Congrats to the winner Jodi!
I was invited to O, The Oprah Magazine to get a sneak peek at some of the things on Oprah’s Favorite Things 2015 List. Hosted by O’s Creative Director Adam Glassman, the blogger breakfast brought together some of my favorite long-time blogging friends and colleagues (Beth, Dawn and Elizabeth, Nancy, Victoria, Vera and more) for a fun morning filled with great surprises.
The event was held at the Hearst Tower. I love NYC. Just look at the beautiful views…
Stocking Stuffers
1. Moon & Lola pet ornaments: Oprah loves dogs, so these custom pet ornaments from Moon and Lola are popular with her. You send the company a picture of your pet and they make an ornament in the shape of your pet and engrave the pet’s name on it. ($24 each)
2. Anastasia Beverly Hills Lipgloss Set: Anastasia, Oprah’s eyebrow “guru” now has a makeup line. Oprah picked eight of her glosses that cover from day to night looks. ($40 for eight)
*3. A&B American Style Pepper Sauce Set: Oprah and Stedman are hot sauce fans. They enjoy this sauce from A&B American Style. Based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the company grows their own peppers and make exceptional gifts for hot sauce lovers. I’m a hot sauce fan too and the garlic flavored one has a nice kick! ($23.99 for three-pack set)
*4. TravelSmith women’s touch-sensor fleece gloves: TravelSmith makes some fun, colorful gloves. They have a cute, little zipper pocket so that you can put little things (like money, credit cards or keys) in them while you’re running a quick errand. They also have touch-sensor patches so that you can use your phone while wearing them. ($24)
For Kids/Children at Heart
**1. Em John Jewelry Love Letter keychains: These faux-fur keychains are designed by 18-year-old college student Emma Johnson who started the company when she was 16. They are fun to hang on bags or use as keychains. ($15)
2. Sonic Snow Tube: Oprah is purchasing the LL Bean snow tubes for guests for the home in Telluride that she is building. ($109 for regular and $150 for extra large)
3. EMU Australia Little Creatures boots: These cute little boots from EMU Australia make me want to have little ones again. The brown bear boots were especially cute. ($89.95)
**4. Barbie Fashionistas: The Barbie Fashionista line has 20+ different hair options, different face shapes and more options so that a larger variety of kids can see themselves represented. ($9.99)
Hard to Shop For Person Gifts
1. Frontgate faux-fur pet jacket: Dog lovers will appreciate this faux-fur jacket in chinchilla by Frontgate. ($39)
2. High Camp Vine and Bloom box: High Camp Supply offers a box of fresh, beautiful gardenias, black calla lilies and purple orchids that smell AMAZING. I could smell the flowers (one of Adam’s “go to” gifts) from across the room. ($189/on sale for $151.20)
3. UP3 by Jawbone activity tracker: This is Oprah’s favorite fitness tracker. It monitors your sleep, activity and (now) your heart rate. You can check it on your phone and it is Bluetooth enabled plus you only have to charge it once every seven days. ($179.99/on sale for $149.99)
**4. Letters to My…keepsake books: This series of books allows you to write different letters and thoughts based on different prompts. ($14.95, on sale for $13.26)
For Fashionista Friends
1. Vince melange sweatpants: Oprah’s favorite pants/”dressy sweat pants” are from Vince. They are super comfortable and she has multiple pairs. She also appreciates that you can dress them up or down. ($87.75+)
*2. Footnanny foot treatment set: The Foot Nanny is a new line started by Gloria Williams, Oprah’s former pedicurist. You soak your feet in the bath salts, then slather on the cream, put on the socks and go to sleep…and wake up with “baby feet”. ($102/on sale for $81.60)
**3.LuMee Case: The LuMee case is great for those who take selfies because it adds a little extra light. ($49.95+)
*4. Emi Jay night shirt: Designed by Emily (a junior at NYU and a former intern at O Magazine) and Julianne as teenagers, 20% of all proceeds go to charity. Cute nightshirts with zingers like “I Told My Therapist About You”. Oprah didn’t “get” that saying when Adam and Gayle initially brought it to her, but she understood and loved the second one – “I Wish You Looked At Me The Way You Look At Your Phone”. Ironically, we received the latter one as a gift…and my husband Reggie missed the point. “I don’t look at my phone a lot,” he mentioned when I wore the nightshirt for the first time. It is so comfy and roomy. I love it. I want them to design another one with the phrase “I Wrote About You On My Blog”. 🙂 ($68)
