By Gini Dietrich
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Spin Sucks gave to you…12 of my favorite things, 11 PR professionals to follow, 10 holiday movies, nine PR gifts, eight PR trends, seven PR blogs, six must-watch PR webinars, five PR books, four PR podcasts, three productivity tools, two Spin Sucks Crazy secrets, and the one PR tool you need for 2016.
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
OK, those aren’t really my favorite things. In fact, I’m deathly allergic to cats so I can do without their whiskers.
But.
These are my favorite things.
Twelve of My Favorite Things
- Peloton App. You’ve probably already seen me talk about this because I love, love, love it. It allows you to livestream classes into your living room (or, in my case, your basement) as if you’re in SPIN class. The classes are live from the studio in New York City or you can take them on-demand. As you can imagine, I’ve tried pretty much everything when I’m stuck for months on the trainer, and this is, hand-down, the best. There is one instructor that is so hard, I spend the entire 45 minutes at the top of my heart rate zone. You can try it for free for two weeks and then it’s $5.99 a week or $12.99 a month.
- Beats Wireless Headphones. While I’m using the Peloton app on the trainer in the basement, I use these headphones to connect to the app on my iPad and join the classes. Mine, of course, are pink and they allow me to ride without the interference of wires. I also really love them when I’m traveling because I can hook them up to the hotel gym machines really easily. One thing to note: You can buy them at Amazon for a reduced price ($50 or more), but you can only buy one pair. I learned this during my holiday buying spree this year.
- iPad. I know there are plenty of tablets out there, but this is my favorite. I carry this thing around with me everywhere. I read books on it, I take classes on it, I pin (I LOVE PINTEREST) on it. It’s an amazing little tool.
- My Trek Madone. When I’m not stuck on the trainer a good six months out of the year, you’ll find me on the lakefront riding my trusty road bike. Mine is red, white, and blue and though a lot of the guys I ride with have fancier bikes with tricked out components, this bike has been very, very good to me. I’ve had it nearly 10 years and I’ve had to buy new tires only once. I’ll bet it has close to 150,000 miles on it by now and it could just keep going and going. Imagine if your car did that.
- Evernote Moleskin. I received two of these as gifts last year and I love, love, love them. I have one in the kitchen that I use for my cooking journal and the other one is for work. The thing I love about it is I take a picture of my notes with my phone’s camera and it automatically uploads to my Evernote account. Then it digitizes the pages and sorts into folders for me. It really is the best of both worlds: I can still use pen and paper and it stores it in the cloud for me.
- Thomas Keller cookbooks. I have French Laundry, AdHoc, and Bouchon Bakery that I use at least weekly. They’re gorgeous cookbooks so they also serve as coffee table books, but they’re as functional as they are pretty. I am constantly referring to a certain sauce or a method when I’m playing in my kitchen. AdHoc is my favorite, but Bouchon Bakery is what gave me the confidence to start a bread starter (his name is Horace) in March. Now we can have amazing breads in a short amount of time…and it gets better and better every week.
- Amazon Echo. Alexa, as the Echo is known, showed up on my doorstep over the summer because Mr. D. thought it’d be something I’d love to have. She sits on my desk and she does all sorts of things for me. She keeps my to-do list, she collates my shopping list, and she plays music for me. I’m most definitely not using her to her best ability yet, but I love her just the same.
- Lipgloss. I have a serious lipgloss problem. My sister-in-law buys me at least five tubes every Christmas because she knows how much I love it. I’m quite partial to the C.O. Bigelow mentha glosses. They go on nicely and they taste good. You get minty fresh breath and shiny lips all in one!
- Lululemon jackets. Now let’s talk about a real problem: My addiction to these jackets is one. They’re expensive, to start, and how many does one really need? But I just can’t stop. There is a Lululemon in our neighborhood and I can’t walk by it because I don’t trust myself. I have jackets in black, blue, gray, pink, and red. And now I want a white one. See! It’s a real problem. But they fit extraordinarily well. They have the thumbholes that I love. And they make a great layer for the cold Chicago winters.
- Shun Knives. I bought my first Shun probably eight years ago and never looked back. This is the nicest knife an amateur chef can buy. I use for everything except dicing tomatoes. I have it professionally sharpened once a year and that’s all it takes. If you ever want a great gift for a chef in your life (and don’t mind spending $150 or so), this is the gift. They will love you forever and ever.
- FitBit Charge HR. After wearing the Jawbone UP for three and a half years, it finally broke on me for the last time. I finished a ride a couple of weeks ago and the band had completely broken in half. I had no idea it could do that. So I finally gave in to peer pressure and bought a FitBit. Alright. You were right! I love this thing! I love that I can see my resting heart rate (I’m obsessed with how low I can get it…it’s low) and how many calories I’ve burned that are not a guesstimate, but actual calories burned and how many steps I’ve taken and how I can beat all of my friends (not that I’m competitive). I love it.
- Bose Noise Canceling Headphones. These are kind of a pain to travel with because they’re so big and bulky (and I know you can buy smaller ones), but I love them so much, it’s worth it. You turn these bad boys on on the plane and it drowns out everything. The plane noise, the poor baby who is crying behind you, the man snoring next to you, the inappropriate movie playing in front of you. You enter your own little world and everyone else disappears.
And now it’s your turn. What are your favorite things?
P.S. This is the last blog post of the year for me. I’ll see you next year! Happy, happy holidays!
