I’m normally ON my gifting game by now. Gift giving is my love language and I usually have a laundry list of ideas for everyone in the summer and then it’s just a matter of execution. This year, I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that it’s ACTUALLY November and I’m having a hard time kicking into gift mode.
It also just feels like such a different year, obviously, and the struggle to get into the holiday spirit is real. I will be having some gift guides here and there on here, but I did think my Small Business Gift guide was pretty thorough (and special)!
What better way to try to get into the holiday spirit than coming up with a personal wish list 😆. Full transparency, I am overwhelmed by s t u f f. Between press mailers and wedding gifts, I am…. set. There is not a single thing I need. But, for the sake of the post, I did think of some fun things.
Personal Wish List
(Advance warning that the list is all over the place!)
Duffle Bag //
I’m going absolutely nowhere at the moment, but in the future I hope trips will happen. I am a big fan of everything Paravel does. I have a few pieces from their collection already and everything is beautiful and high quality.
Dyson Airwrap //
I have and LOVE my Dyson blow dryer. It changed the game for how I style my hair. I’ve been eyeing the Airwrap since it came out but it’s expensive AF. My curling iron that I use now works just fine so it’s not like I need the Airwrap, just purely want it, ha.
Flower Subscription //
Kind of dumb, but I’d love it if a beautiful floral arrangement just showed up every month. I may buy this for myself honestly. (You can turn it into a “subscription.”) We almost always have flowers in the house, but I’m lazy with arrangements and usually buy stems straight from the grocery store. Beautiful bouquets are a little luxury!
Suede Tretorn //
I cannot get enough of my Tretorns. I have a…. few pairs. And I do not need another pair, but man I love these sneaks with the little suede touch!!
Vitamix //
We rarely use our blender but I feel like if we had a Vitamix we’d be more inclined? Mike would definitely love it too. If anyone has one…. do you use it? Is it a nightmare to clean? (My biggest fear is that I’d get it and never want to use it because it was annoying to clean.)
Neck Lamp //
Now that I’m adding to this wishlist and I’m realizing it’s only $14, I should just do it. Between reading and my needlepointing, I feel like this is a need. Grandma? Maybe. But my projects and books will be LIT. (Had to, I apologize.)
Airpod Pros //
I thought Airpods were so dumb when they first came out and now they’re some of my favorite pieces of tech. I *love* them. I’ve been thinking about upgrading to the Pros. (Especially now that everyone is working from home, I need good headphones to block out Mike’s conference calls haha.)
Serger //
I’ve loved sewing so much that I want to add a serger into my mix to make things look a little more professional!! I don’t really have space for it right now and I’m intimidated by the threading of it…. but the temptation is real.
Ping Pong Table //
I’ve been dying for a ping pong table!! I actually found one on Facebook Marketplace for $200 and I’m trying to see if I can get it to fit into the back of my Subaru 😏 I think it’d be so much fun to have honestly. I love a good game of ping pong.
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We have a used Vitamix (from a coffee shop that shut down) and I LOVE it. Its strength is pretty impressive, and it’s nice to not have to shake the blender/futz with all the stuck ice cubes like I had to do with our older cheap one. Cleaning isn’t an issue at all for me, especially if you clean it (or at least fill it with water) right after use.
Such a fun list!!! And all fun and useful things too! Thanks for sharing!!
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I’ve had my same Vitamix for 9 years and it’s my favorite kitchen appliance. It was a must have when I made my daughter’s baby food and I seriously use it every single day for smoothies. It’s easy to clean. Not an issue in the least fill it with warm water, a squirt of soap, mix on high for a minute, and rinse. It’s that simple.
I’ve had a Vitamix (when I lived in the US) and a Blendtec (when I moved abroad) and love both of them so much. I find them easier to clean than a standard blender (the carafe is all one piece). I hand wash the main part and just stick the lid bits in the dishwasher. Super easy! I use mine every day, as I make a smoothie for breakfast. Either brand is super well made, and lasts forever. The Blendtec has a counter on it and I’ve used it over 1,500 times since I’ve had it (!) and its still going great.
Neck lamps are game changers!! When I first started needlepointing, it was hard to see the canvas with our regular table lamps. My fiancé is a mechanic and already had one and brought it to me one night and I use it ALL the time. Pretty sure more than he does. 15/10 would recommend :).
The handy crew in nj would probably be able to pick up and deliver the table
And the vitamix is super easy to clean
I got a Vitamix for a wedding gift and use it all the time. The cleaning is actually one of the easiest parts, it “self cleans” if you just put some dish soap and water in and use it like normal.
