Links. Likes. Loves.

December 9, 2016

Hello and happy Friday, Friends and Followers. If you are new to the Blog Dot Com, then this post may alarm you. Do not worry. I have not lost my mind (completely!) Links. Likes. Loves is a global Friday and Weekend bit us Bloggers like to do to link you up with our favorite news, stories, videos, sales, etc from the week. It is a quick rundown of things you may have missed that caught our eye and we want to share. No, it is not me losing my mind.

The Last Time I did one, my dear Grandma (Hi, Meema!) who is a fan of the Blog, called me to ask if I was okay and why was I writing in incomplete thoughts. I am okay. We will be okay. It is Friday! So, here we go. My favorite Links. Likes. Loves. that you may have missed this week.

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Gift Ideas for the Hostess

December 6, 2016

Our December calendar is pretty loaded down. We have work parties (yes, plural) and friendly get-togethers. We have family gatherings and then we have our full list of holiday must-dos such as a Holiday Light Car Tour, Visit with Santa, one last shopping trip, and the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony (yes, that is a thing in our home). You see, all these things add up and before you know it you heading out the door to a holiday party and in complete scramble mode. If you are like me, you are begging your husband to make a quick run to pick up a bottle of wine for the hostess. But, here is the things, so is every other person heading to the same exact party as you.

Be different. Be bold. Make a statement this holiday party. And, if you make a really big impact, heck, you may just get invited back next year!

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Parents, Keeping It Real

December 4, 2016

Today’s post is brought to you in honor of “keeping it real.”

Moms and Dads, I raise this glass for you. Can we talk about how often our children truly annoy the heck out of us?! Seriously, though. I love my little girl. With all of my being, with all that I have, I project my love for her. She is my all and my everything. I cannot explain the level of love my mind, body, soul and every inch of my beating heart has for my child. But, some days, she annoys the shit out of me. There, I said it. #KeepingItReal #NotAllUnicorns up in here.

I can only imagine you parents out there with more than one child, with children that can actually, consciously talk back, with children that can run to their rooms and slam their doors, with tween children that are a roller coaster of emotions, with teenager children – yeah, just teenagers, with adult kids and with children that are married to beloved in-laws. I feel your pain, maybe not the same level, but the same struggle and root of your pain. Okay, parenting is hard. It is the ultimate in personality swings and gauging the day to day changing tides.

But, I cannot help but feel slightly guilty for the amount of eye rolls I project towards my daughter in one day. Yes, in one day! It takes me back to high school when the eye roll was forced from a place of detest for the girl sitting across from me at the lunch table, with perky boobs and perfect teeth and hair, but the most annoying way of bragging with every word. I digress.

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Gift Ideas for Him

December 2, 2016

Continuing with my 2016 Gift Guide, I present to you Gift Ideas for Him. The absolute hardest Gift Guide to create. Am I right or am I right? I think I am right! Now my dear Hubby would tell you it is quite the opposite. That I am indeed the hardest to buy for and I always reply, “But, I am so easy!” And, yet he says the same thing when talking about himself. However, I do believe he is beginning to realize how hard he is to buy for on all levels and that means for me, his own mother, my mother, etc. He even says things now like, “Since I am so hard to buy for, I like this.” Or will even go as far as buying items for himself while shopping for others and say, “Here give this to your Mom or my Mom to give to me.” What fun is that?

Thinking maybe I am not the only one out there struggling to figure out what to buy the men in our lives, here are my top 2016 Gift Ideas for Him! And, don’t worry, Nathan, I did not reveal anything for you.

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Popsugar November

November 28, 2016

So, Popsugar did it yet again! They sent me their November Must Have Box and there is a serious theme here… must have. Popsugar is pretty much my virtual / mailing BFF. I was super skeptical when I signed up to receive their Must Have monthly boxes. I really thought I was going to get a box full of “junk.” I know, hold yourself back from how you really feel. But, truly, I thought I would give it a try and either donate or re-gift the inside surprises.

Boy was I wrong. Two for two, Popsugar, very nice.

