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It's Peak Cozy season, and we're wishing you some moments of calm. In this series, we're sharing our best tips on gifting, recharging, and getting the most out of downtime during what can become a super hectic season.
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Editor's Note
It's our 250th issue!
We're celebrating with a Happy List.
by Carey Polis, Senior Director of Content & Audience Strategy at GNI
Good morning,
Holy moly, it’s our 250th issue!! Thank you to the subscribers who have been with us since the early days and welcome to the new folks who are just discovering what we’re all about. We love you all! This milestone felt like the right time to do another round of the GNI Happy List (see the Fall edition here).
Thank you to the many readers who submitted their holiday-specific moments of joy. Hope this list gives you that little bit of sparkle you very much deserve.
One programming note before all the happiness below! There were definitely a lot of Christmas-related submissions. We recognize that not everyone (including myself—I’m still stuffed from eating latkes four times last week!) celebrates the holiday, but we hope that the list below can loosely inspire your own traditions. And we believe that fresh eucalyptus and hot chocolate bombs are for everyone :)
Without further ado, here’s the GNI Happy List, Holiday Edition:
Things I Bought and Liked’s effort to clear teacher Amazon wishlists. Reading essays from The Book of Delights by Ross Gay. This Soular System cover of Christmas Time Is Here. Electric heating pads. Electric blankets. Making mince pies. Watching tea steep in a clear teapot. Holiday-themed manicures. Advent calendars for dogs. Doing morning stretches by the lit Christmas tree. Cats laying on their backs in front of the fireplace. A second Christmas tree for a different part of the house. Crème fraiche-topped oatmeal. Eggnog from the local dairy. Drying oranges for garlands. Cardamom lattes. Trader Joe’s snowman hot chocolate bomb. Dogs in sweaters. Binging Scandinavian procedurals. Designing an elaborate gingerbread house. Classy holiday cocktail parties. Reaching the stage of adulthood of decorating a Christmas tree of one’s own. This gingersnap recipe. Buy Nothing groups. Coffee from a mug that’s more like a large cauldron. Silly, small holiday decorations all over the apartment. Puffin koozies. Taking time off to do a lot of crocheting. Baby Chewbacca Squishmallow. Adopting kittens and buying little kitten beds. A low-key holiday playlist. Bacon fat. Hand-me-down ornaments. These coupe glasses. Long-distance movie nights with friends (start a movie at the exact same time, and then message back and forth throughout). Hummingbird feeders. Babies learning to stand. This blanket. These slippers. Hosting the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Two-wick minimum evergreen tree scented candles like this. All-apps holiday parties. Finding the best panettone in town. This nail polish color. Holiday light decorations that look like snowflakes. Fresh eucalyptus.
Thanks again for reading us week after week. To the next 250! —Carey
P.S. If you’re still looking for holiday presents, might we not-so-subtly suggest this aperitif sampler kit we curated with our friends from Haus? It's a limited edition and not sticking around for that much longer!
SPONSORED SPOTLIGHT: PARADE
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Parade just launched SuperSoft—their most sustainable and softest collection yet. This new line of underwear and loungewear is as breathable as cotton, but is more environmentally friendly and extra silky soft. It’s all thanks to TENCEL™, a material made from sustainably sourced wood pulp that uses 95% less water than cotton.
These light layering pieces are ultra comfortable, perfect for lounging indoors and as cozy sleepwear. Plus, to thank the trees that made the collection possible, Parade is planting one new native tree for every purchase. The new pieces start as low as $14, and GNI readers can get 20% off orders of $20 or more.
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weekly picks
this week's picks and reads were curated by Carey Polis
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It’s the very best time of the year… to look at the Internet’s amazing holiday cookie features. Our two faves this year: 24 Days of Cookies (NYT) and Cookie Time Machine (Kitchn).
