Christmas Haul

Christmas in my family is usually reserved for kids. I love seeing them open their gifts with wide eyes and excitement!

One reaction that was quite humorous was my little niece `s reaction. You see she just turned three and is quite different from every little girl I know! One of her favourite toys is a dinosaur she bought at the dollar store that "bites" at people. Recently it was broken so I bought a new one for her and put it on a box of candy to throw her off and scare the hell out of her mother. (LOL! She`s quite the candy monster!)

 So when she opened it her mother filled with disappointment and a horrified look turned to me with with disbelief "Really?!" ... priceless! I signal for her to let her open the box and when the box was opened Tay squeaks "Monster!".

Renews the faith for mothers that a dollar store toy would bring such joy!

But aside from this funny story I would have to say this Santa was good to me this year!

 From a favourite cousin-in-law who never forgets me every year! I got a pretty Pandora-style  bracelet.

From my aunt/godmother I got a a simple and classic bone bangle (LOVE) and a pair of dangle earrings from Ten Thousand Villages with a special piece of valuable paper inside (*wink*). After looking up this company I realized this awesome company with unique products.

"Ten Thousand Villages is the oldest and largest Fair Trade organization in North America, selling artisan-crafted personal accessories, home decor and gift items from around the globe. 

Ten Thousand Villages creates opportunities for artisans in developing countries to earn income by bringing their products and stories to our markets through long-term, fair trading relationships."

So check out their website and support socially responsible merchants: http://www.tenthousandvillages.ca

From my other aunt another delicately wrapped special piece of valuable paper made out in my name (*wink*). Which was very much appreciated.


From a bud of mine I got an at home Shellac Kit! Which I LOVE ... Seeing as my nails are thin and never grow long before breaking.
She bought me this set and also bought the LED Light just like in the salon! This kit is amazing mainly for the fact there is no drying time once your done!

Already ran out and got a sparkly rose gold, a dark wine purple, and a pale pink.

  LOVE IT!

From my Boyfriend's family I got a gorgeous pair of Leaf inspired earrings and a really cool Gold Art Deco cuff with black stones.

They tricked me by strategically putting them in a Men's Back Waxing kit. Which was quite Hilarious!

Thanks Girls! Hope you liked your gifts as much as I did!

My Father and Uncle as the amazing gift givers they are also contributed to the much needed Boxing Day Shopping Fund!

Also got a TopShop Gift Card from a Gift Exchange to add to my other Topshop Gift Card from CityLine.

A Tim Horton's Gift Card From my oldest sister and her 2 boys.

From my older niece this year she bought gifts with her own money. (so sweet!)

She got us sister this Cadbury Caramik Fondue set that my little sister whisked of into her room and I have yet to see it!

Her mother, my second oldest sister, got me a Night out to movies including popcorn and drinks.


My third oldest sister was on the same wave length and also got me a Night out to movies including popcorn and drinks and a book (seeing as she works at Indigo!).

Fitting as I'm a really shoe Fanatic so this was interesting.

My little sister cashed in her "I'm a Starving Student" Card in for the last time!

My other friend got me a Bon Appetite Gift Card.

My Boyfriend got the following leather Rabeano bags for me!

He also gave me a special gift I'm not gonna mention but I really appreciated him being there when I needed him!

Overall.... Great Christmas!

Boxing Day Scores!

So I haven't written much due to the extensive shopping I've been doing!

On Boxing day, due to my insomnia I went on over to Walmart at 5:45 AM in the morning! Unlike the many in line I was not looking to score the 32" RCA TVs ($198) or even the Blackberry 64GB Playbooks ($168) but was in line for the holiday sets!

Seeing as I usually pay $10-$15 dollars for Neutrogena/Olay/Aveeno products I take advantage during the holidays when the sets come out. For less than the price you'd pay for a single item in these sets you get 2 other products! I  filled up my cart and  declared to many jealous late shoppers and the cashier who asked me about the contents of my cart, I got the large 3 pcs sets for $7.50 and 2 pcs sets for $4.50! I also picked up some wrapping paper (TIP: Try and get things that are not so "Christmasy" so you can use them for other purposes! I got 2 rolls of pink,green,white polka dot paper), chocolate and other seasonal items that went on sale for 50% off.

