HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! I’ve been enjoying a bunch of little boosts and treats for myself, and wanted to share some of them and other items I’m looking at in this month’s Stuff We Like.
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Zulay handheld milk frother, $10
I know a few people who have milk frothing wands, and this one is so cute. Reviews say it’s very powerful, makes a frothed creamer or frothed hot chocolate easily, and is superbly easy to clean. I’m tempted to get one for myself and send one to family members who I know really enjoy their morning coffee.
From the same company, Zulay (which is named after the founder’s mom, and isn’t the product of a cat dancing on the keyboard – what is up with the company names online lately?) I discovered a gift that my younger child would absolutely love:
Zulay Giant Donut Blanket, $25
It does NOT have a hole in the middle (I asked that question first) and it’s rather massive- 60″ or 5 feet or 1.5m! However you measure, it’s a giant fuzzy donut. There’s also a pizza version. I might have to send one of these to my older child in college. The dorm mates would be very amused!
When I did my wedding registry many, many years ago (in the last millenium, in fact) (ooof) one of the most suggested items was a cocktail shaker set. We didn’t get one, and maybe I should fix that, because this one is very pretty:
Cocktail shaker set, $25If you’d like a drink recipe with which to test a new cocktail set, Adam wrote a post in honor of NK Jemisin’s The City We Became, with a cocktail for each character. Personally, I’m very partial to a French 75, or a Bee’s Knees (I like sweet cocktails).
I confess to being very tempted by this ice maker, too:
Iceman Nugget Icemaker, $400It’s on the pricey side, but since my ice maker in my freezer loves to freeze up (seems like an obvious design flaw but what do I know) and I love, like love nugget ice (how weird to be so into an ice shape) this is, like I said, tempting me. Reviews say it’s very fast, it holds a LOT of ice if you entertain often, and it’s easy to clean. One reviewer says “This is legit Sonic ice.”
If a countertop ice maker is not your jam, we do have a set of these ice ball molds and use them frequently:
Stackable Round Ice Cube Tray Set, $10
Adam likes these because they fit inside our little cocktail glasses, and though you do have to manually fill them and caaaaaaarefully put them in the freezer, they make a lot at a time, and melt very slowly.
While you’re enjoying a nice libation, this journal might make a lovely gift for a couple you know, or for you!
100 Things I Love About You Journal, $8
This journal has 100 prompts for you to fill out about someone you love – or for you to complete together. There are top 5 lists, and fill-in-the-blank style pages, with questions like, “The first 5 pieces of pop culture I think of when I think of you are….” This seems like a book that would be GREAT fun to fill in on a long car ride with your favorite person.
Speaking of books, I’ve been shopping for and researching planners, especially for those with ADHD brains (I have several in my household!) who might struggle with organization of time. (What is time? Does it really have any meaning whatsoever?)
Wilkii ADHD planner for adults – 90 days, $29
This planner was mentioned on a thread that might have been Twitter or might have been Blusky or I can’t even keep track anymore (apologies – there are too many! I don’t know where on the internet I was!) because it’s designed to be short in duration – 90 days or 13 weeks. Reviews say it’s easy to use, the paper is high quality, and the prompts inside urge users to think about their tasks and their emotional well being. I’m very much a digital calendar sort of person, but I also know that folks who love having paper planners find the process of setting it up as engaging and soothing as using it, and this would be a great option for my younger child.
I’ve also been researching washable rug brands, because I have pets, and they’re all elderly, so…the rugs have seen some things. Literally. I know Ruggable is the more prominent brand, and have found some on Facebook Marketplace, but I know there must be other washable rug brands, so I’m searching and bookmarking.
Mark & Day Washable Rug, $350Mark & Day has a line of washable rugs that I’m curious about – have you tried them? I appreciate that they have a chart explaining how large a washing machine you’d need to launder the larger sizes, and they have a few designs and colors I like.
I will make this recommendation for washable rugs, based on my own experience: square or rectangular rugs are MUCH easier to wash and then re-align on the pad on the floor. It’s a lot easier to mark the center of a square or rectangle, then fold the rug in fourths and line up the corner with the center and smooth it outward. We have one round one that I bought of FB Marketplace, and it’s a royal pain to wash and re-align because I can never get it centered accurately.
I sent one of these dishtowels to a friend of mine because when my sister sent me a fun set of dishtowels, it made my entire week and they still make me laugh.
Conversation Hearts Dishtowel, $16
The entire Moonlight Makers storefront is flipping adorable, too. Look at this cute wine or coffee tumbler!
Could be Coffee, Could Be Wine insulated tumbler, $18
Confession: I once brought an insulated tumbler with an extremely ice cold G&T to a very long, very outside-in-the-sun, very roughly organized school event and I was extremely happy with myself for it.
Finally, one new purchase that has been extremely useful, and I recommend them often:
Anker 5000mAh charger, with USB C built in, $21
I bought four of these for each person in my house, each in a different color so we know whose is whose. The teens were extremely excited by the fact that the connector is built in and flips up and down so it’s not catching on anything in their bags or pockets. Mine is the lilac one because it’s really cute. The way portable batteries get smaller and more powerful is delightful.
What about you? What have you treated yourself or someone you love with lately?
I have something similar to the Anker, but rather than flipping down, there’s a cap for the plug. No little bits of dust and crumbs in the USB anymore! (I always have dust and crumbs…)
I bought alternative versions of the doughnut blankets for the 6 teens in our extended family (waffle, burrito, cookie, ramen, pizza, and toast) for the holidays. They were a huge hit and are being used – the one that lives with us is often found gaming while wrapped in a burrito blanket.
For Christmas this year I made a blanket on snapfish with pictures of our pets, and it has been a huge hit with everyone in the house.
For circular or oval rugs: have you tried doing it backwards?
Place the rug face down on the floor. Place the pad face down on the rug — you can see when it’s centered, when there is an even amount of rug sticking out from the pad.
Smush the pad down so it sticks. For Ruggable rugs, you’re getting hook-and-loop fabric layers to stick together. I don’t know how other brands work.
Then pick up the whole thing and flip it right side up and put it where it belongs.
I do it that way for a long Ruggable runner too. It’s easier than trying to line up the entire length sight unseen.
Just wanted to chime in on the ice maker issue. I had this problem in my freezer. It turned out it was the water generated by the defrost cycle that was dripping into the ice maker and goofing things up. I hope your problem is simpler and easier to fix (or at least to live with). I eventually had to turn the freezer off altogether. Now I buy ice and keep it in the dedicated freezer in the basement. Upside is I get more steps in my day.
Win you are a genius and you can tell everybody I said so. Omg. OMG.
I put a milk frother like that on my Christmas wish list on a whim, and got it. My husband and I use it every day. He loves it even more than I do. I use it on whole milk for my tea and he uses it on creamer for his coffee. You actually have to be careful not to let it foam too much!