Food Gifts
1. Chelsea Market Torres Black truffle chip basket: We sampled the truffle chips and they were great…although I still don’t understand the whole truffle obsession. Chelsea Market has made a hamper with six bags of the chips. ($52)
2. The Elvis Cake by Carousel Cakes: When Adam described it (a vanilla cake filled with banana custard and topped with peanut butter butter cream and chocolate ganache), my initial thought was “that’s a lot going on”. When I tasted the cupcake version of it though, it was awesome (or as Oprah said, “stupid good”). ($33.56)
3. Happy Hour cutting board by Words with Boards: Personalized cutting boards from Words With Boards are consistently good gift options. ($95)
4. Square One vodka: This gift set contains 5 vodka flavors (basil, botanical, cucumber, bergamot and original) that Opray uses for cocktails at her home. ($35 each or $175 for collection of five)
5. Eli’s Bread challah menorah: This cute menorah-shaped challah bread makes a great Hanukkah gift. ($45)
*6. The Bruffin Bundle: Bruffin (“the cronut of 2015”) is amazing…despite the name which made me think that it would be 1/2 brownie and 1/2 muffin. It is actually a savory (1/2 brioche and 1/2 muffin) treat. Different country bruffins have different flavors and there is even a vegetarian one. I sampled the Canadian one and it was wonderful. It tasted more croissant-like and was great at room temperature. I shared it with my sons and my 8 year-old son commented that it reminded him of a (firm) Quiche Lorraine in a muffin shape. ($85 for 12)
Miscellaneous Gift
*1. Corkcicle Canteens: The colorful CORKCICLE insulated canteen keeps items cold for 25 hours and hot for 12. Adam shared an interesting tidbit (for wine lovers): an entire bottle of wine fits into their large canteens. ($20 to $33 each)
Thanks to O Magazine and the lunch partners [Rafaella, Chamilia, JCPenney (that offers some beautiful colored dishwasher-safe glassware), Nic+Zoe and Yogi Tea] for an amazing lunch experience. When friends asked me for my favorite picks from the list, the Footnanny foot treatment set and Bruffins topped my list. That makes sense since I love being pampered and eating delicious food. When asked which gift from the list I would love to receive in the future, my answer is the UP3 activity tracker. That will be going on my holiday/birthday list once I see if they have it in the 2016 Pantone color of the year. I have a “thing” about the color of the year and I like to get items in that shade…unless I just don’t like the chosen color. (i.e. Marsala, the color of the year for 2015 was not my favorite.)
Anyway, I’m also happy to note that Oprah Media Group has teamed up with Amazon (one of my affiliate partners) for the first time ever this year. You can find and purchase all of the items that I mentioned in this post along with the rest of Oprah’s Favorite Things 2015 at www.amazon.com/oprah.
Giveaway
O is offering a 12 Day Give-O-Way sweepstakes from November 30th through December 11th where twelve readers will win all 87 items in the 2015 Favorite Things gift guide. (You can enter that giveaway by finding the 12 holiday icons in the December issue of O Magazine and typing each day’s special code into the www.oprah.com/12days site.)
While I can’t give you all (or even most!) of the gift guide items, I do want to share some of the gifts that I received at the luncheon. I marked the items that I sampled and/or received at the lunch with an “*”. I also received the ones marked with an “**”…and those are the ones that I will be giving to one lucky Mom in the City reader along with a head band/ear warmer from Nic+Zoe.
Giveaway Gift Bundle
One lucky Mom in the City newsletter subscriber will win the gift bundle. To enter to win, let me know your favorite gift on Oprah’s Favorite Things 2015 List by Monday, November 30th at noon EST. You can answer in the “Comments” section below or by sending an email with “Oprah” in the Subject line to giveaways@mominthecity.com. Good luck!