Since Christmas is fast approaching, I thought I would share with all of you the top 5 things I bought this year with my own hard-earned money. I hope to do this post every year because I really enjoy finding good deals and sharing them with all of you. Especially, when these things have made an actual impact on my life. I’ve always written this blog with the intent of what I would recommend to my own friends so hopefully, this will help you out too! Also, if you have the Amex Platinum Card and still haven’t spent your $50 Saks Fifth Avenue credit, be sure to check out this post for ideas before your credit disappears.
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click the links at no additional cost to you.
Top 5 Things I Bought in 2021
1. Picnic Wine Table
This is probably one of my favorite purchases this year! Since COVID started, a lot of us have been doing picnics as a way to get together. As you probably know, I’m a big wine drinker so I wanted something that can hold my wine glass while we were outdoors. Also, something that would get the food off the ground/blanket. I search the internet and finally decided to purchase this table. It was simple, light, and not bulky. The first time I brought it to a picnic, my friend asked me where I got it and purchased the same table on her phone right then and there.
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- Link: 2-Glass Holder
- Link: 4-Glass Holder (This is the one I have)
2. Foldable Ice Cooler
I bought this ice cooler as a way to chill and carry my wine bottles to our picnics. I hate having warm wine so I wanted a cooler that was going to keep my wine cold and that was EASILY portable. I hate the hard ice coolers because they are so bulky and heavy. I like this one because it’s light and I can just carry it over my shoulders. It also has a separate section on the top for all your dry foods, utensils, napkins, etc. in case you don’t want to put everything in the cooler part.
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- Link: Here
3. Collapsable Wine Bucket
I’ve seen these all over Paris and I wanted to get one exactly like it for my home or in case I go to dinner and want to keep a bottle chilled (side note… as I’m writing this post, I’m beginning to notice most of my items have to do with wine lol. What can I say?!). The one I have in the picture below was bought from a supermarket in Paris, but the one I was really looking for was the one I have the link for. It is a collapsable wine bag that you can fill up with ice and water to keep your wine cold. A lot of Paris restaurants had these instead of your typical stainless steel buckets and I thought it was the coolest thing!
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- Link: Here
4. Air Fryer
I can’t even begin to tell how life-changing this air fryer is!!! I know they’ve been around for a while now but I finally decided to pull the trigger a couple of months ago and haven’t looked back. I’m telling you that I use this thing almost every day. More than my microwave and toaster oven combine. I’ve used it for Totino’s pizza rolls, cauliflower pizza, chicken wings, dumplings, rack of lamb, etc.
I thought it was all hype at first since why would this be any different from a convection oven, right? But this thing is really no joke. It’s easy to clean and great cooks your food extremely fast. I picked this model because it has a lot of great reviews and it’s also on sale! The only thing I would change is that I wished I bought the digital version instead of the analog version. The analog version is more affordable but the digital version lets you be more precise. Not a huge deal, but thought I would give you my two cents if anyone else was undecided.
5. Wine Suitcase
Yes… I know… this is another wine item but this can count as travel too! I knew about this suitcase because our office decided to get one for my previous boss one year as a Christmas gift. We are still friends and I would always end up asking him to borrow this suitcase. Well, finally I decided to stop bothering my boss and decided to buy one of my own. I would say 1 out of every 4 trips, I bring this with me. It can hold 8 bottles, but I usually just fill one side of it with wine and use the other side as a regular suitcase. It really comes in handy when I just want to bring my own wine somewhere and not have to worry about buying wine once I get to a destination. Wow… I sound bougie AF lol.
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- Link: Here
Well, I hope this helps you with your Christmas shopping at least. As you can tell, I have all of these items so let me know if you have any questions. Happy shopping!
