products i love: aveda rosemary mint body wash

I discovered this fabulous smelling body wash at the Naya Fresh Spa, which is a small, very personalized spa in Chatsworth. You get to sample all the products in the shower and this smelled soooo good I bought a bottle right there. Then I asked for more for Christmas and got the giant litre pump size, which I've been using every day. Squirting it into my loofah and smelling the minty fresh lather with a hint of rosemary makes me happy :)

my favorite things

It's the weekend before Christmas and all through the land, frantic shoppers are fighting their way through malls, last-minute shopping lists in hand.... 

I, however -- being one with a lot of free time on her hands these days -- finished that cray-cray (wrapping included) weeks ago and have instead spent the last week sitting on my sofa, watching PGA movie screeners and recovering from what I hope is my only cold of the 2012-13 season. 

While taking a break between Beasts of the Southern Wild and Hyde Park on Hudson on Wednesday, I turned on ABC and caught Katie Couric's "Katie Gives Back" show... or what I realized within five seconds was Katie's version of Oprah's infamous Favorite Things disguised as helping Hurricane Sandy Victims get ready for the holidays. 

The show made me think of some of my favorite things to give and get at the holidays (other than home improvement store and Starbucks gift cards of course ;). They all elicit a feel-good, warm-fuzzy feeling in different ways, and are great for last minute gifts.

Slatkin & Co "Winter" candle

I've written about this before. This is my favorite candle ever. It screams Christmas to me, even though it's called "winter." It should actually be called "warm & cozy" because that's how it makes you feel... just add a cup of tea and a warm blanket to cuddle up under on the sofa and you're all set for a warm, relaxing, cozy night at home in front of the tree. 

Owls

Okay, owls are not warm and fuzzy. And I don't really love them. But I love that they are now an awesome in-joke that keeps on giving for me and three of my friends.                                        

A year ago on a day trip to Solvang, in a store selling something with an owl on it that I don't remember, my pal James commented that owls were going to be the next big thing. Was he ever right. This year, they are everywhere on everything! (I even found a ceramic one with "Venezia" painted on its chest while wandering through Venice, Italy... which I promptly purchased for James!) And now, everywhere our group of friends goes, if we happen to see an owl, we must stop and comment: "Owls -- ya know, they're very trendy this year."



We all bought owl Christmas ornaments this year to commemorate the "trend." (That's mine on my already-dead Christmas tree above.) And while shopping this year, I've seen them on mugs, tees, phone cases and journals, which are another one of my fave things to give and receive. I have a stockpile of them, waiting to be written in. There's one I take when I travel and another one I write in when something monumentally depressing happens. I need to start just jotting happier ideas down in another one of them... maybe one day it will turn into that book I want to write but never get around to.

Scarves

I freely admit I'm a little bit obsessed with scarves. They are soft, keep your neck warm and are great for jazzing up a solid shirt or sweater, so who wouldn't love them? Certainly not any of my gal pals (which is a good thing since there are four scarves straight from the stalls of the Florence, Italy Central Market sitting wrapped under my tree right now ;) 

In fact, a year or so ago, I remember a male co-worker commenting that, "Apparently, you have to love scarves" to be on my team ... and therefore he would never be on my team. (Boring boys!) Erika, Sarah, Lisa, Molly, Malinda and I LOVE scarves. As does my crafty friend Diana, who crocheted this beautiful, soft, sparkly, purple scarf for me this Christmas. I wore it to a party last weekend and every female there complimented me on it!

I love homemade, crocheted scarves. I love long, light, cotton scarves (I find some great ones, surprisingly, at Coldwater Creek when shopping for sweaters for my mom). And I love super-soft pashmina wraps -- my black one is my go-to neck warmer.

BTW, did you know there are more than 50 ways you can tie a scarf? I've gotten into a rut with the slip knot and loose wrap. Maybe in 2013 I'll make a resolution to try a different knotting technique with one of the 20+ scarves and wraps I own ;)

Fun Dining Experiences

Who says a gift has to be a thing you wrap? Some of the best gifts I've had recently have been time spent enjoying good food and great conversations with friends. For years (three to be exact), some of my friends kept promising to take me to Ford's Filling Station for my birthday. I'd never been, and when we finally coordinated the big dinner, one might fear it wouldn't live up to three years of expectations. But it did. It was great to be out somewhere nice and new with friends, enjoying amazing food and great service.

