Subscription + Delivery Services We Love
I will be the first to admit that I am a total sucker for delivery and subscription services, especially in this current season of my life where the thought of getting out to run errands on a consistent basis is exhausting. Babies take a lot of work and life, in general, is busy when you’re an adult. My overarching philosophy on the concept of “wellness” is that life becomes instantly healthier and happier when you learn to simplify it. To me, there is nothing more overwhelming and discouraging than having a big to-do list full of errands I need to run, especially when I have limited free time and would rather spend that free time doing something for myself (i.e. exercising or cooking a meal).
I used to think subscription services were annoying and unnecessary, but other than the annoyance of having to break down cardboard boxes (and let’s be real, Blair does most of that anyways), I can’t really imagine my life without some of these services. I thought it would be fun to go through some of the subscriptions we currently have and love!
I am admittedly really picky about what meat and seafood we eat at home. When I’m out at a restaurant or eating dinner at someone else’s house, I relinquish control over the sourcing of the food, but at home I’m pretty strict about the quality of food (and especially meat/seafood) that we purchase. Most meat that is processed in the United States is filled with antibiotics and hormones that I would prefer to avoid entirely if possible (if you haven’t seen Food, Inc. yet, do yourself a favor and watch it ASAP) and so I always look for grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken and eggs, and wild-caught fish. Since finding beef and chicken with the highest standards can be tricky at most grocery stores (Whole Foods doesn’t even sell pasture-raised chicken anymore!), I’ve started to exclusively purchase them from Butcher Box (I get all of our wild-caught fish from Costco).
We get a Custom Classic Box delivered every 2 months for $149 and I typically include some variation of chicken breast, chicken tenders, whole chicken, ground beef, and sugar-free bacon in each delivery. They have pork, steaks, breakfast sausage, etc. as well but we keep it pretty simple and get what we know we’ll use often. I love that the delivery is free, it comes frozen, and the quality is truly the best I’ve ever had.
You can check them out here: Butcher Box
It still blows my mind that more people don’t know about Thrive Market because it is one of the smartest concepts around. The founders of Thrive feel very strongly about making healthy food accessible to everyone, no matter where you live or what you can afford, and so they’ve created an online platform that allows your to purchase a membership (it’s $49/year) and have instant access to wholesale prices on pretty much everything that you would find at your local health food store. It’s very similar to Costco with it’s membership and wholesale model, but what I love about it, is that it’s so easy to use and the mobile app is so convenient. I spend so much of my time sitting on the sofa breastfeeding Lucy right now, so being able to order groceries, non-toxic cleaning products (household cleaner, laundry detergent, etc.), and personal items (shampoo, soap, etc.) on my phone is game changing. I purchase pretty much everything except for produce and refrigerated items from Thrive (think snacks, protein powders, organic coffee, cat food etc.) and it’s always significantly cheaper than if I were to purchase it at my grocery store.
I wrote a blog post about Thrive back in April of 2017 (you can see that here) that outlined exactly what I like to purchase on a consistent basis. Since that post, they have expanded their products a ton which makes me super happy, too.
You can sign up for Thrive Market here (and get 25% off of your first order).
When I first heard of Daily Harvest, I honestly thought it was the dumbest idea. Smoothies delivered to your door? Make them yourself! I still sort of feel that way- it’s so much more cost-effective to make smoothies yourself - but there have been so many times where I just simply don’t have the time or don’t have all of the ingredients on hand to make a green smoothie for myself. I ordered a sample box of daily harvest a few weeks ago because I was desperately craving a smoothie but really didn’t have the time or energy to pull all of the ingredients out to make one myself. After testing out that first box of a variety of flavors, I have already signed up for a recurring delivery membership and can honestly say they are some of the best ones I’ve ever had. You simply add water or nut milk, blend it all up, and put it right back into the cup it arrived in. It’s genius and I’m so happy it exists. They also carry soups, lattes, overnight oats, and meals now which I’m curious to try at some point, but for now the smoothies are making me so happy.
You can try it out here (this gives you 3 free cups!)
The very best gift we received when we had Lucy? A gift certificate to Zeel. Oh my gosh, you guys, this service is incredible. Zeel is an on-demand massage app that allows you to book a masseuse to come to your house. When I booked my first one, I was surprised by just how professional it was - I had always been slightly apprehensive about it being sketchy or awkward. My masseuse (who I’ve now used twice) showed up with her table, massage oil, diffuser, and music, got everything set up in our guest room, and was just generally very professional and courteous. I really love that, after my massage was over, I could put on my own bathrobe and head right back into my house to relax - I didn’t need to drive anywhere or deal with paying/tipping since it’s all handled with one touch on your phone. This will now be my go-to gift for pretty much everyone in my life.
If you want to try it, you can get $20 off using this link: Zeel
Another service I swore I would never use until I tried it, Instacart has saved the day many times since Lucy was born three months ago. Getting to the store is a lot harder and more complicated that it used to be now that we have a baby who has a weird napping schedule and doesn’t love her car seat, so I’ve relinquished my love for wandering through the grocery store aimlessly and traded it for convenience instead. Yes, I don’t get to touch and feel every avocado we purchase now and sometimes the batch of strawberries isn’t the perfect box I would have chosen myself, but I’ve generally been so pleased by our grocery deliveries. It’s pretty easy to hit the minimum order (usually $35) and, to me, the service fee is absolutely worth it (I’d rather pay $1.99 than deal with parking and traffic at my local Whole Foods). In fact, as I type this, Blair is at yoga and I’m at home while Lucy naps waiting for our shopper to delivery our groceries for the week which is a win-win for everyone involved.
You can try it out here: Instacart
I’m curious, do you have any delivery services you swear by? There are a few others that we love that are baby-related (namely diaper delivery and some other fun things like hair bows for Lucy) that I’m saving for a different post, but I am generally just really excited about the world we live in and the modern conveniences at hand. It means I get to spend more time with my family and that makes me a happy girl.
