It’s here! My favorites of 2019!

If you follow me on Instagram then you might know about my Sunday Funday favorites! On most Sundays I post to Instagram Stories what I am currently loving. It started as a way for me to bring a little bit of light and joy the night before Monday.

It’s a whole thing now. I love it. You love it. And for my last Sunday Funday of 2019 I thought I would share my all time favorites from the year. From the tens of items I’ve talked about, I chose 12 that I absolutely cannot get enough of. Are you ready?!

In order of most obsessed with.
(Some links below are affiliate links.)

1. Atomic Habits: An Easy Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear. This book was a total game changer for me. I will be re-reading this book in early 2020 and I will probably return to it at the beginning of every year. I’ve read my fair share of productivity books but none have actually produced lasting change in my life. Until Atomic Habits. I am still applying principles from this book that I read about 11 months ago! His principles for creating and breaking habits are clear, practical, and backed by science.
2. The Problem Solver by May Lindstrom: At age 34 my face revolted. I have had clear, normal skin for my whole life. I’d get a blemish every once in awhile but nothing that wasn’t manageable. And then in early 2019 I started getting lots of blemishes (I had not changed my diet or lifestyle… ). A few of the blemishes were cystic which meant they were large, under the skin and took months to go away fully. Nothing I tried worked. And listen, there is nothing I did not try. Seriously. I got even cleaner with my diet, tried new skin care routines, used masks galore, went make-up free and had many, many expensive facials from a medical spa. Still my face kept breaking out. My friend told me about the Problem Solver mask. She did mention it is on the pricey side ($100) but I could not buy it fast enough. I was in the desperation zone. First of all, if you read the reviews you quickly come to realize this stuff sounds magical. The tagline for this mask is even whimsical: hero, overachiever, superstar. Within just the first week my skin started clearing up. I could not believe it. I used it every 4 days (which is recommended if you have active breakouts) and my skin just kept getting clearer. My cystic acne virtually disappeared which was crazy. You can even use it as a spot treatment (which I have done every time I get a random little zit). Now I use it once a week and my skin is back to normal! Bonus: it’s all natural.
3. Kindle Paperwhite E-reader: I have been avoiding an E-reader for awhile. Every once in awhile I would use the Kindle app on my iPad to read but I didn’t love the backlight on the iPad to read for long periods of time. I also rarely just threw my expensive, has-all-my-stuff-on-it iPad in my purse when running random errands. But I realized I was not making it through my stack of books and a lot of times when I could spare a few minutes to read (in a waiting room, standing in line somewhere, waiting for someone to show up, on the metro) I did not have my iPad or book with me. So on Amazon Day I took the plunge and got a Paperwhite knowing I could return it if I did not love it. Well, it was love at first read and I cannot go anywhere without my Paperwhite! I love how compact and light it is. I love that it ONLY stores my books on it. I love that the backlight is good on the eyes. I love that it is water resistant. I have been moving through so many more of my books because I am actually mindful to have this E-reader within arm’s reach wherever I am. A few weeks ago I thought I lost it (I didn’t) and it was absolutely a no-brainer that I needed to have a second one, that is how much I love it!

4. ButcherBox– I technically discovered ButcherBox in late 2018 but I got really obsessed with it in 2019. ButcherBox is a high-quality meat delivery service. You get your meat delivered straight to your door. The best part is the quality of the meat. ButcherBox works with smaller organic farmers all over the country so the meat is always grass-fed and grass finished. It’s all organic and free range. There are no added hormones or antibiotics. From all my research, it is the cleanest meat the general population can purchase. Jeremy and I eat meat around 5 times a week at dinner and I always cared a lot about the kind of meat we were eating but I was never 100% sure I understood the labels I was reading. With ButcherBox not only do I not have to shop for my meat anymore, I do not second guess the kind of meat I am feeding myself and my family and friends. Here’s the best part, ButcherBox made so many adjustments to their box because they listened to their customers. You can know choose what kind of meat and what kind of cut of meat you get in each box. Just beef and chicken? No problem. Only want chicken thighs, they can do that. Want to include salmon (wild caught straight from Alaska)? They got you covered. Want your box every month or every other month? You choose. Heading out of town and need to pause your box? No problem. I am a partner with ButcherBox, but even if I was not, I would be getting my meat from them. I am so obsessed that I almost had a box shipped to my parents house when I was there for 15 days in November. Currently they are running an amazing promotion when you sign-up for your first box. Check it out!

