Picks of the Week № 47 📍

I am often briefly passionate about something new (to me; I don’t intentionally follow trends). The love isn’t deep enough to spur an entire single-subject blog post, but I don’t quite have enough people to rave to in person, so this blog is the perfect middle ground.

If you are familiar with my personal comics, you know that my comic week numbering is sequential for how many consecutive weeks I have published. These picks of the week will be different. They will reflect the week number relative to the year. For example this is week 47 of a 52 week calendar year, so there will be more Week № 47s in the future, but no guarantee that I will post favorites each week for eternity. So just remember that Week No.1 is the first in any year, № 52 or № 53 will close any year, and that there may be duplicates.

Disclosure: This site contains affiliate links; I’m deleting many of them slowly but surely.

Here are my five favorites this week:

• Wish lists for local shelters, food pantries, and similar local nonprofits
• Simple headbands for hair that is too short for the ponytail and too thick for hair clips
• Custom planners from Golden Coil
• Grocery stores with curbside pick up
• Squeeze bottle with to remove drained water from plant saucers

— WISH LISTS
I love donating to local nonprofit charities, especially with in-kind donations (an in-kind donation is not money, it’s an object they can use immediately).

Amazon removed the wish list search function so you need the direct link to see any list that isn’t your own (or one that you haven’t already saved). If your target charity has an active social media presence, asking them publicly for their wish list link is the easiest and fastest way to get and share that information. Of course you can always email, but I want others to buy too, so I don’t ask in private. This week I am buying things for my favorite local charities; a free pantry, the city animal shelter, and a big cat rescue. When you get the links for your favorite charities, make sure to click Remember on the upper left to save their list for future retrieval (conversely you can just bookmark the link).

This year I am happily supporting the

— HEADBANDS
Growing out hair is more cumbersome than I last recall. Did I have this many awkward phases in the past? I probably did, but was too busy to notice or care.

What I do know is that about 80 percent of my hair can go into a ponytail now (YAY), but the hairs nearest my face and nape are still too short (BOO). I hate hair in my face, so this phase is annoying. My hair is thick too, so if I use bobby pins to keep my hair back I’ll need 200. Traditional headbands don’t mix well with my glasses and result in headaches.

So what is a gal to do?! WIDE HEADBANDS, the tube type to be specific. These are perfect to wear with a ponytail. It contains and covers all of the shorter hairs, doesn’t bother my glasses, and even keeps my ears warm without being bulky. When it’s nap time I shift it down to cover my eyes. Win win!

— PLANNERS
If you’re a planner, over-thinker, or just love writing out your devious plans you probably are bullet journaling in a blank journal (or thinking about it). Maybe you don’t do blank pages and prefer to fill an Erin Condren folio? Or maybe you just haven’t found the right solution yet. I feel you.

If you prefer planning and writing on paper in general, check out Golden Coil. I found them while searching for a gift, and fell in love with the customization and quality. The entire thing is custom print per order so you choose

the date range
page layouts – MANY options
bonus pages like blank grids, or recipe cards
to import calendars to be printed in the planner

I bought one to celebrate a family member. The title page states name, phone number, and a quote from their favorite book. The planner begins the week that I give the planner (so it could be used it right away), and continues to the end of next year. I plugged in a food holiday calendar (available from Golden Coil), so she and her employees will know when Popcorn Day is and be prepared to celebrate. Then I added some blank grid pages in the back in case she needs to grade her underlings like a grade school teacher. It’s totally custom, beautiful, and affordable!

I might buy one for myself for my birthday. There are so many options, that I really do need the next few months to stew on it to build my perfect notebook.

— CURBSIDE PICKUP
At last, life with a toddler is convenient!

Well, not always, but curbside pickups are amazing. First is was groceries, then once COVID-19 got serious so many restaurants offered curbside services also.

I prefer to cook dinner for the household because I honestly love cooking, but I also avoid industrial seed oils and prefer to eat everything organic…so cooking at home is the easiest way to get the high quality meals that I prefer. Sometimes I’m just tired and need a break, so I am very happy to let someone else cook!

Since the Jupiter House rarely eats out at all, we make sure to tip well; at LEAST 20% usually 50 percent. Now we can grab a hot meal and deal with a toddler at home – which is good and bad. Bad because we can’t always eat together, but good because we have all of the toys handy and we don’t need to worry about the kid throwing queso at other tables (hypothetical scenario of course, I would podcast about it otherwise).

Lady Jupiter Podcast

— SQUEEZE BOTTLES
My last pick of the week is this handy squeeze bottle that I use to remove standing water from my plant saucers.

Mister Jupiter got me a gorgeous Peace Lily, and it took about a month for me to figure out its favorite lighting and watering routines. The lighting was easy – I put it in a window with a grow light. Watering took more trial and error with drooping or yellowing leaves. This plant loves to drink deeply, but doesn’t like wet feet.

So after I thoroughly water the lily, I siphon out the standing water in the saucer. It only takes a few moments on watering days, and the lily approves. No more drooping because it’s thirsty, no more yellow leaves because it’s too wet! Now I just need to remember to feed it every now and again.