FROM: STELLA

TO: LAURA

1. I am constantly inspired by Laura’s reading lists. She is always tackling a new stack of books and recommending them to me. Her post this week inspired me to pick up a few of the books that I’d marked for reading once baby arrived and I’ve already dove deep into this stack sitting on my nightstand: Bringing Up Bébé, The Sleepeasy Solution, Great Expectations: The Essential Guide to Breastfeeding and The Happy Sleeper.
2. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Amazon added a new feature to their baby registry, a first year diaper discount. If you’ve had at least $500 worth of products purchased from your registry (including things you’ve bought yourself) you get 20% off diapers for the first year!
3. Even though we have a very new little one in our house, I am still planning to “host” Thanksgiving. It will be a small group of four plus the baby and everyone else has promised to do the cooking so I can just hold the baby and eat Turkey. Looking back on past Thanksgiving celebrations, I am glad we did this round up of healthy appetizers that I can add to our menu.
4. I thought this site for comparing your wealth globally was an interesting life place tracker. It’s certainly something to take with a grain of salt but if you play around with numbers above and below where you actually sit, it’s a cool way to inspire you to save and earn more!

FROM: LAURA

TO: STELLA

1. I loved contributing to our gift guides this year, and took the opportunity to also look back at our past guides (2017 list, 2018 list) for some present inspiration for my family. I also referenced this last minute stocking stuffer post and this family gift exchange post for ideas, and… I think I’m done all my shopping! Probably a record for being done early this year.
2. Speaking of gift guides, I’ve been drooling over Design Milk‘s gift guides for years. This is the first year that their guide for kids sparked some interest in me, though! So many fun toys and kid gear! Bookmarking for inspiration.
3. Lusting after this Kiel James Patrick sweater dress. Los Angeles gets chilly for a few weeks a year… but not really cold enough to justify this purchase. But, I found a few cheaper alternatives [1], [2], [3], so maybe one of those will make it into my cart soon!
4. We had a pie baking contest at work this week. It was delicious, but also maybe not a great idea to have twelve pieces of pie for lunch? The sugar crash was so real. I made this apple/onion/cheddar pie from Molly Yeh’s blog (so delicious! savory and would pair perfectly with scrambled eggs and hot sauce… I’m going to make another soon to keep around for breakfasts). The winner’s was similar to this Banoffee recipe and WOW was it delicious!