Look at baby me modeling!

For many years, I made a living, in part, by writing about products and integrating them into this website. These were literally called "integration posts," and they were what gave me the leeway to do the writing I loved, both here and elsewhere. But they weren't exactly a hardship - I always really enjoyed the challenge of being presented with a new product or brand, seeing how it worked in my life, and then creating a story around it.

It was also, honestly, just super fun to get to try out new stuff all the time, from makeup to washing machines to married-people dating services. Which is all to say that, of the bazillions of things that I've written about over the years, there are a few that may have started out as brand partnerships, but then quickly evolved from a novelty to a must-have - products that I ended up loving and religiously keeping stocked in my house, long after my formal relationships with the brands ended.

Teachers: They’re basically superheroes. They’re educators, sure—but they’re also counselors, custodians, referees, detectives, party planners, epidemiologists, and traffic controllers (among the many, many other jobs that they don’t get paid for, but should).

Now available for preorder: The next book in the Big Activity Book series, The Big Activity Book for Teacher People. This one was inspired by the many, many, many hilarious tales my teacher friends have told me - and by the fact that teachers are wonderful, and they deserve presents.

Activities include:
•  a word scramble of useless stuff you have to teach anyway
•  draw the administrator in their natural habitat
•  color in the break room of horrors
•  things you do not want to receive from a parent, like, ever

Available for preorder now: My first kids' book with Erin Williams, and what might be my favorite project I've ever worked on. It was written during lockdown, while all of us watched our children struggling with anxiety. I've dealt with (clinically diagnosed) anxiety for years - as readers of The Big Activity Book for Anxious People and anyone with even a passing familiarity with this site know - and have discovered that, for me, the best ways to cope with anxious feelings are to 1) Talk about them, right out loud, and 2) Find the humor in them, when you can. Which is precisely what The Everybody Gets Anxious Activity Book aims to teach kids - while absolutely never making them feel like they're being *taught* anything, because hello: Activity books are supposed to be fun!

Activities include:
•  How to Calm Down When You're Freaking Out! (It's easier than it sounds.)
•  Word Search: Stuff Literally Everybody Does (Even if you think you're the only one.)
•  Unscramble the Easy Fixes for Everyday Problems! (Sometimes the answer is right in front of you!)
•  Design Your Own Emoji That Perfectly Expresses How You’re Feeling Right Now
•  Draw Faces On Underwater Creatures, Who Are Feeling Lots of Things (They're in their deep-sea feels.)

I'm excited about this because it's a book I would like to have had, and I'm so glad that my kids (and yours) get to have it now. With this project, as always, I am so grateful for your support.

When I had my first child, I was full of the blissfully ignorant energy of a person who doesn't realize that sure, she's not sleeping *now*, but that she also will not be sleeping...

Ever.

Again.

Courant charger | Dosist Passion pen | State glasses | Herbivore Botanicals balm

Presenting: Gift ideas for literally everyone on your list, from the very small to the very picky (and everyone in between). And bonus: Nearly everything you see below is from a small, woman- or family-owned business.

Courant Valet/Phone Charger. I am so in love with the look and functionality of these chargers for bedside tables and entryways - I'm giving my parents a matching pair for Christmas (and I told them not to read this post, don't worry). The classic saddle leather style - which allows you to organize your knickknacks while charging all your devices - is my personal favorite, but this smaller style runs a close second. Oh! And they were one of Oprah's Official Favorite Things this year, so you know they're good.