Hey y’all! Hope that you had a blessed Thanksgiving holiday, even during this crazy unusual year. It’s hard to believe we are in the final month of 2020. And we’re now in full-fledged Christmas season! I have some Christmas-themed posts in store. But first, I want to share my November 2020 Favorites. If you’re new around here, it’s a monthly tradition for me to round-up my favorite items and experiences from the previous month on here. Without further ado, here are my November 2020 Favorites!
(This post contains affiliate links and my Beautycounter consultant links. If you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you. Thank you so much for your support of Palmettos & Pineapples and my Beautycounter business.)
Fall Beach Weekend
The first full weekend in November, I took a much-needed long weekend to go to my family’s beach place. I typically don’t go to the beach much after Labor Day because there’s usually a lot going on during fall weekends. However, with typical fall activities like tailgates, football games, and the State Fair being cancelled, there was more windows of opportunity to go to the beach. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, warm enough for me to sit on the beach in shorts and a t-shirt. In fact, it was so nice that I ended up staying a little longer than planned. Extra beach time was totally worth getting up at 5:00am the morning I left!
In addition to sitting on the beach, I enjoyed takeout from my favorite Emerald Isle restaurant two nights in a row, watching movies with my mom, and hanging out with Blizzard.
Drunk Elephant Gift Sets
I snagged two Drunk Elephant limited edition gift sets for 15% off during the November Sephora VIB Sale, Softy and Dewy. Softy features a full-sized Drunk Elephant Babyfacial, a colorful compact mirror, minis of three other products, and a nice reusable gift box. Dewy includes a full-sized Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Moisturizer, as well as minis of additional products, compact mirror, and gift box. Most of my skincare routine is Beautycounter, but Babyfacial and Protini are the two Drunk Elephant products that I incorporate into my regular routine. Furthermore, I love the Drunk Elephant minis for travel. The compact mirror is super fun and really high quality too.The gift boxes are very sturdy and easily reusable for storage.
Each Drunk Elephant gift set only costs $8 more than the full-sized product alone to get the extras. It made sense for me to go ahead and buy them so I would have a Babyfacial and Protini on hand when I need to replenish! Plus, you can save $15-$25 on these Drunk Elephant gift sets at Sephora through December 9.
Vera Bradley Glenna Satchel in Mickey’s Sweet Treats
If you’ve been following me for a hot minute, then you know Vera Bradley Disney prints are one of my latest obsessions. I loved the pieces that Vera Bradley gifted me from the Mickey’s Sweet Treats line a few months ago so much that I’ve added additional pieces to my collection. After admiring the Glenna Satchel online, I bit the bullet and treated myself. This bag is the perfect size for an everyday purse. Plus, two roomy exterior slip pockets, an interior zipper pocket, and three interior slip pockets aid organization. The exterior pockets provide easy access to hand sanitizer, so I don’t have to reach into the main compartment of my bag with dirty hands. My other Vera Bradley Disney pieces are either large travel bags, or small accessories. So, the Glenna Satchel in Mickey’s Sweet Treats provides some variety to my Vera Bradley Disney collection.
Vera Bradley Medium Cosmetic Case in Mickey’s Colorful Garden
Due to COVID-19, Vera Bradley has made their Disney collection pieces more readily available online this year. Therefore, they still have some pieces in the MIckey’s Colorful Garden print (released in the spring) on their website. I believe the Vera Bradley Disney pieces are just as much collectors’ items as functional accessories, and wanted a piece in Mickey’s Colorful Garden.
Since I refuse to pay crazy marked up prices for collectors’ items on eBay, I wanted to grab a Mickey’s Colorful Garden item while available directly from Vera Bradley. I chose the Medium Cosmetic Case because it’s the least expensive item in Mickey’ Colorful Garden. In addition, cosmetic cases are so versatile. I use them for more than cosmetics! Mickey’s Colorful Garden is even prettier in person than it is on online, so I’m really glad I bought this cosmetic case! I love Mickey’s Sweet Treats because it features Mickey ice cream bars, but I really love the colors in Mickey’s Colorful Garden. It’s honestly hard for me to pick a favorite between these two Vera Bradley Disney prints!
Disney World Ride Toys in McDonald’s Happy Meals
Speaking of Disney collectibles, I couldn’t resist getting a McDonald’s Happy Meal for the first time in years when I found out they were putting Disney World toys in them! The new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios inspired the current Disney World ride McDonald’s Happy Meal toys. This collection debuted the third week of November, but then got recalled for a non-safety reasons. However, restaurants are supposed to get replacement toys. Definitely check with your local McDonald’s, because they are supposed to have these toys through mid-December.
Each toy features a classic Disney character on a Disney World ride. So far I have Minnie riding Dinosaur, and Mickey riding the Tower of Terror. Let’s be honest-I primarily went for the toy. However, my hamburger and fries were actually pretty good. I can’t even remember the last time I got something from McDonalds that wasn’t ice cream, haha!
Acrylic Stacking Pantry Bins
My laundry room has four built-in wire shelves, which I use primarily as a pantry. There’s no separate pantry closet in my apartment, and there’s definitely not enough cabinet space to hold all my dry goods. While these shelves are nice, they get disorganized easily. I found these acrylic stacking panty bins on Amazon. They definitely help things be more orderly, and I plan to order another set! For more of my favorite Amazon apartment organization finds, check out this post!
