gifts – the Spiff

Beauty, gift ideas, gifts, mother's day, west town mall

Mother’s Day Gift Guide – Because She Birthed You

May 4, 2015 No Comments

Being on the cusp of full on motherhood, I’m excited to bring you this gift guide so we can all celebrate our mom’s together! And on a completely unrelated subject (and if my husband’s reading this) growing the child in your belly counts as being a mom so gifts are totally acceptable at this point in time ;)

If you’re stuck on what to get your mom and she hasn’t given you any hints, I like to take the, “what would make her feel pampered?” approach. Which is the question I used as inspiration to bring you these items.

Bring on a happy Mother’s Day with any of these great gifts all found at West Town Mall…

1. Godiva Chocolate: I don’t think this needs much explanation. It’s delicious.

2. Ugg Slippers from Dillard’s: If wearing these comfort clouds around the house isn’t enough of a luxury, thinking about going home and relaxing in them will help get her through a busy day.

3. Vera Bradley Travel Cosmetic Bag: Travel bags fall under the category of things you really need but don’t want to purchase for yourself. Give her this gorgeous one that’s lined inside so even if her makeup breaks it won’t be ruined.

4. Urban Decay Naked Eye Shadow: Pamper her with these gorgeous shades from Sephora (and throw one in the bag for yourself…I won’t tell).

5. Boscia Cleansing Kit: Giver her the gift of flawless skin with this Japanese cleansing system. It’s the least you can do to make up for that rebellious phase.

6. Chico’s Jewelry: I just couldn’t take my eyes off these tortoise shell pieces from Chico’s – they’re gorgeous! They’ll go with so many things, but especially pair well with your loving card :)

Also, be sure to bring her to West Town Mall Thursday night May 7th for a night of indulgence! I’ll be there giving away prizes and there will be a fashion show, but I figured I could stop with “I’ll be there.” ;)

christmas, gifts, west town mall

Gift Ideas for a Gift Exchange Party

December 16, 2014 2 Comments

I was going to call it a “White Elephant” party, but not everyone refers to it as such. So here are some ideas for those parties you go to when you’ve got to put your gift in a pile of others gifts, you draw a number and go around the room and pick gifts out of the pile with the ability to steal if you want to.

There. Just so you know what I’m talking about.

The fun thing about those parties is that sometimes you can go a little bit funny with the gift you buy. And who knows, some of this may actually come in handy for someone and they may have never bought it for themselves.

I did include one serious gift in this list, so you’re welcome.

Pitt Mitt from Mori’s Luggage and Gifts:

Beginning top right we’ve got the Ove Glove’s crazy cousin – Pitt Mitt. This guy is so wild he’ll throw himself into open barbeque’s just for some attention. But seriously this glove will allow the user to reach in and pick up something hot on the grill, which will come in handy in the summer months – which is exactly what you should yell out when the person opens their brand new Pitt Mitt!

Lunch Box from JCP:

Here’s the one serious gift. It’s a lunch box. It comes with two Tupperware – a word which I’m just now realizing is really hard to write the plural of without getting the red squiggly line. You can see it comes with dos. It’s cute, and the person who opens it may or may not have that, “Please someone steal this sucker” look on their face afterwards. But that’s the gamble you take when participating in this game.

Poo-Pourri from Mori’s:

Give the gift of an embarrassment-free bathroom trip this Christmas. This lovely bottle, if sprayed in the toilet bowl before “dropping the kids off at the pool”, will save the person you love most in life the embarrassment of leaving the bathroom smelly. Give this so that your number 1 can hide their number 2.

Go Girl from Mori’s:

Speaking of bathroom visits…you never know when you’re going to have to tinkle and you can’t because you’re suddenly in the middle of the woods. Thankfully, someone somewhere had this problem regularly and decided to do something about it. Thus came “Go Girl.” Give the special woman in your life, the gift of being able to pee standing up.

Sand’s Alive! from Mori’s:

Mori’s is a treasure trove of great gifts that are also fun and entertaining. Like this Sand’s Alive set. If there were to be an infomercial about this stuff it would definitely start off with adults playing in the sand box in their living room, in black and white, getting frustrated that the granules are getting everywhere. And that guy would come on and say, “Do you enjoy playing with sand, but hate the mess that it leaves throughout your house? UGH! Now you can enjoy the cool refreshing feeling of sand, without all the messy clean up, with Sand’s Alive!” If you haven’t felt this stuff, you need to. It’s sand that doesn’t come apart. Bend the brains of everyone at the party and throw this in the gift pile.

And hey, grab all of this stuff at West Town Mall!

Beauty, christmas, gift ideas, gifts, west town mall

Gift Guide for the Hardest Person on Your List (and it’s All Under $25)

December 8, 2014 No Comments

We can all admit to having at least one person on our list who we’re stumped about because we may not know them so well. Do they wear silver? Do they like candles? Do they wear underwear? Maybe we can’t answer any of these questions, but we can still get them a great gift and look like we spent a lot doing so.

I really like this list, and let me just say how incredibly distracting it can be tracking these items down online. I mean…I’m searching through websites of some great stores, it’s REALLY hard not to go on a rabbit trail of shopping. But I pushed through and did it just for you. And by the way, all of these items can be found at West Town Mall!

1. Vera Bradley ID Case – Everyone can use this at some point. It’s perfect for those instances where you need to carry a few things but don’t need a purse. Football games, intense shopping days – this will really come in handy and all you spent was $12.