I use it for soups, smoothies, whipped cream, hot chocolate, peanut butter, salad dressings, açaí bowls, and sorbet. My mom uses hers daily I’m pretty sure.
Love my Vitamix!! I use it daily for smoothies, but I’ve also used it for blending soups, etc. SUPER easy to clean. It doesn’t come apart so there aren’t multiple parts to clean. Add hot water into the blender, put on base, turn it on and voila! 🙂
I love that duffel bag and those sneakers!
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Get the Vitamix! We use ours all the time and it’s super easy to clean. We bought a refurb model straight from Vitamix to save a couple hundred dollars and it looks and runs like a brand new one. To clean it you just add some water and dishsoap, blend, rinse out.
We got a refurbished one as well and 8+ years later it still works great (*knocks on wood*). I use it all the time and would replace it immediately if it broke
I use our vitamix a few times a week for smoothies, dressings, soups, everything! We have a “pro” version that has a super high powered self-cleaning function. The only time I have to do any additional cleaning is if I have something really oily like dressing and I need to do a second hot soapy rinse to make sure I get all of the oil residue off. Highly recommend!!
Have had a vitamin for years. You won’t regret it. It has a self cleaning mode as well—that works! You can also do soups in it.
You absolutely need the airwrap, lol. I am OBSESSED with mine because it come with so many attachments, and my hair always looks like I just went to the Dry Bar after I use it!!! You also need the ping pong table haha- it made those first couple months of quarantine so much more enjoyable, and I assume with be in high usage during the winter! Great list, Carly 🙂
I have the exact serger you have pictured. I understand serging can be intimidating, but this one is a breeze to use and thread. There is actually a great resource online for this very model and I learned to ruffle and blind hem from it. If you ever decide you want one, this is a great entry level one. 😊
I second this. I have this exact serger. It is really super easy to use!
Vitamix is a MUST have!! I use mine every single day. Clean is piece of cake— if you do it right after it can be a quick swish or rinse and into dishwasher! They recommend a fun way of putting soapy water and then ‘blending’ it to clean. Haha! Def recommend it.
The AirPod Pros are amazing! My husband has them for work and studying for his professional exams. They are life savers when I have to be on conference calls all day, and on the weekends when I’m training our puppy or watching a movie – in our little one bedroom apartment he can’t hear anything else that’s going on!
We received the Vitamix a few Christmases ago. We LOVE it! It is the easiest thing to clean. Just run it with water and dish soap right after and quickly scrub the sides. I used it to make Nordstrom’s Tomato Soup recipe yesterday! 😍
FYI Costco sells an outdoor ping pong table. Ours is 12 years old and looks great!
Obviously, you can bring it indoor too!
Awhile back I asked you for restaurant recs for Tampa because my son was considering U of T. Well he is a freshman there! I have sent him some care packages with Chicago (our hometown) goodies but my chocolate chip cookie did not travel so well! Does your mom still sell her cookies? If so, can you please give me contact information. There is nothing better than a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie:)
I saw on someone’s Instagram story that the easiest way to clean a blender is to put warm water and dish soap into it and blend it together! It was a game changer for me!
I love my vitamix! I have the E310 which is smaller (and cheaper!) and it works great for everything. I used to dread pulling my other blender out but the vitamix is so powerful that it’s more fun to use (does that make sense? I don’t need to go in and stir a million times!) I find it super easy to clean. The fancier ones have a self-clean feature but I just soak it and hand wash it and it’s no big deal!
The Vitamix is 100% worth it. Super simple to use, and it does inspire you to use it. I never used a blender before, but now I’m a blending maniac. Also, they are SO easy to clean. You literally just fill it about halfway with warm water, add a squirt of dish soap, and blend for a minute (I usually just do the smoothie setting to clean). Works beautifully– and I use a lot of peanut butter and sticky stuff in my smoothies!
Vitamix is so easy to clean! You just put hot water and soap in it and let it run for a minute!
I have a ninja and like mine! However it doesn’t work great to make oat flour from oats. My fav food blogger Ali, from Gimme some oven, uses a Blendtec! I would consider size/storage, they take up a ton of counter space sometimes. Maybe track how often you or husband makes smoothie/uses your current blender in a month to get a baseline frequency of use.
If item lasts 5-10 years I feel like cost per use is always reasonable with that breakdown. Like a cashmere sweater I paid $160 for 5 years ago, I still wear or I have a 7 year old $110 Northface jacket that I wear daily.
