Gift Guide: $20 & Under

Here's a look at some of my gift picks I've put together that I've come across this holiday season at some of my favorite stores. All of these gifts are under $20 so don't worry about breaking the bank when looking for that perfect gift for a friend or family member. I also think making something unique from scratch like cookies, a hand painted dish, or homemade candle is a personal, cost efficient, and fun way to give a gift. Links for each present are listed below; browse each website for other affordable finds under $20!  

Follow your favorite gift here:

Volupsa Maison Candle
Forever 21 Shell Clutch
Daino Series iPhone Case

Godiva Truffle Set 

Wine Tote

Anthropologie Pocket Planner

Anthropoloige Measuring Spoons

Ticket Stub Diary

Double Glass Sphere Ornaments

H&M mittens

Sephora Makeup Bag

Mitten with Chocolate Pretzel Rods

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

When my sister and friends came down to visit for my birthday weekend, one of our good friends Jerica was in the mood for biscotti. I didn't have a chance to make any while she was here but I made a batch to take home before Thanksgiving. I found this Almond Biscotti recipe in Real Simple, added the dried cranberries to the batter, and dipped the ends in milk chocolate. They were delicious and had a good balance of sweetness with the fruit, nuts, and chocolate. The recipe was very easy to follow and I will probably try a different version closer to Christmas!

LBD

I love this take on a little black dress with long sleeves, a gold zipper, and delicate buttons at the wrists. I found this at H&M in the fall when they put out their winter collections. It's dressy enough for a holiday party or winter wedding, but simple enough for dinner and drinks. Paired with some red shoes - or sparkly shoes - it makes for the perfect winter dress. I have been searching for a pair of red mary janes pumps and finally found this Madden Girl pair at Burlington Coat Factory on Black Friday. I had this ensemble packed to wear for dinner on our trip to NYC (that was cancelled due to Shayne and I both being sick) but I'm sure I'll find good use for it on a chilly night out in December.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone has a great day with friends, family, coworkers - and wherever you're spending the day. I'm thankful for all the wonderful people in my life, great health, and a happy life. We're spending the evening at my uncle's house with all the traditional trimmings and Shayne is making a peanut butter chocolate cheesecake - can't wait! Our Friday will be followed with Black Friday shopping and then we're heading to NYC on Saturday (if this cold doesn't get worse) to celebrate my official birthday. So excited to relax and spend time with family.

 Elyse & I circa 1990

 The girls <3 Celebrating Mom and Dad's 30 year anniversary

 The best presents I have received in the past two years... a niece and nephew

Shayne and I 

Home Sweet Home

Shopping Wish List

One good thing about my birthday being around Thanksgiving is that I can spend part of it shopping my heart out on Black Friday. My list of "wants" is a mile long and I have lots of ideas for my niece and nephew, so I can't wait to get going. Although, some of my items will be put on hold until Monday. It's no shock to anyone that the online shopping market has grown increasingly more popular over the years which is why the Monday following Black Friday has turned into Cyber Monday.  If you'd rather stay at home in your PJ's to do shopping then fight the crowds and lack of parking spots Friday, this is probably your best bet. Shayne and I are saving our "electronic" wish list purchases for Monday, mostly because I'd rather sleep in then camp out at Best Buy at 2 AM on Friday, and whatever pieces I don't find Friday I'll search for as well. Just googling the new shopping day will set you up with sites that list the best deals and have plenty of online coupons to go around for everyone. Check out cybermonday2011.com for a list of deals! Is anyone else partaking in this new shopping day? Below are some list of items I'm keeping my eye out for - I can't list all of my presents or it would ruin the surprise for friends and family!

Wallet seen here

Image via google, TV seen here

Louboutins from here; affordable pair seen here

Tripod stand seen here on Amazon

 Stockings from Pottery Barn

 Bag seen here

Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

Ever since I was a little kid, tomato soup has been my go-to meal with a sandwich. Classic Campbell's or homemade from Dad, it was always my first pick. The weather has been going back and forth - and can't seem to decide what season it wants to be - and we had an extra cold kick a few weeks back so I decided to make a big pot of soup to keep in the fridge throughout the week. Since I love spicy foods I was searching for a new tomato soup recipe with an extra kick. My dad has a recipe that is strictly tomato soup with an extra bite using cayenne pepper, that I usually opt to make, but I wanted something a little different. I found this one from Betty Crocker that I knew right away would be perfect. Using fire roasted tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes made this soup taste smokey and spicy. Served with gruyere grilled cheese made it the best cold weather dinner I've had in awhile.

Spotting Fakes

Now, I'm not saying I'm totally innocent to the "fake" bag market; I'm embarrassingly admitting I have purchased numerous knock-off bags when I was in high school, but I wasn't exactly rolling in the dough to be able to go out and purchase a bunch of designer bags and shoes. Whether it was from flea markets, or visits to NYC, I definitely had my fair share before I knew the value of money. But, as I got older I realized there's more enjoyment in purchasing and maintaining a real one when you know you've worked hard for it or someone liked you enough to buy you a real one. It's also not the end of the world if you don't own anything designer. I've also found that I sometimes appreciate a well-made leather bag from Zara over an expensive designer piece - it all has to do with your style and what you prefer. With that being said, I thought I would write about spotting fakes, especially since Black Friday and the holidays are coming. 

