a garage sale. It looked just like a wooden spoon, but it was a very hard plastic — so they were super easy to clean and dishwasher safe.
Since my favorite color is red (and my kitchen has lots of red accents) this spoon has always been my favorite big mixing spoon… and after almost 10 years of use, it’s getting somewhat faded.
I’ve wanted to include it in my Favorite Things posts for years now, but I never knew what it was called and (although I’ve been searching regularly) I have never found anything like it in stores anywhere.
However, a couple weeks ago, I was ordering things from Bed Bath and Beyond and I saw a tiny picture of 2 red spoons that looked exactly like my spoons. I clicked on the link, and sure enough, they were the same thing… and ONLY $4.99 for TWO spoons!
Apparently, they are called “Hi-Temp Spoons” and are made out of high-grade nylon so they can resist temperatures up to 430*F.
I’m so happy to have 3 of my favorite red mixing spoons now — especially since I use them almost daily and would regularly wash it by hand just so I could have it ready again for the next mixing project.
If you love using wooden spoons but wish you could put them in the dishwasher, I would highly recommend trying a couple of my favorite red spoons. Also, for some reason, they are insanely expensive on Amazon.com — so definitely go through the Bed Bath and Beyond website to buy them (they aren’t available in many stores).
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Victoria’s Secret ‘Heavenly’ Perfume
I feel kind of weird putting something from Victoria’s Secret on my list… but since it’s just a perfume, I’ll let it fly
I rarely ever wear any type of perfume (I’m like Nora and don’t like strong smells). However, if I were going to wear perfume, my favorite would be Heavenly from Victoria’s Secret.
This has been one of my favorite scents since high school — and I just feel like it works for all seasons and isn’t totally overpowering like some other scents can be. I have a hand roll-on applicator for traveling, and then a smaller bottle that I keep with my toiletries.
I’ve gotten all my perfume for free (years ago) when I used to get $10 off any purchase coupons to VS. I would use them to buy the $10 travel size perfumes and roll-on perfumes. I’m currently on my very last tiny bottle — but since I don’t wear it very often, it will last me a long time!
Speaking of lasting for a long time… I’m not sure if perfume goes bad or not, but I’ve had this perfume for YEARS (probably 8-10) and it seemed completely fine when I used it last week!
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Curbside Grocery Service
While I usually don’t add anything to my Favorite Things list until I’ve had many months (often years) to use and experience it… I just couldn’t help but add our local Meijer Grocery store’s brand new Curbside Service to my list this month.
I’ve had the pleasure of using this service for 4 weeks now (it’s completely free through the end of the year) and I know, without a doubt, that it will be one of my favorite things for many months and years to come.
I have joked many times that I hate shopping so much that I buy everything but groceries online — well now, I can happily buy groceries online too!
From my 4 weeks of experience, this service is absolutely fabulous. I just log into my Meijer shopping account, choose the exact quantity, brand, size, etc. of groceries I want, add everything to my online shopping cart, choose the date and time I’d like to pick them up, and then check out.
I usually do this on Sunday nights and choose Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon as my pickup day. Then, Dave swings by on his way home from school to pick everything up. All he has to do is pull up to the drive-through location, tell them his name, and they bring everything out. Then he swipes his credit card and is on his way.
The only downside to using this service is that they cannot take paper coupons — however, I’m hardly using any paper coupons anyway. I use MPerks (which is Meijer’s online coupons) and those are really easy to pair with the products. In fact, when you’re shopping online, it will tell you what products go with MPerks so I don’t ever have to worry about buying the wrong item.
Not only does this service save me about 2 hours of time every week, it also has the potential to save money if you’re the type of person who regularly gets sucked into impulse purchases
After the new year, the service will cost $4.95 per pick- up — and I’m thinking of doing 2 larger orders every month via the curbside pickup, and then 2 smaller grocery trips on the off weeks — just to get produce, dairy, etc. That way, I’ll be spending about $10 on the curbside service per month and doing 2 small grocery trips with the kids. If that doesn’t go well, then I’ll probably just pay the $4.95 every week since it really is worth the amount of time, energy, and stress I save (especially during the cold winter months!)
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Little People Toys
In general, I’m not a huge fan of toys with little parts… we try to stick to dress-up clothes, baby dolls, stuff for our play kitchen, musical instruments, blocks, stuffed animals, and a handful of trucks and cars.
However, over the past couple of years, we have started to amass various sets of Little People toys — and my kids LOVE them!
We have the house, the barn, Noah’s Ark, and the Nativity right now… and there are more for Christmas! I found a minivan, a school bus, a construction vehicle, and a dump truck at a second hand sale this fall and I’ve been saving them for Christmas. I’ve also been scouting out some sets on Craigslist that I might buy… we’ll see!
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Culver’s
How is it possible that I’ve been sharing my Favorite Things posts for almost 3 years now and I have yet to include Culver’s on my list??? Seriously, this is our family’s #1 favorite place to eat — lunch, dinner, or dessert!
If you have never eaten at a Culver’s restaurant, you are missing out. It’s essentially a semi-fast-food restaurant where they make your burgers after you order them, and make them exactly to your specifications. In my opinion, their food is far superior to other fast food options (such as Burger King or McDonalds) and the prices are fairly competitive (between $6 and $8 for a Double Butter Burger + fries + drink). Also… their frozen custard is AMAZING!!
I will say that their burgers run on the greasy side — and it took my digestive system several months to get used to their food after Dave and I got married (he’s the one who got me hooked on Culver’s) but now it is easily our favorite spot to go if we have a chance to go out. Thankfully, there is one only a couple miles from our house!
Also, if you have a Culver’s restaurant near you, December is a fabulous month to visit because they usually have all sorts of deals and specials for the holidays. Our favorite is the free value basket coupon with the purchase of $25 in gift cards. We usually buy $100 in gift cards to use in the following year, and get 4 free value baskets (approximately $25 value — or about 25%).
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That’s all for me this month.
Make sure you check out my previous month’s favorite things — and feel free to share some of YOUR favorite things in the comments below!