J-41 Madrid

Recycled elastic and rubber outsoles, plus satin insets, make this vegan shoe a bit more eco than your average criss-cross Mary Jane. I’ve already gone dancing in them, and worn them to work, and I love their girliness/sturdiness combo. 

2. Mixed Emotions Card Deck

This deck, which features a card for most any emotion you could ever have, helps to identify how you feel, and gives you opportunities to shift your mood, open up a conversation, and get more deeply fluent in emotional intelligence. I am also looking forward to introducing it to my kids. Right now Nathaniel feels extremely distressed if I give him any kind of correction, and maybe working with these cards will open that up to more nuanced responses on both ends. I especially like the illustrations; an idea like this could be so great, but if the illustrations were corny, it would fall flat. 

3. Laura Egley Taylor’s iced oatmeal raisin cookies.

She brought them into the office after her husband and son decided they weren’t fans. Well, I am! Two cookies worth of fandom right here. Now if I could only find a little nook to crawl into and take a nap…