This month featured a “Gather Together” theme which included This Kendra Scott bracelet that I cannot stop crushing after and These cute Meri Meri decor sticks, that Lo cannot keep her hands off of.VIEW STORY »

Gift Ideas for Children: Stocking Stuffers

November 26, 2016

The most underrated tradition of Christmas… the stocking. So much emphasis is placed on the gifts under the tree that we tend to overthink the stocking. Maybe we just cram the “smallerish” items into the stocking when we are exhausted and don’t feel like wrapping any more, or, maybe we just use the stocking for a candy jar and pile in the chocolate and sweets.

I personally find the stocking to be such a fun, little extra tradition, and do you know the origins date back to a widowed man who feared his impoverished status would prevent his three daughter’s from marrying? Yes, for real! The story goes that on Christmas Eve, their stockings hung by the fire to dry and Saint Nicholas knowing the father’s humbleness, placed gold coins in the stockings, setting the family into a better financial place. Huh? All of this excitement today over a tradition that began with drying socks. Here are more stories and traditions from the Christmas Stocking.

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Feeling Thankful

November 23, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I love, love, love Thanksgiving for the pure fact that there is no major hype. No crazy decking the halls. No stressful trips to and from the mall. No I must obtain this season’s hottest gift item – a hatchimal. I say all that knowing too well that I love Christmas, but Thanksgiving is quite simply about food and being together and aren’t they beautiful things?

I am feeling thankful. Oh so thankful.

I am thankful for Lo. This bright eyed little mess of ornery is just the right dose of everything I need right now. She makes me laugh, literally belly laugh. Something most humans cannot make me do on most days. I adore her charm, and personality. I love watching her grow and learn and I cannot help but kiss all over her and squeeze her, asking for one more hug.

I am thankful for my health. While stress has taken its toll on me this year and I know I am not my healthiest, I am not fighting any major battle and I am thriving, or maybe surviving. For many this is not an option. We don’t know how much we value our health until it is gone or put up to a challenge.

I am thankful for cell phones and technology and while you may think, “Why, what a thing to thank?” Know that because of the world’s growing technology I have my job, I get this here Blog, I can connect with people all over the world through a keyboard, I have a digital scrapbook and camera, and I have so many benefits that make my life easier due to its existence.

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Gift Ideas for Her: $25 and Under

November 22, 2016

Tis’ the season to be jolly! We all need a little jolly wouldn’t you say? I think I am more excited for this holiday season than in year’s past. There are a multitude of reasons which have been built up to this magnitude of holiday cheer. The stress from a hectic work year, the age and playfulness of Lo, the need for some downtime, the fact that the holidays have always been my most favorite season and with all the heartache 2016 has brought this time always brings out the good and the outlook for a fresh start. Doesn’t that sound delightful?

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Just A Change In Perspective

November 19, 2016

Logan was born on a cold winter night. Three weeks early, the little bug not yet out of my womb already earned her first tally on the parenting wall of scares. A wall we all put up the moment we find out we are to be parents. Tallies that we mark with every tumble and fall, scrap and bleed. After laboring for 5 hours, we were rushed into an emergency c-section and then there she was. All red and swollen and wide eyed.

“Where have you placed me?” I often wonder each child thinks when they enter a room full of strangers in masks and bright overhead lights piercing rays into their sweet innocent eyes. And, then they hear your voice and know they are home.

Having a child changes your perspective of the world. It happens instantaneously. For some, you recognize the change the moment the newborn is placed in your arms. Others it take a few days or weeks. Sometimes it occurs when you finally leave your child to return to work and maybe for others it isn’t until you take a moment to really slow down, look around you, reflect back and realize that you did change in that very first moment you looked your baby in the eyes.

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Logisms – Part 1

November 13, 2016

When I found out I was pregnant with Lo I was so certain that the little baby growing in my belly was a boy. So, certain in fact that when the ultrasound technician wrote the sex of our baby on a piece of paper and folded it for our surprise reveal, and those pink balloons popped out of a cardboard box, I was in shock. Excited but in shocked. I rushed into the house, found the folded piece of paper and opened the ultrasound and note which read, “Looks like a girl.”

I was even more confused. “Looks like girl.” Who writes that? Well, she did and now I had no way to contact her and ask what that meant. I studied ultrasounds in Google images and read reading them online so much, I may very well be certified at this point. Just kidding.
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