Aside from the Amazon boxes showing up every week to help us prepare for baby in a time where I can’t just get everything from Target all at once, there hasn’t been too much shopping going on in our house. I’ve mostly been holding off on the kid’s necessities because despite the fact that almost all of their clothes are too small, nobody sees them. I’m in the last couple weeks of my pregnancy and am fully aware that my clothes for the next few months will need to be very comfortable, forgiving and nursing friendly so I’m not on a big shopping frenzy either. O never shops. The items that made this list are things I’ve purchased recently that have completely blown me away and actually justified a pandemic purchase. Here are my gold-star, 10/10, shout-it-from-the-rooftops pieces
KITCHEN: Did anyone else completely swap all wardrobe purchases for kitchen purchases? Nine weeks inside the house cooking every single meal has really revealed some holes in our kitchen as well as inspired me to make it a place I love to be. We bought this Air Fryer before the global pandemic hit but it has become one of our favorite things we own in these strange times. We’ve been making homemade french fries on weekends, cooking quick meals and using it to reheat things while still keeping them crispy. There is no better time to fall in love with an air fryer than now!

I finally kissed our non-sticks goodbye and while I’ve loved our Our Pan for months now, I wanted to add a couple more to the team to be stronger workhorses across the board. I’m a loyal lover of Le Crueset and since I’ve used our cast irons, dutch ovens and grill pans by the brand for nearly ten years it was time to add some frying pans to the collection. I can’t say enough good things about this Shallow Fry Pan and, of course, it’s stunning.

I’ve loved this 25 Year Aged Balsamic for years and years. It’s the absolute best in the world. I walked into Williams-Sonoma one day to pick up a mug and someone put a bottle of this in my hands and told me I wouldn’t be disappointed. There’s a reason it has a cult following-just trust me, friends! So technically it’s cheating because I’ve enjoyed this forever but I had to include it because it pairs so perfectly with their new Roasted Garlic Olive Oil. Oh my goodness. This stuff is like it’s own food group. I use it as a finishing oil, to dip things in, to drizzle over salad and vegetables, to top our homemade pizzas…the list is endless. The two paired together are a match made in heaven.

I’ve shared my love for Van Leeuwen’s Vegan Ice Cream flavors for years. Whenever O and I are in New York we start salivating knowing we actually get to visit the ice cream shop in person. Since we can’t just fly to New York every time we get a hankering, the day they started delivering nationwide was one of the best of our lives. I typically order six pints to keep in the freezer for special occasions so while we’ll be stuck inside for our 9 year anniversary next week instead of traveling, we will definitely be indulging in a fresh shipment of our favorite dessert.

CLOTHING/ACCESSORIES: Since Keogena potty trained before her second birthday, it’s been a very long time since I’ve had to carry a diaper bag every day. I forgot just how much stuff I need on hand in those newborn days and being able to easily find what I need is super important to me. I always have at least one pouch in my purses for smaller things like chapstick, pens and headphones but I like to have at least three separate pouches in my diaper bag. All of my pouches are from this brand below:

I have officially spent my entire third trimester sheltering-in-place. Pants feel absolutely out of the question. I love still feeling pulled together but don’t want to deal with the discomfort or restriction of anything on my bottom half which has amplified my love for maxi dresses 100 fold.

I finally bit the bullet and bought the sweatsuit everyone raved about for a full year. Despite the prices dropping for a promo (Current;y on sale for less than $40!) a few times I just couldn’t bring myself to buy yet another sweatsuit. Friends. This is one of those purchases I’ll thank myself for over and over for decades. The fabric is just so soft and cozy and I wore the sweatshirt three days last week because it’s so cozy and comforting.

KIDS: The first months with a new baby just bring so much extra stuff into the house. For the two months, we always have our babies sleep in our room but I like to have a “nursing station” in both our room and the nursery. I love having This Caddy to carry things in like sanitizer, nipple pads, nipple cream, burp cloths and so on. These caddies are also perfect to fill with markers and crayons to give to the kids when its time to nurse so they have a station of their own to caddy around wherever they want to be. I also have one behind our toilet with witch hazel pads, sitz bath spray, pads and all the fun postpartum lady-bits things. These caddies come in tons of colors and I’m a big fan.

This Rocker was sent to us which I’m so grateful for because I’ve had my eye on it for two years. I put it together myself and can report that it is actually stunning in person. I have so many dreams and visions of our sweet baby in it but, realistically, I know I’ll be rocking it with my foot while I pump and try to eat one handed.

ART: I have wanted this piece of Citrus Art for so, so long and decided to put it in the nursery until we move eventually and it’ll end up closer to the kitchen. I’m shocked at how well it works in there and you’ll be shocked by the texture in both the print and the frame. The color-way somehow acts as a neutral and ties everything together perfectly.

BEAUTY/HAIR: You guys know how picky I am about eyebrow products. I’ve used the same little palette for 10 years and though I’ve tried to stray to other things, I always come running back begging its forgiveness. HOWEVER. This eyebrow gel promised to make brows look fuller and also keep them in place and since I love the non-toxic brand so much I just had to give it a try. You guys. It’s fantastic. It delivers and then some! So I do my normal brow routine and then brush this on as a final step.