2024 has been a good year. It feels like a return to myself. Like seeing a friend after years apart. So many good memories I’m eager to put in our yearly photo album. Here are 10 things that made this year top notch.
1. A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrali
This fantasy novel is written completely in letters and correspondence exchanged between the characters in an underwater world. It’s up there for the best book I’ve read in the past decade. It’s the type of book I’ll be thinking about for years to come and I’m eagerly awaiting the sequel to come out early 2025. I’ve shared a full review if you want more details.
2. Magic the Gathering
Now Magic the Gathering is definitely not new in this household, but it made a resurgence this year. Not going to lie, my favorite part is the card art, but I do enjoy playing Commander in the evenings. We’re nearly done organizing the decades-old collection too!
3. Pottery
2024 will forever be known as the year of pottery. It’s such a lovely way to detach from daily troubles to just create something for the sake of creating it. I definitely recommend finding a local studio and taking a workshop or class next year.
4. Tanning Drops
Thanks to my girl friends who recommended these tanning drops to me, I no longer look like Casper the Friendly Ghost. I’m not one for tanning (or going outside really…) so these drops are the perfect way to not look a step away from the grave. Mix a few drops into your evening lotion or moisturizer, and boom, glowy skin.
5. Record Stand
Our home record collection grew this year and with it a need for a new home. This record stand checked all the boxes. I’m particularly a fan of the LED light feature. It holds our entire collection with room for more. The perfect furniture piece for what we like to call “analog time” where we do non screen related activities.
6. The Bear
We aren’t big TV watchers in this house, but we’ve fallen in love with The Bear on Hulu. We’re slowly savoring this series like a fine meal. It also made cooking Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws all the more enjoyable as I pretended to be working in a five-star restaurant.
7. Wine Clubs
If your local wine bar or store offers a wine club, I highly recommend signing up. It’s a great way to try new wines and our club does monthly tasting events to introduce us to even more varieties.
8. LUSH’s Handy Gurugu Hand Cream
A super rich blend of nut butters that my dry pottery hands just love. Over the past year I’ve been hunting down a hand cream that I’m not allergic to. This one doesn’t cause any unsavory allergic reactions.
9. Digital Commonplace Book
My digital commonplace book is the perfect blend of my history of layout design with my archiving interests. It’s been a nice switch from a handwritten commonplace book that I never quite felt connected to. I look forward to growing the binder of pages throughout the next year.
10. Pasta Pencil Case
Combining my love of planner supplies and my love of pasta, this pencil case holds all of my mildliners, pens, and sticky notes with plenty of room to spare.