Thanksgiving Weekend
I enjoyed a few days with my parents and brother over Thanksgiving weekend. I loved getting to spend some time with our sweet senior cat, Blizzard, too. My extended family is actually really small, so only celebrating with immediate family wasn’t quite as big a change for me as I’m sure it was for others. We ate atypical Thanksgiving day food for our main meal, but it was still delicious. I’m glad the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade still came on, even though it had an altered route. And I continued the tradition of watching Thanksgiving-themed Friends episodes with my dad. I particularly loved eating chocolate chess pie from a local restaurant in my hometown.
For another meal, we had pizza from a local place that my family recently discovered. It was my first time having pizza from that particular place. Then the Saturday after Thanksgiving we got Dunkin’ Munchkins for breakfast. I got excited about my pink Dunkin’ Holiday cup!
Hershey’s Sugar Cookie Kisses
I saw a couple other bloggers post about these Hershey’s Sugar Cookie flavored kisses. They are a new Christmas candy offering this year, and they sounded good. I tried them and they didn’t disappoint. They’re basically white chocolate kisses with little sugar cookie bits inside. I don’t eat a ton of Christmas candy before Thanksgiving, but wanted to go ahead and try these out so I could share with y’all if they were a “thumbs-up.”
Moe Monday
My local Moe’s has “Moe Monday,” where you can save a couple dollars on a burrito or burrito bowl. I ended up getting Moe’s takeout for dinner more than half the Mondays in November. The burrito bowl is my choice for Moe Monday. I can get at least a couple meals out of it!
Starbuck’s Holiday Cups
Although I’m bummed the Starbucks Gingerbread Latte failed to return for the second year in a row, I still went and got a free reusable holiday cup the day Starbucks launched their holiday drinks. Even though I don’t go full-on Christmas until right after Thanksgiving, it’s still fun with the Starbucks holiday cups debut.
Beautycounter Clean Deodorant
Ever since I switched to clean beauty products, I’ve tried a few aluminum-free clean deodorant brands. They weren’t awful, but none of them quite gave me the “aha, this is it” feeling. Using a clean deodorant is important because you apply it directly to your underarm, where there are lots of lymph nodes close to your your breast. Unlike a traditional anti-perspirant, an aluminum free deodorant isn’t supposed to completely prevent sweating. This is actually a good thing, because sweat is a way that your body rids itself of toxins. Rather, an aluminum-free deodorant helps absorb wetness and odor.
Beautycounter’s clean deodorant has been six years in the making. It’s finally supposed to launch in early 2021. However, the 2020 Beautycounter Holiday Line includes an opportunity to try it early, with this set of four mini deodorants. The Clean Deodorant mini set launched a month later than the bulk of the holiday line, and I grabbed a set for myself in November. Keep in mind that everyone’s body chemistry is different. However, I feel like the Beautycounter Clean Deodorant controls odor more effectively than any other clean deodorant I’ve tried. You can still grab the set of four mini’s here. Join my Clean Beauty Facebook Group to make sure you’re in the loop regarding the 2021 launch of the full-sized deodorant.
Beautycounter Clean Kit
I also grabbed this special Clean Kit Beautycounter released exclusively to consultants this fall. This high quality navy canvas pouch says “The Future is Clean,” a nod to Beautycounter’s work towards a future where all beauty is clean beauty. A Beautycounter Citrus Mimosa Hand Cream and Hand Wash, a Beautycounter Hand Sanitizer, and a Touchless Key (for opening doors, pushing elevator buttons, etc) are inside the pouch. This is such a fun little set, and I plan to utilize the Touchless Key long after COVID is over!
Beautycounter Senior Consultant
Speaking of being a Beautycounter Consultant, I had my best month ever of Beautycounter so far in November 2020. At the beginning of the month, I was optimistic knowing that our biggest sale of the year occurs around Black Friday/Cyber Monday. My main goal was to reach my Personal Sales Bonus. Prior to November 2020, I only achieved this bonus one other time, which was almost a year ago. I typically earn 25% commission on any Beautycounter sales. Then if I hit a certain sales volume any month, I get 30% commission on all sales. I not only reached my personal sales bonus, but I also promoted to Senior Consultant. This was a reach goal for me, and I’m elated I achieved it.
Thanks so much to all my amazing Beautycounter customers for helping me have my best month ever and achieve my first promotion. My title of Senior Consultant officially places me in the top 20% of Beautycounter consultants. I also want to point out that I achieved these goals entirely off sales to customers, not by recruiting people to join my team, and not by buying items myself. You do need to build a team in order to advance to the highest levels of Beautycounter. However, it is very possible to achieve bonuses and some title advancements entirely off having a solid customer base. I’m nowhere close to making a full-time income with Beautycounter, but if I got the same Beautycounter paycheck each month that I earned last month, it would make a significant difference in my monthly budget and helping me achieve some financial goals.
More important than a title or a paycheck, my November 2020 Beautycounter accomplishments reminded me of the power of perseverance. There were times that I got frustrated my business wasn’t growing as quickly as I liked. But I believed in the products and the mission, and kept plugging away. Read more thoughts about this here.
Keep in Touch!
I hope that you enjoyed reading about my November 2020 Favorites! What’s something you’re loving lately?
Ps. To keep in touch, you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. In addition, I’ve become more active on Pinterest and would love for you to follow me there. I’d also love to add some extra happiness to your inbox with my weekly e-newsletter, and you can sign up here. I like to think of my newsletters as a virtual coffee chat. You will also get my FREE mini ebook on “How to Build Your Wardrobe on a Budget”!
Last but not least, join my Facebook group for community and more conversations here.
-xoxo Liz
