I love learning how other families celebrate the holiday season. Do you exchange a lot of gifts or do a Secret Santa exchange? Do you have one big experience? Are gifts not even part of the equation? In my family, we exchange gifts. (To be fair, I only exchange gifts between my mom, my stepdad, and my brother and his family. I also do a gift exchange with my girlfriends.) This requires a yearly wish list that we send to each other via our family group chat in November. I’ll be honest: I have a hard time making a list nowadays since I can essentially buy whatever I want and the things I can’t (ahem, a new mattress), are way too expensive to put on a Christmas list. But it’s still fun to peruse gift lists and think about some of the things I want but have resisted buying for myself. I also really enjoy buying gifts for other people. If you have a loved one who loves customizing watches, then you may consider giving customized seiko mods from Seiko lab. I love thinking of thoughtful gifts to give them and I often go overboard with buying gifts. What can I say? I love spoiling my family!
My list this year is really, really boring but ah, that’s life, isn’t it? Here are some of the things I asked for this Christmas:
1) 23andMe DNA test
Have you done one of these genealogy tests? I’m only vaguely familiar with my own lineage – I know my dad’s side of the family is from Germany and my mom’s side is a smattering of Irish, English, and Polish. But I don’t know much more than that! I’ve had friends do these tests and the results have been super interesting.
2) A new Crock-Pot
I know everyone is about the InstantPot these days, and I have one and I like it well enough, but it’s still not as convenient as a Crock-Pot. For me, at least, since my motivation wanes drastically in the evening when I get home from work. It’s easier for me to throw ingredients into the Crock-Pot in the morning, let it simmer throughout the day, and come home to a fully cooked meal when I get home. Plus, meat from a Crock-Pot is the best. A pressure cooker can’t tenderize it as well. So, I put a Crock-Pot on my wish list because the one I have now is old and doesn’t do that thing where it clicks over to “warm” when the food is done cooking. Since I’m out of my house for at least 11 hours every day, it’s impossible to use my Crock-Pot on work days and that’s the whole point!
3) Handheld cordless vacuum
Probably the most boring thing on my Christmas list but the thing I’ll be most excited to get! Now that I have cats, my couch needs to be vacuumed on a near-constant basis. (“So much cat hair!” I constantly say as I sweep and vacuum.) The hose attachment on my older vacuum does the trick for now but I’d prefer something more compact and easier to use, like this hand vacuum that’s literally called the “pet hair eraser.”
4) New makeup brushes
File this under “things I can get for myself but just haven’t.” My current makeup brushes are rather cheap and definitely need to be replaced. I found this simple set at Sephora and it seems perfect for my needs!
5) Book scarf
I was perusing Amazon for gift ideas and came upon this adorable infinity scarf dotted with books. How on-brand for me!
6) Makeup organizer
I’ve been on the hunt for a new makeup organizer but it’s been a futile mission because most of the organizers I find are too large for my tiny bathroom sink. And yet – I need it to be large to fit all my products! I found this makeup organizer on Amazon and it has pretty good reviews. I like that it rotates and has adjustable plates so I can decide exactly how I want to use it. (Also, I just realized I never actually put this on the list I sent to my mom and brother, haha, so I know it won’t be under the tree this year! Maybe an after-Christmas gift to myself?)
7) Vegetable chopper
Another blogger I read raved about this handy vegetable chopper that can slice, dice, chop, and spiralize vegetables, and I had to add it to my Christmas list this year because I absolutely despise chopping vegetables. I’ve tried other slicers and dicers but most haven’t been able to chop my veggies the way I want. This one has lots of different attachments so it may be the miracle kitchen tool I need to eat more veggies!
8) Coloring books
I’m a sucker for an adult coloring book. I always have a coloring book open on my kitchen island with markers in a cup nearby. (Of course, the girls love tipping over the cup and stealing the markers!) I don’t really sit down and color a full page in one sitting. Instead, I’ll continue with the page I’m coloring while watching something on Netflix, listening to a podcast, or if I have a few minutes before needing to leave for work. It always fills me with great joy when I finish a page! (For those looking for a recommendation, I adore Johanna Basford’s coloring books. Thick paper, pretty illustrations, and each page is so different from the last!)
What’s something you asked for this year (if you exchange gifts!)?
My family does not do gifts anymore! My parents are in their 70s and us kids are all 30 to almost 50 years old so we just don’t need gifts anymore like we did when we were younger. So we try to sponsor a family instead. The grandkids draw names for an exchange and my parents buy gifts for the grand kids so there are still plenty of gifts since there are 8 grandkids! Phil’s mom won’t stop with the presents, though, so we still buy her a few things and she buys for us and Paul. I have a hard time coming up with gift ideas for her. This year I suggested smartwool socks, pjs, a 1000 piece puzzle and hand towels ( we have way more bathrooms now so I need more hand towels!!). I bought a train table off facebook marketplace for Paul and it came with some trains and then I bought him some books for his stocking and that’s it! So it’s a very very low key Christmas for us!
I asked for a yeti rambler mug and a Nespresso machine this year. I am pretty sure Eric got me the yeti, not sure about the Nespresso machine! I meant to do a gift list this year but I didn’t. I do prefer to do gift lists like this because then you hopefully actually get something you need/want vs. stuff you won’t use… I do have an Amazon “wish list” and “book list” going that I mostly keep updated for myself but I should share with my family next year if they want it. Because yes, my whole family ends up exchanging gifts with each other. Which is very fun but sometimes the actual buying of said gifts can be a bit stressful! This year I got my brother and Eric new board games because we tend to play a lot of games on Christmas so that will be fun to have some new games to play.
Ohhh, I love that scarf!
I love taking a peek at other people’s wish lists 🙂 The book scarf is PERFECT for you… and I also need a cordless, handheld vacuum cleaner.