Friday Five

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2023 Holiday Season in Full Swing

1. US Capitol Christmas Tree: on our way to the US Botanic Garden for an evening event, we happened upon the US Capitol tree. Obviously, we walked on over to check it out. We’ve lived in DC for almost seven years and I had yet to visit the Christmas tree at the Capitol. It’s quite impressive, especially with the view of the Capitol Building in the background.

2. US Botanic Garden Seasons Greenings Exhibit: we had the opportunity to visit the USBG after hours last weekend. This was another DC holiday first for me, as I had never seen the garden’s holiday exhibit before. The indoor portion of the holiday exhibit consists of models of DC landmarks crafted from plant materials. The models are incredibly intricate and super impressive! Here is the US Capitol Building model:

3. Diptyque: our hotel in Geneva had Diptyque toiletries, and I fell in love with the lotion’s [affiliate link] scent. I loved it so much that I emailed the brand to ask if they have a perfume or candle in the scent. Turns out they don’t, but they recommended Do Son, which has similar notes of orange blossom. I went to Nordstrom to smell the fragrance, and I did indeed like it. So I ended up ordering a Do Son Eau de Toilette [affiliate link], along with a Sapin holiday candle and a mini Jasmin candle [affiliate link]. Because of my order total, I received several complimentary perfume samples, as well as a set of five travel eau de parfums [affiliate link; not pictured below]. Diptyque is not cheap, but I got a lot for my money with the free gifts! I’m loving everything so far.

4. Mooncat Nail Lacquer: I’ve ordered from this indie brand before and I absolutely love their nail polishes. They had a pre-Black Friday 20% off sale…so I ordered more shades, along with the Getting Even Nail Primer. From left to right below are the nail primer, Poison Ivy, From the Ashes, Queen of Chaos, and Fool’s Gold Topper. I’ve used all of these and am loving them!

5. Trader Joe’s Body Butter Trio: I bought this for myself, but at $7.99, it would make a really nice little gift or stocking stuffer. I typically steer clear of scented body products, but the candy cane body butter mini from their 12 Days of Beauty box last year didn’t irritate my skin, so I was up for trying these. Plus, the scents sounded really good. And so far, I’m not disappointed! I’ve been using the pineapple bergamot after my morning shower, and at night before bed I slather a bit of the lavender santal on my upper arms for a nighttime aromatherapy moment. The scents are rather mild and very pleasant; I’m saving white gardenia for last because I really love gardenia. If you can still find this at your local TJs, I recommend picking it up!