My 2021 Christmas List

It's that time of year again? Already?! I've contemplated doing gift guides this year after taking last year off from them. I think I'll refrain from doing them again, but I've already seen so many wonderful ones on other blogs. Gift guide posts do really well with traffic, but it just doesn't feel right this year. If it is something you want, I could gather a master list of ideas instead of themed posts/guides or link you to some of my favorite guides I've seen.

I thought I would keep up with the tradition of sharing a few things on my Christmas list and maybe that will also serve as some ideas for you. That's what I love about posts like these! I always find at least one thing that makes me go, "Wow! How did I not know about that?" or something in that nature. 😄 I find the older I get, the harder it is to come up with a Christmas list. I feel like they were novels written in seconds in my childhood. Now, of course I have a running wishlist of sorts, but it always feels different when putting it into gift terms. If that makes any sense...

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InstaFriday + Moving!

I must apologize in advance for what is sure to happen in the upcoming weeks. We are in the process of looking for a new place to live, cleaning up our condo, packing (yuck!), putting it on the market, etc. That means that I may not have as much time to get up a lot of posts until we're settled down or during the odd day here and there where I find time during everything to sit down and write one up. I hope you all understand! Wish us luck!


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Somerset Collection Haul: Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Lilly Pulitzer

The Somerset Collection is one of my most favorite malls. I wish I could go there all of the time, though my finances are very happy to have 4+ hours of distance between us! I made out my wishlist before going and stuck to it and it was a hard task to do so. ;)

I went in knowing that I wanted some cute new cases for what will soon be my new phone- the iPhone 4S. Yes, I've decided to finally make the switch from Blackberry. Though I'm mourning the imminent loss of the keyboard and my BBM, I'm really excited. Have you made the switch? I feel like it won't be so foreign to me, seeing as I already have my iPod Touch and iPad 2.

^ All of the pretty bags. Yep, I managed to stick to just going in three stores. I'm honestly pretty proud of myself for that.

^ At Juicy Couture, I picked up this vibrant pink friendship bracelet. It was 50% off and I'm now kicking myself for not grabbing the teal one too.

^ At Kate Spade, I picked out this teal and white silicone iPhone case. I originally wanted one of the polkadot resin cases, but I read a few horror stories of them breaking, not protecting the phone, and the design peeling off rather quickly. This design was put out on the very day that I was there, so it's a brand new design for summer!

^ My first Lilly Pulitzer purchase! I'm not a fan of all of her prints, but I love this "scarlet begonia" print. So pink and girly! I picked up a matching case for my iPad and the iPhone, both made of silicone.

Now to wait until I get the iPhone 4S into my hands! :)

Birthday Haul & Thank You!

One of the best things about birthdays are the freebies! I enjoyed a free pasta at Boston Pizza, a Blizzard from Dairy Queen, a free meal at Casey's (Canadian restaurant chain), etc. I still have a few coupons to use and it's been two weeks since my birthday! One of my favorite freebies to claim is the annual Sephora Beauty Insider item. It's free to become a Beauty Insider and you can pick up your birthday gift with no purchase necessary. This is my third year of getting mine and this year's might just be my favorite.

I am still on Project 10 Pan, so going into Sephora and not being able to buy anything is complete and utter torture. I ended up buying a case of sponges (which I don't consider cheating on P10), because I always need sponges. The birthday gift is a travel-sized bottle of Philosophy's Vanilla Birthday Cake bath gel. This just happens to be my favorite scent they have. And we all know of my obsession with Philosophy. This will be going with me on my next trip!

But my biggest and best gift? Well, I've been begging for one of these since March!

An iPad 2! This has to be the best part of saving money these past few months! My husband and I have really been enjoying it and I'm pretty sure that this bad boy is going everywhere I go from now on. :) I think I'll do a blog about it later on and share some of my favorite apps. This is definitely my second best birthday gift ever with my Nikon DSLR being first. With everything that has gone on this summer with my husband's health, we both needed a little entertainment and the iPad is providing it.

I can't recall if I have done a review on Philosophy's bath gels yet, but I know I've talked about them. If anyone is interested, I'll share my thoughts on the scents I own, lasting power, amount of bubbles, etc.

A big thank you to those of you who have sent positive messages, thoughts, and prayers our way. My husband now has his chest tube and IV out and he's no longer on home care. He's just making sure he's strong enough and he'll probably be heading back to work next week! He just takes pills now for the next few months. He's been recovering so quickly at home- thank goodness! We both really appreciate your kind words and thoughts. Now it's all a matter of getting back into our regular routines and daily life! ♥