Tag Archives: Black Friday

Christmas Gift Guide For Her 2013

I mentioned in my Stylish Sunday’s Post that I would be doing my Christmas Gift Guides early this year. With Black Friday fast approaching I decided that it would be more convenient for my readers if I put them up now. So the next 4 posts will be the Gift Guides.

I’m kicking off with my Gift Guide for Her:

♥ This Gift set from Kiehls is perfect. It’s their Greatest Hits set, but if you don’t think this one will work, the I recommend checking out their Gifts for Her section.

♥ I personally have this Lorac Pro Palette on my Christmas Wishlist this year. All the colors are beautiful and this palette has been getting rave reviews.

♥ Fresh’s Sugar Stars gift set is a great collection gift, but if she’s not a lip product junkie, Sephora has some other amazing options for you to check out. I’ll probably do a post closer to Christmas on some of their Gift Sets.

♥ If your at a complete loss, a candle is a good way to go. I adore the way Yankee Candle’s Celebrate Christmas Candle smells.

♥ Glitter, Kate Spade, Shoes. What more could a girl ask for? Personally I am dying to own these Keds x Kate Spade collab shoes and they are at the top of my wishlist. They’re so fun and glitzy and practical at the same time.

♥ Pajamas are always a great gift. I’m certain you’re all well aware of my love for Victoria’s Secret Pajama’s by now. They’re so cozy and they wash really well.

♥ Jewelry is a classic gift that’s pretty hard to go wrong with. Since Rose Gold is still a really hot trend, I thought this Make Me Blush Pave Idiom Pendant from Kate Spade was perfect.

♥ This Cozy Plaid Scarf from Gap would make a lovely gift, especially if you live in a cold snowy area. Bonus it feels way more luxe than it costs.

♥ Perfume, another timeless gift. But give it an update by picking somethink modern like Viktor and Rolf’s Flowerbomb rather than the much purchased Chanel N° 5. If you want to be extra fancy this Limited Edition version of the bottle, pictured above is just stunning.

♥ For the Bibliophiles like myself, books are always the perfect gift. I recommend Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham.

Anyone of these gifts would be perfect all on their own, but you can also combine them in numerous ways. For the girl that adores Kate Spade pick up the necklace and the shoes. The Pajama’s, Candle and Book are certain to make for a lovely night in. And the Scarf, Kiehls Gift Set, and Lip Balms are perfect for the girl that loves to be out in the snow. Or you can pick up the Eye Palette and Perfume for the Princessy woman in your life. The combinations are endless, and combining things to give your gifts a theme says you put in so much effort, but really it takes only a little fore thought before you head out shopping.

I’ll be back tomorrow with my Gift Guide for Him. Leave in the comments below what you want for Christmas ladies.

Gift Guide for Her by fashionandhappythings featuring christmas home decor

Blogmas Day 3: Holiday Traditions

It’s Blogmas Day 3 and for today’s post I’ve decided to write about my family’s Christmas/Holiday Traditions. I am a huge fan of Traditions and doing things the way they’ve always been done. I’m not opposed to progress either. I support Gay Marriage wholeheartedly, but family Traditions, if they work, I think they should be kept.

Our Holiday Traditions start with putting up our Decorations on Black Friday. They start with putting up the tree, and the lights, running out for more lights and finishing with The Grinch. We always put it up in the same way with the most special ornaments going on the tree last.

Then the very next weekend my husband and I take our son our local mall. First we go to Macy’s to mail his letter to Santa and then we always buy one of the Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus ornaments. Next we make a stop at the Angel Tree to pick out a child’s name to buy a present for. This is probably my favorite part of this Tradition, because then my son picks out a present for the other child, and I get warm fuzzy this is so adorable feelings. After all this is done we go see Santa for his pictures. Sometimes this gets down out of order, and depending on how people feel and how busy places are.

Another favorite Tradition I have is one that’s all my own. A few days before Christmas I stay up after everyone’s gone to bed and wrap presents and watch my favorite Christmas movies. This usually involves spiked eggnog and is usually done on a Friday so I can sleep in the next morning.

Somewhere in here is ABC Family’s Harry Potter Weekend, and when that comes around I cancel all my plans and curl up with my son to watch as many of the movies as we can cram in. I love Harry Potter and the first movie makes me feel so Christmas-y. I’ve watched this every year since the movies started coming out. Surprisingly I don’t own the movies. I really want them though and you can buy all 8 here for $33.

Then comes Christmas Eve and the pajama exchange. I love this, we’ve done this every single year since our son was born and it’s definitely my favorite. I love picking out different pajama’s for my son and husband and I love seeing the pajama’s my husband picked for me. It makes me feel warm and cozy to go to sleep in fresh pajamas and wake up on Christmas morning.

Another tradition from when I was growing up, that has held out and my family loves is the one where I fall in the tree every year. It always happens no matter how hard I try not too. Last year I even sorta caught it on video, fast forward to about the 8:30 mark, it happens soon after that. This has to do with how klutzy I am and somewhere along the way members of my family noticed it happening and started waiting for it.

Gift Guide for Children

Children are probably the most fun to shop for at Christmas time. I love buying toys, and I see so many that make me wish I were still a child. Still it can be hard to shop for little kids sometimes. I had hoped to get this up by Black Friday, but life happens and sometimes you get busy. At least I’ve gotten it up in time for Cyber Monday. There are links provided, but obviously you can find the items at other places like Toys R’ Us and Amazon. Or Target or where ever toys are sold.

First of all, it is not a good idea to buy a small child a toy just because it makes noise. I know it’s fun, but really all the parent ends up doing is taking out the batteries when the child isn’t paying attention. Toys that have small pieces usually just get vacuumed up, sometimes on accident, sometimes on purpose. Also you should make sure the gift is age appropriate. There’s a reason there is an age range printed on the box. it’s for safety reasons.

For young children Lego Duplo blocks are a great gift. Even if they end up with multiple sets it’s still great because then they just have more to build with. They have sets that are aimed at girls and ones that are aimed at boys. Perfect for ages 2-5.

For slightly older children about ages 3-7 it’s a bit harder, this is when they really start getting into different things. But you can usually be save with something Disney Princess related for girls and superhero for the boys. All though there’s always some cross over, where the girl would be more happy with the spiderman, and the boy totally has a thing for Belle. If you know that it makes it much easier to shop. And of course once again Legos are still a good option, but if they’re a little older say closer to 7 than 3 it really opens you up to a lot more of the awesome playsets they have.

From ages 7-10 you should probably try and ask the child what their interested in, at this age generalized gifts are a bit harder, but you can usually get away with the latest movie, or toy craze.

Children are very easy to shop for, most of the time you can buy nearly anything aimed at their age range, and if the child is picky than I’m certain their parent or the child themselves will have some ideas for you.