Getting My Life Together

I love to give gifts as you can probably tell from my gift guide.  Well, as a blogger, my favorite gift to receive  is the gift of organization.   A planner.   I did a lot of planner shopping last year before I decided on my Plum Paper Designs planner.  I looked at Whitney English's Day Designer, I bought one from Target, and I drooled over some Erin Condern for a while.  When my friend Heather told me about Plum Paper around this same time last year, I looked up their shop on Etsy and I was hooked and I knew that was exactly what I wanted.     You can choose from 3 different organizers and tons of personalized covers. Each one comes with plastic protector sheets over the front and back covers, 12 months, note pages, full calendars, a holiday page, and tabs for each month.  You can get them personalized, purchase a monthly budget tracker, a meal planner, a student planner, basically anything you could possibly need.   I used mine to plan my studying, classes, work schedule, and my blogging.  I chose to get the format where the days are separated by Morning, Afternoon, and Evening.  It worked really well and really helped me keep track of my life.    Having a planner is really important to me.  I tried to manage my time using my phone, but it simply did not work for me.  This planner was the answer to all my organizational issues.  Sometimes I even have to pencil in my adorable boyfriend to makes sure I've got time for him...   As a lovely Christmas treat Plum Paper has given me a 10% off coupon code to share with you. Use code CHALK10 at check out ot recieve your 10% off.

Gift Giving Queen

Recently, I became the queen of gift giving.  I don't know how it happened, but all of a sudden, I just figured out how to give a gift that people really love. It's a pretty useful skill, if you ask me.    Today I've decicded to share this gift with you and provide you with a handy dandy gift guide ranging from gifts for you little sister to gifts for your significant other. I hope that my idea might help you all in your Christmas Shopping endeavors.  

For the women in your life.

Origami Owl Living Lockets.

I gave one to all the women in my family after I won a locket in a blogger giveaway.  They were a huge hit and fairly inexpensive. Totally worth it! $$

  Little Seasons Watercolors. This particular one is Shannon's from The Hallway.  Her sister-in-law does the portraits and they would be an amazing gift for a newly wed, a momma or really anyone! check out her site to see what she can do for you. $$   For the Men in your life. ManCrates are an amazing idea.  They are premade gifts that have "manly" products inside.  You can get whiskey glasses personalized and they come with things like pistachios and spherical ice-molds. The photo above is the Hickory Grilling Crate  $$$   The Dollar Shave Club  This could work for a man or a woman! Sign someone up for The Dollar Shave club.  Inexpensive razors ship directly to your home! They even have other products that have great reviews like their Shave Butter if you'd rather get something a little simpler.  After further investigation, I also found these great gift cards that you could give to your friends and family! Such a thoughtful gift that anyone could enjoy. $   Hobby/Lifestyle Gifts This is more of a tip than a particular item.  I like to pay attention to the little things that Travis says and shows me so that I can surprise him with little presents.  For example, he's pretty into aviation, so I got him this little patch thing having to do with it.  I'm also thinking about getting him these coaster that have the "six pack" (basically gauges for pilots) on them. That sort of stuff.  I shop at stores like the Army Navy Surplus Store for my dad and uncles! $/$$/$$$   As for the sisters/cousins/bestfriends in your life.   The Gunnysack has a bunch of great ideas for gifts in a jar! She even has printables to make it easy for you to creat the jars.  (photo was borrowed from her page with permission Along with this, she also has a few additional ideas for jar gifts.  They're simple and you can make them as personal as you'd like creating the perfect jar for whoever you'd like.  These could double as neighbor gifts as well! $/$$     Well, that's all I've got for you today! I may do another one of these later this week after I'm finished with all my Christmas shopping, but I'm pretty positive my family will peak...And I'm not about to let them know what I got for their Christmas gifts. I'm way too into surprises!   Merry Christmas and Happy Shopping!

