Trader Joe’s Love: Recent Haul

We don’t have a Trader Joe’s super close to our home, so whenever we are on vacation and find one nearby we make it a point to go there to stock up our VRBO for the week. In addition to all the yummy foods, they also have some kickass beauty products. On our recent trip to Tucson, AZ, I got a little mini haul and loved everything, so I wanted to share it with you all.

Honey Hydration Face Mask, $7.99 (find it here)

I knew my face would be dry with all the desert air, so I picked up this face mask to try. This stuff is SO GOOD for dry skin! You massage it onto your clean face until it turns from clear to a white cream and then leave it on for 10-15 minutes. Then, you wash it off and your face is super soft and moisturized. I used this pretty much every night on our trip and it came home with me to keep using at home. It’s a pretty great deal for $8!

Cinnamon Bun Lip Mask, $5,99 (find the vanilla version here)

This is a lip mask, but in addition to putting it on before I went to sleep, I also used a little as lip gloss during the day. The cinnamon bun version tastes and smells so good and a little goes a really long way. If you see this in stores, be sure to throw one (or two) in your cart.

Daily Facial Sunscreen, SPF 40, $8.99 (find it here)

This was not a new purchase for me, as the Trader Joe’s SPF is my favorite daily face sunscreen. It is basically a dupe for the SuperGoop SPF, but way cheaper. This one is a forever buy for me.

Kringle, $9.99

I couldn’t find a link for this, but if you see these almond Kringles in the store grab one and RUN to the checkout. We picked one up our first day and it was so delicious we had to go back to the store and get another one mid-week. If you like almond and pastries, you will not regret this purchase!

Do you have any favorite Trader Joe’s products that we need to add to our list to try?

Vacation Thrifting: Tucson, Arizona

While I’m still organizing my thoughts to share all about our amazing week in Tucson, I wanted to show you a few items we thrifted while we were away! I love thrifting on vacation because it is a great way to score unique souvenirs. Thrift stores are cheaper than gift shops, way cooler than anything you’d find at a chain store, and every piece comes with a little story.

Check out what I thrifted in Tucson:

Utah t-shirt, $4

My husband actually thrifted this t-shirt for himself, because we love visiting Utah (see any of my Kanab, UT posts) and he liked the design and colors. However, he’s a 6’4” giant with a long torso, so when he put it on and raised his arms, he looked like Pooh Bear with his belly button out! So, I decided it would work perfect for me with a little snip-snip to crop the length. It’s super soft and now fits in a boxy, oversized way on me, so that’s a win.

Grand Canyon sweatshirt, $5

This sweatshirt had the opposite issue – I love the design and softness, but it’s a bit more fitted than I prefer. I tend to like my sweatshirts super oversized for peak house-goblin comfort. I loved everything else about this though, so I decided to buy it for $5 and cut off the bottom waistband (it felt a little restricting). That was the perfect move, because now it fits a bit baggier at the bottom.

Cotton tiered shirt, $5.50

I feel like I willed this skirt into existence. I’ve been casually searching Poshmark for a 100% cotton tiered skirt that I can pair with a sweater and cowboy boots in the winter, or a tank top and sandals in the summer. This one is exactly what I was looking for and a pretty shade of blue, so it was an easy decision to bring this one home with us.

Vintage skirt, $5

This vintage “made in India” skirt has a flowy shape, two layers, and tiny little bells on the waist tie. I think it’s super cute and would have totally purchased it in the mid-90’s, which is when I’m guessing it was originally sold. This one will also look cute styled with a sweater and boots for winter, or a tank and sandals for summer. I also think this could be easily styled for work with a simple blouse and cardigan, so I’m excited to try all the options.

As always, we stayed in a VRBO with a washing machine. So, we were able to get everything laundered before packing it in our suitcase to come home!

2025 Books: Wrap Up

Happy 2026! I’m catching up from being away from the internet/computer over Christmas and then on vacation for the following week. However, before we fully move into the new year, I want to take a moment for one last look at the books I read in 2025.

After many years of not keeping track of my reading, I started adding my lists to my blog a few years ago. Here are the last six years of lists:

For 2025, I ended up reading a total of 90 books. You can see the entire list of books and my mini reviews on my 2025 Book List page. As always, I borrowed a bunch of the books from the library (both in-person and the online). I also used my Kindle Unlimited subscription to download lots of books from Amazon.

I plan to continue this book tracking for 2026 as well, and will stick with the same format of mini book reviews and links. Let me know if you end up loving any of my book recommendations!

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.