Ending this year seems so monumental. HUGE. It was one of the biggest years of my life. A baby, a book, a big year to say the least. My focus was all over the place & in 2020 I really want to bring that back to the basics here on Liz Marie Blog. But since it was such a big year filled with a whole lot I thought I would round up the top things from around my life from podcasts to clothing to movies & more. I hope this list helps you find some favorite things & also helps you think of your year in review as well. Here are a few of my top lists for 2019… ENJOY!
Top 5 Podcasts:
- Sword & Scale – forever a favorite true-crime podcast. It’s a little on the graphic side if you don’t love that kind of thing, but I love the layout of the episodes.
- Believed – If you followed the Larry Nassar case this is a must-listen. It gives deep insight into just how bad the whole situation was/is & it truly has opened my eyes as a parent & woman.
- The Shrink Next Door – Such an odd & interesting true story. I was hooked the entire time.
- Death In Ice Valley – A truly fascinating unsolved case. This one gave me the urge to join a cold case team and solve this mystery!
- Uncover- Another fascinating dive into a multi-level marketing group turned cult… I was hooked & wanted to know more the entire time!
Top 5 Baby Items:
- This amazing chair [HERE] that we use instead of a high chair.
- This is the best swaddle in the world [HERE] & every new babe needs one! or three. Cope slept in these every single night.
- These are Cope’s favorite pacifiers [HERE] He loves these over everything!
- This is our FAVORITE car seat & stroller brand. We also have the pack & play from them are so thrilled we found them [HERE].
- This is the BEST baby carrier [HERE] & we use it daily.
Top 5 Instagram Accounts:
- @TheLinenRabbit – Love following her creative daily life.
- @_ForTheHome – Love how she is truly herself & truly creative.
- @WhiteFlowerFarmhouse – Love their shop, if I ever owned a shop by myself it would look like this.
- @HouseOfJadeInteriors – Love their style, every space they share is so dreamy.
- @DreamyWhitesLifestyle – Love that every space is white, I can’t resist & always go back to her Instagram.
Top 5 Favorite TV Shows This Year:
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Love everything about this show, I love how she has so much strength & makes something for herself even when no one is cheering her on.
- Big Little Lies – The plot line keeps you on the edge of your seat, couldn’t stop watching.
- Live PD – If I wasn’t an interior designer I would love to be a forensic scientist or an interrogator so I find this really fascinating.
- You – It’s an interesting storyline with constant twists, its pretty dark but you want to go back to watch more.
- Schitt’s Creek – A super funny and easy to watch show, I love all of the actors & actresses in it!
Top 5 Purchases:
- One of my favorite rugs is this one from Anthropologie [HERE]. We have this in our living room!
- Cope Initial Necklace [HERE] – I love how simple yet meaningful this necklace is.
- We love our Six Penny Sofa – Neva Sectional in Pacific Pearl, it is a perfect size and super comfy.
- All over our house, I have these Storage Baskets with Lids [HERE]. Technically I think they are laundry baskets but I store toys and blankets in these.
- I love our DIY Fireplace Jose built, I am so happy with the Fireplace Insert [HERE]. Check out the DIY HERE.
Top 5 Movies This Year:
- Joker – He was a really dynamic character that kept me watching the entire movie, my one con was there was some blood & I don’t enjoy that.
- The Secret Life of Pets 2 – It is the most adorable movie & it’s basically the story of our life.
- Toy Story 4 – I love all the Toy Story movies & this one was just so cute.
- Feast of The Seven Fishes – Christmas movie that is just super adorable and funny and shows the messiness of family during the holidays.
- We thought way too long about this and I honestly couldn’t come up with one, leave your movie suggests in the comments.
Top 5 Design Books:
- I couldn’t share my favorite design books without sharing my own, Cozy White Cottage! I am so happy with how the final copy of the book turned out.
- The House That Pinterest Built – Obsessed with Diane Keaton & loved her approach to a design book.
- I love Joanna Gaines so of course, I had to include Homebody [HERE] on this list!
- I’m working on becoming a better hostess & I really enjoyed the approach taken in The Gift Of Gathering [HERE].
- I really love Kennesha I felt like her book Restoration House [HERE] just really aligned with my opinions & I truly enjoyed it!
Top 5 Books I Read This Year:
- I can’t help but include my book as one of the top books overall. This was a huge moment for this year, check out my book here Cozy White Cottage!
- The Great Alone – Such a good book, I felt like I was there with them. There were so many twists and turns when the book ended I truly mourned with them.
- The Couple Next Door – Creepy, crawly, scary, spooky.
- The Wife Between Us – Creepy, crawly, scary, spooky.
- The Woman In The Window – Creepy, crawly, scary, spooky. P.S. this one is going to be a movie.
Top 5 Places We Visited:
- Anna Maria Island – Our first vacation with Cope, he was just a little peanut and it was so relaxing!
- Dublin – New and interesting city, I always dreamed of going & would highly recommend visiting.
- Galway – So many cute shops, a really cute downtown area, and the people were so kind.
- New York City – First time ever visiting the city & it is just a bucket list city to visit!
- Loveland, Co – We really enjoy Colorado and this was a super charming city we visited for the first time.
My Top 5 Blog Posts:
- Our Baby Boy [HERE] – This was the first time we shared about Cope & it was so incredible to feel your love & support on this.
- I Wrote A Book [HERE] – Writing a book was something I never expected to do but it has been such an incredible journey, I loved sharing this with you guys.
- Winter Farmhouse Kitchen [HERE] – I think this was our kitchen at its coziest, and I love showing the transition from Christmas to winter decor.
