I’m breaking from my typical positive attitude to start this post with a complaint: I’ve tried so many other cream cheese frosting recipes, and I’m perpetually disappointed (I’m cringing just thinking of the flour fiasco I got up to on Ashe’s birthday this year. ) As I did on his birthday, I always wind up relying on my go-to cream cheese icing, and it’s past due time I shared it on here.
I really, truly love gift giving, despite my stance on limiting it. When I struggle with the perfect gift, it tends to be for those who seem to have everything, or people I don’t know intimately. And in both of these cases, I find myself deferring to gifts of edibles, family favorites, or decorative bits, so I’m sharing a house and home gift guide with y’all today!
I feel strongly about a stylish and serviceable apron- Hedley and Bennett are our family’s fave (I danced Ashe out at the apron factory), and this floral apron is so pretty too! I love giving a bit of spice as a gift- hot honey and Barron’s West Indian hot sauce are staples in our house, so they are ones I give over and over. Other tried-and-true faves that would make such good gifts are this bamboo and straw cup (so many of you have already bought one and love it too!), a salt lamp, the coziest chenille pompom blanket, and these stacked personalized books. We have two sets, and I love the family version but really love the custom hanukkah one even more
Last year, I decorated our bar cart for Hanukkah, with fresh pine and glittery star garlands. I like a bar cart for a Hanukkah setup because it gives you space for presents below and open air for a menorah up top, and am doing something similar to this again this year.
I’m always good for a rant about representation, and specifically how sparse and limited the stock of Hanukkah products can be. It’s doesn’t help that I’m picky about aesthetics on top of the fewish options, not gonna lie. But I’ve gotten good at finding the cute stuff out of the piles of kitsch, so I wanted to share some of my fave Hanukkah finds this year.
Target has really stepped their game up over the last several years, and I love to see it. We’ve had this opalhouse hanukkiah for several years, and it’s such good quality. The dollar spot was full of good finds this year- these Hanukkah themed paint-with-water pages, adorable tea towels, and silicone mats to catch wax were all from there. I’m such a fan of the fabric menorah wall hanging– it’s in Asher’s room and I’m looking forward to helping him add a candle each night, and pulling it out again each year. I’ll do the same with these babublebar earrings for myself. I didn’t love most of the themed clothes on the market this year, but thought this shirt from the little girls’ section was cute, and so cheap- an XL fits me fine. I grabbed these precious olive & june hanukkah nail stickers at target, but then ordered a backup set from them directly. And how sweet is this little felt garland?
Hanukkah books are also a big part of our seasonal fun. Lots of our stash of Jewish culture books were gifted by PJ library, but I’ve linked a bunch of our favorites here.
If you’re gearing up for Hanukkah, I hope it’s filled with wonder and light.
love, Ravayna
This next gift guide is for the ladies in your life!
Now, please don’t think I’m pigeonholing with the phrasing… these are gifts with a feminine vibe, suited for absolutely whoever would like them! Have and love some of these things, and am gifting even more of them. But life’s about balance, and I also asked for a new cordless drill this year. 🤷🏽♀️ I love spoiling all year round, but especially at the holidays, and sharing some of my favorite feminine things.
I looove a sussy- an inexpensive little gift. These are perfect if you’re putting together a bigger gift basket, for “favorite things” parties, or stuffing stockings. These are the type of things I keep on hand in the gift stash, gift to neighbors, to tape onto a card or add to a gift card or another gift as a little upgrade. I’ve seen some stocking stuffer gift guides clearly written by people with much bigger budgets than me 🤣, and good for them! But this one is for the rest of us normal people- these items are petite on both the size spectrum and price point- small enough to stuff in a stocking, and all are around or under a $5.
All the talk is about the holiday sales, so let’s get to the nitty gritty. I’ve collected the best deals from the retailers y’all have told and shown me you love, and put it all together in one place for you! Links, as well as any necessary codes, are all below. It’s all accurate as of today (Black Friday) but I’ll be updating through the holiday season to share the best savings. As for today, I’ll also be calling out the bestseller deals, as well as what I’m buying, over on Instastories.
