WEEKLY EDITION: December 6th

Happy Friday! 

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Hi everyone,

The mental load that comes with December can be quite suffocating but I am trying really hard to soak in the peaceful moments of the holiday sprit throughout our home. The last few years I did very minimal decorating (not like me…) due to feeling overwhelmed. I put a bit more effort in this year and I am really enjoying spots like this one in our kitchen…..

I was able to put together my guide to Québec this week and you can take a peek at that here!

We’ve been battling illness after illness at our house the past few weeks. Dare I say it’s the sickest we’ve all been in awhile and the GI illness has somehow made it through our house now TWICE in three weeks. The kids have been missing school and we’ve had a tough time balancing our own sickness and work. All that to say - I feel your pain if you are in the same predicament! Hopefully we can stay healthy for a few days to enjoy a family wedding!

We are assembling our care kits for the homeless soon and I just scooped up the supplies. Just in case you want to put together your own - here is what we have in ours:

enough supplies to make 40 bags total -

• weatherproof socks - picked these up in bulk at Costco

• hand warmers

• toe warmers

• chapstick

• protein bars

• gatorade/water

• other snacks

Holiday Gift Guides 🎄 For Her — For Him - For the Feminist - For Kids of Every Age - Black Friday Sale Picks

Next week’s dinner lineup:

1.) Sheet Pan Tacos with shredded chicken instead of beef

2.) TikTok Spaghetti - despise the name of this but it’s delish!

3.) Crockpot Turkey Chili

4.) French Onion Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

5.) Leftovers

HOUSEKEEPING:

🌾 My Poshmark - added some more items this week

🌞 My ShopMy page has a list of all my kids recs, items in my closet, recent outfits, home items by room, etc.

⚡️Get emails for sale alerts, shopping suggestions by signing up here (this is a separate free substack)

Outfit #1

All outfit details here / sweater is old from Gap, linked a similar shirt color - I went with TALL in the denim so I could cuff the bottom!

Outfit #2

All outfit details here // the sweater is from Rent the Runway since I needed something for a wedding this weekend and I added this sweater to the order!

Outfit #3

All outfit details here

Simple holiday look

Shimmery Rib Knit Gold Sweater - White Tee - High Rise Barrel Denim (I ordered tall so I could cuff the bottom) - Braided Ballet Flats - Classic Leather Belt - Monica Vinader Huggie Earrings - Monica Vinader Bracelet

Another comfortable holiday look

Sweater Lady Jacket - Cotton Tee - Madewell Harlow Wide-Leg Pants - Adidas Country OG Shoes - H&M Dome Earrings - Allsaints Bracelet

• WATCH || From | Apple TV+ → We started the first season back in October and we are now on the 2nd season - this show has us hooked! Warning though - it’s creepy as hell!

• READ || James | Percival Everett → I am really into the audible books now and I just started this one last week. For those of you who haven’t read this yet it’s a spin off from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and it’s told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view. Highly recommend!

• WATCH || An Almost Christmas Story | Disney+ → This is on our family watching list for this weekend!

• READ || The Invisible Man | Esquire → A fellow substacker (thanks Brittany!) posted this article and it’s a must read. I’ve been in the Emergency Department now for over 16 years and being able to help those experiencing homelessness has always been near and dear to my heart.

Listening to this on repeat -

• We all fell in love with the scent of Fairmont’s hotel lobby in Quebec - they must run the room spray through their air filtration system. The one they were using is the “Classic Black” and it’s heavenly

• I am wearing this dress to a wedding tomorrow - simple and super comfortable

  

• I’ve heard wonderful things about this wobble disc and scooped it up for our 4 year old for Christmas

• NY Times 10 best books of 2024 - how many have you read from this list? I am currently reading James but haven’t read any of the others yet!

• I want to do this hairstyle on our girls - how cute!

• I may try my hand at this cheddar scallion english muffin bread for Christmas morning…..

• This idea is on the docket for our elf on the shelf this week

• Our son has these boots and they’re really cute (+ practical for colder weather)

• Meet Matilda Gage who was the suffragist who inspired her son-in-law’s (L. Frank Baum) “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”

• Have you heard of Flykitt? It’s supposed to help with jet lag! Seems awfully expensive and I am just curious if anyone has used it before!

• I worked with Barrett over when he first started ABLE - he has since moved on from ABLE and created this amazing small shop called Mameni Beauty with his daughters. You can get this adorable little personalized bath bombs that have bracelets inside with their names! They would make a great stocking stuffer! Code: LYNZY20 will give you 20% off :)

• A great gift that any kid can use - customized sports water bottles - I love these ones because they don’t spill and you can just squeeze it to get water - quick when playing sports!

• I love getting the grandparents a custom calendar for the next year filled with pictures of the kids

• A backpack cooler that fits up to 20 - 12 oz beverages. A great gift for on the go when packing up lunch/drinks/etc! The orange color is currently 20% off

• Spotted these gorgeous woven gold ballet flats for under $40!

• These sneakers come in some seriously fun metallics, sequins, etc. Great gift for older girls! I grabbed the pink metallic as a gift for our 9 year old! They have even more sizes in silver + gold metallic and red here!

• A few of you asked about what box I use to store each of the ornaments for the kids (and then when they leave our home they have ornaments to decorate their own tree - 1 ornament per year) // I got customized Christmas Eve boxes a few years back and use those!

• Digging the color of this oversized sweater that’s currently marked down!

• A NH Republican has filed a proposed travel abortion ban under the words of “recruitment, harboring, or transporting” of a minor for abortion care. This comes days after the Idaho ruling and you can read more about this all here. The language they use can be ridiculous and confusing (that’s the point) and I love how Jess breaks it all down for us. New Hampshire currently allows abortion up until 24 weeks but with the Republican stronghold in the governor’s office/etc. - that very well may change….

• Georgia Republicans have fired their entire maternal mortality committee within the past two weeks. My guess here is that they don’t want reporters being able to find out about cases like Amber Nicole Thurman. Maternal mortality committees (MMCs) play a crucial role in improving maternal health and reducing preventable deaths. They identify systemic issues, develop evidence-based recommendations, promote accountability, advocate for policy changes and more. I am not sure why this isn’t a bigger story - this is HUGE for women’s reproductive health.

• Jessica Valenti also reported on this recent headline - “Florida rejects measures to project abortion rights” and just so we are all clear - 57% of voters voted to PROTECT abortion rights - which is the MAJORITY. Florida Republicans had raised the threshold to 60% which is why it didn’t “pass”.

• A great read - What May Happen to Abortion Rights Once Trump Takes Office?

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