179: My Favorite Things - Holiday Edition

A few years ago, I was curled up on my sofa with the latest Magnolia Journal, my favorite magazine. And I remember reading an article that Joanna Gaines had written about an annual party that she threw at Christmas time called Favorite Things. And I just absolutely fell in love with this idea and I started to host one very similarly myself. And so I've been hosting a Favorite Things party every year for my closest friends for about five years, maybe six years. And then we have also done different versions of it, like for our team, for my mastermind. It is so incredibly fun. So let me tell you what it is in case you want to throw your own Favorite Things party. And then I want to share with you 10 of my favorite things. These are the things that are kind of on my mind that I might be gifting this year. Haven't decided yet.

I'm Bonnie Christine. And this is where all things creativity, design, business and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains, running a multi seven figure business, doing the most creative and impactful work of my life. But when I first set out to become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today. I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but also teaching others how to design their creative life and

experience the same success.

I'm here to help you spend your life doing something that lights you up. I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom

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Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast.

So the idea of a Favorite Things party is that you bring your favorite thing from the year. Doesn't matter what it is, whatever has been your favorite thing, you wrap up and you don't put anybody's name on it, and you also don't put your name on it. And then you, you exchange gifts. Like, I think it's called White Elephant style. Some people call it Dirty Santa style. But basically the idea is that you write numbers on a piece of paper for how many people are in the room and then you pass it around. Everybody pulls a number and then you go in order. So when it's your turn, you either get to open a gift or steal someone else's gift. So the way we play it is that number one is the best number because you get to go first and last. And then typically you want a higher number because then you get to choose if you want to steal something we say that every item's third owner is its forever owner. So something can only get stolen twice anyways. It becomes super, super fun. And I think really the most fun part of it is that when you open someone get someone's gift, then they get to kind of claim it and tell you why it's their favorite thing. So many of my honest favorite things have been born from things that I've discovered at these parties. So today I thought I would dive into again my top 10 favorite things. These are the things that I am considering gifting at my own favorite things party this year. But it's all they're also on my list for gifts for others. And it's a bit lifestyle, so it's not super related to being an artist or creative. More Some of my favorite lifestyle items. Are you ready? It's amazing to see your vision brought to life in this way. Whether you're looking to play or explore or maybe even kickstart a whole new side hustle Start simple is the perfect way to get started. Plus, it's absolutely free. Go sign up@bonniecristine.com startsimple I can't wait to see what you make. This is the perfect, no pressure, joyful way to explore your creativity. Sign up today@bonniecristine.com startsimple and let's make something beautiful together. The first one is a set called Active Glow by the Manu Curist. And this is nail polish. But earlier this year, my New Year's resolution, or one of them, was not to paint my nails this year. And that might seem silly, but I feel like I was going in this cycle of going to the salon and getting nails done for an event or something and then I would just have messed up my nails. You know how your natural nails just get messed up when you're getting them done all the time. And so I really wanted to prioritize healthy nails. Them looking really clean and just nice and manicured all year, but without the constant feel of like, I need to go get a manicure. And so I decided to just do that. And I found this set called Active Glow, which is an all in one. You just kind of put one coat on and it's just this really beautiful shine for your nails. They have, I think, five now. The first one was a really light pink one and they've expanded the line. So I just recently got the entire line. And again, it's just a really simple. It's, it's clear, but it's like, you know, a really healthy glow. To your nails. And so it's been one of my favorite things this year. I've used them all year long and I feel like my nails have just loved me for doing that. Okay. The second one is a Lunia silk oversized sleep shirt. This is honest to goodness, my favorite thing. I wear this sleep shirt to bed every night. I have two so that if it's in the laundry, I can alternate. And if I don't have this silk sleep shirt shirt, I am in a bad mood. Lunia is my favorite sleepwear company. I believe last year I had their sleep mask on my favorite things and it's still a favorite thing. I wear it almost every night, but certainly anytime that I'm trying to sleep in or traveling, this