The Realization that Christmas Cards are Not Lame

The topic of discussion today is Christmas Cards.  I've never sent one out before. Not even with my family.  In fact, prior to this year, I kind of thought that Christmas Cards were kind of silly.    To me it was like you were saying "Hey, look at how cute we are!"  And there was really no other point to them.  However, as I've gotten older I've seen how important it is to have pictures and fun memorabilia.  I also think it's kind of cool to see how families have grown or changed over the years.  We always enjoyed receiving Christmas Cards and sticking them around the door frame each year.   So, Travis and I are going to send out a Christmas Card.   I shopped a few designers such as the amazing Jess Kastler Design Studio, and other awesome stationary sites mostly via Etsy.  They were all so beautiful and I really wanted to use them, but then I remember that I'm in college and both Travis and I are living on little to zero income.  So...I started looking into some awesome DIY options.    Walmart has a really easy-to-use site where you can use their pre-loaded cards, add your own photo and they look really nice and they're $0.28 a print.  Super easy and very inexpensive for the poor and starving college student like me. 

   Now, the only thing I don't like about the Walmart option is that the cards are all done for you.  I'm a little bit more creative and I'd rather not have a card that someone else could have as well.  So instead of using Walmart.com I used Picmonkey to create a card. 

Now that the card is done, all I have to do is load it onto my flash drive, take it to Walmart and print it out on awesome glossy photo paper, stick em in some envelopes, and send them out to our closest friends and family.       I've also considered scrapbooking a few cards that are all unique with adorable hand-written notes in them...but I'm not sure that I'm that crafty.  We'll see! I'm excited to send out our card this year and I promise, I'll never make fun of family Christmas cards again.   

Are you sending out a Christmas Card?  Did you make it yourself?  Did you have an awesome designer create you a master piece?

A Different Situation

December 1st.     Today is my blog's birthday!

What? I cannot believe that a year has gone by since I created this new blog and turned over a new leaf for my life.. A lot has changed in 12 months...12 months ago today, I wrote this post.  I let you know that I'm that girl.  For the most part I still am.  But I think a few things have changed.  Okay...a lot of things have changed.  At this time last year, I was leaving school because I was broke and I was pretty sad about it.  I'd just quit the first job I'd ever had and I was feeling somewhat defeated.   Today I'm back at that job that I quit (it's still boring, but I have a new perspective...a job is a job is a job).  I am enrolled for next semester and I'm finally going to be able to take advantage of some of the tuition assistance the Army has to offer.  I'm in an amazing relationship with a man who respects me, has ambitious goals, and wants me to have my dreams as well.  And I'm not living at home! I hate the dorms, but it's a place to live and I don't have to worry too much about things like rent and groceries...so that's pretty alright I guess.     Overall, this past year of blogging (and honestly not being very consistent at it...) has been pretty great.  This "new" blog has been a great thing and I'm excited to see it grow and get ever better as time passes.   In store for the next few weeks?   1. New blog design 2. New Guest Posters 3. Basically a whole new blog concept.    I've been working really hard on a bunch of new posts and new stuff for the next year.  I hope that you'll enjoy!

Fashionably Surviving the Cold

It's cold in Las Vegas.   I hate to say those words so much.  I knew it was going to happen.  I knew that eventually, the cold would nip at my nose and would wish I had on a scarf.  And yet...I am still surprised that the cold has come.   Don't get me wrong, I love the boots, hats, and scaves just much as the next basic b*tch....But man, why does it have to be in the 40s?!  Las Vegas is supposed to be warm.  Yesterday morning when I left for work, the grass had frost on it.  FROST!  Later this week I'm going up to Salt Lake...I'm afraid to see what the weather is like up there, to be honest.   In light of the recent shift in the weather, I've put together a few of my favorite cold weather outfits.  It gets boring to always wear jeans just because it's cold out, so a couple years ago, I embraced the cold and thought of some ways to keep dressing cute and not freezing my bum off.
I learned to add tights, scarves, and hats to keep the cold away,  It also helps to wear dresses and jackets made from quality materials.     Recently, I was lucky enough to recieve a product from eShakti.    I don't know if you know this about me...but I'm kind of in love with 50s inspired fashion, and that is exactly what the eShakti store provides.  Not only that, you can get everything custom sized.  You can change the length, neck lines, and decide whether or not it has pockets.  Honestly, I should have gotten one that was a little smaller.  But you live and you learn!     Even if you aren't all that into 50s inspired style, there are plenty of options that look very modern and tasteful.  I'm in love and I can't wait to order my next dress.  

