Things You Need In Your Life -

I was supposed to make these posts a monthly thing… and then I forgot. What’s new? Oh well; better late than never! That’s my motto. Today I’m sharing some things you need in your life in a variety of categories: food/drink, kitchen tools, travel, beauty, fashion and more! I hope you find something you love, too!

FYI: the name of each item is a direct link to purchase it. Yes, these are affiliate links & I will make a very wee bit of commission if you use them to buy anything. This allows me to continue spending the time to create content & I appreciate every penny more than you know! XOXO

Let’s get started.

Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker – $28

I’ve been posting about this in my Instagram stories a lot lately and have gotten a ton of questions, so I thought I should cover it again here.

I have recently cut back on coffee for a few reasons:

I have IBS and it tends to hurt my stomach.
I’m a snob and usually only like coffee from Starbucks, so it’s a little costly when I do drink it

Ethan’s friends had this cold brew iced coffee maker and highly recommended it. It’s only $28 so we figured we might as well give it a shot! (We have the 2 Liter one, for reference). Well, turns out we LOVE it. We are saving tons of money and it’s so convenient.

I also feel like it’s easier on my stomach. (Apparently cold brew is less acidic than coffee so it’s a better alternative for people like me with sensitive tummies. I also try to stick with small quantities just to be safe. I’m super caffeine sensitive, anyway.)

A few tips that you should know:

On the instructions it says to use 2 cups of coffee grounds per batch. This makes a cold brew CONCENTRATE, so if you do this, then you will only use a small amount for your cup of coffee, and then dilute it with quite a bit of water + creamer or whatever you like to add.
We have started doing only 1 cup of coffee grounds, filling the pitcher 3/4 full with water, and letting it do its thing for 12-24 hours. Then we will remove the middle part with coffee grounds in it, and fill up the pitcher the rest of the way to dilute it a little bit more. Then we pour and serve! I like mine with some half & half, a few drops of liquid Stevia, and maybe a splash of flavored creamer if we have it.
I have been told that coarsely ground coffee works better than finely ground because it seeps through the filter, but we haven’t had any issues with the finely ground so far! We are using a French Vanilla light roast we found at ALDI and I’m in love.
One batch using that ratio usually lasts a week between the two of us..

Can’t recommend this thing enough!!!

NEXT UP: BruMate Slim Insulated Can Cooler – $19.99

When I went to Austin for a Bach party recently, we sat out at our pool and had some drinks during the day, but they got hot almost immediately. I mean, it was like 100 degrees F after all. SO, for Scottsdale, I knew I had to be more prepared.

Ethan convinced me to get this BruMate koozie and I have zero. regrets. Probably the best $20 I spent in preparation for that trip. I kid you not; it literally keeps your drink cold for HOURS. No matter how hot it is outside. This thing is 100% necessary whether you are poolside, tailgating, porch-sittin’… basically anything where you might be drinking a cold, slim can beverage, and want it to actually stay cold. It fits Truly’s, White Claws, Michelob Ultras and other slim cans like a glove.

YOU NEED! Here’s the link one more time.

WET BRUSH – $15.99

Honestly, I’m a little shocked I haven’t talked about this thing more, because it has truly changed my life for the better. Does anyone else get out of the shower and have the HARDEST time brushing through their hair, even though they just lathered it up in conditioner? Yeah same. Freaking annoying, right?

Not anymore with this Wet Brush. I’m telling ya; you can brush through those tangles with ease with this baby. It’s $16 and 100% worth it. I would pay $30 for it honestly. You need.

I’ve also been using this Redken spray on my wet hair after the shower & it helps, too. It’s multipurpose so it helps with detangling, heat protectant, making your hair soft and shiny and all those great things. It also doesn’t break out my back/chest area like my Pureology one seemed to.

Daily Harvest BITES

If you don’t know what Daily Harvest is, head to this blog post, and then come back.

They recently came out with BITES, which are kinda like no-bake energy bites combined with raw cookie dough. You eat them straight out of the freezer and they are delicious. I love them! They have a chocolatey flavor, a flavor that’s more like chocolate chip cookie dough (made with chickpeas), and a lemon-coconutty flavor.

Do they taste like regular cookie dough? Not really. Are they still delicious, refreshing and satisfy the sweet tooth? YES!! Obviously, if you’re craving some real, normal cookie dough or frozen custard, go treat yo’self. But the ingredients in these are bomb and I love having them around when I need a lil somethin’.

You can easily have one at a time and stick them back in the freezer! Highly recommend adding some to your order if you want to try Daily Harvest. My favorites are the Cacao Nib + Vanilla.

My code WELLNESSFORTHEWIN gets you 3 free cups when you order!

QUICK CURRENT FAVORITES:

Song: Ladies in the 90s by Lauren Alaina and Truth Hurts by Lizzo
Quote: “Admire someone else’s beauty without questioning your own.”
Color: pink or olive green : )
Podcast: Off The Vine… always. But I also really like The Papaya Podcast lately.
Food: my salad at Unforked restaurant in KC! *shameless plug* It’s called the MexicUN Grilled Chicken Salad. If you’re in the area, go snag one while it’s still on the seasonal menu!
Netflix show: honestly, we started Mindhunters and I’m having a hard time getting into it. Then we started watching Friends and I kinda just want to watch that from start to finish for the tenth time. Friends > The Office. Don’t come at me. Click here for a post with lots of Netflix recommendations.

I hope you enjoy these quick little posts and get some good ideas and inspiration from them!

Talk to you soon,

Shanna