Things We Love and USE // 03

Throughout the year, bloggers (myself included) often share gift guides. I tend to like these guides because they give me ideas; introduce me to new brands & products; and frankly, I’m a voyeur — I love to see what other people are buying. However, gift guides often give me pause for a couple of reasons. First, does the blogger only want me to buy an item because she is going to make a commission off of the sale? And second, in the age of Pinterest & Etsy, just because a blogger “loves” an item doesn’t mean that she has ever actually used it or even seen it in-person.

That said, this is my series called, Things We Love (and USE). The emphasis being that these are things that we both love and actually use on a regular basis. Here are a few things that are currently making our lives a little bit easier, comfier, and more beautiful.

1. Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray — I’ve been wanting to try a sea salt spray on my hair for awhile. I love those beachy waves that seem to be all the rage, but I don’t have time to play with a curling iron these days. I’d read that sea salt hair sprays worked wonders and were simple to use and apply. I picked up this one after reading some positive reviews.

When I first started using it, I was applying it to my wet hair, straight out of the shower. That was a total flop. It didn’t do much of anything. Later I tried applying it to my dry hair with the notion that my hair would be more absorbent when dry. I’m so grateful I thought of it because then it worked like a charm. After my shower, I waited until my hair air dried. Then I evenly sprayed all sections of my hair with the salt spray and combed it through to take out tangles. Finally I scrunched my hair a bit with my hands to create the “waves.” When my hair dried it was soft and wavy, just like it is when I come from a dip in the ocean.

My favorite thing about this product is the scent. It’s a gorgeous vanilla smell and I can’t stop sniffing my hair when I’ve got it in. I will purchase this stuff again primarily for that reason. Also, back when Roman’s hair was still long, I’d give his hair a few sprays before combing his hair to the side. It helped to keep his bangs out his face and it’s more toddler-friendly than shampoo or gel. It’s not a super strong hold, but it did the trick.

2. Fisherman Sandals (Stride Rite) — When the weather got warm, I was eager to find Roman a good pair of summer shoes. I can’t be bothered with shoe laces and Roman can’t seem to keep flip flops on his little feet. I did a little digging and came across these sandals by Stride Rite. They’re perfect and I adore them. They look so cute on him and pair well with both casual and more dressed up looks. Best of all they are incredibly durable — we do lots of exploring, hiking, and camping. They keep his feet cool enough for hot weather, but they also do a good job at protecting them too. He pretty much wears them every day and I imagine that he’ll be wearing them straight through to autumn. I will most likely buy him another pair of these once he outgrows them.

3. Mrs. Meyer’s Dish Soap (Radish) — I am the biggest Mrs. Meyer’s fan. I’ve been using the Mrs. Meyer’s cleaning spray and hand soap for awhile now and recently decided to give the dish soap a try. Once again, I was impressed. It works well and smells fantastic. It’s easy on my hands, too, and like all Mrs. Meyer’s products it’s free from harsh chemicals and full of plant-derived ingredients. I’ve definitely found my new dish soap of choice.

4. Kids Wayfarer Glasses (Rubber!) — Another thing that we decided to get for Roman when the warm weather hit was a pair of sunglasses. We had looked in a couple of children’s stores but we couldn’t find anything that looked “sturdy” enough to hold up to the rough & tumble life of a two-year-old. I decided to look on Amazon and I found these great rubber, Wayfarer-style sunglasses. We ordered them and they are perfect. They’re adorable, the colors are bright & fun, and they’re durable. Roman even stepped on them one time. One of the arms came off, but Matthew was able to repair them easily with a little screwdriver.

Here’s a shot of Roman wearing them a few weeks ago. In that shot, you can also see what Roman’s hair looked like styled with the sea salt spray mentioned above.

5. Nursing Bra (Hot Milk) — I’ve talked about nursing bras on this blog before. What can I say — they’re so critical when you’re a breastfeeding mama! A good nursing bra makes all the difference in the world. I’ve had the Morning Dawn-style bra from Hot Milk in my rotation for a couple of month’s now and I love it. It’s really difficult to find a nursing bra that is functional, beautiful, and comfortable — but this one checks all three of those boxes. It’s lovely.

That’s all for this edition of Things We Love and USE. Click here to check out my past lists in this series.

What are a few of the things that you are using and loving right now? I’d love to hear!