And just last week, I had afternoon tea at Scarlet Tea Room with a long-time friend I hadn't been able to spend much time with recently. We spent two hours talking about our families, the holidays, job hunting and my trip to Italy, while eating scones and finger sandwiches. It was a lovely, lovely afternoon. And a great holiday treat!

products i love: marks and spencer scottish shortbread petticoat tails

My friend Daryl works for the British government here in LA and had to travel to London back in September for work. He was taking requests for souvenirs so I told him to try and find me something from the London Summer Olympics. 

When he returned, he brought me two cute collectible pins featuring the Games' mascots Wenlock and Mandeville. That would have been enough. But then he handed me a shopping bag containing what has turned into two months of streched-out, carefully-rationed edible heaven.

This is the totally adorable Marks and Spencer London Olympics souvenir biscuit tin that was inside the bag...

And these are the amazingly wonderful Scottish shortbread petticoat tails that were stacked inside of it...

I'd never had "petticoat tails" before, but upon one taste, they became my favorite cookie in the world. 

They remind me of a thinner (and therefore better for you, right? ;) version of the old Girl Scout Shortbread cookies they had back when I was a Brownie. (These weren't just a plain "Trefoil" shortbread cookie like they sell now. These were the amazing, now-discontinued "Scot-Teas" that had sprinkled sugar on top, which I used to lick off before devouring the remaining cookie. ;)

These petticoat tails also have a light sprinkling of sugar on top. And taste oh-so-delicious with hot tea. The tin had about 10 of the cookie sheets (pictured above) inside of it, which can be broken up into six individual wafers, which I've been seriously rationing since October because when they are all gone, I'm going to be very, very sad. 

Of course, thanks to the internet I could order more (although the cute collectible tin is now only available on eBay). But that just wouldn't seem as special. 

So from now on, if anyone is going to London, you now know what you can get me as a special treat. My sweet tooth and I will love you forever :)

things i love: crumbs cupcakes

I love cupcakes! And more and more I'm starting to like Crumbs Bake Shop cupcakes. Mainly for three reasons:

1. They are big (like muffin-sized). You buy one for $4.00 and, as long as you have some semblance of self-control, can get two or three desserts out of it. (For more info on this, ask me about my poker group's long-standing tradition of slivering up desserts into "Barbie Dream Slices.") 
2. Crumbs usually packs your cupcakes in lovely cupcake containers for safe traveling, ensuring no sprinkles or frosting are misplaced or smushed if you take your cupcake to-go.
3. They come in fun, ever-updating flavors. Although, there is also a downside to this as sometimes your favorite flavor, like my beloved Cotton Candy Cupcake, is not always available. The upside of that downside, however, is you get to try new flavors, which is exactly what I did recently upon two separate visits to two different Crumbs Bake Shops.

Visit 1: Crumbs @ Hollywood & Highland

Cupcake Flavor: Grasshopper

Cupcake Commentary:

I'd been thinking about trying this flavor for a long time, because it looks like one of my fave ice cream flavors, mint chocolate chip. But I always got distracted by my beloved Cotton Candy cupcake. However, H&H did not have my beloved Cotton Candy cupcake, so I went for it. The frosting was indeed mint-chippy. And the cake was very chocolate. Sadly, this cupcake made me realize I don't really love chocolate cake that much. And, double sadly, this shop did not put my cupcake in the cool cupcake to-go container. Boo!

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Visit 2: Crumbs in Larchmont Village

Cupcake Flavor: Raspberry Swirl

Cupcake Commentary:

Again, there was no Cotton Candy Cupcake to be seen. I'm now thinking that's just a summer flavor. Boo. Oh well. This time as my flavor experiment, I went back to white cake. Wise choice. This cupcake was delish, with a creamy white frosting and a swirl of raspberry jelly on top, plus -- spoiler alert -- in the middle of the cake. Yummy! This might just be my new go-to to-go cupcake, especially since the Larchmont shop uses proper packing (which also doubles as a storage container for your remaining "Barbie Dream Slices" :)

products i love: bottega louie butter cookies

I feel sorry for people that don't live in Los Angeles because they will never experience the delicious downtown foodie mecca that is Bottega Louie.

