thanks for a great summer, Amazon Prime

I would just like to take a moment to thank Amazon for bringing everything I ever needed directly to my door and for the ability to never leave the house for anything.

This is not a drill; I would not be the well-rounded, competent, happy-ish person I am today without ye, Amazon. I would also not be as well rested.

This is only a slight exaggeration. Seriously, how did we live lives before Amazon and, more specifically, Amazon Prime?

Don’t answer that. I don’t want to be reminded. It was a dark time.

As I think about all the things that made our summer, I feel like half my time was spent telling people to buy something specific off Amazon that made my life easier/better/happier/less stressful/more organized/smell better.

Basically Amazon has improved my life and here’s what I bought so you can buy it to and improve your life also. Because nothing says fulfilled more than buying more crap. Whatever.

Wall tapesty
All the college kids and me are really excited about all the hippie tapestries Amazon sells. I had a big wall in my office I wanted to cover with something, so I ordered this guy and he arrived within a week. Hanging a tapestry on your wall will illicit a wide range of reactions from people, but stand firm in the knowledge you’re cool in your head and nothing else matters. *mental high five*

Lotta From Stockholm clogs
I’ve been wanting some clogs from this company for over a year. They’re a little too pricey for my budget though so it’s taken me a while to pull the trigger. As I get older (36 soon, suckers!), I’m slowly getting rid of cheaper, low quality shoes and investing in better, higher-quality, well-made, supportive footwear. (Read that sentence again and try not to think of your granny.) I’d rather have 3-4 really great pairs of shoes than 10-15 cheap ones that will only last one season. It was finally time to order these, but their website has some pretty expensive shipping charges (it’s actually coming from Stockholm, duh). I figured out what shoes I wanted and the correct sizing on their website then searched on Amazon for the shoe. Amazon doesn’t carry every pair Lotta From Stockholm makes, but they did carry the ones I wanted and it was free shipping with my Prime membership. So I ordered from there instead. They got here super-fast (the confirmation said 2-3 weeks, but they were here within a week) and I saved a lot of money on shipping. The Amazon price and the company’s prices were pretty comparable, but I was pumped to save the shipping cost with Prime.

Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning
I don’t have a Trader Joe’s near me but when everyone started sharing this seasoning on social media I had to try it. Amazon is weird because they sell so many things you never think to look for there (see: clog paragraph above)…like this specialty grocery store product. It’s is definitely a little more expensive than I’d usually spend on some food seasoning, but it’s amazing and I love it. No regrets. (Once you have it, put it on eggs, potatoes, cucumbers & cream cheese, bagels, green beans, EVERYTHING.)

Oil diffusers
Our family has used Young Living oils for about three years now (no, I don’t want to sell you any; no, I don’t want you to join my team, there is no team to join.) and one of my favorite things to do with oil is diffuse it. I have a diffuser in my office I turn on while I work. The girls each have one in their room for bedtime. In the winter when I’m sick, I bring one into our room. I love diffusers. But I don’t always love the price. Oils are expensive–I don’t need expensive things to put my expensive oils in. Gah. These diffusers are inexpensive, work really well for us, and don’t seem to need super-special filtered water to make them run well. Also, they’re cheap enough that if it breaks in a year or two, I’m not going to be choked up about it.

Wool dryer balls
Again, I don’t have oils to sell you or a class I need you to sign up for to learn all the secret oil voodoo. But I do like using oils in our home and the way we’ve gotten rid of some unnecessary chemicals. One unnecessary chemical I got rid of this summer is dryer sheets. I was tired of buying them, the artificial smell it left on our clothes, and always finding one in my pant leg on my way to church. So I bought a three-pack of these wool dryer balls to replace the dryer sheets. The box says they last at least a year, and I can use them as-is or I can add a drop or two of essential oils to them for scented clothes. I will admit they are LOUD and you’re well aware you’ve got some tennis ball-like objects in the dryer so if your office happens to be by the laundry room, you can’t dry clothes while you’re talking on the phone or teaching class. (Side note: if you’re interested in oils and overwhelmed with how much information there is about them, start with a diffuser and some wool dryer balls. Easy and low-key.)

