Love Letters to Blonde Ales, Black Purses, and Bearpaws

Welcome to Love Letters, a weekly column about what I'm testing and appreciating. As a professional product reviewer, I have plenty of goodies cross my desk for evaluation—and here's what I'm currently loving.

It's gift guide season, y'all. The veritable graveyard of cardboard boxes outside my studio is actually a bit off-putting, but hey, it's a hard job.

Nothing right now feels much better than a friend or family member texting me asking me for recommendations for someone who's difficult to shop for—or complaining that I am that very person (and always very grateful for whatever made a loved one think of me.)

In my gifting strategy, I am for a mix of daily utility and surprise. I am an unbearably functional gifting recipient, which drives my mama up the wall, because I will ask for things like a printer or groceries (and have been doing so for years.) But I love nailing down the mix of the following:

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• what's something they'll reach for every day—or view as a must-have for something they enjoy periodically? and
• what's something they wouldn't have thought or wanted to buy themselves?

It tends to pay off at that sweet spot of satisfaction, and so I love trying to be a little clever with my gifts if possible. And in my daily life, I mostly notice the products that I've begun to lean on without fully expecting to. Without further ado, here's what I'm currently testing and appreciating for work and pleasure.

Fieldwork Brewing Co. Day Money Non-Alcoholic Beer

FOOD & DRINK

Credit / Fieldwork Brewing

Fieldwork Brewing recently sent me a bunch of their nonalcoholic beverages to sip on, and I've really been loving them. I first dabbled in the nonalcoholic drinking scene in 2020 when Kin Euphorics rose to the scene, and will periodically veer in and out of it. Recently, changing a medication significantly changed my tolerance, so a single fully-charged wine or a cocktail will have me feeling goooood (and needing a ride home.)

Reaching for these has been a nice alternative as I readjust my baseline. Plus, since my dad doesn't drink, I'm always looking for a good sip for an evening ritual. Beer-wise, I tend to love a good blonde, and Fieldworks delivers with its Day Money. I love the hi-boy packaging, its light profile, and the grapefruit zing. I also liked its Supertonic (crafted with calming GABA) which tastes like spa water with cucumber, juniper, and melon.

Bearpaw Maeve Lo Platform Slippers

STYLE

Credit / BEARPAW

November ushers in cozy season for the rest of the country, but in Hawai'i, we don't necessarily have that. The year is largely split into summer and winter being the "dry" and "wet" seasons respectively, so we mostly just deal with a lot of rain — hence, us being the Rainbow State. When I'm working at my desk, I tend to subscribe to the sneakers theory that being properly dressed versus pajamas helps me be more productive (or at least putting shoes on) so these slippers have been my go-to. Plus, I'm weak for anything with a platform.

Frances Valentine Skip Tote Crinkled Leather

STYLE

Credit / Frances Valentine

My line about adulthood tends to be that I could tell I'd entered that sphere when one day, I woke up and suddenly cared a whole lot about glassware (in my early 20s.) Now that I'm — shudder — in my late 20s, the new iteration might be the handbag? My grandmother had a significant collection that she bequeathed among the daughters and grandchildren when she died, so I've been using the same crossbody from that inheritance for at least two years.

This Frances Valentine leather tote is perhaps the first bag I've really fallen for individually. I love the tortoiseshell details on the shorter straps, the removable crossbody strap, and the inner zip compartment. The body itself is gorgeous—a unique mix of shiny and textured. It comes in black, red, oyster, and pink, but I opted for a classic.

I did totally check if I could fit a journal inside. (It peeks out, but is passable.) I cannot wait to debut this at my next dress-up event, and I'm in love with the brand's entire fall collection. It's giving me funky duchess vibes.

The Good Patch

WELLNESS

I generally steer away from supplements. I take an l-theanine with my singular coffee every morning since I get the jitters and some iron because I genetically tend towards the anemic side, and might take a melatonin if I'm having trouble falling asleep. But for the most part, I think a lot of them are woo-woo. But I get pitched a lot of supplements that claim to boost your focus and energy, or settle you into calm.

It could be a placebo effect, but after getting a mailer with an assortment of these treated patches, I've been using them to intensify my daily routine. I've been extra-tired this week, partly due to an early-AM schedule and partly due to crashing after turning in my most recent book draft. I'm not sure if it's really doing much, but I have been using the B12 Awake Patches which have caffeine, green tea, and B12 in them. Can't hurt my afternoon crash, right? I just slap one on the inside of a wrist.

I'll have to examine these for longer, but my friend and neighbor Erin (who's also a shopping writer) swears by the Rescue Patch for curing a hangover before it starts. I recently tried a Sober Shot which claims to do the same as the "first clinically proven alcohol reducer" and woke up with a splitting headache, but am eager for the magical fix. Might need to secure possession of a Breathalyzer to actually test it.

Whatever happens to my body the morning after is not becoming of a twenty-something who's never had a wild phase; I deserve those stupid nights! But I get so, so ungodly hungover that they never feel worth it, and am seethingly jealous of everyone who doesn't.

Anyway, meandering: the patch seems to be a good patch, for sure. Time will tell if its effects last, in which case I'll refill my collection.

ban.do Hot Stuff Ceramic Mug

HOME

ban.do does cheery home goods on a budget very well. As a shopping writer, I love 'em because they're nearly always running sales and discounts, which helps me out a ton as that's a qualifier I'm often seeking while putting together various roundups. As a person and consumer, I love the brand for being rainbow and giddy and just being that "little treat"-style pick-me-up around the home.

Right now, my mug collection consists of souvenir cups I've picked up in various countries — Aruba, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica — and a few novelty mugs, of which this is one. I sure love seeing it on my bedside table (where my Nespresso Vertuo Pop lives because I'm weak), and it would be an easy gifting pick for any book lover. You can also always bundle it with a Bookshop gift card.