(Part 3) Top products from r/blogsnark

Some ideas that have worked well for me/others:

Aging Parents - Kind of expensive (fluctuates a ton) but if you have a parent with a ton of photos who talks about scanning them all in someday, this scanner is fantastic. I have the older version and it's literally so easy to use that even my mom and dad could figure it out when I let them borrow it. Not a great bulk doc scanner but exactly what you need for photos. Pair with a case like this to store the originals in and you've done a great deed.

Newlyweds- If they don't have specific interests, a picnic blanket goes over well. I have the one linked and it's nice for the cheap price. Pair with some wine, maybe some other picnic accessories. I'm also giving a minted gift for a custom designed print for wedding photos to my brother/new sister-in-law.

Teens- Move beyond the selfie stick - some phone lenses go a long way, get a self timer for the phone, or a PowerCore. The powercore isn't sexy but super loved by all. I usually hit up BaubleBar or Sephora for deals too.

Handyman- I shoved this cheap light in my husband's stocking last year and he loves it. It's super handy.

Homebody- This is out of stock in the best size right now but it always comes back in. It is the softest blanket ever, doesn't shed, and we bought them for every room of the house.

Dog- What dog doesn't love bully sticks? A good deal, really good quality and my dogs have loved them.

On my wishlist- A milk frother, The Food Lab cookbook, a magnetic pincushion, maybe some Ugg slippers, a bunch of Etsy art and Essie gel couture nail polish. Debating a special purchase for myself with a bonus I received, I'm thinking a camera for a big trip coming up if I can find the right holiday deal.

Hi Im here for your yoga wants and needs

Yoga Friends looking to start meditation suggestions

Meditation Cushion (I think I have the 13" one) - I specifically have this Reehut ($23) one and a Manduka one (I cant find it online! but it was about $50) and the manduka definitely has a better suede feel, the Reehut one feels just as nice to sit on).

Headspace account - you can get a year premium account on eBay just saying for a fraction of the price... (I'm talking like $5 versus $100).

Journal - I got the meditation cushion and added a journal for my friend (I ended up getting a 3pack from Costco for $11 and gifting to 3 people! 😁

Odds and Ends:

If you want to spend money on your yoga friend, a Liforme yoga mat that's $150-200 might be right up your alley.

I also want the NOW Tone Therapy speakers but cant talk myself into spending $150 for 3 minutes of sweet bells.

If you want to go super hippie, you can buy Sage to burn ($18 issa vibe)

.I think this is a super cute card set Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck (less than $25). The same artist also has a similar Tarot deck that's under $25

This is also a great visual/journaling book for yogis - a lot of pages, colorful, and places to write (so dont bother with the Kindle version!)(Wanderlust might have another book for cookers, if I'm not mistaken).Less than $20 right now.

Jessamyn Stanley also has Every Body Yoga for someone who practices yoga and is interested in hearing Jessamyn's journey to yoga. She's very inclusive and I really enjoyed reading her story. The yoga is very basic though.

Ooh, you're in for a treat. A few of my favorites are:

The Royals, by Kitty Kelly

The Queen Mother, by William Shawcross

Diana, Her True Story by Andrew Morton (with all the drama and revelations afterward, I think it's really good to at least read)

On Duty with the Queen, Dickie Arbiter (I expected more behind-the-scenes stuff in this one, but it was still interesting)

My friend has read Fergie, Duchess of York's memoirs (yep, plural) and she said they were interesting but not super in-depth.

If you're ever looking for a novel about a non-British royal house, I highly recommend The Commoner, by John Burnham Schwartz, which is inspired about the empress-to-be (next week!) of Japan.

An alternate-universe Shauna:

Prompted by a couple of the comments below referring to Amazon reviews, I went there to take a look, and ended up coming across this other author, who also happens to be named Shauna. I think it's pretty funny how familiar these titles seem (even though I'd never heard of her before). One of these has a forward by Brene Brown. Check out these titles!

Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living

Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life

Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are

Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way

Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes

The Amazon summary for Bread and Wine describes her as a mix of Anne Lamott and Barefoot Contessa.

Finished Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler from last week. I felt quite a bit more invested in the last two books than the first one. I did feel a little embarrassed carrying the library copy around because of the cover (this one). Especially when I got to some of the sex scenes later on while I was riding the bus. I wasn't expecting that from sci-fi, although maybe I should have.

Reading Perfume by Patrick Suskind now, about a young boy who gets involved in the essential oil business. Ok, he's actually an orphan with an excellent sense of smell in 18th-century France, but the book does get into the technicalities of perfumes and essential oils. The main character is so odd and unrelatable, but so far it's a great book. I was impressed by the author's prose, and then I found out that it was originally written in German and I'm reading a translation, so now I'm impressed by the author and by the translator.

I love this book SO SO MUCH! Madeline Miller is a word-alchemist who makes magic on the page. I've read 30 or so books so far this year and this was my favorite fiction. I also liked Pat Barker's The Silence of the Girls, which I also recommend if you're into the ancient Greek mythology theme.

Yes! If you haven't already, you should read her books, From Here To Eternity and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. Her writing style and humor reminds me a lot of Mary Roach, who actually inspired me to change my career path. Such a wonderful human.

Monday - A variation of these pork chops with rice noodles and roasted brocolli

Tuesday - pepper steak with coconut lime rice

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - summer veggie pasta pesto bake with hot sausage

I love cookbooks as books - I read them cover to cover. It sounds corny, but I use my Betty Crocker cookbook as a good baseline for baked goods. I also adore this book to shake things up!! AND OF COURSE COOKING FOR JEFFREY

Not only did it get better, but I've had really hard times in my life and only had a few hours of ever feeling that dark and sad and alone again.

I couldn't get to therapy either but learning CBT techniques was a huge part of what helped me get better. I used this book

https://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-New-Mood-Therapy/dp/0380810336/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491789682&sr=8-1&keywords=feeling+good

I know that's not as a good as a person but it can really help you craft a strategy to find a person and suffer less in the meantime.

Best of luck to you.

Lewis Hyde's The Gift

https://www.amazon.ca/Gift-Creativity-Artist-Modern-World/dp/0307279502

(Maybe that isn't the book you're thinking of; but the red heart reminds me of Shauna's newsletter)

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. I got it as a Kindle daily sale. Enjoying it so far!

"To An Unknown God: Religious Freedom on Trial" is in large part about the legal fight over the religious use of peyote (specifically, whether being fired for said use violated the free exercise clause), but there is a really interesting chapter in it about the Bhagwan situation. The author is a former law professor at UOregon who knew the Attorney General who had to deal with the whole mess pretty well. No preview on Google Books, here's the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/God-Religious-Freedom-Trial/dp/0312262396

I LOVE this book for older toddler to kindergarten age kids: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062455508/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The venue search is kicking my ass. 100%. I ranted a couple weeks ago, but it's like they specifically try to hide the cost info as a way of reeling you in. I'm so sick of vendors playing these games, I'm a straightforward, direct, and honest person and I hate hate hate when people aren't the same with me.

As far as premarital counseling, we didn't/won't do it the conventional way, but we did painstakingly go through the "1001 Questions to Ask Before Getting Married" over the course of a few months (https://www.amazon.com/Questions-Before-Married-Family-Relationships/dp/0071438033). It was really good at making sure we were on the same page on both big and little issues, and raised lots of hypotheticals we never would have considered ourselves. I recommend it to everyone I know who gets engaged.

You can read it via waybackmachine here, yIKES

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"I’ve applied every ounce of the researching laser beam that Cambridge gives you as a result of 3 years to try and find an example of a girl who is 23 years old or younger when they publish their first memoir. And I couldn’t find a single example of one that had a positive life. Famous examples are Malala and The Diary of Anne Frank. They literally had to survive the Holocaust and be shot and left for dead on a bus. That’s what it takes to get a young girl a memoir."