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Things I Love #32 – Advent Calendars
My friends and family know how much I love a good advent calendar. The idea of bringing a smile to the faces of my friends and family for 24 days in a row brings me joy. I know it seems early, but the really good advent calendars will sell out long before Thanksgiving. So, order your calendars now and they’ll be delivered before December 1st. I also created posts for advent calendars in 2021 and 2020 if you’d like even more advent calendar ideas. For more information or purchasing info, click on the blue words or photos below.
For the chocolate connoisseur in your life, send a gourmet chocolate advent calendar from Vosges.
Vosges Advent Calendar For the sock lover in your life, order the Happy Socks Calendar. Giving socks doesn’t have to be boring… this gift set includes 24 pairs of bright, fun socks.
Happy Socks Advent Calendar For the spa lover in your life, order the Rituals Advent Calendar. How cute is this advent calendar filled with 24 luxury bath, body and home products from Rituals? An adorable Christmas decoration for someone in a small apartment or dorm room.
Rituals Advent Calendar For the tea lover in your life, order the Palais des Thés limited edition holiday calendar. This calendar includes herbal, black, oolong, rooibos, detox and green teas.
Tea Advent Calendar For the Friends fanatic, order the Paladone Friends Advent Calendar. This calendar has 24 beauty products and includes: hand creams, bath bombs, lip balms, nail files and a body puff.
Friends Advent Calendar For the person who doesn’t need / want any more “things”, order the Mindfulness Advent Calendar filled with 24 activities to help someone enjoy and appreciate the season.
Mindfulness Advent Calendar For the baker in your life, order the Williams Sonoma Advent Calendar: 24 days of baking cookies. It includes 24 baking essentials from spatulas to piping bags and decorating tips.
Williams Sonoma Baking Advent Calendar Williams Sonoma offers several other food related advent calendars from candy to olive oil.
Williams Sonoma Advent Calendars For the wine drinker in your life, order the In Good Taste wine advent calendar. It includes 24 domestic and international premium wines. It’s a fun way to discover new brands and varietals.
In Good Taste Wine Advent Calendar For the serious whiskey drinker in your life, order this Flaviar advent calendar with 24 whiskey samples (includes bourbon, rye and scotch) a Glencairn glass and a tasting journal.
Flavor Whiskey Advent Calendar For the dog in your life, order this Himalayan treat calendar from Chewy or check your favorite pet store for additional treat and toy calendars.
Dog Treat Calendar For the cat in your life, order this Fancy Feast Advent Calendar with wet cat food and savory treats.
Fancy Feast Advent Calendar for Cats If you didn’t find an advent calendar that you love, or you just want to create your own, there are several reusable advent calendars which you can fill with your own treats / gifts.
Williams Sonoma Wood Advent Calendar 
Lighted Wood Advent Calendar 
Reusable Wood Advent Calendar 
Empty Advent Calendar Boxes Many stores and brands offer advent calendars, so if you have a favorite store (e.g. Sephora, Ulta, Bath & Body Works) or brand (e.g. L’Occitane, Olive & June, Sugarfina, Godiva.) Go to their website and search “advent calendar.”
I didn’t include the advent calendars I’ll be gifting this year, so my family will still be surprised with their calendars. If you’d like to know what calendars I’m gifting, send me a message and I’ll respond with a few more ideas. Please comment below with some of your favorite advent calendars to give or receive. And, remember, it’s ok to buy yourself an advent calendar.
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Click on the three lines to the left of the word “lifestyle” at the top of this page and enter your email address to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Also, follow me on Instagram at cocktailsandgratitude for photos of cocktails, food, flowers, my pets and travel.
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Things I Love – #24
Below are some great gift ideas for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries, hostess gifts, etc. (Click photos or the blue text for links.)
Notes to Self socks. I love these inspirational socks. Great for Moms, daughters, sisters, best friends, husbands, yourself… you get the idea.
This is a fun couple’s quiz book. My husband and I just take the quizzes verbally and try to guess each other’s answers. Remember, The Newlywed Game? It’s kind of like that, but with multiple choice and not on live TV.
I love this leather catch-all that says You + Me. It’s cute on a night stand for jewelry, lip balm, change, keys, etc.
