Welcome! I’m so glad you’ve found your way here. You Get-sy is a new project I started this fall to share the things I like — a way to connect good people to good people and share the love. Because this project is new and very much a work in progress, it is so helpful if you subscribe (thanks to you early subscribers!), and please feel free to leave a comment letting me know what you liked, what you’d love more of, or just a bit about yourself.
I sure didn’t intend for my break from writing this newsletter to be quite so long or go so quickly, but here we are, a quarter of the way through January, and I found myself with a bit of time tucked away during my daughter’s nap after a nordic ski. The things I most loved and would recommend in the last month are a bit intangible as they mostly include spending time with friends and family, getting outside, and taking time off from work. In addition to those three things that I would always recommend, this week’s lineup hits on some December highlights & the recs continue to be things I’m loving right now. I’ll get right to it.
Thank you for being here and reading, it sure means a lot over in this small corner of the internet.
[You Get-sy] Rec 1
Lucky Sweater
Originally recommended to me by a friend last summer (Spring? What is time?), Lucky Sweater has been a true joy to discover. This app is a platform for folks to trade slow fashion clothing, handmade work and supplies, and vintage treasures, with a thrift fashion community coming soon. Sometimes I find it hard to articulate just what it is I love about this platform, but I think it is the great mix of community members participating, scratching that shopping itch by trading clothes that no longer work for me, as well as the connections made across the platform from folks sharing outfits their wearing and answering questions people have relating to anything from “what boot is the perfect winter boot?” (see below) to “can you help me find the perfect chartreuse beanie?” Some of my favorite pieces to wear right now were traded on the app, and I always look forward to Tuesdays when the swap drop happens.
Feel free to use my invite code if you want, or just try out the app on your own.
[You Get-sy] Rec 2
Winter Footwear
From late October through mid April, Missoula is usually a wintry mix of rain, snow, sleet, slush, and mud, all of which require a plethora of footwear to make it through the days. In addition to my well worn Xtratuffs and Muck Boots, here, in rapid fire, are two pairs of my most-worn winter shoes and boots and two new pairs I’ll be trying out this winter, plus a bonus slipper.
Blundstones (how original, I know), specifically this insulated pair above, are my everyday winter boot. Great for work, great for post-ski, great for shoveling the driveway.
Steger Mukluks are made in Ely, MN and are far and away the warmest boots I’ve ever worn. Great for deep snow, pre- and post-nordic ski adventures, and recess duty.
Loving these booties from the Portland Leather Company — nice enough to wear to winter events and with enough tread to keep me upright on Missoula’s notoriously icy roads and sidewalks.
The Fubuki Niseko has potential to be the perfect Missoula winter boot — incredibly warm, lightweight, and waterproof. Shipped from Sweden, I anxiously awaited their arrival, and I am still waiting for the snow to dump, but I’ve had some good chances to try these out. The sizing is a bit funky, but the company was beyond helpful — even sending me a second pair when their recommended size was off. It is worth triple-checking their sizing recommendations!
My final winter footwear recommendation is Glerups slippers. I first discovered these on a trip to Iceland over a decade ago, and they’re still my go-to slipper today. Headquartered in Denmark, these slippers are cozy and durable, and they come in a lot of fun colors and variations.
[You Get-sy] Rec 3
Holiday Merriment
This year our family instituted a new holiday tradition (in addition to skiing on Christmas), both in celebrating the festiveness of the holiday season and my husband’s birthday — we hosted our first ever (and to be done yearly) cookie party with help from Dan Pelosi (aka Grossy Pelosi). In the days prior to the cookie party I baked a few of our tried and true favorites, rainbow sprinkles, salted butter and chocolate chunk shortbread, and Hello Dolly bars, and the day of we covered our table in paper and eagerly anticipated the cookies to come. It was mostly a wild ruckus of toddler mayhem with partially eaten cookies everywhere and a campfire going out back. It was a fun way to see friends while at the same time keeping it light and informal at a time of year when everyone is over-scheduled. While we’re already looking forward to the second annual next year, I think this party format is one you could replicate in many different seasons.
My next favorite holiday tradition is one that I’ve seen many adopt over the years, a “favorite things” white elephant style gift swap. It can be done in a few different ways, but for the swap we do with my book club, everyone wraps one of their favorite things from the year (this year mine was a Midori notebook and golden milk blend) and we unwrap and swap them white elephant-style. It is fun to hear a bit about why people chose that as their favorite thing and even get some hot tips (I ended up with a cooler cup and I coveted these hair elastics so much so that I bought them later for my stocking).
Finally, before we left for our annual winter break ski trip, we celebrated the winter solstice with neighbors and friends. Almost every year (last year -16 degree temps meant people were huddled up at home) a couple neighborhood families gather together and light luminaries along a favorite neighborhood trail that parallels the creek. The luminaries stay lit throughout the evening, and people are welcome to walk the trail at any time, enjoying the snow, coziness of the light, and camaraderie of friends and neighbors on the longest night of the year. Our daughter is currently not psyched on the dark, so she didn’t love it, but I enjoyed the opportunity to walk slowly and say hi to friends and neighbors.
Perhaps these traditions will inspire you this winter, and I hope you had lovely holiday merriment of your own during these dark days.
Until next time, thanks for reading. xo