Teal recorder
Apparently third grade is when all the blessed little children start learning how to play a recorder in school. Ellie is SO EXCITED for this. Her parents are LESS EXCITED for this. When we registered for school, parents had the option of buying one through school for $5 or supplying their own. You know I went to Amazon to see if I could get one for less than $5. Answer: yes, you can. Of course, I didn’t buy the less-than-$5 one though because they have so! many! colors! and I got excited and now Ellie’s getting a teal recorder. I’m still not excited about the at-home practice that is sure to come, but at least it will look cute sitting in its little holder full of spit.

Meal prep containers (reusable or disposable!)
I know you’ll probably ask why I don’t just buy some Tupperware from Target and call it a day, but hear me out. I LOVE these containers. I prep breakfast all week for myself (a knock-off version of the Starbucks boxes), put leftovers in them for Chris to take to work, share meals with my grandma, and take them when we travel. If I have the chance to wash them and reuse them, I do. But if they have to be thrown away, that’s okay too. You get a ton and it comes with silverware sets I didn’t even know about when I ordered them. I got them at the end of May, probably use at least one every day, and can’t recommend them enough.

Korean face masks
One night at bedtime, I asked the girls two things they were thankful for in relation to the new house so we could thank God for them in our prayers. Harper said new friends at school and living next door to Aunt Penny. Ellie said her own room and the new face masks I got in the mail. So I have to put these masks on the list even though I’m probably not as thankful for them as my super-weird daughter is. But they are enjoyable. Also, they make you look a little bit like a scary serial killer and that’s fun for everyone.

Rolling laundry hamper
At our old house, our laundry area was in the basement and no one ever saw it. It could be as messy and overflowing as we wanted and it was our little dirty secret. But now our laundry room is right inside the house if you enter from the garage. If you were to visit, you’d enter through the front door and never see it, but I get to see it every time I leave or come home. Oh, laundry, I loathe thee. Because of this, leaving baskets full of clean or dirty clothes drives me crazy. So I ordered this laundry hamper. It fits PERFECTLY inside the laundry room closet so I can open the door, throw towels-socks-whatever into the correct section (there are three total) and no one knows just inside that closet are all the things I should have washed a week or two ago. The best part is it’s on wheels and so I can roll it out, park it in front of the washing machine when it’s time to tackle it, and then roll it back in when I’m done. It’s the cutest, most organized I’ve ever been with laundry avoiding.

This maxi dress
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know when it arrived I wore it for nine days straight. This is not an exaggeration. Finally Chris gently asked if it was time to wash it. RUDE. Also, it has pockets and if you’re tall like me–it’s not too short! It’s a miracle! Buy it in all the colors! Wear it with a sweater for fall! (I ordered the gray one; since I’ve ordered it, they’ve added a sleeveless version. I don’t like than one–sleeves forever.)

A new bed and mattress
Here’s why this is so amazing: we don’t own a truck. So picking up any large furniture or home item after we buy it at a store is a mess. Can we borrow my dad’s truck? How do we get it here? Will this fit in our SUV? How many children should I leave behind to make this purchase happen? We’ve all abandoned a child for the greater household good but I don’t have many more to spare. So when we needed a full-size bed and mattress for Ellie’s room, I ordered them from Amazon. It did take a little longer than the two-day Prime norm, but still, the UPS man delivered them TO MY FRONT PORCH and I just had to drag them inside. (The specific full-sized bed frame and mattress we bought is linked above; I HIGHLY recommend both. That mattress is shockingly comfortable.)

School supplies
All of them, I don’t even have anything to link to. Back-to-school time is stressful enough without trying to ram my shopping cart down the three small school supply aisles with every other person on the east side of Indianapolis. Next year, I won’t even try it. Ordering all the supplies off the school’s lists and having them sent to my doorstep is what dreams are made of.

I would like to say that’s the end of my list, but it’s not. When I told my friend Krissy I was writing about my Amazon favorites, she asked if I was sharing a chandelier I got for Harper’s room. I hadn’t even thought of it. So I’ll probably do another Amazon buy list later (specifically to home goods I’ve purchases as we set up and decorate our new house), but for now, I’ve got to stop because the UPS man just pulled in to deliver my water filters. For real. Perfect timing, delivery dude.

Before I go–did you buy anything on Amazon this summer you can’t live without? TELL ME. I PROBABLY NEED IT TOO.

DISCLAIMER: AFFILIATE LINKS USED.