Friday, December 30, 2016

What I Gave & Received for Christmas

So sorry for the little hiatus I took over here the past week. I had every intention of having posts go live this week but with my computer out of commission last week that meant I would have had to work on those posts while at my grandparents house over the holiday weekend and I didn't want to take away from time spent with family. This little part of the week off gave me time to work on some assignments I have due when I get back to school and work on some behind the scenes aspects of blogging that take the back burner which was refreshing. I have been doing a lot of brainstorming of what type of posts I want to post as the new year approaches and y'alls suggestions make that so much easier. I am hoping that this semester I can stay on top of blogging (unlike Spring of last year) and that will be a lot easier if I have a general idea of what you're looking for. I have included a survey at the bottom of this post that will allow you to give your input. Please please please fill it out as it helps me so much! 

Now for the real reason you clicked on this post... seeing what I gave for Christmas & What I Received for Christmas and my birthday. My birthday is the day after Christmas so I thought it would be easier to just include those together since they are back to back. I hope that y'all have all had a wonderful holiday season and were able to enjoy it with friends and family. Being in college makes me appreciate the time that we all have together even more than I used to but also makes the reality of heading back to school in a few days that much harder. 

Since over the past couple of year I have found that it is more fun to give than to receive we will start with what I gave for Christmas. This year I wasn't as good as last year about having all my presents wrapped and ready to go way before Christmas but I was still pretty pleased with what I found for people on my list! I am purposefully not including a few things since I haven't exchanged with all of my friends just yet.



Nell: Most of y'all know Nell. She helps SO much with the blog and is typically behind the camera helping me out! I forgot to give her a birthday present so decided she could be like me and experience Christmas and birthday prizes all at once. 
Grace Not Perfection // Leather Tassel Earrings // Body Pillow // Wool Gloves (when we take blog photos she talks about her fingers getting cold so I decided this would be a funny gift to use as a solution)

Kate: Kate is one of my best friends from home. We've been friends since 1st grade and although it's rare for us to get to spend much time together due to being in different places our weekly phone calls have helped us stay close! I got Kate two journaling books this year since we both love a good list and since I have one of the books I thought it would be fun to talk about what we wrote down each week when we call each other. 

Gil: Gil is my brother if you didn't know and shockingly his gift is always he first one I think of. this year I got him a Daniel Wellington watch after taking mental note of the fact that he knew and liked the brand when I received one a few years ago. I also gave him a Southern tide bow tie that is red which works perfect to support Alabama (where he went for undergrad) and Stanford (where he attends law school). Lastly I got him a pair of socks since he had indicated that he wanted some new ones.

Dad: My dad is always the hardest person for me to shop for. This year I got him a bike tool, the Feltul Eagle, designed by one of his friends on his triathlon team. He had talked about how cool it was this summer and before Christmas so when he told me he didn't have one I decided it would be the perfect gift for him.

Mom: Sometimes parents ask for very boring presents and this year my mom did just that. She wanted some new hangers so I got her those as well as the Garden and Gun coffee table book since my whole family LOVES that publication. 

Grandmother: I also gave my grandmother the Garden and Gun coffee table book and a book about succulents since she has a lot at of them at our beach house. My favorite thing I gave her though was an ornament by Evelyn Henson with landmarks for Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama on it. She hung it up right away! 

I didn't come up with anything for my grandfather this year so hopefully I have much better luck next year!

Now for what I received. As I've gotten older I've found that the gifts I want have become more expensive so I was surprised to unwrap so many things that were on my Christmas & Birthday wish list (this post). I am so appreciative of the gifts I received and the time I got to spend with my family to celebrate. 


I received a few other prizes as well and clearly Santa must've thought I was extra good this year! I am excited to put all of these items to good use in the year to come and years after! 

And because I'm totally cool with the idea of getting yourself a prize or two around the holiday season I always treat myself to a new planner although I order it when the new patterns are released in October. I swear by the Day Designer and have the cutest pale pink gingham one for this upcoming year (see how I organize my planner here). I also got myself a new small cross body bag with some Christmas money since I needed something smaller that was good for on the go and am tempted to add the Amazon Echo Dot to my general wish list since I was SO impressed with it when the kids I babysit for were showing it to me.

Here is the survey I created to help me make sure that my posts are catering to your interest! I encourage you to fill it out as I plan to rely on this when coming up with planning for the year to come!

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8 comments :

  1. That camera you got though! I'm jealous! Hope you had a great Christmas and here's to 2017!

    Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
    http://charmainenyw.com

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