Nora's Favorite Things

The Gift Guide Nobody Asked For!

I LOVE GIVING GIFTS.

Specifically, the right gift for the right person, when and if I find it. I don’t go into a frenzy trying to gift everyone I know at the holidays; if I find the perfect thing for my sister I’m sending it to her in August. My husband doesn’t get much for Christmas because HAVE YOU SHOPPED FOR A STRAIGHT MAN EVER? IT IS HELL¹. Plus, he got everything he needed when he met me!

But this isn’t really a gift guide.

It’s really just the things I bought and liked the best that I bet other people would also like. Some of these things will be listed as affiliate links, meaning the seller pays *me* if you buy through the link. Some are not! I’ve attempted to organize these in a cohesive fashion but I am, tragically, myself.

This doesn’t have a category, but I’ll tell you right now that Leune gummies (THC/CBD) are the GOAT. Code GREENWED will save you 30%! Dream (for sleep) and Desert Gold (for fun) are my favorites.

House Stuff

• Dog Couch is not a phrase I thought I would ever type, but this thing haunted me on Instagram until I relented. The girls love it, and more importantly…I love it. I’ve heard that the larger versions don’t have the same fluff to them, so maybe best for small-medium dogs?

• Pura4 home diffuser - I stopped using my other diffusers because adding water to them was too hard for me (I know), and I’m just not an essential oil girly. Plus, THEY ALL TAKE UP SO MUCH ROOM! Not this one! This one plugs right in, is programmable (mine turns on before we wake up and right after dinner). AND the brand has partnerships with the fragrance companies I already love! I CAN DIFFUSE FRASIER FIR BY THYMES! And I am! This is their best sale of the year, 30% off sitewide so it’s a good gift and a good stock-up time.

• A.mano sun catchers and glass stir sticks are handmade with love in Minneapolis. The glass dishes are gorgeous! The handmade ornaments are adorable! You cannot lose!

Clothes

• Bury me in a pair of Nike AirMax (cremate me first. Shoes on).

• This Hommey Robe is perfection. Dusen Dusen makes a similar one but the colors are not *quite* right to me. These are. And yeah I basically match the dog couch, okay?!?!?

• Bosss Dog Art Department makes my favorite tee shirts and the guy who owns it is so handsome and I have a crush on it and Matthew is not threatened by that! If you use this link you’ll get $10 off your first order AND support a small (handsome!!) business. My favorites are Everything is Temporary and There is Enough For Everyone.

• I love Everything Boden, even if I have to buy most of it on sale. It’s like the UK J.Crew, but consistently better color options (J.Crew goes through color lulls and we all know it. Boden shirt dresses are especially great (I have tall and normal sizes).

• I stopped wearing my cheap heart sunglasses every day because they’re cheap and my eyes hurt because maybe $7 sunglasses aren’t really doing anything to protect my eyes? I’ve been rotating between two pairs of LeSpecs.

  • Air Heart are a perfect cat-eye, polarized and generally very chic.

  • Liar Lair in tortoise are my dailies. Not polarized but they cover a lot of my face and I hate the sun!

Tech Stuff

I accept NO dupes, knockoffs, or “similar items” when it comes to these things. I am loyal to the grave to these products:

• The Tech Organizer is - no joke - a conversation every time I fly. No fewer than TWO women on my last flight remarked on it! I was demo’ing like the host of an infomercial!

• Beats Flex - you hate your AirPods. I HATE YOUR AirPods. Where did they go? Why do they pick up every little sound (clinking ice in your drink? Hell!). The Beats Flex have a great mic, great sound and magnetize around your neck, making it nearly impossible to lose them!

• Bose QuietComfort - this is a big purchase, but you buy nice or you buy thrice. I would still have my original pair if I hadn’t left them in a Philly hotel room after six years of service! These are my work headphones because I need my head to be hugged. I’m not even listening to anything, they’re just canceling the noise!

• Anker charging block/power bank combo - lives in my tech organizer. When your plane outlet doesn’t work (90%) of the time, or you’re on the go, this will charge your laptop and phone. Anker is a trusted brand, according to me and probably other people, and I won’t use anything else!

• Anker Phone Power Bank - do you need two? If you’re me, yes. This also lives in my bag. I never remember to charge my phone, but somehow always remember to charge this? Brains are weird. This is in case of emergency, and saves my day often. If you have an iPhone with a lightning port, this one is for you.

• I talk about Bricking my phone all the time, and it’s because I bought two Bricks — one for my studio and one for my house — to help me cut down on screen time. It works. I love it. It will change your life the way your screen time settings never did. Use code NORABRICK to save 10%.

• My Logitech Keyboard is VERY CLICKY. It soothes my brain, and Amazon tells me I have bought five of them because I gift them to anyone I know who loves clicky keyboards which is apparently four people!

• Every Adult Woman Should Have Their Own Nintendo Switch (lite). Gaming will ease your anxiety and soothe your soul. You CAN buy the games through the Nintendo eShop but I prefer cartridges! My favorite games are Stardew Valley, Spiritfarer, Cozy Grove and Lemon Cake.

Beauty

• TULA is 30% off starting the 25th (tomorrow!), so fill your cart NOW and check out tomorrow. In our house, we swear by:

  • The 24/7 Moisturizer (Sophie uses the fragrance-free)

  • The Cult Cleanser (Sophie uses the fragrance-free)

  • The Protect & Glow Sunscreen (very glowy, if I use this I don’t really use makeup?)

• I’ve been using Olive & June for years now, alternating between CV (a perfect red) and CCT (a sheer neutral), but I didn’t run to get their new gel manicure set because why mess with a good thing and why risk the damage? But I was gifted a set and the peel-off base coat is…truly magical. No damage!

  • Olive and June gel set is NOT A NECESSITY BY ANY MEANS. but if you hate going to the nail salon and are halfway decent at doing your own nails this will pay off in the short, medium and long run.

• Was I born with it? No. It’s Maybelline Lip Ink, always. Unless it’s the KVD beauty in Milk Thistle (a magenta that sometimes reads red on me).

• I’ve used THREE expensive nano current devices, but I’ve been using the Ziip since August (I broke my NuFace after 7 years, RIP) and I can tell a difference for sure. I never use the app, I just turn it on and start zapping. Code NORAZIIP saves you 20%.

Experiences

Some people are simply too deep for material things, and good for them! I personally am very well-rounded and like things, stuff, and experiences.

I did a Mood Board Workshop with Elizabeth Kott that was so impactful even my big sister took one (imagine having influence over an Oldest Daughter???).

Speaking of Elizabeth Kott, her podcast episode about The Artist’s Way is why I started doing it (more on that here). She’s kicking off a group in 2025.

Not everyone is into astrology but I am (at least insofar as it affects me. I just did my annual reading with Emma (Aaron’s cousin) and now I’m going to do them at least twice a year.

I bought this workbook from Your Knowing because I love her content and want more peace in my life. It’s a PDF, but I printed it and put it in a binder and it’s really powerful if you want to break some of your patterns and take some self-reflection time. Use code NORA for $10 off!

I’m trying to learn languages because WHAT A GOOD SKILL! And Rosetta Stone knows language learning (I’m starting with Spanish, I have my eye on Italian, I know no bounds). Use this link and you’ll be supporting the pod!

Mainly, that we’re doing our live Happyish Holidays show in Minneapolis at the Parkway Theater on December 4 & 5. Tell your friends and enemies!

We have a livestream option for December 5 for everyone who lives in places other than Minnesota!

ALSO! This substack is going to be even better in 2025. Like, way better.

1. Aaron was, as Paramore sings, the only exception because he loooooooved stuff!