sleep mask is my go to and so couple that with their oversized silk sleep tee and I am so incredibly happy. It is washable silk, so it's incredibly soft. And I like their oversized tea because it's just long enough to kind of, you know, cover your bum if you are up and about the house and but it's also not too long to get kind of wrapped up in while you're sleeping. So it's my number one favorite thing. The next one is my very own daydreamer sketchbook from my new product shop called Flowery. This sketchbook is by far just the most favorite thing that I've ever designed. Most favorite thing I've ever created. It is a beautifully bound linen lay flat sketchbook and it has this gorgeous floral gold foil pressed in it. And my favorite thing about it is that it is this beautiful blue color. And I feel like blue is kind of just re entered my life this year. I'm also really loving it around Christmas time. And so it's 200 pages, 120GSA warm white paper, perfect for sketching or painting. It has those beautiful gold gilded edges and a bookmark. And it just feels really like a luxurious sketchbook to hold in your hands and also to gift. So it's by far one of my favorite things. It has also been one of our top sellers in the shop. We still do have a couple of dozen, I think in stock. So if it's something that you're interested in, you can go find that@shopflowery.com but we'll, we'll link everything that I'm talking about today in the show notes over on professionalcreative.com as well. This next one is for any of you content creators or anyone who's finding themselves on camera or on zoom a lot. It is the light that I have that stands next to my desk. It's fairly large and I absolutely love it. It's called the GVM PR150D. I will link of this, of course, in the show notes. But I love this light because you can angle, it has like a tulip film around it so that it's diffused light. And then you can also change the intensity of the color and also the color of the light itself from cool to warm. And so I have it. I have my desk where I have a window to the right of my face. And so as you can imagine, that really just means that a lot of times I have this shadow that casts. And so I place this light to the left to mimic another window. And then I match the color tone of the light to kind of how it is that day outside, whether it's sunny or cloudy. And so it just gives a really nice soft, but even light. And so it's my favorite thing for when I'm recording or on a zoom call or doing a training or anything like that. The next one, super simple, perfect stocking stuff stuffer is the Le Labo lip balm. I am a little bit picky when it comes to lip balm. I always want to have it on, but I also want it to be just really comfortable. I want it to have a little bit of just, again, super healthy glow. But I also don't want it to be sticky. Okay. So this lip balm is somewhere in between a chapstick and a lip gloss. So I wouldn't call it either of those. It's. It's right in the middle, a perfect balm. It is like butter going on your lips. It's beautiful. It gives just a really nice, like healthy glow to your lips. And then it also just isn't disruptive. Like, I don't mind drinking coffee right after I put it on. It's not super sticky. So I can wear it from, you know, the gym to church and everywhere in between. So I love this lip balm. It's from Le Labo and it's just one of my favorite things. I keep it with me all the time. The next one is for my plant lovers. If you have followed along with me this year, you might know that I did a deep dive into my houseplants. I specifically repotted every single one of them. So I have nearly a hundred houseplants. Yes, I do. And every couple of years, this just needs to happen. So many of them were root bound. They were ready for a bigger pot. They Needed like a just a really good kind of trim up and clean up. And so I spent two or three days this year just doing this massive overhaul. I took every plant out, cleaned it really well, took it out of the pot, worked on the roots, and then repotted any that needed to be repotted in larger containers. It was a bit of a huge undertaking and also really fun. But one of the things that I did and always do is use plant food when I go back to water them. So my favorite is from Happy Happy Houseplant. It is a cute little jar of dark brown glass and it is like a dropper. So you just put a dropper amount in the watering can that you're using. And my plants are so happy they made the transfer to, you know, their new home, their new pot perfectly. But it also just really makes sure that they're healthy and they have new growth. So Plant Food by Happy Happy Houseplant is my favorite. The next one is a favorite book. My favorite book that I love to read this time, especially every year, is the One Thing by Jay Papazan. Jay is an incredible entrepreneur, an incredible guy. He's actually coming to present to my mastermind here soon. And we're all going to be reading the One Thing. So the One Thing is really a focusing question. And I think that at the end of the year, as you move into the next year, it's like the perfect time to really just get focused, refocused, and settled into how you want to move forward in the next year. And so it's a simplifying question and one that's also really, really motivating. So it's my favorite book again, it's called the One Thing by J. Papasan. Okay, we have