#AMonthofFaves Best Buys of 2021

I’m linking up with Tanya and Kimberly to participate in A Month of Faves. Today’s Yesterday’s prompt is was These are a Few of Our Favorite Things, and I am focusing on my best buys of 2021.

So, um. I bought a lot of stuff this year. Partly–okay, mostly–because I moved. But also, I just saw a lot of stuff that I wanted. Full disclosure: I looked back through my Amazon purchase history and may have made this face: 😮. And then I looked back through my Etsy purchase history and made this face: 😅.

Anyway, I regret nothing.

Fannish stuff is mostly from Etsy, other stuff from Amazon unless otherwise noted.

Before I moved, I bought some stuff for my home, mostly fannish with functionality.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I do have one regret: not buying the Rose Apothecary soap dispenser because the Etsy shop is taking a break that was supposed to be over in July and is still going on.

As for the humanity switch sticker, if you know you know. Okay, honestly, that could be said of all of them, but still.

Not pictured: back/shoulder massage pillow.

The next group of stuff is fitness related.

I bought the tap board and tap shoes before my move, and the Apple Watch after. The updated Fitbit I bought last year completely bricked and was out of warranty, so I decided to make the switch. I am glad I did.

Not pictured: yoga bolster.

I also had to improve my work from home situation some more.

I started coloring in order to stay sane during meetings, so I invested in the big set of Prismacolor pencils. I needed something to hold all of them, so I got a holder with slots for all the pencils. Not pictured: the erasers, pencil stub extender things, pencil sharpeners, and, ahem, new coloring books I bought.

Alas, my new place doesn’t have a separate office, and my WFH now has my kitchen behind me, which just would not do for the Zoom class I was teaching or for work meetings. Oh, and I can’t do virtual backgrounds on either of my devices, so I invested in a room divider.

The mousepad just amuses me. The quotation is from a student’s blog post about yours truly.

And then I moved! And bought so much more stuff. Some of it really fun…

Okay, I am obviously OBSESSED with those curtains. And I love the Friends keyholder so so much, but I hate that the algorithm got me because it totally showed up in both an Etsy Instagram and Facebook ad with stuff I might like.

And then there’s the purely functional…

Okay, a few notes on these thing. First, that detergent booster came from one of those Buzzfeed buying/gift giving guides that show up on Facebook. It has seriously improved my dishwasher experience. I click on every single one. I am not ashamed. And if I hadn’t, would I have still learned about that booster stuff (or that massage pillow mentioned earlier)? Probably not!

That shower step stool is probably the best thing I bought that I didn’t know I needed when I first moved. I no longer have a tub, so don’t have anywhere to rest my foot and/or sit when I shave my legs. I tried (for longer than I would like to admit) shaving my legs without any kind of assistance, and it sucked. That stool was the best $15-$20 I spent. (I got it at Bed Bath & Beyond, but can’t find a link.)

Not pictured for the household purchases:

• refrigerator
• washer/dryer
• ridiculously expensive 3-in-1 microwave that only has one setting for popcorn (I regret not noticing that before I bought it, but otherwise, it’s pretty dope) (the ridiculously expensive is because of the one popcorn setting)(one!)
• collapsible party table

I also got tenure this year so bought earrings to celebrate.

And then I had a pretty significant anniversary, so bought the necklace to honor that.

I got a pass to Disneyland.

And then I got a new phone case…

…and my magnet car holder no longer worked because the case is too thick for the magnet to work through the case, which was such a bummer. But then I got a new phone holder, and it is PERFECT. God, it makes me so happy.

And last but not least, I bought this wet/dry vacuum. I hate sweeping, and I definitely hate mopping, but now I only have to run this little baby over my floors and both are all taken care of. Bless.

And that’s it for 2021. At least, I’m not planning on buying anything else before the year is out. Thank you for taking this journey through all of my purchases with me. Whew.