It’s December, which means it’s that time of year we enjoy looking back at the things that brought us joy – whether it was a new music release (check), self-care (check), or our first product drop (check!). Below, we’re sharing the things that have made us smile, whether it be simple or life-changing – although spoiler alert, we cover both.
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In This Post
1. Custom Record Cabinet
Our custom record cabinet from our friends at Department Home is the centerpiece of the Red House living room. We worked with the Department team to match the stain to the home’s walnut tones and add all of the custom features we wanted. This is truly an heirloom furniture piece that will outlive us and hopefully stay in our family for generations!
2. Chromakopia by Tyler, The Creator
Tyler, The Creator is one of the few artists that can recreate his image, his world and his sound with every new project and somehow still sound like himself. We’ve been massive Tyler fans for years and we’re insanely excited to catch him live for the first time in 2025. If you haven’t heard Chromakopia yet, please drop what you’re doing and put it on now.
3. Herman Miller Chiclet Sofa
The timeless design of the Wilkes Modular Sofa Group Sofa (lovingly referred to as the ‘Chiclet’ sofa) hit the market in 1976 and has been offered in three seating configurations and endless fabrics since then. We purchased our brown felt 3 seater from one of our favorite vintage sellers and couldn’t be happier with how it anchors the Red House living room.
4. Camp Snap Camera
Lucy’s hot pink Camp Snap camera has been a family travel staple since we gave it to her for her birthday earlier this year. The screen-free digital design keeps us present and in the moment and we always gather around a laptop for the big photo dump reveal once we download the images. It feels a lot like getting back prints from a disposable camera and we love it. Please don’t spill the beans, but we may have ordered her the waterproof case as a stocking stuffer!
5. Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint
This skin tint was tracking my every move on Instagram, and after seeing the ad many times, I had to try it (ha!). It’s a skin tint, yes, but it also boasts squalane, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and SPF 40. The latter 4 are all items I’m adding to my own skincare routine, so this one tint really covers a lot of ground, and the formula is light, dewy coverage!
6. Hug Candle
Having a product with our name on it has been a longtime dream of ours, and this candle collaboration with fellow small business owner, MOCO Fragrances, has been incredible to share with you! We shared the BTS here, and we’re very proud of the work we put into our signature home fragrance.
7. Salt Fitness
2 years ago, my bestie and I were on a mission to find our fav barre studio in the city. We attended countless ‘first-class-free!’ studios, but Salt Fit was the one that sucked us in! I go to the Bucktown location, and I jump on any class that Lauren, Haven or Demi teach! It’s fun, impactful and so hard in the very best way.
8. Aligned Health
#7 above goes hand-in-hand with Aligned Health, which CHANGED MY LIFE. (Am I shouting?!) After a years long health journey, the only doctor who could get to the root of my many, many mysterious ailments was at Aligned. I feel like a whole functioning human in her mid-40s dealing despite being thrown the perimenopause curve ball. I’ll forever be a believer of functional / holistic medicine after my experience here.
9. Dollhouse
I found a very similar dollhouse on Facebook Marketplace this year, and Lucy and I have been having an absolute ball ‘renovating’ it together! She calls the shots, I help bring those ideas to life, and then we move on to the next room. It’s been an incredible experience, and seeing her joy and excitement working on a small scale renovation makes our hearts soar.
10. Milo Imagines the World Musical
This book made it to this gift guide in 2022, and we still read it with Lucy to this day. It is, without a doubt, my favorite kids’ book ever, so when a play by the same name debuted at the Chicago Children’s Theater, we were first in line! The show itself made my laugh and cry (okay, sob, really), and I will never stop sharing this title with anyone who will listen. Get the book here!
11. DeWalt Tool Set
After years of keeping two different tool ecosystems in our Chicago and Michigan homes, we finally bit the bullet and switched everything over to DeWalt. This allows us to have a set of core tools, batteries and chargers in each home, then bring specialty tools like the jigsaw, reciprocating saw and angle grinder back and forth as needed.
12. Nespresso Creatista Pro Espresso Machine
We’ve made the change over to single serving coffee machines since Kim has switched to decaf. The Creatista Pro checks all of our boxes and there are tons of pod options for regular and decaf coffee. Plus, it’s awfully pretty sitting on the countertop. We’re in love!
We’ve shared our favorite things for the last several years! See more here: 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 / 2023. What would top your list this year?
Hi Scott, I love your record cabinet. I’m sure it will last the test of time. Are you an audiophile like myself? Would love content on your music taste!
I don’t consider myself an audiophile, but I’m very picky about sound quality at home and I choose my seats at concerts based on where I think the best sound mix will be. Haha! This post is from a few years ago, so a couple of these albums might get bumped if we wrote it today, but i’d consider this a decent representation of our tastes. We’ve also got a Spotify account for YBH with a bunch of playlists for different moods. Enjoy!
I love your well rounded list of favorite things, including good health! Does Scott go to barre too?
I mix in barre/pilates/fitness classes with Kim as often as possible. It’s an impactful workout when the weather prevents me from being on my bike!