Christmas Love

Wow, it was a GREAT Christmas!  I got some really nice things, and I feel very lucky.  I also got to spend the holiday with family.  Sean and I went to Dallas to spend the weekend with my family and I gorged myself on more tamales and queso than I want to admit.  It’s our Christmas eve tradition and I look forward to it every year.  I only wish that I brought some of them home with us.  So, curious about what I got?  Well…I got this great necklace from Stone and Honey:

A Snuggie from my brother. 🙂  Which, I could not wait to use as soon as I got back to Austin.  I only wish that my dogs had one too.  And, a visa gift card from my brother.  Always appreciated. 

A  French food book.  Mmmmm

A brand new chair for the living room!

And….well….um…I got a camera too. 🙂  We returned the necklace, and got this instead.

I also got some great stocking stuffers too.  Overall, it was a really great Christmas.  I hope everyone else got what they wanted too.  What was your favorite gift this year?

A Gift for Sean

Buying gifts for Sean is actually really hard.  The man doesn’t want much…ever.  He’s very practical, and so he typically appreciates practical gifts that aren’t always the most fun to give.  But this year, he’s actually been talking about one thing that he wants.  And, not in a way that makes me think that he has any idea that I would actually get it for him for Christmas.  But, I did.  Get it for him for Christmas. 

He’s very musically inclined.  He’s been playing the piano forever, and he taught himself how to play the guitar.  He currently has an acoustic guitar that sits out every single day because he actually plays it every single day.  He’s shy about his guitar playing abilities, so he’ll always down play it if I comment to anyone that he’s really good on guitar, but he is!  Anyway, so like I said, he already has an acoustic guitar but he’s really been wanting an electric guitar too.  Well, guess what?  He’s getting one. 🙂

Source

It’s a Fender, and so I’m hoping it’s good.  I might be cursing myself later as he loudly plays his guitar, but I know it will make him happy, so I can’t wait until he gets to open it!

What gifts are you excited about giving this year?

Loving Infomercial Products

That’s right, I’m not above the “As Seen on TV” products, in fact, I really want one.  Am I embarrassed to admit this to you guys?  Yep, but hopefully you all will be equally excited about a cleaning tool and we can bond over it. 

So, my sister is moving into a new house, and it wasn’t left as clean as she would like.  Over the past couple of days, she’s been cleaning like crazy to get ready to move in.  I know that can be tedious and well, boring, but you feel so much better when it’s done.  But, usually there is some grossness or grime left behind that you just cannot get rid of.  Well, she told me about this Sonic Scrubber thing she is using that works so well.  And now I’m obsessed.  I need one. 

I know that it looks strikingly similar to a bright orange toothbrush, but stay with me here.  It has different scrubbing heads you can change out for different types of cleaning jobs and an angled head so you don’t bang your knuckles.   And, out of 35 reviewers, 28 of them gave it 4 stars or better. 

I know you’re wondering if I have one of these.  Well, I don’t .  I’m going solely off what my sister and the reviewers online said.  But, now I can’t wait to get one and try it out.  What infomercial products do you love or want to try?

Presents

So Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone and I only purchased one present.  Last year I bought so many things on those 2 days I was nearly done with my shopping, but this year the sales just didn’t entice me.  And, I’m still struggling with what to get everyone.  My siblings and I talked about going for quality over quantity this year, meaning that if we are interested in one expensive present, maybe we can all just go in one it.  I think that’s a great idea because I have several expensive items I’m pining for right now.  They include:

A DSLR camera:

I’ve wanted a new camera for some time now.   I know you’ve heard me mention this before, and my desire for a new camera has only intensified.  I’ve seen several Groupons for photography classes too, but I’ve held off on buying one because I didn’t want to learn anything else on my point and shoot, I want to step it up. 

A new light fixture:

Again, I’ve wanted this light fixture for a while.  I’ve seen it in the dining room of a few bloggers, and I’m in love.  I have the perfect spot for it, now I just need the new fixture. 

A Dyson:

Um, enough said.  Who doesn’t want a Dyson?  Sean even wants this present.  We had one momentarily, and I remember thinking it was pretty good, but not realizing just how good it was until it was gone.  Now that I don’t have it, I weep whenever I vacuum.  Ok, not really, but basically I go over the same spot over and over only to then pick up the item that my vacuum is unable to get.  Vacuuming sucks.  I know this would be remedied by the Dyson.  We might even fight over who gets to vacuum.  Probably not, but like I said might. 

A chair (hopefully we could then get rid of some of our living room furniture)

It’s just so cute, and the print is perfect.  It would go so well with the couch that I eventually want to get.  I’m worried Target will stop carrying them before I’m ready with my new couch, so it’s on the list, though I’m not sure I’m ready for it just yet. 

Now that I’ve written this post, I feel like a huge jerk because my plan when I sat down to write was to talk about the present I want to get for Sean.  But, somehow it turned into everything I want.  Don’t worry though, I’ll be back with my gift idea for Sean.  I need some advice, and since he doesn’t read the blog, I can tell you all what I’m getting him!

What’s on your wish list this year?

Holiday Cards

So, I’ve been really bad about holiday cards in the past.  I always relied on my sister to send her cards out to the people I would have sent cards to, even though she had her own family and children, and obviously my name was not included.  But now that I’m married, I thought that I should take that responsibility on myself.  Not to mention we now have everyone’s address and great pictures from the wedding, and our guests haven’t seen them yet. 

