After Christmas and the New Year holidays, January can feel like such a bummer. The holiday magic is over, and if you despise snow like me, then winter sports have no appeal. However, a box of cozy goodies, is exactly what I needed to lift my spirits.
Sarah's subscription boxes typically ship out by the 20th of each month, but I met Sarah for coffee a bit earlier and picked it up from her then :) If the box is holiday themed, I would get my holiday themed goodies delivered to my door the month before, so I can enjoy them during the whole holiday month. Even though I got this before Christmas, I opened mine early because I like to spoil myself.
During my typical day, I'm a Virtual Assistant and work to support women and their businesses. So I love knowing that each box contains only goodies from women owned businesses. I can treat myself and continue to support other women owned businesses. Since each themed box is packed full of awesome surprise items, with 1 item being personalized just for me, it makes me feel special every single month! Sarah (the curator) puts so much detail and thought into the items inside, and I feel good knowing that I'm helping support other Women-Owned Businesses!
The first item I pulled out was the Dragon Scales fingerless gloves from WhimsicalThings. Lauren Rin makes very colorful and cozy gloves. She has a wide variety of colors and patterns available, but you can also email her a custom request. These gloves were SO soft and kept my wrists warm during a heating issue in our home. I really like that my fingers were free for working from my laptop. Thankfully they were too small for my 5yr old, or I wouldn't have them now!
The next item was a "Snow Much Fun" goat milk soap bar from Beach Bum Body Shoppe. Andrea Juarez has beautiful soaps for every occasion and you can check out her work on her Instagram account. Her soaps are a blend of goat milk, cocoa butter, olive/coconut/palm oil, and Tussah silk. Talk about luxurious! I felt like this could easily be found in a high end spa or resort. My 5yr old loved the peppermint and vanilla scent as much as I did, and with the moisturizing soap blend, I knew it wouldn't dry out her eczema prone skin.
The next item I pulled out was a card for a goal setting workshop from Heart over Head Coaching. The QR code gave me access to a goal setting workshop video and downloadable worksheets. Crystalynn Godek is a personal accountability coach that also offers coaching for confidence and mental fitness. She also has free resources available and a 30min consultation call. As we head into a new year, don't we all need a bit of help at least in one area of our lives?
Next, I pulled out a Fun Beaded Pen from HBK Designs. Amanda Pate made these fun pens to compliment another item from this box, but she also makes keychains, badge reels, and "freshies" - air fresheners for your car. My 5yr old loved the pen and tried to run off with it a few times, but so far it has remained unbroken so that's a plus for me! Additionally, it's easy to find if you do throw it in a bag or your purse.
I think the item I had the most fun with (once again) came from Bella Rose Designs. And this month my 5yr old got really excited since it involved baking! After Christmas we had a couple of friends over for dinner and we were able to whip up dessert about 30mins before they arrived. As the directions above state, we just dumped our jar of cookie mix into a bowl before adding half a cup of melted butter and an egg.
Due to making our cookie dollops a bit bigger, we made 33 cookies instead of 36 (but I also know my kiddo was sneaking a few finger swipes out of the bowl instead of helping me spoon out dough balls for the greased pans). I should have grabbed a picture of the the two overloaded plates of these delicious M&M and chocolate chip cookies. However, since six adults had about five cookies each in under an hour, I'm lucky to have gotten a picture at all!
Once we got back from visiting my in-laws for NYE, I added the first note card of the New Year to our cleaned out Gratitude jar. I'm excited to see what memories we record together in 2022 so we can read through them on NYE 2022!
If you subscribe to the VIP box, which includes a custom T-shirt of the month, you would have also received an ice blue tee with a blue and gold print on it that said “New Year Crew 2022.” VIP subscribers also receive free shipping on their boxes and a 10% discount on any future orders.
What a great way to ring in the new year!
I hope you all claim a January "True Crime is My Valentine" box to enjoy the goodies from women-owned businesses. And if you missed out on the January Member's Day Out event at Shoot Point Blank shooting range, make sure you sign up for the second event for later this month. Sarah is currently arranging for other members to attend at the Greenwood location. Spaces are limited to 10 though, so make sure you register for your spot and notify Sarah NOW!
- Courtney Castagne-McCavit