5. Gaia Sleep Thru – this is a non-habit forming, herbal sleep support pill. I am an insanely light sleeper. I have always been this way. When Jeremy is home it is not so bad because I wake-up at any sound but with him there I just shrug off whatever woke me up and fall back to sleep. When Jeremy is not home (which happened a lot in 2018 and 2019) I was literally not sleeping. I’d wake up and feel like I had to figure out why I woke up. Was there a noise that woke me up? Was that noise coming from inside the house or outside the house? Did a leaf gently blow across the roof or is there a serial killer in my house? As you can imagine, I could not fall back asleep. I tried a lot of things (CBD oil, essential oils, bedtime routines, sleep pillows, other herbal sleep medicines) and they would only work for a few nights or a week, tops. Then my friend told me about Gaia Sleep Thru. The great thing about Gaia is it works better with time (whereas with other herbal medicines and oils, I felt like my body would adapt to it and then it was not as powerful). I used this for several months when Jeremy was deployed and got amazing sleep! Then, when he came home, I stopped taking it just to make sure my sleep wasn’t worse. It wasn’t. Pretty much the same as before I started taking Gaia. I get this on Subscribe and Save on Amazon which is wonderful because I save a little bit of money and they send me a new bottle right when I need it.

6. Sigfus Earrings: I have followed this designer for awhile and I love her art and especially her earrings but I just never thought I could pull them off. Then I took the plunge and got these large wishbone earnings in mustard yellow. I literally cannot stop wearing them. I get compliments on them all the time and the color goes with so much! I see many more of her earrings in my future!

7. Quinn Popcorn: Jeremy sent me no less than 18 boxes of this popcorn while he was deployed in early 2019. I love popcorn. I eat it almost every evening. Seriously. This popcorn is the most delicious homemade popcorn on the block and now I cannot even look at another brand of popcorn. The best is the ingredients are real and the bag itself is pure with no chemical coatings lining the bag or in the plastic. The taste alone is worth its weight in gold. My favorites are the butter and the sharp cheddar!

8. The Productivity Planner: For one year I committed to using the Productivity Planner. I was especially interested because the way this planner is laid out, it was easy to prioritize my day using the principles from Atomic Habits (you start with the most important thing of the day, you break all your tasks up into 20 minute increments, there is a weekly review and a weekly planning page). This planner truly kept me on track weekly which is saying a lot because your girl can get distracted real fast. It’s crazy to look back on the planner over the past year and realize just how much I was able to accomplish. (Note, this planner is broken up into quarters so I went through four Productivity Planners in 2019.)

9. Where the Crawdads Sing: This is a novel by Delia Owens and it is my favorite novel of 2019 (and really in my top ten favorite novels of all time). The story alone is so intriguing. Here is a description of the book from Amazon, “For years, rumors of the ‘Marsh Girl’ have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens.” I literally could not put this book down. I started it, cancelled my whole day, and finished it. Months after reading it and I still think about the characters. The best part? This is a book that will have you immediately picking up the phone to call your sister, your friend, your mom…to talk about.

10. Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover Foundation: Thanks to my face totally losing her sh**, I now have a few small acne scars. Thankfully they are definitely fading but I had a few events in 2019 where I wanted to look absolutely flawless. I was in the bridal party for one of my best friend’s weddings and I had a few speaking events. I generally use a CC cream for coverup (love the one from IT Cosmetics) but this was not providing the full coverage I needed. I tried a lot of full-coverage, long wear foundations and couldn’t find one that did everything I needed (some only lasted a few hours, others were so thick they made my face look dried out and caky, others looked great but didn’t fully cover the few red spots I was concerned about). Enter this foundation! It looks so beautiful on, I feel luminous. It lasts for hours and hours (even after a full day and night at a wedding) and the coverage is next level (without making me look like I caked makeup on my face). For those times when I need something with full-coverage and to last forever, this is my new go-to.

11. Head Space and Pray As You Go app: I have my best ideas, I am at my most peaceful, I can most live and breathe and walk in Truth when I take some time every single day to get my mind to sit down and shut up for a moment. Like I’ve said, I love distractions and I love to keep my head filled with noise. Because I know this about me, in 2019 I set out to be more intentional about creating quiet space for my mind. Even just 5 minutes a day. Head Space is a meditation app and it has guided meditations which have helped me learn how to quiet my mind. I use it several times a week in the morning to clear my head before starting the day. Pray As You Go is also an app and they release a daily prayer complete with music and scripture reading. It is truly a soothing way to clear my head and also refocus on what is important. I especially love the one question they ask in each daily prayer.

12. Sharing my Starbucks order with you all! In early 2019 I briefly mentioned my Starbucks order that I get every time I do a big grocery haul. You all cared about two things, my grocery shopping playlist and my Starbucks order. My absolute favorite drink to get at Starbucks is as follows: “Iced Grande Starbucks Doubleshot. Only one pump classic. Instead of milk sub heavy cream.” Be sure to say it exactly as I wrote it above. The Starbucks Doubleshot is Starbucks signature take on the classic double shot. A classic double shot is two shots of espresso over ice. A Starbucks Double Shot has 3 shots espresso (in the grande), simple syrup and milk or cream. Here’s to staying caffeinated in 2020!

And there it is. My absolute favorites of 2019! All of these items will for sure follow me into 2020.

Most of my Sunday Funday favorites from all of 2019 can be found in my Amazon Shop or on my Sunday Funday page on my site!

What were some of your favorites in 2019? Is there anything on my list that you also loved?! Comment below!