Christmas Gifting: 2015

Hi guys! This holiday season I found so much purpose in gifting. I found so many cute trinkets I just had to pick up that I actually ended up buying more packaging then I did actual gifts... a guilty admission on my part but believe me, I could have done more damage. I did show some reserve though, as I hemmed and hawed over final decisions regarding what to and what not, to buy. Cue me at the Container Store for 20 minutes.  Anyway, here are the gifts I bought this season:

The Container Store

Viola: I got this candy purse for my little cousin (2 years old) Viola. I saw it at the Container store and instinctively knew this would be a cute gift. I figured I would fill out with little candies and give it to her Christmas day. To make the gift even cuter, I decided to slip in a gift card (not much, just $25) for her parents to use. I wasn't expecting how much she would love it! It was a total hit and she did not let go of it for the rest of the day :')

Wilson: There were so many adorable gift cards and money holders at the Container Store! I got this beige tree printed box for my cousin Wilson. Inside it, I placed a $50 Sports Authority gift card.

Kin: When I was at the Container Store, I chose my gift packaging based on the gifts I was planning to give. I couldn't yet tell which of my friends/loved ones would be getting this box, but I knew it would make a great container for somebody. It was the coolest thing! It comes flattened and it's literally the easiest to-go packaging ever. You can buy it in the morning, chuck a gift in it, push in the flaps, and it's a beautiful gift box. Yay! More on what I got him later.

I didn't actually end up giving this to anyone! I thought it might go to my cousin Hannah, as I planned on buying her a gift card, but I bought so much packaging that I wasn't using that I decided to give her a different gift package, based on her card size and extra trinket I bought her. This one will come in handy one day!

Six

Christina: I went to a jewelry/accessories store called Six at my local mall (Queens Center Mall) and they had the most adorable gift boxes and mini bags! I went there on Black Friday and everything was 30 percent off, so I bought this owl gift box for my cousin Christina, who loves owls. 

Christina: Inside the gift box, I placed two initial pendants from Baublebar (only one shown here) with the initials 'C' and 'N'. This has special significance because her mother and my beloved Aunt, Nydia, passed away from cancer far too early in 2013. She is six months pregnant and has almost certainly picked the name Nydia for the baby.

A close-up of the necklace.

Diana: I bought my sister the most adorable gift box with anchors on it! My sister loves nautical prints. I'm so mad at myself because I couldn't figure out what to get her that would fit in this little box. :( Diana isn't one for jewelry or anything girly really, as she is androgynous and actually prefers mensware. Let's just say I'm still looking.

Judy: Eeeeh for some reason this peach colored box is my favorite of all! This one went to my friend Judy, who I gave a different pendant necklace to, a tiny delicate gold BaubleBar pendant with the letter 'J' hanging from it. (Shown later)

Christina: For my cousin Christina, I purchased this gift card holder (I swear, Six had SO many owl printed gift packages! I could not believe it, I stood there so long trying to choose between them all). I told her I was more than happy to give her a monetary gift but she sent me a Pinterest board with physical items she wanted, so this too went unused this year.

This is another item that went unused this year. Sigh. Beautiful mini bag, a larger size. It is gorgeous but you know what, it is so much narrower then I really thought it was, and barely anything can fit in her wider than a gift card. It's adorable though and will come in handy for a future occasion. 

This mini bag also went unused. :(

Diana: I got my sister this brown cord bracelet at Six at the men's section (ha)! She loves woven bracelets, but not just any kind. They have to be kind of sophisticated/rugby-esque. I figured this was a nice androgynous piece and I think I actually did a good job by slipping this into her stocking. :)

Tie Bar

Diana: My sister has style and class for days. Diana is the sharpest dresser you will ever find, and I am sorely tempted to put together a collage of her style. I hope I do some day. Anyway, Diana had two tie clips she wanted from the Tie Bar so I gladly purchased them for her. Love the sleek tiny black boxes they came in.

She chose this adorable rosegold tie clip of a pair of tiny glasses! 

