Happy weekend, friends! I hope you’re finding some joy for yourself today. Here are 10 things I have been loving lately:
Get yourself a disco ball! I have one that is basically a leftover photo prop (see above) and I’m realizing this is an excellent piece of holiday/anytime decor. Look how the light catches it in the late afternoon! It even makes my popcorn ceilings look a little magical.
Let’s talk advent calendars. I love a good homemade advent like this and this one. But, I also decided to buy my immediate family the store-bought kind that has little cardboard pockets you open each day. It just seemed like a small thing (gift) I could get them this year that might make this strange holiday season a little more fun. I got Elsie’s girls this Kinder one (two, so they each get their own), this non-candy one for my niece, Penny, this one for my brother and his fiancĂ©, although really it’s for their dog kids. I bought this classic milk chocolate one for my parents.
Since moving into the holiday house a couple months ago, I noticed the flatware was looking very worn out. It was the gold kind, but the gold was flaking off, and although I’m sure it was still food safe it just didn’t feel like it. So, I decided to buy a few new sets and I splurged a little, as I also use these in my food photography for work, so why not? I got these pretty white handle ones, and these classic gold ones.
I’m currently reading The Magpie Society: One for Sorrow and loving it. It’s a YA murder mystery based at a spooky English school—very fun and an easy read. It’s a good one to curl up with some hot cocoa.
Bought myself this ring from Etsy. I think I actually saw it in an Instagram ad. Do you all fall for those too? I did, but no regrets because I love it.
Bought a few holiday decor items from my friend, Kara. I got these ornaments and this garland. She has lots of really pretty stuff!
Also added a new Santa mug to my collection (tour coming soon). This shop makes Santa mugs in three different skin tones.
I like the fit of these leggings—my wardrobe is slowly becoming all animal print. I think of this as a “cool aunt” look, but I feel like Carole Baskin sort of ruined it for everyone.
I needed to update a lot of my makeup, so here is everything I got. It’s a bit of an ILIA haul: concealer, liquid eye tint (which I plan to use as highlighter, too), and a multi stick that I’ll use for lips and cheeks. Should I do a review or show things on IG? I never know how helpful that is since everyone has such different skin types and tones.
During a sale I recently bought this pink cardigan. I wear cardigans or sweaters basically everyday now since it’s full on winter temperatures now. Ha.
Take care of yourselves, friends! xo. Emma
That ring is so cute! No need to buy it on Etsy, though — most of the new stuff on there is posted by dropshippers, who just forward your order to someone in China and keep the markup. I found this ring on AliExpress for $5: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001413554433.html. The downside is I have to wait a month for it to get here, ha ha!
Such a lovely round up! I think we’re going to start putting our Christmas decorations up this weekend – the snowman garland is super cute! I was looking for a new book recommendation so I’ll definitely check out The Magpie Society! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hey Emma!! I always love your book recommendations…you have never steered me wrong once so I look forward to getting this one from the library!
I would appreciate an ILIA haul review. I’d be interested to know how you like the concealer formula.
Make up reviews, please!
Hi Emma! Happy Sunday! I can’t wait to hear what you think of Ilia and hear which colors you got. I’ve been wanting to try that brand. I’ve been using the Honest Beauty organic face oil for about six months now and I am really impressed with it. I love how it makes my skin feel. Have you tried that?
I haven’t! I am pretty obsessed with face oils, especially in the winter. Thanks for the rec.
I always enjoy these weekly posts from ABM! For book recommendations, would you consider linking to Bookshop instead of Amazon? So we can support local/info bookstores.
We do sometimes. We’ve also heard feedback that Amazon is more accessible… so we go back and forth with it. 🙂
I actually would love if you all stopped linking Amazon all together—given what we know about the malpractices of the company and Bezos’ wealth hoarding, I’d love to see more bloggers move away from automatically linking Amazon/creating Amazon wish lists.
(I do understand, however, that it can be more affordable/accessible for some. Just wanted to add my feedback to the mix.)