Leather catch-all Silk pillowcases are supposed to help with break-outs, wrinkles and even bedhead. Make sure you get 100% silk and wash it inside a delicates laundry bag, then hang to dry.
Silk pillowcase This cocktail making set is great for someone who likes to make Manhattans, Old Fashioneds or other cocktails that require stirring instead of shaking. This set comes with everything you need.
Crystal Cocktail Set An assortment of bitters also makes a great gift for the bourbon and whiskey connoisseur.
Woodford Reserve Bitters This Pure Fiji coconut sugar scrub was at the Fiji resort we went to for my 50th birthday. Luckily, I don’t have to travel to Fiji every time I need to restock. This scrub is great for dry winter skin and it smells like the beach.
Pure Fiji Sugar Scrub Everyone with an Apple Watch could use a new band once in a while. I love these sport loop bands in fun colors.
Apple Watch Sport Loop Band A flowering bulb garden is great to help friends (or yourself) get through the gloomy winter months.
Bulb Garden Don’t forget the pets. Amazon has so many great dog toys. Our son’s golden, Bo, is a chewer and goes through toys at an alarming rate – even the “aggressive chewer” toys – so we have new dog toys arriving regularly. (Our daughter’s dog, Frito, gets regular Amazon toy shipments from me as well.)
No Stuffing Squeaky Plush Dog Toys 
You can put an empty water bottle inside this toy. Bo loves it! 
Outward Hound Invincible Dog Toys – so far so good… What are some of your go-to gift ideas?
As an Amazon Associate, I earn money from qualifying purchases.
Click on the three lines to the left of the word “lifestyle” at the top of this page and enter your email address to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Also, follow me on Instagram at cocktailsandgratitude for photos of cocktails, flowers, my pets and, eventually, more travel.
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Family Pets
For anyone who has ever had a pet, you know they play an important part in your life. They are your companion, your confidant, your comforter, your constant.
I don’t know anyone with a pet who hasn’t talked about how it feels to come home to a pet who is SO excited to see you. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been gone for 10 minutes or 10 hours – when you walk through the door you are greeted with unconditional love. This is more common with dogs than cats; but whenever I would sit down for more than 5 minutes, our dog and both cats would show up. It’s like an alarm would go off or something. The cutest part is when they figure out who gets to sit on my lap. Lately that honor always fell to Sam – our oldest animal who was also the alpha animal in our house. There was a certain amount of respect the other animals had for her that I can only assume was due to her age.
She was born in a barn on a farm and we brought her to the city when she was old enough to leave her Mom. One of our funniest memories was when we introduced Sam to Bodhi, our 90-pound golden retriever. John was sitting on the couch with Sam on his chest and Bodhi walked over to sniff her. Poor Sam was so scared that in an instant John had kitten diarrhea all over the front of his shirt. Sam soon learned that Bodhi was a gentle giant and she would sleep curled up next to him. She would even attempt to clean him, a very large job for a very small cat.
Just looking for some pets Sam was neutered and declawed but that didn’t stop her from wanting to be outside. She was great at catching mice; but luckily, she did not bring us presents. When we first let Sam outside, she stayed inside our fenced-in backyard. After a few months, she figured out how to jump up on the grill and over our 6-foot privacy fence. Sam would wander the neighborhood on occasion, but she really enjoyed laying on the sidewalk in front of our house where she could receive free pets and attention from people walking by. She even received a postcard from a neighbor who walked by our house and visited with her often.
Sam loved looking outside Sam was a talker. If you meowed back at her, she would “talk” for quite a while. The last two years Sam started losing weight (she was always a small cat – her top weight was around 6 pounds) and had trouble grooming herself. We switched her to soft food twice a day and I started brushing her and using a dry shampoo on her fur to help clean the areas she couldn’t groom any more. She loved to be brushed!
Looking out the window A few weekends ago Sam stopped eating on a Friday and she died sometime Saturday night. I’m so sad that I wasn’t there to hug and comfort her, but our son said he just knew what was happening and he gave her lots of extra snuggles and pets. She was even purring Saturday night before he went to sleep. Sam had been with us for over 19 years. RIP sweet girl.
