Part 2 of the Original “It” List from a group of fabulous women who share their favorite products of the year that they loved or that made their lives easier/more enjoyable. See Part 1 here.
Travel:
Mark & Graham luggage tag with shadow-printed initials: Elevates luggage and makes a good stocking stuffer.
Garment Bag: Bought these for my boys last year as they are doing a bit more traveling with their dress clothes now.
Packing Cubes: I don’t travel anywhere without these!
Light Day Pack: Freefly 16 – Matador version or Ultralight – Osprey version. Has been my favorite gift to give to all my traveling girlfriends!
Parallelle Travel Toiletry Bags: I have heard great things about them and bought them as gifts this year.
Best Travel Adapter: Compact, worldwide travel adapter. Our son discovered this while studying abroad in London, and now all five of us have one.
Cadence and Ries (pump) travel containers. The Cadence containers are touted everywhere, so I was skeptical that it was all just marketing. But after traveling with all of my favorite skincare items (lotions, serums, and toners, oh my!), I can attest that they are the real deal. Magnetic sides to keep them together and leak-proof seals. Def get them on sale, though – they are silly expensive. The Ries pump containers are also awesome for liquid items.
A small packable duffel if everything does not fit (a Wirecutter recommendation).
A man bag for wallet, phone, headphones, etc. while traveling.
Home:
Bedding: Both adult kids have asked for new sheets from Brooklinen and duvet sets from Quince.
Nelko Label Maker: Super flexible labels designed on your phone and printed on the label maker. I labeled all my lightswitches for the renters before I left:)
Specialized Stain Remover: Having the variety has helped with some tough-to-treat spots.
Baseball Cap Washer/Protector: I use this to wash sweaty hats.
Sleep 8: My husband and I just splurged on this, and WE LOVE IT!!!! Not cheap, but I would highly recommend it. It has helped my sleep tremendously – I warm up my side before crawling into bed, and it has a gentle alarm that is quiet and effective, so my husband doesn’t wake up when it wakes me up in the morning.
Anthem Frame: Print a photo and put it in a beautiful frame.
Soap & Paper Factory Roland Pine Candle: Great hostess gift for the holidays! I think it legitimately smells like a fresh-cut Christmas tree, which makes me almost as happy as the rosewater Touchland.
Tapo Smart Home Wi-Fi-Enabled Plugs: I use these to set lamps to automatically turn on and off, partly because I’m lazy when I am home but mostly for when we’re not home (so it looks like we’re home). Super easy to set up.
Tessan Remote Control Plug: I use this one for turning the lights on/off the Christmas tree. Could theoretically use a Tapo plug to do the same thing but then everyone in the family would need to have the app, so easier to just have it work via remote.
Flume Smart Home Water Monitor: Ooof, you really don’t appreciate this one until you really need it. Sensor+App that monitors your water consumption and sends alerts when things get wonky. Wished we had one when we had a long-time (expensive!) leak in our irrigation system, glad we had it when we were thousands of miles away and there was a running toilet. Peace of mind.
Expandable Garden Hose: I’m getting really practical here, but this expandable hose technology is great. No more trying to coil up a heavy or kinked hose.
Ant Killer: This stuff really worked to get rid of my ants that kept finding the dog food – but don’t put it where the dog will lick it
Home Office:
Triple Laptop Screen – This may have been on last year’s list, but my husband uses this daily.
Laptop Stand: My chiropractor recommended this as my tech neck is contributing to my shoulder pain, and said you should keep the laptop up at eye height.
SeeWell Reading Glasses: A local mom started this company. Stylish readers (I love mine!) and for every pair purchased she donates one to those in need.
Pilot FriXion Erasable Gel Pens – Writes and lasts like a regular pen with no more worries about making mistakes.
Kitchen:
Dish Drying Mats: I hate having big drying racks on the counter and love these dish mats instead. Low profile and easy to fold up and put away.
Sur La Table Pepper Grinder: Not sure you all have seen this before, but it’s my favorite. Peppercorns are easy in/out.
Alessi Juicer: I love all Alessi Plisse products – they look so good on the kitchen counter. This is super easy to use. (under $200 and often on sale and closer to $115).
Smash Burger Tools: We started making smash burgers at home as an alternative to big burgers, and really like them. We’ve acquired the appropriate tools, including a smasher, a scraper, and a flat top for our grill. [need to get link from him] (also on Oprah’s list and available from Sur La Table)
Microplane Butter Blade: An easy way to spread cold butter on bread. Makes a great hostess gift.
