What I got for Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! This time of the year is so special and I feel so very blessed to spend the holidays with my family and friends that are close by. Although, I do miss seeing everyone in my family; like my grandma, uncles and aunts, cousins, and nephews & nieces. I got so many great gifts from family and friends :) I got a chance to use them this week and each one is as awesome as the next. 

Our beautiful Christmas tree with all the trimmings and presents under it! 

 

Awesome Batman shirt from my lovely little sister. She knew that my old bats shirt received too much love and it was time for a new one. Mom and Dad got me a New Year's champagne glass sweater. I glanced at it at the store andI guess they saw my "oh I'd like that" smile and got it when I was looking around elsewhere. They know me so well. In the words of mah bestie, "It's a Star Wars kind of year." How did he know I needed a new Star Wars shirt, I don't know but he got it for me. The force is strong! :)

So, Funko Pop makes characters from movies and shows into adorable bobble heads/figures and I happen to have a few of them already. I foresee my collection growing but I will try not to get too carried away...who am I kidding. I have to have the Star Wars Pop collection. R2-D2 and BB8 for the win! Now, Chewie has a new friend, Poe Damaron, and a rather small TIE fighter from mah bestie.

So, my uncle asked me what I would like for Christmas and I said I really need a watch. He asked me some of my favorite watch brands and I did. The first one that popped into my head were the Daniel Wellington watches and then I said pretty much anything else that isn't too big, like Micheal Kors big.    Much to my surprise he went with the Daniel Wellington Sheffield watch with the black wristband. It's beautiful!

Stocking goodies included a dual bite lipstick set, scarlet and mulberry, and the Benefit Porefessional primer. I so wanted to give these try and now I can. Yahoo!

Chocolates are a must for the holiday season and I snagged this picture before sister and I ate everything. We have Lindt Lindor truffles from mah bestie :] and Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates from a coworker. (oh and I'm not bragging just very blessed and thankful)

Breakfast Meeting

Early meeting at work with breakfast and a gift exchange is ten times better than a professional development workshop. Just saying...

I took bacon, egg and cheese mini quiches. It was the first time I made them and I was so scared they wouldn't taste as good as they smelt. I used the recipe from another blogger : Mother on a Mission.
It was so delicious that I am making them again for the family :)

We had a great gift exchange! I had a great time looking for a gift for my friend. I received beautiful gifts from a coworker whom I don't see very often. I got a necklace with a heart charm and a pair of earrings, a very soft infinity scarf, and French Lavender & Honey body cream. It's been a little chilly in the morning so the scarf comes in handy. I wore the jewelry already and they were just my style. The cream was so lush that it became one of my favorites for the month of December.

Four days till Christmas!!!

Cookies!!

Cookie exchange at work and it was awesome!

I took the Snickerdoodles pictured here and below :)

Oatmeal raisin cookies brought in a lovely platter that changes with the seasons. What?!?! The Christmas tree can come out and you can put it a birthday cake, pumpkin, wedding cake etc. to make it fit any occasion. 

Beautifully decorated Gingerbread cookies!

The scrumptious chocolate dipped cookies were...scrumptious!

By the end of the cookie exchange all cookies were gone and half were eaten by lunchtime. At least mine were. I took the rest home and they were eaten up by the next morning. I am so participating next year! 

What are you doing to celebrate the holidays at work?

Also, five days till Christmas!!

Candles galore!

So, I might have a slight obsession with candles. Hehehe. I buy these candles every year from Bath and Body Works. I hope they don't retire any of them ever. 

Marshmallow Fireside~Fresh Balsam~Sweater Weather~Flannel

~Marshmallow Fireside has smells a little sweet but the woodsy smell tones it down some. I like to light this at night to give my room a sweetish aroma.

~Fresh Balsam is Christmas in a candle! It smells like a freshly cut Christmas tree with some eucalyptus. 

~Sweater Weather also has some eucalyptus but this blend adds some sage and juniper berry. This candle just asks you to get in your cozy PJ's and drink some warm hot chocolate while watching a movie.

~Flannel has a stronger aroma because of the mahogany, musk and bergamot (I don't know what that is but it smells good) This candle is rather fall-y but I like it even in the winter. 

Christmas Decorations

Slanted star = a curious tree

Christmas decorations are up and looking loooovely! 

I'll let the pictures tell you a story rather than me. Some of our decorations are old, new, handmade, and some bought but each one has a story to tell about a previous Christmas. 

Made by my Uncle

Light up village and people

Tree with an attitude ;)

Snowmen and kissing angels

Nativity given to me by my mom

Pinterest idea for holiday cards

We might have a slight snowman obsession haha :D

Post Goble Goble

Turkey day was fantastic! When the rest of the family arrived, which was late. Our hunger beat the camera. No picture of Dad or Grandpa carving the turkey at the table. No instagram-y "look at my plate of food" picture. None. We just ate it all!

It's Black Friday! The day where many great deals appear before our eyes and we impulse buy because "it's on super sale and I just might need that." I'm pretty sure we've all fallen victim to our shopper self think that phrase above. I know I have, but this year I stayed away from the stores. Most of the sales were online anyway and some were better than in store sales. Besides I'd much rather shop at the comfort of my own home, in my Pjs, and a warm cup of coffee to sip on.

Temptation to put more things in your cart is possible but thank goodness for that remove button or the error message when we mistype our card number. It has saved me a few times from buying things that I just don't need but needed to make it to the free shipping minimum. I had to figure out if the item was truly worth it or not. If it wasn't then I removed it but if it was there had to be a very good reason. Many stores include shipping because they figured you wouldn't just buy a sweater for your brother or a scarf for your best friend. Although the deals were pretty spot on in some stores I stuck with good ol' trusty Amazon. I finished my Christmas shopping and stayed under budget, way under budget. Go me! I did some shopping at Nordstrom too; spoiling the family a bit and myself.

Continuously thankful for each and every one of my blessings!
Hope you guys had a great shopping experience in store, at home or both :)