She also chose a classic silver tie clip. 

Miscellaneous

Forever 21: I stopped in at Forever 21 and saw this cute pack of canvas gold striped note cards and I had to have them! So classy and versatile, and it came with a pack of five cards and envelopes for $3.80 I believe.

Kin: I got my friend Kin a $75 J. Crew gift card (I know, that's a lot of cash). ;) However, it's nothing next to what he got me. This is what went into the red and white striped Container Store gift box I photographed earlier (along with a pair of AMC tickets and a $10 concession card, a great $25 value from Costco).

A.I. Friedman 

Viola: I got the cutest things at this creative art stored called A.I. Friedman in Union Square, NYC! "For over 80 years, A.I. Friedman has serviced the artist community with the finest in artist materials, graphic art supplies and framing materials." Anyway, there were a plethora of adorable products there, but my friend Kin picked this out as being a cute gift card holder for my little cousin Viola's gift card. It has to be kid-friendly and exciting since it was going into her candy purse!

Diana: I died of happiness when I found these adorable tiny note cards! They came with matching tiny manila envelopes. Eeeh! I bought two as money holders. I was going to give the top one to Diana with some cash but I was afraid she would force me to take it back so instead I got her a $50 gift card that works as credit for the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta. It was a toss up between getting her that and a J.Crew gift card. I still wonder if I made the right choice.

I was planning on giving this to my mom with a C-note ($$$) folded inside but she pointed to a scarf she liked at the Gap hinting for my sister to get it, and then a few other things my sister felt were too good to pass up (my sister is a pro shopper and discount stealer it's ridiculous) so we ended up giving her physical gifts instead. I've still got this for the next time I need to slip somebody cash in a classy way!

Anthropologie

Hannah: For my cousin Hannah my sister and I bought a $50 Anthropologie gift card...

Forever 21

...And this lovely Forever 21 necklace :) Quite a find, I felt! It's lovely and really doesn't look "Forever 21" if you know what I mean. I think it could pass as BaubleBar.

Speaking of BaubleBar, a few days before Christmas they released a sale of goodies that weren't even on the site anymore. I think they were things that accumulated through the season that didn't sell as well as they wanted that they took off, just to add back on before Christmas to sell all their unpurchased merchandise. It was an awesome sale! Lots of great prices. I picked up the adorable rose gold dog tag pendant above for $10. Verdict is out as to who should get it yet. 

Judy: I gave Judy and my mom both an initial pendant from BaubleBar. The one shown above is 'J' for Judy, and it really was quite lovely. I gave my mom the 'Y' one. :)

Thanks for checking out this post everyone! Here are a couple last snazzy pictures I took of some of my loot. Merry Christmas!

2 Beauty Products + 1 Accessory

Hello everyone! I have a mini shopping haul to share with you :) I only purchased three items but for me these days, that's a lot! Especially because they're mostly beauty/accessories, not real clothes. Here are the three trinkets I picked up. 

First I picked up this badass Morphe brush :) It says G3 so I'm assuming that's the name? I loved it at first sight because of the way this brush is shaped. It's a short, flattened, densely packed duo-fiber brush that has this amazing weight to it and nicely tapered, thick head. It's perfect for liquid and cream products.

Next I bought an old favorite I hadn't purchased in a while. This is Velour Lashes' Lash in the City. I used to love this lash, it was my ride or die. I got tired of it because I felt like every time I bought a new set, they looked different. Also, the hairs pull out super easy. Still, this is a GORGEOUS set thank God, so glad that my purchase paid off.

Finally I got a really cute lash set from Aldo, it's so sophisticated looking. I love gold, sparkle, and pave so this was a dream set for me. I'm bummed my camera wouldn't take a nice, focused shot of it. It's so dark and blurry looking... but this is the best out of all the photos I took of it. I love these ring sets and they're always so affordable for what you get.

Woohoo guys! So there's my tiny haul. I hope you liked seeing my purchases!

