The Strategist Haul: What the Editors Bought in January

After my knuckles started looking concerningly chapped and rough, I went to the nearest Lululemon and bought these puffer mittens to walk my puppy on freezing Toronto days. The handy finger flaps sold me: I can grip the leash more easily, grab a few dog treats from my pocket, and quickly scroll on my phone, all without taking off an entire glove. They’re a nice weight for our walks around the neighborhood, and I never feel like my hands are overheating unlike with some goose-down winter accessories.

When I heard that electric pencil sharpeners had been a holiday hit with Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio’s kids, who are a similar age as mine, I knew this would make a good birthday gift for my oldest, who turned 9 in January and spends most of her free time drawing and doodling. It’s rechargeable and easy to move wherever you need it. It also produces a nice sharp point on pretty much any size and shape pencil in our possession. Not to oversell it, but she said it was the best present she received.

I prefer thin socks for skiing, as thick ones can bunch up in weird places or add to the constriction of already tight ski boots, making my feet numb, extra-uncomfortable, or, ironically, not warm. These have no cushioning and fit perfectly, even over my wide, bunioned feet.

Given how expensive a good knife block can be, my partner and I have been procrastinating on purchasing one to hold our mismatched collection of knives. After scouring Amazon and the Strategist archives, we landed on this one from Material, which you can still get on sale at Saks Fifth Avenue. I’m happy to report that it’s worth the splurge and looks right at home next to our Yamazaki bread box and new wine rack.

While I was trying to keep my post-holiday shopping to a minimum, I did pick up this sweet star-shaped charm (which would also make an excellent Valentine’s Day gift that won’t break the bank).

I got an Amazon gift card over the holidays, which is a great excuse to buy something you don’t really need but will improve the vibe of some small corner of your life. I was previously using these chunky black hockey-puck fridge magnets that were too big for some of the stickers, playing cards, and ephemera I magnet to the fridge. I set out to find the smallest, chicest alternative and came up with this box of 120 silver neodymium magnets for $8. Imagine cutting a Tic Tac into quarters — that’s the size. The size of a well-cooked grain of sushi rice. But neodymium magnets are very strong, so they hold up to the thickest card stock. A great purchase!

When I was working on this shoe personalities article for the Cut’s fall fashion issue, I fell hard for Nike Shox. There’s a genre of sneaker design I call “industrial design hubris”: shoes fitted out with so many bits and bobs, bungee cords, air sacs, springs, and pumps that they have this sort of fantastical quality. There is a scene at the beginning of the 2005 rom-com Elizabethtown in which Orlando Bloom’s character has designed a pair of sneakers so weird that he thinks about killing himself. That is what I want, and that is what Nike Shox are. I am purely in it for the aesthetic, but I am pleased to report that they are also very comfortable! The springs give you an extra inch in height, too.

I haven’t bought new shoes in a long time, so I blissfully forgot the pain of breaking them in when I took a 20-minute walk in a pair of new ballet flats. I’ve used moleskin in the past to little effect, so I decided to purchase some pads that would stick to the shoes, not my heels, this time around. These worked like a charm; it didn’t take much fiddling to get it into the correct position, and you can’t see them just by looking at my shoes. Not bad for just $9.

I had a layover in Tokyo and couldn’t resist picking up another pair of Onitsuka Tigers. The options were pretty limited at the airport, but I’m very happy with this black-and-white pair that I scored for under $80. They’re comfortable despite having a sleek, low profile and have a casual but not overly sporty look.

I like the idea of giving something small and inexpensive to children on Valentine’s Day, like a bright red Matchbox car or a new puzzle. My apartment already feels overrun by toy cars, but we don’t have much in the way of roads. This 23-piece puzzle cost me less than $10 and manages to fold two of my son’s biggest interests together. I’m planning to give it to him with a truck- or car-themed Valentine’s Day card.

I love the L.A.-based kids’ shop and clothing brand Milk Teeth, and have interviewed the founders a bunch of times for my toy roundups. Before my son was born, I bought the T-shirt version of this adorable and very statusy sweatshirt. It’s now too small for him, so I snagged the newer version as a replacement during the week when the brand was giving 10 percent of its proceeds to Los Angeles fire relief.

I went on a trip to India and Nepal earlier this month and purchased this lead-lined camera film protector bag from B&H in a moment of paranoia right before my flight. I ended up encountering a lot of X-rays at train stations, hostels, and airports (India turns out to be some sort of scanner capital), and yet all of my precious expensive Portra photos remained shadow free. Coincidence? Maybe. But the TSA did ruin all the shots on a disposable camera I was using last summer, so I’m glad that I didn’t take the chance.

I came across Jelly Belly’s bubble-tea-flavored jelly beans while snack shopping at Mekelburg’s and simply had to give them a try. They come in five milk tea flavors: mango, taro, strawberry, matcha, and Thai tea. (My favorites are taro and matcha.) The flavors are pretty damn spot-on, more so than I expected — if I squint, I can even detect a hint of brown sugar boba.

Nothing like starting off the New Year with a float in a sensory-deprivation tank. It’s warm, silent, and pitch-black in there — very womblike. When you emerge, wet, naked, and perhaps a little miffed at getting the boot, you really do feel like you’ve been reborn.

I had a space next to my media console in my living room that needed to be filled with something. The blankness taunted me for months. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I was browsing the CB2 sale and saw this acrylic easel at $40 bucks off. I had a print of a poster by Germain Casse that was already framed and in need of a home, so I thought maybe this was the answer to my problem. Turns out it’s only partially the answer. The easel is beautiful, but I still need to build up and layer in the corner — some art books, a small table, and perhaps a plant. But at least it doesn’t haunt me.

I was in Miami for a few days over New Year’s and didn’t do a ton of shopping, but I did come across these terra-cotta-colored napkin rings on sale. I love that they’re a little softer-feeling than a standard metal or wood napkin ring, and that you kind of lasso them around your napkin to fasten them.