I then headed over to Canadian Tire and was disappointed by the lack of sales, but did get some Debbie Travis pretty red plaid paper (Not on sale!) and a gift wrapping storage. I love wrapping and have a lot of paper and was using an old TV box! I have a theme every year with my wrapping paper this year my theme was black and white snowflakes with accents of metallic blue/purple and green. I think next year it will be plaid and gold, although I do have some leopard print paper I can throw into the mix!


There were also so many deals online! I haven't been doing much shopping for clothing, accessories, etc. in stores due to my avid  online shopping addiction! Forever21 had free shipping with no minimum and there were other great deals on futureshop.ca, bestbuy.ca and source.ca.

Gift Ideas!

So I just have to say I'm a great gift giver! I love finding the ideal gift for the ideal person. Here are some great things I got for my loved ones!

THE TECHIE

It's so hard understanding this type because unless you're willing to spend a ton or are technologically savvy getting a gift for this type would having you running to get a gift card for the closest electronic store!

But needless to say I found this cool gift for one of my buddies! (But make sure to ensure the connection is compatible if they have a laptop make sure it is a USB connection)

Another Cool gift is for the little boy in all of the techies is this Transformer Style USB Key. Come on! Who wouldn't want to play with this!

THE TWEEN-AGE GIRL

Got this for 2 Tweens in my life and they LOVE them and I personally love them too! I'm so sad that Gwen Stefani stopped putting this adorable perfume out so if you find them buy them up! Due to them being discontinued you can probably find them well priced. 

There are a couple lines  The Original,  Sunshine Cuties, Snow Bunnies and Wicked Style. There are also hard to find collector items like Super G, Jingle G and the hardest one is the Mermaid which has such a beautiful rendition of Gwen Stefani as a long-haired mermaid.

I got my niece collecting them so every Birthday/Christmas etc. I give her one! So Pretty!

BOYS, BOYS, BOYS!

Some really cool gifts for boys depend on their interest. As with most Tween/Teenage boy all of them are obsessed with electronics! So for the obvious I- Devices Mattel released these cool toys! They interact with your tablet! So cool!

If you have a stylish boy on your hands his lusted for Running Shoes would be a good bet or if you don't know what the latest gotta have shoes are stick with the classics Nike Air Forces 1, Converse Chuck Taylors  or Adidas Shell Toes.

THE FASHIONISTA

This is a hardest one, because unless you know people's style this is close to impossible and if you attempt you better have a gift receipt!  I got one of my best buds a pair of Marc Jacobs Sunglasses she LOVED!

Stick to accessories! Some cute scarves, cute bracelets, silver earrings studs or hoops are always great staple any girl needs.

This is one instant I feel a gift card might be the best solution but be creative get a cute wallet or wristlet  to put it in (If you ever go to the coach outlet in Niagara stock up on these! They are  great gift to any female!) or wrap it in a cute storage box... after all we need somewhere to keep our treasures!

Five On Bayview

Zara Fall/Winter 2012

The last couple years Zara's previous lines have been dare I say disappointing. But went into Zara this week and I would have to say, I really liked the Fall/Winter 2012 line!

The typical fall line with it's knits, tweeds, and wool coats was sprinkled with leather, chains, skulls, sequence and studs. Now while these elements overdone might read a little young and rebellious Zara as it always does follows trends  while not losing any of it's sophistication.

As they always do, Zara had some great Shoes! The reason I love getting shoes here is because they are  made extremely well as most European shoes are, and the majority of them are usually made of gorgeous leathers and suede. Anyone who knows me knows I love them sky high heels. When you're vertically challenged like myself every inch helps!

Od Navy Holiday Haul

I was leaving Eaton Centre and relized I needed a pair of tights so I dropped by Old Navy. I go to the clearance section and am pleasently sprise that there is 30% off clerance price. I ended up picking quite a few things!

Notable deals:
Colored Rockstar Stretch Skinny Jeans (only selected colors) $9.99 - 30% = $6.99
Colored Rockstar Stretch Skinny Cords (only selected colors) $13.99 - 30% = $9.79
Men's arm-rolled button down Shirt  $8.99 - 30% = $6.29



With all the great deals, me and my sister returned to get some Christmas Shopping done! Not gonna put prices up just in case... don't wanna bait it out! LOL ... just know there was some great deals!