Happy New Year! I always love to look back on the year and think about the things I bought that I loved the most and/or were the most useful. Below are all my favorites from 2024.

Books

I have already shared reviews of my favorite books from 2024 so I don’t want to repeat myself, but my favorite books I read in 2024 are Song of Achilles, The Only One Left, and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. Not only am I an avid reader, but I also enjoy collecting books (specifically classics) so I want to give an honorary mention to the Harper Muse Painted Classics. I have five of these editions in total and I believe they have released 12, so I’ll definitely be buying more this year. I don’t feel like pictures do them justice, they are beautiful in person and I love how whimsical they are. Special edition books can get pricey but I feel like these are priced fairly.

Cooking/Kitchen

I’m pretty sure I made a recipe from the America’s Test Kitchen Mediterranean Cookbook at least once a week in 2024. You can learn a lot of technique from this cookbook, they have lots of great recipes that suit my palate, and as someone who takes medication before each meal the nutrition breakdown for each recipe is arguably life saving.

I’m slightly embarrassed to admit I ordered the King Arthur Better Cheddar Cheese Powder 5 times in 2024…clearly I love it. I’ve used it in cheddar biscuits to enhance the cheddar flavor, in cheddar broccoli soup (again to enhance the cheddar flavor), but I most frequently use it on popcorn. I’ve tried other cheese powders but they are quite disgusting in comparison.

These Le Creuset Ramekins have come in handy in so many ways in my kitchen. I sometimes use them for portioning snacks or making individual desserts but they mostly get used for mise en place.

I originally bought these Kitchen Tweezers for removing bones from seafood. They can get a firm grip on the bone to remove them as cleanly as possible. I found so many other uses for these tweezers though. They are great for handling chicken that has been dredged in flour or bread because the tweezers come into less contact with the chicken, therefore you are less likely to remove the dredging or breading, and if you do remove some it will be significantly less than if you were to use traditional tongs.

Makeup & Skincare

I’m pretty set in my ways when it comes to makeup and skincare so I really didn’t try a lot of new stuff in 2024. When I was looking back on my favorite products from the year, it occurred to me I only used one eyeshadow palette the entire year, every time I did my makeup. I think this Chanel eyeshadow palette could be used for more elaborate eyeshadow but I usually keep it simple and stick to just one shade across the entire eyelid.

A313 has a bit of a cult following amongst French pharmacy lovers and I can see why. It’s an over the counter retinol so it’s the best ingredient for anti-aging. I personally get a prescription retinol for my face so I don’t use this on my face, but rather on my neck and decolletage for anti-aging. I’ve noticed a big difference with my tech-neck lines.

The Avene Cicalfate+ is my go to cream in the fall and winter. It hydrates my dry skin so well and also soothes it. I even used it occasionally in the Spring and Summer when I felt my skin needed a soothing product.

Fashion/Style

For my birthday this year my husband got my the Gucci Boater Hat. This has some metallic fabric woven into the straw material that is subtle but beautiful. I love a boater style hat because they are timeless, practical because they provide a decent amount of sun protection, and I like the look of them.

Almost every time I left the house over the summer I wore these sandals from Sarah Flint. They don’t currently have the color I got mine in, which is a camel brown color that looks good with all my summer clothes. For a flat sandal they are relatively comfortable and didn’t take any time to break in.

I have this Sezane jacket in the cream shade that is currently unavailable. This is the perfect weight jacket for the Spring and Fall. It can also be layered easily. It’s a casual jacket but helps an outfit look put together.

Home

I wanted this Libraries Coffee Table Book for such a long time but waited for it to go on sale. It’s a stunning book and piece of home decor.

The cat art is unfortunately not something I can link. It is something I inheretied from the late grandma that finally went up on a wall last year. I cherish it, it might be my favorite piece of home decor in our home.

The Great Nebula in Orion print is actually something I got for my husband for his birthday last year. We had a stray cat we took in who is sadly not with us anymore but we named him Orion so this piece has a lot of sentimental value.

I can be very particular about furniture so it took me literally years to find a dresser I like. I got this one from Green Row which is a great company to shop for furniture. I not only like the style of it, but it’s also sustainably made and good quality.

2024 was the year I made more of an effort to print an frame photos. I bought a ton of frames last year to hold photos that capture of our favorite memories but the Shagreen frames from The White Company are my favorite. I have them in a creamy beige color which is currently not available. I love the texture on the frame because it add some interest amongst other frames of a similar color.