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Revtown makes premium denim that combines Italian milled fabric with stretchy athletic yarn for ultimate comfort. Their six new styles are timeless, offer a range of fits and washes, and focus on organic and recycled materials. You can shop these designer pieces—without the designer prices—today! Sponsor
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Coasters for when you want to keep things classy and have a lil fun.
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Love these conversation starters for rekindling a friendship.
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Happy Not Perfect is my go-to routine for staying mindful, positive, and happy. I feel most like myself when I’m being creative, and making time for that each day is what keeps me going.” —Tanya Taylor, Founder + CEO of Tanya Taylor Guest Rec
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These holiday-themed heels: too much or just enough?
- “Last month, we were finally able to throw our wedding party and it was disco-chic-themed. Our guests loved these disco balls—they were actually sourced by a local friend-of-GNI, Libby Rasmussen. Bonus: She's offering a 20% off discount for GNI readers with the code GNI20.” —Alisha
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For fans of The Great, this podcast ep explores the real Catherine the Great and “the accidental flattening of women via the girl-bossification of history.”
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You can't look at these spice grinders and not smile back at them.
- Book of the Month is offering their best deal of the year right now: get your first read from their curated hardcover fiction picks for just $5. We'd go with Somebody's Daughter, a memoir by Ashley C. Ford that explores complex relationships, heartbreak, and resilience. For the month of December, GNI readers can use code JOLLY to pick it up from Book of the Month! Sponsor
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Cheesy holiday movie rec of the week: “I’ve been *delighting* in the latest installment of The Princess Switch movies starring Vanessa Hudgens. Here’s my ranking of the trilogy:
1. The Princess Switch. The original. We love a good, wholesome storyline involving baking. All around A+ content.
2. The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star. There are castles, holiday parties, tangos, a love-rekindled storyline, fun costumes, and bad British accents! Vanessa is clearly having fun with her overdramatic performance.
3. The Princess Switch 2: Switched Again. Honestly I had to switch this off after 15 minutes. The entrance of Fiona was too much. I’m going to try again though!” —Alisha
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Related: Here’s a handy and cheeky guide from Vulture of this year’s Netflix holiday movies.
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Plus, two other movies on our radar: Licorice Pizza (will watch anything featuring a Haim sister), The Humans (starring some of our faves, Beanie Feldstein and Steven Yeun).
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Thoughtful gift of the week: “My mother had a blanket professionally quilted of all my past t-shirts that were stored in my old closet at her house after I moved out: cheer team shirts, dance team shirts, school shirts, camp shirts, my fave ski resort I worked at as a young adult. I keep it stored at her house and snuggle with it whenever I’m visiting!” —Laura B. Reader Rec
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Moooore personalized gift recs! We wrote about some of our favorite gifts from small businesses here, and Alisha shared her best ideas for the hard-to-shop-for people in your life here.
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two reader holiday moments of awwww
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“I’ve been having a sleepover with my friend on December 23rd since we were 6 years old (we’re 28 now)! We call it Christmas Eve Eve and when we were younger we would stay up until midnight and have a countdown to Christmas Eve. Now we have to set an alarm for midnight because we inevitably fall asleep! We watch a Christmas movie, read A Christmas Carol, and hang with her family. It's one of my favorite holiday traditions.” —Lily C.
- “I’m a new(ish) mom, and I wanted to make sure I got to savor time with my family during the holiday season (it can all get so hectic, and even when things run smoothly I can end up feeling tired and then grumpy and then anxious…ugh). SO I made an advent calendar of tiny things that take 5-10ish minutes to do each day with my little family right after dinner. It has been LIFE-GIVING! So far we’ve had a dance party and “snowstorm” (we threw white pompoms at each other…a dream come true for my very energetic 17-month old). I CANNOT wait to do the rest of the little activities!! It’s been the perfect, simplest way to connect with and love on my people this season.” —Katie S.
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take action and take care
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reader ❤️ from our inbox...
“Love the newsletter—it’s always a delight, like the best friend group text thread.” —Samantha S.
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