My 2015 Sephora VIB Rouge Haul

Hi guys! I'm so excited! I treated myself this Sephora VIB Rouge sale event to the most makeup I've purchased in six months to a year. The discount was 20% off everything, and since I'm a VIB Rouge member (I can kiss that goodbye because I definitely did not spend enough this year to make it as a Rouge member next year), I got early access to the goods. At first I was just going to make two skincare purchases (lately I've been limiting myself in what I buy so I don't spend money) but when I went to pay for my two skincare items, the checkout girl handed the discount card back to me with a smile, telling me the discount would be good until the end of the night in case I wanted to do some online shopping.

Somewhere between Soho and my house what she said really sank in. I realized I hadn't treated myself to makeup at all in what felt like forever. So I decided to pick up some beautiful treats that I knew would be well used and well loved by me. Here we go:

Shiseido Eyelash Curler - $19.00

EradiKate Acne Treatment - $24.00

Too Faced Natural Matte Eye Palette - $36.00

Sephora Collection Wishes 5 Eyeshadow Palettes - $15.00

Peter Thomas Roth Therapeutic Sulfur Masque Acne Treatment Masque - $40.00

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Opal Glow On The Go - $20.00

Tarte Light of The Party Collector's Makeup Case - $59.00 (ugh this picture sucks I promise to take a better one soon.)

Yay guys! That's it for me! I hope you liked my handpicked gifts. Eeep!

My Christmas List 2015

Hey guys! Christmas is right around the corner and surprisingly, I don't have much on my list this year. I've found that I've become much less materialistic (I think I got all that out of my system during the first two years I was employed) through the years. Now I have life goals, like contributing the majority of my paycheck to a nest egg so I can forseeably in the future (I won't dare to say soon) move out, support myself, and start climbing on the adult ladder of things that really matter. Let's be honest, I'm no spring chicken! I'm 25, still depending on my parents for my food and shelter, and have never earned a salary. I'm still making $15 an hour with no benefits to speak of. Sigh. Oh well. This is why I realized it's so important to save when you can, because I have very little job security and I don't want to be in an undesirable situation if I were to be cut loose.

Anyway, this year I don't have tons of specifics on my list. Only a couple of larger dollar trinkets I haven't yet bought myself. I would love to have lots of warm, cozy blanket sweaters on my list but I swear finding beautiful, warm sweaters are one in a million. It's ridiculous. Often times, they're too short, too thin, and too expensive for nothing. Is it so much to ask for to get a fashionable, thick sweater? Okay - I digress. Here are some things I'd love as gifts.

Zahra Beauty Spinning Lipstick Tower - Classy White $99

12-Inch MacBook Gold - $ 1299.00 - $1,599.00

So lately I've been wanting nothing more than to be someone's teenage dream (tonight)! ;) Now that I've grown up I've really started to put together a legitimate collection of underwear/lingerie and I love it! I love having a matching bra and panty, I just think it makes you look and feel so much sexier, and since I'm visiting a special friend next month ;) I've been wishfully planning all the matching sets I would like to bring with me. Luckily I've made some really beautiful purchases over the past couple of months, but here are some more panties/bras I have been eyeing (all from Victoria's Secret).

Front-Close Demi Bra - $34.50

Strappy Lace Unlined Demi Bra - $58.00

Angels Air Demi Bra - $42.50

Dream Angels Demi Bra - $68.50

Ugg Classic Short Boot - $155.00

There aren't many beauty gifts on my wishlist this year, but these would make for beautiful gifts (that I would enjoy if someone were to purchase them for me):

NARS Steven Klein Colaboration One Shocking Moment Cheek Palette - $69

Sephora Favorites: Extend Your Style - $32

Sephora Favorites: Lash Stash - $45

Additional gift cards I would always love would have to include:

Brandy Melville
Free People
Sephora
MAC
Ricky's NY (Their new beauty shop has so much that I want to buy, that are more on the expensive side - I would love to get some cash to burn here! First, better make sure if the gift card applies to their new small beauty shop, since that's where I want to go)

That's about it guys, thanks so much for tuning in!