I have a Vitamix (wedding gift) and it’s very easy to clean – you just put a little dish soap and water in the blender and let it run for about a minute. That said, I don’t use it quite as much as I thought I would – it’s great if you want something to be TOTALLY pureed, but if you want any amount of texture (say, a sauce that should be a little chunky rather than perfectly smooth) the Vitamix is too much. I use my Cuisinart food processor more often.
The Vitamix is a game changer. It is so simple to clean, especially with the Ascent models having a self-clean mode. It’s one of my favorite kitchen appliances!
I love my Vitamix! I’m in college and one of my 6 roommates use to it everyday. Super easy to clean either in the dishwasher or put hot water and dish soap then run it.
SO powerful smoothies, hummus, nut butters, endless.
I bought a neck lamp last month and I LOVE it! It’s amazing for reading and also for when I’m working on puzzles. I felt slightly ridiculous ordering it, but it’s been awesome!
Vitamix is SO easy to clean. Just put soap and water in the blender then blend it for a few seconds to self clean. Works every time!
My boyfriend showed up to my house with his Vitamix on our third date. It was AMAZING. Like so good when (because his roommate moved out and took his Vitamix with him) he took the Vitamix back to his house, I got my own!
AirPod Pros make regular AirPods seem like garbage. The Pros are so much more comfortable in ear and the sound quality is so much better. They are seriously amazing!
You need them, Mike needs them too.
I highly recommend getting a server with all the sewing you’re doing. It just makes the finished products that much nice I feel like the seams are more secure. Threading is a total pain but you get the hand of it after a bit.
Vitamix is SO easy to clean. Seriously not an issue, just rinse it out the second after you use it and you won’t ever really need to deep clean it. If you want to rinse it well, just put warm water and soap in it and blend! Absolutely best blender, I think it has a lifetime warranty and I can’t imagine having a different blender now
My family has had a ping pong table in our basement for years! We play it at every holiday and my parents use it often during the winter- such a fun thing to do with guests or even just two people. I have such happy memories of playing with family and friends.
I have a Vitamix and absolutely LOVE it! They are actually headquartered here in Cleveland, which is where I live, so it’s extra special! It’s actually the easiest blender I’ve ever had to clean. It’s truly made to clean it’s self. When you are finished all you do is put a couple drops of soap in with some hot water, put it back on the machine and it does all the work for you! Most have a clean setting, but if it doesn’t just run it on a high for a bit and you’re good to go! It’s a total game changer!
Yes!!! Get a serger!! They’re not too hard to thread after a few times – really!! And soooo worth it if you’re going to continue to sew as much as you are! Plus we’ll be able to enjoy seeing all the fun new finishes you use haha 😉
Someone bought us a Vitamix as a gift out of the blue years ago (from a blog reader actually!). It is hands down our most used small kitchen appliance and we use it daily. We LOVE it. One of the best gifts I have ever received. It’s a splurge for sure but if you like smoothies, shakes, sauces etc, it is very worth it. Not hard to clean at all.
Having a flower subscription is a great idea! Definitely something I want to try one day. There’s nothing better to brighten up a day than receiving fresh flowers every so often!
Julia x
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Thanks for sharing this list. This may be my first comment here ever, but that should highlight how obsessed with the product I am: the Vitamix is worth it! I was gifted mine in gradschool (7!) years ago, and it has held up so well. I’m pretty sure it could turn concrete into dust, and to address your concern–it cleans like a DREAM (unlike, for instance, juicers). I typically just fill it with hot water and a little bit of Dawn and blend it for 30 seconds on a specific setting for cleaning. Then once every 4 or so uses (depending on what I’ve been making) I’ll scrub it by hand. Doesn’t take long at all! Hope that helps.
We have had a vitamix for 8 years–we got it as a wedding gift and it’s still going strong! Haven’t had any issues. We use it every single day. It’s so easy to clean!!
Hey Carly! Thought I might chime in on the air wrap. I recently pulled the trigger after eyeing it for a while. You may or may not remember, but my hair is straight and pretty fine, I think my pony tail might be smaller than a quarter. I agree that the blow dryer is amazing and has really helped with volume. The curling barrels work, but I’ll be honest they don’t hold as tight curls for me, but I feel like your hair will do better. I do LOVE the way my hair looks when they fall, like a professional blowout! I will caution though that it does take a while to do because you have to go in small pieces. For someone with fine hair like myself it takes about 25-30 min. I can’t remember if your hair is super thick or not, but that would be the only thing that might be a downside- the time investment. Other than that though, it’s awesome! Hope this is helpful!
