{Holiday Gift Guide: Foodie Picks}

1 Williams-Sonoma Famous Hot Chocolate | 2 Le Creuset Cookware (I would love one of these) |  3 Port Wine Salted Caramel Sauce | 4 Vintage Tin Cake Pan | 5 Jonathon Adler Whale Butter Dish |  6 Silicone Rolling Pin (prevents your dough from sticking) | 7 Sugar Bowl (super cute, right?)

{Holiday Gift Guide: Gadgets}

Today's guide is full of hand-picked items for those of you (like me) that love your gadgets. I purchased number 1 below on Sunday and am already so in love with it - I highly recommend that you invest in this gadget. Number 4 is on my Christmas list - and I have a feeling that Santa will be granting that wish. I'm looking forward to making some homemade (figure friendly) ice cream. What gadgets are you currently loving these days?

1 Clarisonic Cleaning System | 2 Nikon 1 Camera | 3 Toothpaste wringer (don't you love this?) | 4 Homemade ice cream maker | 5 Ceylon Pitcher | 6 Steamer (I need a new one of these) | 7 iPhone old school adapter

{2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Stylish Girl}

Today kicks off a week full of my holiday gift guides. Similar to last year, I've rounded up some of my favorite gifts to give and receive, all at a variety of price points. Here's the first installment, all of which are personally selected for the stylish and girly girls out there. 

1 Cashmere sweater | 2 Gadget gloves | 3 My favorite - Chanel Mademoiselle Perfume | 4 Madewell polka dot undies | 5 Sephora perfume sampler and a voucher to receive 1 full size bottle of your choice | 6 Freakin fantastic booties | 7 Top shop neck scarf | 8 Gold and blush earrings | 9 Knit and fur hat

{TGIF Peeps}

Check out some of the links that I've been lovin' on this week:

- My very talented photographer friend is giving away a free session - click here to enter and please be sure to spread the word!

- Fried Egg with Avocado, Tzatiki & Feta - doesn't this look amazing?

- Anthology is usually a print magazine but they switched things up and came out with a special digital winter issue. It is choc full of really good ideas and projects. Check out the Winter issue right here. If you would like to subscribe (makes a great gift - hint hint!) go here.

- Furbish is having their Holler-Day Open House tomorrow at 10am. Click here for a 15% off coupon code.

- My new mirror mantra - word.

- I'm not much of a baker (I can bake, don't get me wrong) I just don't eat much sugar (mostly because once I start, I can't stop) but I will be making these for the holiday. Peanut butter + Nutella - you can't go wrong.

- Finally, have you heard of the Clarisonic cleaning systems? Neither had I, until my good friend Ros showed it to me during one of our shopping trips. After hearing her sales pitch and reading all of the ooo and ahhh reviews, I will be purchasing one this weekend. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to read all of the reviews - I'll bet you'll be getting one soon as well!

Enjoy your weekend Peeps!

{It's More Than Just Receiving}

While my family wasn't wealthy, I realize that I was very lucky when I was growing up. I had a stable family life with parents who supported me and my sisters, financially and emotionally. There was food on the table {and we always ate together}, we never wanted for anything, we had lots of toys, nice clothes, we were encouraged to do well in school because "the key to an education is to train the will and the mind to do the right thing at the right time" {my mother recited this to us all the time}, and we were taught that it was important to be involved and give back to the community -  poverty was not a part of our lives or the lives of anyone we knew. But the truth is, most people aren't nearly that fortunate. As we go into this holiday season, I thought that it was important to talk about how we can give back to those who are less fortunate. Below are a few simple ways to how we can make a stranger smile and know that someone out there cares...