All Star Christmas Gifts

Happy New Year! Christmas was more than a week ago and I can already tell which gifts are going to get the most use around here, besides the kids’ big gifts of electric bikes.

This first item may seem a bit odd, but I’m about to order one for everyone I know with kids….The Battery Daddy! I have no idea why I never implemented a system for batteries in our house. I’m embarrassed to admit that they were kept in a drawer in a chest in our dining room. They were not in a container or separated by size….just rolling around all mixed together. Horrors! The Battery Daddy was actually given to my husband by my in-laws, but I’m way more excited about it than he is. Emery loves organization projects and she quickly volunteered to get to work with this. We couldn’t love it more! The battery tester is the cherry on top. Where has this been all of my life!?!?! Linked here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089F9YDFC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B089F9YDFC&linkCode=as2&tag=emerybodie-20&linkId=8636bd35fc1090b58600fad7580f3405

Battery Daddy

The next gift is probably less surprising: Emery’s JBL waterproof speaker. I knew she would love this, but I didn’t expect her to take it with her EVERYWHERE. Emery clipped it to her belt loop while skiing, takes it in the shower, brought it to the pool and hot tub and hangs it on her bike handlebars. So far it’s proven to be very durable and the sound quality is excellent. I linked this back in my gift guide several months ago, but here it is again: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q6ZWMLR/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B07Q6ZWMLR&linkCode=as2&tag=emerybodie-20&linkId=63ddabe09f80331fa1bcf005a18933d2

If any of you have Amazon gift cards burning a hole in your pocket, a JBL speaker would be a good purchase! The colors are such fun.

I received the Dyson hair dryer from Ben and the kids. I’ll be the first to admit that I was skeptical. How can a hair dryer possibly be worth that much money???? Lo and behold, after ten days of use I am drinking the Kool Aid. Not only does it significantly reduce drying time, it leaves my hair smoother than any other dryer I’ve used. Also? It’s so small and light! Possibly the best feature of all is the color scheme, which is decidedly Notre Dame. I’m smitten. For sure a splurge, but I’m happy with the results. Linked here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0947LQC71/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0947LQC71&linkCode=as2&tag=emerybodie-20&linkId=64759384f164e3b13079f0804b15375f

Dyson Dryer

Thankfully, the next item on my list is much more wallet friendly than the hair dryer: a novel. Each year, my dad gifts my sister and me a fictional novel as part of our Christmas gift. It’s always my favorite present to open. According to my mom, Dad makes a day of it and spends an entire afternoon at Barnes and Noble in search of the perfect books for us. He hasn’t missed yet. This year’s selection for me is The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. I started this book on the flight to Steamboat Springs, CO, Christmas morning and had a hard time putting it down during our trip. Needless to say, I’m already finished with it and can’t wait for my dad and sister to read it so we can discuss. Perhaps my favorite day of our ski trip was the day I skipped skiing in favor of the spa and this book! Here’s what Goodreads has to say:

Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written–let alone published–anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then… he hears the plot.
Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that–a story that absolutely needs to be told.
In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.
As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?
I’ll link here….this would make a fabulous book club choice! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/125079076X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=125079076X&linkCode=as2&tag=emerybodie-20&linkId=53f0e4620404b440514336f00c320b13