Well, Shutterfly has some great holiday cards to choose from and they’re offering bloggers 50 FREE holiday cards for blogging about them.  I’ve used shutterfly in the past for storing all my photos, and they’re easy and great to work with.  Not to mention they also have great holiday address labels, gift tags, and pretty much anything printable you need this holiday season.

So, I picked some of my favorite ones and would love to get your feedback on them.  Here are my top three:

So, I really like the one above and Sean says that it’s his favorite, but it says Merry Christmas, and not Happy Holidays.  I can’t change it either.  I asked some of my bee friends what they thought about sending holiday specific cards, and they had some great feedback, but I’m still not sure. 

So, my second favorite is this one:

I don’t have to worry about the holiday specific, but it’s still really cute.  And, I like the snowflake. 

So what do you think?  Which is your favorite?  Do you like the picture we chose?

This is a sponsored post and I’m receiving 50 holiday cards for blogging about this, but I was going to use shutterfly anyway. 🙂

New Obsession: Silver Spray Paint

So, this weekend I had a super bargain weekend, which spurred me to look at some of the things I already had around my house and figure out how I might repurpose them.  I tend to get tired of things easily and often buy new things (like clothes), so I’m trying to avoid that with housewares and furniture.  Well, I had this piece of um…artwork, I guess?  But, I was tired of it and ready to put it in the garage or hide it in a guest room that I never go in because I was tired of looking at it, and it didn’t really go with the rest of my stuff.   

I bought it at Target about 3 years ago and it just lost its interest.  But, I thought with a fresh coat of spray paint, I’d probably like it again.  So I picked up some metallic silver spray paint.

It’s a little pricier than the others, but at $5 a can, it was still worth it.  So, I pulled out a tarp and got to work:

I quickly realized that it wasn’t even going to take a full can, so I grabbed some black picture frames I had and sprayed those too:

This spray paint dried so fast too.  This is great for me because I have zero patience when it comes to crafts.  I always enjoy starting them, but if it’s something that takes a long time, I lose interest fast.  The whole project took about an hour and a half, and that included full drying time. 

Here it is all finished:

 

And, a little perspective on where it sits in our house:

I’ll tell you all about that hutch in the picture tomorrow.  It was one of my weekend finds and I have big plans for it!

Craigseasy

So, this weekend I stumbled on something that I wish was created years ago.   Craigseasy, I love you.  Basically, I spend hours searching on craigslist for furniture, pets, or just other items I didn’t know I needed until I see them.  But, it takes forever to click on each of the individual posts, and I end up getting carpal tunnel or getting discouraged quickly and quit.  Which sucks because I always read blogs where people find these amazing things on craigslist, so I know they’re on there, I just don’t have the patience. 

Ok, so how does it work?  Well, you grab the easy button from Craigeasy and save it to your favorites, go to craigslist, search for whatever you want, and then click on that easy button from your favorites.  It automatically directs you to a new page where all you see are the titles and images of what’s in each of the listings. 

Here are a couple of screen shots:

Now I don’t have to click on a link only to get pissed off that I was tricked by the title.  Too many times I’ve clicked on a link advertising a farmhouse table, and I find something like this that, well, isn’t at all what I’m looking for:

 I don’t think that I’ll ever go back to the old way.  I only wish I had this when I was single and searching for apartments several years ago.

Shabby Chic

I’m feeling super exhausted this week because we have a big project at work that is kicking my ass and keeping me up late.  Also, I just got back from a wedding this past weekend, which was amazing and I’ll share pictures soon, but I haven’t fully caught up on sleep from that either.

But enough with my whining.  I came across Etsy seller Old New Again and I’m in love (P.S. Laura, she’s from Wisconsin!).  Take a look:

And of course I had to throw this in:

And although I really love them, I sort of think I could make some of that stuff.  Which about a year ago I wouldn’t have ever said.   What do you think?  Am I kidding myself thinking I could actually do this?

Gift Guide

So, I’m not one of those people that shop all year for Christmas presents so that by the time December rolls around, I only have a few things to get.  Nope.  You’ll find me scouring the internet and paying for overnight shipping to get my gifts in on time.   It’s not even that I don’t have ideas of what to get people.  I think the problem actually is that I have too many ideas and can’t decide.

Usually I peruse magazines and the internet for gift ideas, but I often find myself discouraged by what’s in the magazines because they are WAY out of my price range.  Now, I don’t know what Christmas looks like at other people’s house, but at my house, we don’t spend $300 or more per person on gifts.

But, for those of you that need some ideas (most of them reasonable), Lonny Magazine has some great suggestions (p.s. why is Lonny magazine is everywhere now?  And where the hell have I been that I just found out about it a week ago?).

Of course I love the Etsy suggestions:

My favorite of the Etsy finds is the bowl and the necklace.  The bowl is from seller Etco and the necklace is from Orit Hadad.  Yes, the necklace is a little steep, but the rest of her jewelry is so reasonably priced, and absolutely gorgeous!

And, here are some suggestions for the Artsy person in your life.

I am in LOVE with that camera.  I’m not sure how great the pictures would be, but it’s adorable.  And, did you see that iPhone case?  Love it.

And for the Eco friend of yours…

I’m loving the Vegan purse, and the Moccasins.

And, for the French-loving, girly girl:

This page, I’m liking a lot of the non-budget friendly pieces, like the scarf, sparkly purse and vase.  Sigh…

Which are your favorites?

Inspired by Doilies

I came across Etsy Seller, Tuuni and now I’m loving the idea of using vintage doilies to dress up pillows and storage bins.

It also reminded me of the bags that Brooke posted a couple of days ago. 

And, it doesn’t seem like it would be hard to make them on your own if you had some vintage doilies.  What would you make?