- DIY Farmhouse Fireplace [HERE] – It was one of the coziest little projects we did in our house this year. It was also a huge accomplishment to be able to build our own fireplace!
- Styling Shelves 101 [HERE] – I really want to do more of these posts, I got a lot of feedback that this really helped people & that makes me super motivated to share more posts like this!
Top 5 Bloggers:
- The Lettered Cottage – Love how open & honest she is about mental health & adoption, I feel really connected to her with those things.
- Miss Mustard Seed – She is one of the first blogs I followed & I still keep coming back to see what she is up to!
- Lynzy & Co – I like her approach to sharing motherhood, fashion, and everyday life!
- Chris Loves Julia – They have a really different style than I do, but I really enjoy watching all of the projects they work on!
- Lauren McBride – She shares all about her life, motherhood, and her style in a really genuine way!
Top 5 Stores To Shop At:
- Zara [HERE] – My favorite store to buy Cope’s clothes from!
- Free People [HERE] – Really love the clothing at Free People.
- Anthropologie [HERE] – One of my favorite stores for home, clothing, and more!
- Pottery Barn [HERE] – Truly a staple for shopping for home decor!
- Target [HERE] – Honestly what can’t you get at Target, I’m a regular that’s for sure!
Top 5 Small Businesses:
We wish we could include a million, but these lists are limited to 5 … & I broke my own rule by including 7 whoops!
- Anything Rustic – Love their vintage style.
- BFF Print Shop – Love the prints they offer.
- Connected Goods – Love how curated their little shop is.
- Fin & Vince – Love heirloom baby items.
- Mama Made Minis – Love the rainbows.
- Farmhouse Frocks – Love all the frocks.
- The Maple House Co – Love her antique selection.
Top 5 Beauty Products:
- The Original Beautyblender [HERE] or Blending Sponge Set [HERE] – I use a beauty blender to put on my makeup every day!
- Milk Makeup Prime [HERE] – Love this brand & this is one of my favorite primers.
- I couldn’t pick a favorite foundation but I love both of these, Makeup Forever Foundatio [HERE] or Too Faced Peach Perfect Foundatio [HERE]
- For my brows I love Loreal Paris Unbelieva-Brow [HERE]!
- Buxom Lip Stain [HERE] is one of my favorites for lips & it lasts really long!
Top Baby Toys/Seats
- Chico 360 seat [HERE] – we don’t use a high chair, we use this instead! It connects to the table & we can travel with it. Saves space & Cope loves it! I also spins so we can face him any direction.
- Large play mat [here] – This has been a lifesaver in our wood floor home. It’s soft, washable, & really gives us a “defined play area” in our living room.
- Steering wheel toy [HERE] – this has been one of Cope’s favorite toys for as long as I can remember. He still loves it now. A must get for less than $15
- This fish play gym [HERE] – was Cope’s favorite infant play mat. He was so content in it & honestly it was a life saver when he was a baby.
- Baby bath tub [HERE] – This tub we still use today & we love that it adjusts from newborn to older babies.
- Activity gym [HERE]– Cope still loves this activity gym.. it grows with him & it keeps him entertained.
- Linkimles [HERE] – This is one of Cope’s favorite toys from Christmas. They are really cool because there is a group of 6 you can buy & they all do different activities, but as you collect them they all link together.
Top 10 Moments of The Year:
- Seeing Cope on an ultrasound for the first time in January
- Cope’s Birth – I am so thankful that I was able to watch him be born & help his birth mom through the process.
- Cope’s Official Adoption through the court.
- Hiring our first employee, Makenzie.
- Having our Copeland meet the Copeland we met in Mackinac Island who inspired his name.
- Launch day of my book Cozy White Cottage.
- Being on The Today Show three times.
- Meeting Hoda Kotb & realizing how genuine of a person she is and being able to bond over love for adoption.
- Doing my first book signings & getting to meet so many of you guys at each one!
- Our first-ever international trip as a family to Ireland.
Thank you for being here in 2019, looking forward to 2020 with you! Xx Liz Marie
What a beautiful list of moments and special things from the last year. I am so interested in the podcasts you mentioned, I will have to check them out.
So fun to read through all your top 5 lists! I haven’t heard of any of those podcasts and I got some painting to do this week in our home so I can’t wait to give some of them a listen. ? And The Great Alone was a fave book I read this year as well. Cheers and blessings to your sweet family as we ring in 2020. ?
Very interesting post!! Thanks for taking the time! I also love true crime podcasts and haven’t heard of any you mentioned so I’m looking into that. One of my favorites is Criminal on Spotify.
Brilliant Concept!! Keep up the Good Work!!
Just love this Liz! I need to sit down and remind myself of all the inspiration and good 2019 has showed me! Hmmm one of my favorites on your list…hiring your first LizMarieBlog employee! Ranks pretty high for me! Can’t wait to see what 2020 holds for all of you! xoxo
You’ve got to check out Alexandra Sacks’ Motherhood Sessions podcast. It’s amazing…no matter the topic, there something to take away. It’s like free therapy for moms!
If you like sword and scale… court junkie is a good one too… also… this is actually happening and family secrets are both FASCINATING!!!!
Liz I love this post. Cope is an absolutely adorable baby, always smiling. It warms my heart to see your little family and the joy it brings all of you. And I must say I am so jealous of all of your chunky sweaters. Please share the sources to your clothes whenever you can. I also love your book- it is so inspiring. I also decorate like you with the old chippy, white furniture and lots of neutrals and texture. Your book is full of inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing your life with all of us. Here’s to a wonderful 2020. Can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!