Sam’s Favorite Things – January 2020

I’m SUPER excited about today’s post! I have been thinking long and hard about products I use in my everyday life that I honestly don’t know what I would do without. I finally narrowed it down to just ten of my very favorite things to share with you. Hopefully you’ll see something new and it will open up a whole new world for you just as it has for me.

But before we dive in, a quick Jennifer Orr story to kick things off becuase why not?

Today you can find lists of people’s recommended products everywhere–on every platform. Ten years ago? Not so much. But you know who was documenting and recommending their favorite things way back in the day?? Jennifer Lynn Orr, that’s who! When I was kid, she sent out gift boxes that included all of her favorite items of the year. She printed out these cute little cards titled “Jen’s Favorite Things” and listed out each item, why she loved it, and how she uses it. JLO was an “influencer” before influencing was cool.

Following in her ahead-of-the-curve footsteps, here are ten of my current favorite things:

1. Smart Cups
   Listen, Linda. Why beat around the bush? I am OBSESSED with Smart Cups, and if you know me, you are not surprised one bit that they’re item number one. Smart Cups are energy drinks that don’t have a crash; they’re 0 calories, 0 carbs, 0 errything and have as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. They come conveniently packaged in individual cups; all you do is add water, let them fiz for a minute or so, and wham bam energized Sam! My favorite flavors are “Pucker Up Brain Boost” and “Brilliant Berry Margarita”. If you submit your email on their website they’ll give you 15% off your first order! I can’t recommend these enough–I travel with them, keep a bag in my car and purse at all times–they go where I go.

2. Felt Hangers
If you haven’t discovered felt hangers, we can’t be friends. …Okay fine, we can be friends, but I refuse to see your closet. Something about the cleanliness of matching hangers is so satisfying. Don’t even give me that side eye as you read this either–I’m telling you, they are a game changer. They’re thinner than plastic hangers, so you end up with more hanging space and best yet, you don’t ever have to deal with clothes slipping off again! You’re welcome. I hang everything on these bad boys, from dresses to blouses to t-shirts. They also come in clip versions so you can seamlessly transition to pant hanging while maintaining a consistent look throughout your closet. Do not underestimate the power of such a simple change, I’m tellin’ you.

3. The Home Edit
Look, I draw the line at T.H.E. These women have changed the organization game forever. Two Nashville ladies started their own organization company and now they organize the homes and closets of celebrities across the country. In summer 2019 they published their own book to help people like us attempt to have beautiful, organized, color-coded homes that are magazine-ready at all times. I personally own a signed copy (yes, that’s how committed I am to their cause) and have also listened to the entire book on audio. #shameless If you follow me on Instagram you know I went off the organization deep end when I moved into my new place. At this point, the people at The Container Store know me by name. I plan to do a whole post on closet organization eventually, because I poured my heart and soul into mine.

4. Spotify Radio
I have been diving into all kinds of new playlists and radio’s on Spotify lately. Here’s a few of my current faves:

For Chill Nights:
– “Old Pine” by Ben Howard radio
– “This is Nora Jones” playlist
– John Mayer radio

Hype Music:
– “I Love My ’00 R&B” playlist (can’t stop listening to this)
– “Get Turnt” playlist
– “Feeling Myself” playlist

5. slip Silk Pillowcase
You’re gonna think I’m insane for this one. Before you click the link and look into this further, I want to get it out of the way and acknowledge that these pillowcases are not cheap. That being said, they have changed the game for me in more ways than one and have proven worth the investment. First off, and the most important for me, they protect my lash extensions while I sleep. I spend an arm and a leg on lash extensions and the last thing I want is my wild ass ripping them out while I’m asleep because they’re stuck to a cotton pillowcase. But it has also helped improve my hair health–I wake up and my hair isn’t as wild as it was with other pillowcases which allows me to prolong my hairstyles and draw out the time between washes. One step further, they’ve even helped my skin. There’s all kinds of support behind silk being gentler on your skin and hair, especially for those who suffer from acne. Silk pillowcases are less likely to dry out your skin and hair, as well as, they absorb less of the germs and oils on your skin, which protects you from sleeping on basically a dirty cotton pillow every night. I own two silk pillowcases, the slip brand is by far a superior quality of silk, however, before I fully committed to the concept, I ordered this one from Amazon to dip my toes for only $24. I quickly became a believer and took the dive into the slip ones and quite frankly, I’ll never go back.

6. AirPods
You have no idea how much I hate myself for this. Seriously. Not too long ago I was out here sh*t talking these stinking headphones left and right. But eventually, I caved. Now, I’m a believer. I love how easy and compact they are. I can keep them in my smallest of purses and the charging case honestly blows my mind. I will say I treat them like gold. I do not take them everywhere with me, and when I do have them, I am mindful of their whereabouts at all times. Losing one headphone is my actual nightmare, and it happens so often that Apple now sells single replacements. I refuse to let that be my fate. Safety risk aside, I am glad I caved.

7. Amazon Makeup Sponges
THESE. These have CHANGED MY LIFE. Best $8 I’ve ever spent. Seriously. Please do not sleep on these beautiful little life altering sponges. They’re cheap, the quality is insane, and they’ve officially saved me from ever wasting $20 on a Beauty Blender again. Heck, I won’t even spend the $5 on a single real techniques sponge from now on. But most importantly, beauty sponges straight up gross me out, however, I love the makeup application they offer! Now, having purchased these, I have no shame tossing one as I feel like it’s surpassed its lifespan and pulling out a fresh one. If you walk away with anything from this post, I’m telling you, its worth the $8 for 5 sponges to try these out.

8. Lash Extensions

Listen, I dedicated an entire blog post to errything anyone ever needs to know about lash extensions. So, are you even surprised they made my favorites list? If you’re curious why I’m so in love, go check out this post where I lay it all out.

9. Adidas Ultraboost 19 Tennis Shoes

If I told you I would sleep in these shoes, would you believe me? I thought I had owned comfortable tennis shoes in the past, these have led me to the realization that I HAVE NOT. I splurged on these in September and have worn them almost every day since. These shoes are SO comfortable, that I shamelessly wore them with slacks every single day during my break when I worked in retail. Sam Orr, walking around the boujee-est mall in Tennessee wearing tennis shoes and head-to-toe navy professional attire–that’s how much I love these damn shoes. Nuff said.

Update: Not two hours after publishing this blog post I spotted THE Heather McMahan in these tennis shoes on her Insta. IF THAT DOESN’T HAVE YOU CONVINCED IDK WHAT WILL.

10. Waterpik for Dogs

Okay this one is the perfect, practical product to wrap up this list. If you have a pet, you need to seriously consider investing in this tool. Say goodbye to bathtubs and large water cups my friends. This tool attaches to your shower head seamlessly (or an outdoor hose if that’s your preferred pet bath location), and acts like a groomer’s spray wand to wash your pet head to tail. It has adjustable settings that control the water pressure and spray width to easily transition throughout your pet’s body. I absolutely love mine and don’t even notice it in my shower. It doesn’t interfere with how your shower head operates, you simply flip a little knob to engage the wand or not. It’s that easy. I know I said the beauty sponges were the best money I’ve ever spent, but the $33 I spent on this comes in at a close second.

As always, thanks for being here! I hope some of my current favorites can offer a much needed solution for some area of your life, just as they have in mine. I will keep curating a top ten list for you guys, most likely monthly, as I already have another group of 10 items that were PAINFUL to cut this time around! Can’t wait to share again–have a fabulous rest of your January!