2. Yankee Candle Travel Tin – Ok, this is pretty cool. It’s a tin that contains a scented oil that you release by pulling up the lid. Pull it up a little or a lot, the scent is supposed to last 4 weeks. This particular one smells like Christmas cookie, but they’ve got all kinds of scents and I just think it’s such a great idea. Buy several (they’re only $5.99!) so the person you’re giving them to can have everything they own smelling like a Christmas wonderland!

3. Kate Spade New York Sticky Note Set – I truly believe that great style means having cute things even if you’re the only one to see them. Give someone the gift of great style this Christmas with these glamorous sticky notes. They’re perfect for magazine surfing, or for making them look really good when leaving a note on someone’s desk. They’ll love you for that. And you’ll only be out $16. Dillard’s is where it’s at.

4. ShutterBall Remote for Smartphones – What’s everyone taking these days? Selfies. What’s going to help a person more easily take selfies? This remote. It comes with a stand so you can set up your phone and take a picture with this remote from up to 60 feet away. Any fashion blogger would love this. Any fashion blogger with a blog that rhymes with sha shmiff would absolutely love this. ;) Oh and hey, it’s only $19.95! Get it at Mori’s Luggage and Gifts.

5. Bliss Mistletoe Gems – The problem 10 out of 10 women face this time of year is dry hands and lips. So will you be spot on with the gift of these ultra-hydrating, antioxidant rich moisturizers. Visit Sephora, give them $15.00 and you’ll walk away with a sure thing.

6. Tarte Ladies Who Lash Limited Edition Picture Perfect Eyelash Curler Set – Can you remember the last time you bought an eyelash curler? Exactly. Give a glamorous one to someone else and throw in a mascara for the low low price of $23. You can also get this at Sephora.

7. Altar’d State Sign – So hopefully you know enough about this person to know if they have a dog or a cat. If you don’t, they’ve got a great selection of really happy signs that anyone with a pulse would love! This particular sign is only $12.

christmas, Fashion, gift ideas, gifts, stocking stuffers

Christmas Gift Idea

December 3, 2014 No Comments

When people say books/magazines/newspapers will one day be extinct, I want to take my pointer finger and poke them in the eye.

I’m considered a “millennial” and I’ve always enjoyed turning actual pages and even the smell (yes, the smell) of hand-held reading material. Can you smell your computer screen? No, it tickles your nose. I don’t know that because I just leaned in and tried it, I’m just taking an educated guess.

I love getting magazines in the mail and have been a faithful subscriber to a couple for years and years. I have a giant stack of magazines in my office to prove it (I’m singlehandedly trying to disprove that they’ll ever be extinct by hoarding them all up in my house). So I for one think a magazine subscription is a great gift idea!

It is literally the gift that keeps on giving. And what’s great for you, the gift giver, is that they’re fairly inexpensive. In fact, I bet if you’re gutsy enough you could call one and negotiate the price down since they really just love having subscribers.

Here are a few of my favorites…

Lucky

I’ve been getting Lucky for almost 10 years now (A-OH! ;) I feel in love with them back in the day because they featured real people wearing real clothes. Sure there was always a perfectly coifed celebrity on the cover, but inside were pages and pages of real outfit inspiration. For exactly 9 1/2 years now I’ve been picking up every issue just to jog the creative part of my brain, and it’s helped me produce countless outfits. Oh and one of their featured writers, Jean Godfrey-June, is basically my writing inspiration slash hero. If for no other reason, pick up a copy just to be whisked away by her brilliant writing.

InStyle

Another great thing about having a magazine subscription is you get introduced to products you may have never come across. Working in marketing, I love to pour over the ads and see what it is they’re selling me and whether or not I’m going to fall for it. And when I run out the door to Target to buy what it is I saw, I get a little smile on my face because they did their job well. I also have a big interest in celebrities, mostly to see what it is they’re wearing and how they’re wearing it. They’re getting styled by the best in the business, so why not get inspired by them, right? InStyle artfully combines fresh must-have products with celebrity fashion, in a way that doesn’t feel cheesy or pushy. It’s like having a well informed / well connected girlfriend send a giant book of notes to your mail box every month.

Food Network

No this isn’t fashion related, but we wear what we eat at some point, right? Ok, that’s a terrible way to look at it. I just love cooking and food and this mag is a great source of recipes and fun food facts that can increase your cooking know-how.

Magazines I’ve not been impressed with…

Glamour – I tried them for a while, but got choked on the political messaging they kept trying to shove down my throat. And too much women’s lib. Yeah I know we’re great, but so are boys.

Elle – I’ll pick up one of these every once in a while (I’ve got the one with Kristen Wiig on the cover because it’s Kristen Wiig…I’d pick up a discarded corn dog wrapper if she’s written on it. But for the most part this one is super high fashion. As in the crazy things they wear down the runway-kind of fashion.

If you’re looking to skip the tactile experience of a magazine, they’ll sometimes offer just the electronic experience for a lesser cost. Which if going all Jetson’s on your reading material is your thing, have at it. I’m going to be enjoying pages with my fingers and nose for as long as I want (honestly, that sounded better in my head).

gift ideas, gifts, style setter, valentine's day

A Fun Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

February 12, 2014 No Comments

So I did all that bragging on air last Tuesday about how the link to my segment would be posted and you could email it to your man.

Unfortunately, I never got a hold of that link. But the good news is I’ve listed out all the gifts I talked about on my latest Style Setter blog!

Instead of dropping hints and hoping that he’ll buy the right thing this year, why not pick something on this list and email it on over to him so there’s no question about it ;)

There’s even a few ideas on here for what you can get him!

Click here for some fun Valentine’s Day gift ideas!