You can use the coupon code chalkituptobetterluckto get 10% OFF when you shop eShakti valid from 11/18/2014 – 12/18/2014 

Get a head start on that Christmas Dress shopping and head over to eShakti right now!

Hot Chocolate and Bubbly Bartenders

Last night there was a meteor shower!  Trav and I had plans to go to a museum last night, but shortly after discovering there was a meteor shower, plans changed.  We decided to take a drive up Mount Charleston and watch meteors from the bed of his truck. 

We knew that it was going to be cold.  But oh man...it was cold.  On the way up the mountain, we stopped in at the little lodge up Kyle Canyon.  It's a cute little place with a little pound out front that was nearly frozen over... We decided to go into the bar and hang out for a little bit before we braved the freezing cold out there.  

We ate some delicious chili and hot chocolate, Trav had a few drink, and we chatted with the bubbly bartenders.  We cuddled up next to the fire for a little bit.  On a relatively unrelated note, I also sat down at the piano and showed Trav that I have a random hidden talent and can poorly play the piano. 

Eventually, we sucked it up and headed out into the cold.  We drove down the road to Lee Canyon and pulled over at Robber's Roost.  It's amazing how we were less than an hour from the city and yet it was like we could see every star in the sky. 

As you can see, we were wearing basically all the cold weather clothes that we had, but the cold definitely found its way into our little cuddled up bundle.  Neither of us really had clothes for the cold...we moved to Vegas in the Summer! We thought of a few things that may have made it a little warmer a little too late, but we still had a great time out there.  It is truly so incredible to stare up at the vastness of outer-space and just...think about how freaking big it is.  We talked about how we feel so small and insignificant...and we talked about how we have to create our own significance...That we have to make our dash count for us...because the universe is indifferent. 

We obviously think a little too much.  But that was my Monday night with my man...I think I might be spoiled. 

We're Breakfast People

My little California Vacation, although it was prompted by a very sad thing, was actually kind of fun.  It was pretty great getting to see the place that Travis grew up. He took me out to breakfast at the Swing Inn in Old Town. Old Town is a really cool area with all kinds of different restaurants and neat buildings.  Even better, the Swing Inn is a place that Trav and his family used to go when he and his brother were kids.  It was perfect too.  Because we're Breakfast People
 
This is us outside of the restaurant.  Unfortunately, we always take picutres selfie style, so you can never actually see what fun adventure we're on.  Good thing I told you, huh?

Also, I got to give Travis a gift I have been dying to give him.  When my family visited two weeks ago, my dad brought down the holster that he made for Trav.  He totally knew he was going to get it.  That sort of made me sad, I love surprises. But he was definitely not disappointed.

 

While we were there we went out to dinner and spent some much-needed time out together.  It's hard when you're stuck in all that grief.  It was nice to get out and just be silly for a little bit. We're drinking a milkshake at Red Robin.  It was supposed to have alcohol in it, but I saw how much baileys she put in it...so much for an "Adult" shake... :P

 

We decided to take advantage of our nice clothes and took a few pictures together.  I don't know if you can see it on my face, but oh man...I'm so in love. I know I loved being single, but I love being loved more.  I guess I was just waiting around for the right one to come along...and here he is. All perfect in his Ray Bans and tie that he had to YouTube to tie...And even then it was all wrong. Don't tell him, but I think he's kind of got a hold on me..

And just for fun...While we were doing some work getting things cleaned out and business taken care of, we found all kinds of Trav's old stuff.  Sports jerseys, baby clothes, picutres, and this gold right here.  This is his Indiana Jones hat from Disneyland and his boyscout uniform from when he was 9.  If you have liked my page on facebook you may have already seen this gem.

 

Yeah...I fit into a 9 year old boy's shirt.  A little sad and a little happy at the same time. Kind of like the entire time I was there...It's hard.  We're working through it all, but it's hard.  I'm just glad that we got to spend a lot of time together and I was able to go down there and be able to stand by Trav's side while he goes through this incredibly hard thing. He's kind o fmy hero right now...I suppose it just takes time.

 

How was your weekend? Do anything fun?