Pillivuyt Porcelain Bakers: French porcelain that’s great for cooking, pretty for serving, and super easy to wash.
Snapware: Plastic or glass food storage. Great for storing food, seals well, available in multiple sizes, and multiple set options.
Hamilton Beach Sandwich Maker: Instead of buying breakfast sandwiches at Starbucks, I now make my own. You can customize ingredients, and it only takes 5 minutes. There are single and double options. Easy to clean.
Electronics:
Soundcore Sleepbuds: I have found that listening to audiobooks or podcasts help me fall asleep at night, and especially help me fall back asleep in the middle of the night if I wake up. Keeps my mind from starting to spin on all the stressful things. Also great noise canceling, turns off when it detects you have fallen asleep.
Tapo Smart Home Wi-Fi-Enabled Plugs: I use these to set lamps to automatically turn on and off, partly because I’m lazy when I am home but mostly for when we’re not home (so it looks like we’re home). Super easy to set up.
Tessan Remote Control Plug: I use this one for turning the lights on/off the Christmas tree. Could theoretically use a Tapo plug to do the same thing but then everyone in the family would need to have the app, so easier to just have it work via remote.
Ozlo Sleepbuds: Life-changing for my husband. I think these may have been mentioned before, but worth mentioning again! Even comfortable for side-sleeping. Choose white/brown/green noise settings (or any audio you want) and sleep soundly for the night.
Jewelry:
Mint and Lily Minimalist Monogram Necklace: Got this idea from my SIL, who received this as a gift – not her initials but the name of their girl’s group. I copied the idea to give to some girlfriends this year. They seem to always have the BOGO special running, so a pretty affordable gift.
Food:
Three Brothers Bakery Pecan Pie: This was the surprise star of our Thanksgiving dinner, best pecan pie any of us have ever had. From a famous bakery in Texas that ships around the country.
Drops of Dough: Someone sent the ice cream sandwiches to us and they were amazing! Fun gift to ship. Two Hillsborough moms started this company and they donate part of their proceeds to pediatric cancer.
Milliways: Plastic-free gum, who knew? This has been the year of trying to find hidden plastic in things. Surprisingly, there is plastic even in gum! I tried a few brands of gum that promised not to have plastic in them, and this was the best one. Comes in a few flavors (spearmint is the best one, so far).
Entertainment/Books:
American Mahjong Tiles: A friend of mine started a mahjong group, and we are all really enjoying learning this game. Great to keep the mind sharp and also gives us social time. We play the American version. Or Full Travel Set: Our group split the cost of this set to use when we play together.
Monopoly Deal: This game is a shortened Monopoly game with some strategy and lots of luck. Easy to learn and lots of fun.
Tread Lightly: Female protagonist, fun murder mystery set in Silicon Valley.
The Book of Modern Ceremony by Shari Dunbar Boyer: Shari’s book is beautifully written with rich content about how to introduce ceremony into our lives – to bring reverence and meaning . . . incredible photography and styling. A smaller-sized coffee table book. At $25, an amazing hostess gift.
Party Passer Game: Fun family game to play on Christmas Eve or NYE. $25 on Etsy. Suggested by Jill Kasser a few years ago, and now the kids ask me to order one every Christmas.
Family Feud: Etsy sells special ones for each holiday.
Slim Aarons Coffee Table Book: If you don’t know Slim Aarons, he photographed the rich and famous in lots of posh places, mostly in the 50s and 60s. His mantra was that he photographed: “Attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places”. This book is beautiful and also so fun!
Libby App is my most used app of 2025- library books delivered straight to the Kindle.
Other:
Waterproof Books for Babies: Close friend & favorite millennial, Mallory has written, designed, and manufactured these incredibly thoughtful and cute baby books for the bathtub!
Wedding Gift: Tray with Wedding Invite on it: This small tray/ decorative piece is my favorite gift to give- unique, personal, and a beautiful keepsake. The website is easy to use, and Nick gives great customer service.
Custom Watercolor illustration: Send in any picture and receive a framed watercolor drawing. Letterfest is the name of the company in the UK. I chose a house illustration, but they offer lots of other customization, too. I ordered through Etsy. The company was very good about communicating via email.
Liberty of London handkerchiefs to keep in my car and handbag.
Birdfeeder made for woodpeckers. Know a bird lover? I added a second bird feeder after learning about these from a biologist – they have the extended “fin” part to balance their long tails against. Other birds like it too!
I heard this NPR Up First episode featuring their Pod Club, and have signed up for their Pod Club newsletter to get ideas of new podcasts to listen to.
