Everyday should be a spiffy day!
We’ve got a tiny tot making our Christmas merry and bright this year!
I’m going to take some time off from the blog to enjoy the season with those guys and all the other cousins that were born into our family this year!
You all have the merriest Christmas and the happiest New Year.
:)
The reason for the sporadic posting this week, is due to the fact that I’ve still got a Christmas gift list with items that haven’t been crossed out. It seems every time I go out to shop, the entire town decides to accompany me and getting any where is slowed to a crawl.
Last night, I missed buying three gifts by a matter of seconds as the couple who made it to the product table before I did grabbed the last of what I needed. Oh well.
There’s no good reason to get upset about it, everything will get done. And sitting in traffic just allows me to enjoy the Christmas lights and songs on the radio longer. Since I didn’t shop as long as planned last night, I did come home and wrap what I do have done. Never in the history of ever has their been wrapped presents under my tree before Christmas Eve, so I’m enjoying the juice out of that!
If you’ve still got shopping to do, if you have someone on your list you still don’t have ideas for (raises hand – I’ve got one of those), or if you’re done and already wondering how to spend those impending gift cards, take a look at the gifts I’ve scoured West Town Mall for…
Formula X Nail Kit from Sephora
Williams Sonoma Kitchen Essentials Kit
The Art of Shaving Peppermint Shaving Cream
When you work from home with a dog and baby, you get a total of 50 minutes (per day) where no one is making noise.
I’m basking in a lull of silence as I type this.
Jackson is four months now. He’s laughing, holding his head up really well, saying words like “succotash” and “ironic” in the full sentences he’s screaming out. We’re so proud.
*He did roll over for the first time this week! :-D
We took him to his first tree lighting this past Friday. Events like those are a funny mix of emotions. On the one hand I’m so excited that he’s there to share in the joy of something I love so much. On the other hand, I’m wishing he could give me some kind of jubilant reaction (unless you count eating, sleeping, pooping as jubilant reactions…we got nothing). And on the third hand, I’m trying to stay thankful that he’s not at the stage where we’re having to chase him down, constantly keeping an eye on him.
It goes back to what I’ve been reminding myself of all along – enjoy every stage. I don’t want to rush through anything too quickly and look back on little moments wishing I had been present.
Especially now that we’re in the holidays, I want to enjoy every minute.
I’ve got Christmas decorations in boxes strewn about my living room. At first, it was really bothering me. We’ve got to walk around them when we get in the door…it’s a constant reminder of all I have to do. But then I thought of when we were first married and I was still in college. I had to stay up super late in the beginning of December to study for finals. After they were finished, I took a whole day to clean and decorate the house.
I look back on that now, thankful I don’t have to study for finals and it makes me look at those boxes in the living room and realize – it’s going to get done. Just enjoy it along the way.
Just wanted to remind you of that today and every day. Seriously, every day you should get on here and read this. Or other posts I’ve written, I’m not picky. Just do it every day.
PS: The silence I was enjoying was broken about half-way through writing this post. ;)
Today I wanted to provide a moment. A moment to pause.
Next week (if not already) the holiday rush will begin. I’ve already thought several times about everything I want to get done before Thanksgiving. But right after that thought starts the panic that I’m not enjoying the last week of fall.
So I needed a moment to pause, and I figured you did too.
This is a picture I took in my favorite place to walk. I love going on walks because they force you to just slow down, enjoy the moment and think. If you don’t have time for a walk, enjoy this picture for a second.
Notice all the pretty leaves, especially that gorgeous red tree in the background. Think of the fun things you’ve done in the past month, your favorite moments, things you’re thankful for. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
One thing I’ve tried to do since giving birth (and especially in this, my favorite time of year) is take moments to just think about how much I’m enjoying everything. And it helps! I can look back on all those times I’ve paused and it feels as if time isn’t flying by me as much.
Listen, my goal with this blog isn’t just to help you put outfits together. My hope is that you always walk away with a little more swagger in your step because TheSpiff has made you feel happier, more uplifted. And yes, in my mind you finish the blog then immediately walk away from your computer.
I hope that today I’ve handed you the chance to enjoy the season! The holidays are about to begin and they’re going to be wonderful, you’ll get everything done. Just enjoy yourself.
Don’t hate me, start a social media campaign against me, black list me or boycott me because I’m talking about Christmas before the turkey’s even in the oven. In order to plan for anything you’ve got to start early. So that’s what we’re doing.
My husband already has the list of what he wants for Christmas ready to go. Me? Well it typically takes weeks of thought, reading reviews, tracking down the cheapest option, looking at it in the store, consulting four other people and then I put out a list, after which I fret over whether or not I’ve asked for everything I need.
And when it comes to buying gifts for people? It usually ends up being something we cram into one day. And each and every year I think it’s going to be some magical experience where my husband and I hold hands and skip through store isles, when really it’s more like a cranky, mad-house mess where we’re silent 90% of the time because someone pissed the other off.
Let’s avoid all of that, shall we?
Every year I make tweaks to my process to try and make it easier on myself for both making a list and buying for others. So here’s my list of tweaks…
Write down the list of people you have to buy for, and just make a point to get something for someone every time you’re at a store starting this week. That will give you a good chance of getting almost everything on sale, because if you spread the buying out you won’t be forced into a corner and have to pay full price because you’re out of time.
Then make another list on your phone of things you realize you need/want but don’t want to buy yourself. That way you’ll avoid that blank emptiness that fills your brain the second you sit down to make a list.
If you’ve got people on your list you don’t know very well, I say buy a little basket and get them a little variety of things they could use in their house, on their face. Places like Bath and Body are always running sales on multiple soaps – which are always good to have on hand for last minute gifts as well. And Sephora starts putting out great Christmas gift collections right now that you could always buy and break up into multiple gifts.
As for yourself, make it so that your list covers a range of things you need. If you only put makeup on there, chances are the guys that are buying for you aren’t going to want to step foot in a makeup store, so maybe add some house items as well.
Gifster is a great app for gift-giving. It allows you to add links, share with others and even “reserve” a gift so that the other people using it know that gift is being purchased. The person who made the list can’t see something’s reserved, though so don’t be like my husband and try to figure it all out before Christmas.
And finally, always keep an eye on TheSpiff.com because I’ll be featuring great gift ideas for both men and women all throughout the coming months.
Do you have any gift giving/list making ideas that you use every year? If you do, share them below because I’m always looking for ways to tweak my process!!