My shopping list’ll be at the bottom of the post, but here are the SALES!
Abercrombie: 40% off for members, 25% off for nonmembers
Aerie: 30% off and free shipping
Ann Taylor: 50% off everything with code BLACKFRIDAY
Amazon: Black Friday Deals galore!
American Eagle: 40% off + free shipping
ASOS: 25% off everything with code TOPDEALS
BaubleBar: 30% off everything with code BB30
Boohoo: up to 60% off everything
Bloomingdales: 25% off
J.Crew: 40-50% off, 60% off sale styles with code: SHOPFIRST (members) & WHYWAIT (nonmembers)
Kendra Scott: Yellow Friday through 11/30- 30% off fashion jewelry, 25% fine + sterling
Kohl’s: 20% off with code YOUGET20
Lashify: 20% off everything
Levi’s: 40% off
Loft: 50% off with code FRIYAY
Macy’s: 20% off
Madewell: 30% off
Nastygal: 60% off
Nine West: 50% off everything
Nordstrom: Up to 50% off
Nordstrom Rack: Extra 50% off
Old Navy: 50% off everything
Olive and June: 25% off
Revolve: up to 65% off
Sam Edelman: 30% off SAM2019
Serena & Lily: 2% off with code TOGETHER
Shopbop: 20% off your order of $200+ using SHOP20 11/26-29, and CYBER20 11/30
Spanx: 20% off everything
Steve Madden: 35% off with code BF2020
T3: 25% off with code Holiday25
Target: Black Friday deals in all categories, 20% off coupon when you spend $50
Tarte: 30% off, 50% off holiday with code CYBER (black friday only)
Tubby Todd: 15% off everything, 20% off orders $100+ (and you can use bubble reward points stacked with the sale).
Tula: 25% OFF all orders with code BF25
Ulta: Up to 50% off
Urban Outfitters: Buy one get one 50% off + free shipping
Walmart: deals sitewide
Now, we aren’t huggeee holiday shoppers at our house- frankly, Hanukkah’s limited on gifting and we do so further in our family- but I love a good sale, especially if its on something I’m already looking for. That’s how I shop big sales like these- with a specific list, because you didn’t save any money if you shouldn’t have bought it! Seriously though, I’m only shopping for a few things- a few updated wardrobe staples, restocking some beauty, basics for Ashe. Updates on all that, as well as anything else that catches my eye (I’m merely human y’all!) will be over on insta, like I mentioned earlier.
happy shopping, darlings!
xx
I’m astonished about the date on this blog post. As I said over on Instagram, I’ve done a lot of things but NEVER HAVE I EVER✨ decorated for the holidays this early. We’re don’t even celebrate Christmas, so normally I decorate for Hanukkah after Thanksgiving at the beginning of December.
But it’s been a long year, and once I scored this mantel for a song on FB marketplace last week, I couldn’t help myself from wanting to bring all the cozy vibes with twinkly lights and winter whites.
I mentioned in my post about Asher’s second birthday that there would be years for little sweet birthdays and there would be years where I go all out and throw a fete. I know many people will be surprised that this year, with a viral pandemic, was a latter year. I know that sounds crazy, so I wanted to give y’all the full details on the many considerations and decisions we made to help y’all make informed choices as well.
All the play by play and the cuteness is in this YouTube video,
including some more backstory and details, but I wanted to put the broad strokes of it into a blog post for reference and searchability, as it seems we’ll be taking precautions when and if we socialize for the foreseeable future, as cases are rising again and many families are going back into quarantine.
If you’ve been following for a bit, you might remember that I have some pretty hefty dental anxiety. Aside from a handful of traumatizing incidents, I have acidic saliva, which predisposes me to decay, so I’m always worried about cavities and such, since I’m prone despite my best efforts. I am extra diligent about at-home dental care to be both preemptive and proactive, and that has certainly helped.