I've blogged before about the delicious dinner and brunch menu, but on this lazy Sunday I'm going to simplify things a notch and talk about the yummy deliciousness you can get without waiting 15-45 minutes for a table: the to-go butter cookies from the Market.

Here's what I love about these cookies:

• I love how the 12 of them fit so perfectly together in the tiny little bag
• I love the pink Bottega Louie ribbon they use to tie the tiny little bag
• I love the tiny little bag's fancy label, which almost makes up for these cookies being in a bag instead of the fancy Bottega Louie bakery boxes that are almost as pretty as a box from Tiffany & Co. 
• I love that nowhere on the tiny little bag is any mention of nutritional info, or lack thereof. (If they don't say there are calories or fat in them, then there must not be any right? ;) 
• I love that the cookies are crisp but not dry
• I love that they absorb tea when dunked in hot tea, but don't crumble
• I love that the cookies melt in your mouth
• I love that they cost $4 (that's only $0.33/cookie!)
• I love that Bottega Louie is far enough away that I can't buy these weekly, cuz then I'd be in serious trouble ;)

being girly

Today I did something I haven't done since circa 2006: I wore a dress to work, which apparently is so shocking that within 30 seconds of approaching my office door I had two comments on this fact. But I've actually bought three dresses in the last two months, two of which are work-appropriate, so it will be happening more often.

I bought the dress I wore today on Tuesday night when I went to Macy's to replace the cargo pants I wear hiking (needed them two sizes smaller -- woot!). I saw it hanging on a rack in the Lucky Brand section and thought it was so cute and looked super comfy, so I made an impulse girly-girl purchase. Isn't it pretty? :)

products i love: yummy goodness

After yet another crazy day at work (that once again proved change is inevitable) and a rather challenging Pilates workout, I came home and treated myself to one of the Skinny Cow vanilla ice cream sandwiches I got for free this weekend (with the purchase of six lean cuisines from Le' Target). I haven't had a lot of ice cream in the last year and this was yummy goodness.... at a mere 140 calories! 

mmmm... chai tea

I am addicted to chai tea. I freely admit it. Besides the fact that lack of caffeine now gives me a really bad headache, I can't go a day without at least a cup because it's so delish. My go-to chai is the Starbucks Chai Tea Latte -- I drink so many of those I have gold status in the Starbucks Rewards program and get a free one at least every two weeks. At home, I go basic -- a tea bag of either Stash's Double Spice Black Chai or Twinings Spiced Apple Chai -- and hot water. Whenever I go to San Francisco, my go-to breakfast place is Cafe De La Presse, where, upon request, they make a super-yummy Chai latte in a mug almost as big as a soup bowl. It's spicy and sweet and super-frothy. Today, I had brunch at Hugo's, home of a ton of organic teas. If you order non-lattes, you get tea leaves in a press. But I ordered the yummy Organic Black Chai Latte pictured below. It could have been sweeter (I ended up dumping a raw sugar in it), but the froth was perfect, and it looked pretty too :)

products i love: the best lotion ever

I can't remember who first introduced me to it, but I now stockpile C.O. Bigelow's Lemon & Pomegranate body cream in the event some evil corporate decision-maker ever decides to stop producing it. I love the smell (sweet yet with a citrus-y bite). I love the texture (thick and not the least bit greasy). And I love that it makes my skin feel silky smooth. I am not alone in these opinions. This is a top rated item on the Bath & Body Works site... yes, this product from the country's oldest apothecary is sold at that bath gel mecca in the mall. But don't hold that against it. It's awesome. Trust me.

products i love: winter wonder

If you are one of my gal pals, chances are good I've given you one of these as a holiday or hostess gift. I LOVE this candle. It's not a Christmas scent (thus its "Winter" name), but evokes all the same warm and cozy feelings. I just lit my second one this season and am kinda sad I only have one more left in my stash.