This post inspiration came from a talk with my good friend Jessica who shared with me that there has been chaos around Saks and other big vendors being caught with fake Louboutins (those irresistible pumps with the fiercely red soles!).  Turns out people were buying real ones and then returning fakes ones - pretty sneaky! If you google the dilemma, you'll come across numerous sites, blogs or forums like this, this, and this that will tell you all about the scandals and where NOT to order the infamously fake pairs. The first video below is an example from a Saks customer who ordered a pair online and received fakes ones. The video isn't the best quality but she shows you how she knows they're fake. Since I'm not lucky enough to have a budget big enough to own a closet full of Louboutins, I added another video that helps you spot fake Coach bags! I think most of the time we can tell the real ones from the fake ones, and some of the signs in the video are really obvious, but some were definitely a new one to me! Keep your eyes peeled this holiday season, and even though those cheaper, fake purchases may be really tempting - remember you'll get more bang for your buck if you take that $40-$80 and buy a classic, well-made bag that fits your budget and upholds the test of time.

To Do List: Birthday Festivities

Every year I share my birthday weekend with the festivities of Thanksgiving so I never really to get have celebrations with all of my friends because we're all with our families. So, this year I decided to plan something the week before my birthday which means I will be busy celebrating this weekend. Originally, I hadn't thought about doing anything, but my sister Elyse and some of our friends will be in town so I decide to make a birthday weekend out of it. With that said, we'll be busy shopping, dancing, eating and celebrating! In preparation of being hostess, I thought I'd share some of things I would be getting myself into this weekend. In addition to all of our activities, I'm sure there will be a lot of picture taking. What do you all have planned for this weekend? Here is my to do list:

 # 1 Buy ingredients for this "Champagne Punch" by Martha Stewart. Definitely girly, fun & delicious

 #2 In addition for shopping for the perfect party dress, I want to find a new pair of booties -preferably with studs!

 #3 Make these mini crabcakes for appetizers

 #4 Order sushi from our favorite place in DC: Momiji's

#5 Manicures for all! Love this color combo of Essie's "Fiji" light pink with silver or hot pink glitter.

DIY Christmas Table

So I couldn't resist the Christmas temptation on Monday night while I was home alone and Shayne was at school. Any Scrooges - turn back now! As I mentioned in this post, we're going to do a silver & white tree theme so I wanted to match the rest of the house with those colors. We're the type of family that when you come up with little ideas like this, you should be prepared to be showered with "backup". My mom and sisters have already bought us enough ornaments and decorations to cover the tree, and to use for miscellaneous projects around the house. So, I figured the dining room table would help get some holiday fever out of my system. Here's a step-by-step look at how you can create your own table decorations without buying fancy centerpieces or spending a lot of money. In the first picture, I found this silver net material at Sam's Club in the Christmas decorations section, seen here in red. I'm not really sure what exactly you're supposed to use it for (the website says decorating and present wrapping) but I thought it was the perfect width for a table runner, and it was only 6 bucks for a large roll - I wasn't passing that up! Most of my ornaments were picked up by my Mom or sister at Walmart, Target, or other big department stores, and I always insist on checking Home Goods, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx because they always have hidden treasures in the home section.

 Layer runners with different widths to add dimension and different textures. I found this silky silver one at Marshall's for $10!

 Pick up miscellaneous boxes of ornaments. They don't have to be the best quality if you're using them for decorating

 Remember these? I placed them over my old place settings to keep a little bit of color

 These silver owl candles, from Marshall's, break up the Christmas theme but fit with the color scheme

 When you're ready for guests, tie ribbon around the dessert or wine glasses and add a name tag or festive saying for extra decoration

 My first "bird's eye" view.... missing something

 Add pops of color if it looks too bland. I wove red ribbon through my vintage cake stand

One antique mirror and some red ribbon later... Complete!

Weekend Dishes

We celebrated our friend Matt's birthday this past weekend, and Shayne and I decided to make two dishes for the celebration: lobster mac and cheese and mini pumpkin pies. We went through one round of these mini pumpkin pies before, so I decided to make them again for the party. Instead of using a mini muffin tin, I used a regular size muffin tin. Part of the original plan was to head out to eat as a group, but when the group size kept getting larger it was easier for us to all have dinner together at the host's house and bring dishes. One of the specialties of the place we were going to eat at is a lobster grilled cheese, so Shayne decided to make lobster mac and cheese instead. He followed this recipe here, and everyone loved it! We'll definitely be making it again for the holidays.

Use ready made pie crusts and roll the dough a little bit thinner to get more mini crusts out of the recipe!

A drinking glass helps cut the perfect size pie crusts for a muffin tin

I always use a little more pumpkin then the recipe calls for!

Finished Product! Top with melted chocolate!

Gruyere

Extra Sharp Cheddar

Onions, garlic, and shallots

Heavy Cream

Almost done! Place finished product in a casserole dish, top with bread crumbs, and bake in the oven until the top is crispy!