这Practical $50 Gift Actually Changed My Life for The Better—and It’s Currently an Extra 40% Off

It’s the holiday season, which means it’s time to do some gift shopping! We’re sharing our favorite picks for anyone on your list—check out all of our gift guideshere!

A fact that it took me well into adulthood to realize is that I am an anxiety-prone person—and I’m absolutely not alone. Nearlya third of adultsin the U.S. will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives; far more than that will experience a least a few high-cortisol days. We are allStressed Out!!!!1!!!

That is all to say that I love anything that will help mecalm my brainon days and nights when my thoughts run wild through the land of little worries (Did I turn off the stove? Am I ready for that meeting tomorrow? Does Nora remember that time I accidentally called her Nicole???). Advance apologies to everyone who is not my brother or my sister-in-law, because you are about to find out you’ve been broadly defeated in the gift-giving game.

Last Christmas, my brother and his now-wife gave me a weighted blanket. It was—no exaggeration here—the gift that changed my life. My sweet, wonderful roommate was the one who schlepped the nearly-20-pound brown box up from the foyer into our second-floor apartment. I found it there when I arrived back home after the holidays, lying in wait (or… weight?). I was surprised at its heft when I went to pick it up, and was immediately humbled into opening it right there on the floor.

The gray blanket inside—a 15-pound Gsleeper—wasn’t much to look at. But I pulled it out, dragged it to my bed, and laid down fully clothed with the blanket on top of me. I woke up an hour later.

It’s hard to describe the thrill of a weighted blanket to the uninitiated. I remember curling up under it, my phone to my ear, as I gushed to my parents: “It’s like you have TEN blankets on top of you but really it’s just ONE!” I could basically hear them nodding back at me. (Can’t blame them, really—for the first few weeks of weighted blanket ownership, it was all I talked about.)

And here’s the thing: That’sexactlywhat it’s like. It’s like being swaddled in a giant, princess-and-the-pea-level quilted bed, but you don’t feel hot or trapped, since there’s just one layer on top of you. This is a blanket that’s not interested in keeping you warm—there are plenty of other blankets for that. That’s not its job. This is a blanket that will hold you tight in a little sleep cocoon. This blanket is made. for. naps.

Better yet? At a mere $50—select colors are 42% off, so it’s only $29—this is a gift that you can afford to give a few people on your list. BFF who’s a new parent? Weighted blanket. Roommate working a tiring job? Weighted blanket. Dad? Weighted blanket. Mom? Weighted blanket. Significant other? Weighted blanket (big enough for two to share, duh). To paraphrase Oprah:每个人都一个加权blanketttttt !

There’s not a ton of empirical evidence that weighted blankets do much in the way of easing anxiety, thoughin one study63% of adults reported lower anxiety after just five minutes of use. Butanecdotal backup abounds. Turns out lots of people, like me, love the feeling of being hugged by their home goods. It’s like the gift that loves me back.

Thank you, weighted blanket, for wrapping around me in a loving embrace to provide the best snoozes of my life. Sleeping has always been among my favorite activities; now, it’s my favorite activity for longer.

And thank you, Nolan and Kristina, for giving me the best gift I’ve ever received. Signed, your loving sister(-in-law), currently writing this beneath the heft of her weighted blankkkwskldhflshdkhttt……….