three more. Okay. The next one is really simply something that I live in nearly every single day. And it is the Align Sports Bra V Neck from Lululemon. I adore Lululemon's Align line. Like everything that they make in the Align lineup is some of my favorite things. But I really dislike wearing a traditional bra. And so I am a huge fan of this V neck sports bra made of the aligned material. And so I really wear one almost every single day. It's kind of that perfect in between. It's not quite a bralette. It's a little bit more than that. But it's also not quite just a sports bra. So it's incredibly comfortable. Feels like butter. So if you've been looking for something that looks great and feels great, I think you might really love this one. The Next One is something called the Luxe Lash Lift set. Okay. So this, I think this one was surprising to me, but I have for the last couple of years had my eyelashes lifted and tinted. Typically before a big trip, like before I go to the beach or something like that, I think it's really nice to have my eyelashes kind of look lifted and darkened as if I might have mascara on, even when I don't, when I'm swimming or at the ocean or whatever. And so I've done it a couple of times, but it's kind of a big ordeal. I have to go to the nearest city, which is about an hour away. It takes a long time. It's also really expensive. It's probably, I don't know, a couple of hundred dollars to get it done. And so I was just feeling like I didn't want to have to do that anymore. So I got served this ad on Facebook for Luxe Lash lift set. And the reviews were amazing. And so I dove. This Entire set is $39.95 currently, I think. I think it goes up to $69.95, but they often have sales. So I'm looking at it right Now. It's currently $39.95. And it's an at home lash lift set that also lets you darken your lashes. And so I've done this twice now and I cannot believe how well it works. So it's a little awkward to do it yourself. If you've ever had a lash lift, it kind of involves, you know, a couple of different things that you put on your lashes and this kind of curl guard that you have to wear to curl them just so. But again, it takes like, I don't know, 45 minutes to do it yourself and it lasts for eight weeks. I honestly can't believe it. And so I feel like I don't even need to wear mascara when I've done this because it is so just naturally lifted and darkened and the lashes look amazing. I can't believe how long it lasts and, and also really how easy it was. So the only thing that I'll say is that I've heard of a few people who curl their lashes too much and they kind of curl back towards your eyelids like too much. And so there are different curl options. And I use the, the largest one, which is like the least curl, if that makes sense. And that's the one that I love. It works really, really well if that. That you want to try. Okay. My final one is for my fellow coffee lovers. I. Well, honestly, this is not my. This is not the one that I'm sharing today. But truly my absolute favorite thing is an espresso maker that we have at home. This was a huge splurge that we did about three years ago. We got a La Marzocco for our home and it means that I can have just the most delicious oat milk latte ever single morning. And it is truly my favorite thing. So the one that I wanted to share with you today is something that I take on the road with me, and it's called the outen. I'm actually not sure if it's outen or uten. I think it's outen. It's the Nano portable espresso machine and it's about the size of a water bottle and it makes one shot of espresso so beautifully. And so it's been one of my favorite things in. So my on the go coffee setup is the Alton portable espresso machine. The a little handheld grinder for my coffee beans. And sometimes I will also take a hot water boiler. Now, the Alton will actually boil water for you, but it is rechargeable and works on a charge. And so if you're having it boil the water, I think it will pull something like five shots of espresso for you. And if you pour hot water in it and don't make it heat the water as well, it does much more than that. I want to say something like 25 or 30, so it just lasts longer. So I typically, if I have the room, take this other little thing that I have that boils water. So I will link all three of my favorites for the espresso and the grinding and the hot water boiling on today's show notes. But this setup is just so killer. It is delicious. You get to use your own coffee beans. It does also work with pods. If you have a coffee pod that you like, then you wouldn't have to even worry about grinding your own beans. But I typically take my own beans and this setup is just, it's a winner. I can take it no matter where I'm going. If I'm going camping or going to a hotel, I'm not sure what the coffee setup is and know that I'm gonna have a delicious cup of coffee. So there you have it, my friends, some of my favorite things this year. I hope you enjoyed hearing about these and I would love to hear your favorite things. So hop on over to Instagram, tell me what your favorite thing is from this year. If you are coming to my favorite things party. What would you wrap up? And also maybe you'll have your own favorite things party. It's super, super fun, my friends. Create the beauty that you want to see. Come alive in the world and remember, there's room for you. Bye for now.