Hi Aja! Sounds like we have similar hair!
How does your hair dry naturally? I am thinking that it works best with people whose hair naturally dries straight/frizz-less. My hair is thin and wavy, and I feel like it just doesn’t work that well on my hair. My hair is also not thick enough for the smoothing brushes to work alone – I have to hold my hair taut for it to work.
Anyway, I was, on a whole, pretty disappointed/et down with my purchase I am hoping to return it and try the blow dryer instead!
Carly – we have discussed via instagram – the ping pong table is a gamer changer (pun intended!). Fully support this purchase because it is just too fun. Also, why have important marriage and life discussions on the couch when you can both be calm hitting the ball back and forth, back and forth lol.
Let me change your life when it comes to cleaning a blender! Add water and a little dish soap and blend it after you use it. It makes it soooo much easier to clean. The blender does the work for you 🙂
We got our ping pong table out again this spring/summer after not using it for years and it was so fun to play again!
I love my vitamix when I’m in the habit of using it regularly. However, I don’t love how it looks on our countertops, so it lives in a cabinet and unfortunately becomes an out of sight, out of mind situation really quickly.
I’ve been wanting a Vitamix for years. I wanted one because it has multiple functions, which would free up space for me to get rid of some of my other smaller kitchen appliances.
After wanting the Vitamix for years I finally bit the bullet in May and can say I’ve used it nearly every single day since! The A3500 has a specific cleaning setting so you just fill it up halfway with warm water and soap and hit the button! It’s magical.
I immediately bought the little light for needlepoint. Thank you!
LOVE our Vitamix! It’s actually super easy to clean – just put water and a little bit of dish soap in there, put it back on the blender to mix all the soap and water up, and then rinse! As for the airpod pros…you need! Especially when someone else in the house is on a call! Thanks for sharing your list!
I also am lusting after the dyson air wrap…it feels over the top expensive, but it looks so amazing!
And I think you’ve got to do the serger!! I worked in my college costume shop and the serger was THE MOST FUN machine to use. Treat yourself! 🙂
A serger! Now we know you’ve got the sewing bug! I would also love to have a serger but I’m waiting until I have a dedicated sewing space (which my one-bedroom apartment lacks…especially with my WFH setup). FYI, they make self threading sergers nowadays (and I’m sure there are YouTube videos as well).
Totally get the vitamix! It is worth every single penny and you’ll find yourself using it more than you think. I find it very easy to clean also. Would highly recommend – 10/10.
Omg I love my vitamin and it’s soo easy to clean. It has a cleaning function if you get the Ascent3500 or the 750pro and all you have to do is add warm water some soap and hit start under the clean setting after that give it a scrub if anything is stuck on with a brush but it’s so easy to clean once most of the food is off. This is one of my top recommendations for people getting married or moving and setting up a home.
What a wishlist ^^ I have not played ping pong since high school. It will be fun to play with family in holiday.
Yes, the Vitamix is so worth it!! I don’t know why it’s 10x better than any other blender out there, but it is. So worth the price. And definitely not harder to clean than any other blender, food processor, etc. (pretty sure it’s dishwasher safe!)
I love how down-to-earth this list is and I giggle reading the whole post haha 🙂 I can’t agree more with Airpods. I thought it was so dumb but it’s the first thing on my shopping list for myself.
Do the flower subscription!! I signed up for the monthly Bouqs over the summer after a particularly rough month at work. I decided to treat myself to some tulips and it was much cheaper to sign up for the subscription and only a 2 month commitment. Here I am 5 months later and it is easily the best $35 I spend in the month. It’s such a small thing, but they truly bring me joy. And last for weeks!
You NEED a vitamix. My husband and I got one for our wedding and its amazing. We make ice cream, soup, hummus, smoothies, smoothie bowls, blend dry ingredients, make almond or oatmilk … it does EVERYTHING! We put hot water and soap in it afterwards and blend it to clean it. And if it needs a better scrub we throw it in the dishwasher.
okay I’m loving how passionate everyone is about Vitamix in these comments 😂
The neck lamp joke is on point, I LOL’d.
And DEFINITELY upgrade to the AirPods Pro! I love mine, and they have been so great for WFH conference calls, so I’m not chained to my desk headset. And the noise cancelling is amazing. A must-have, especially since my bf and I have our desks in the same space.
The vitamix is a game-changer blender, I have one and use it frequently. Cleaning it is a breeze, simply put hot water and a drop or two of dishsoap in it and crank it up to 10. Be careful that soap suds doesn’t come out of the top.