The Classy Woman

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families and/or friends. We sure did! We celebrated our very first Thanksgiving with baby Lily as a group of 12 over at my in-laws' home, we had such a nice time catching up with everyone. I made these fabulous roasted garlic mashed potatoes which were a huge hit and I can't wait to make them again.  Today is a long awaited shopping day for many as well as the next few days. While we don't venture out by car on this busy day to scope out deals, I love to curl up with some hot apple cider and visit my favorite shops online. I hit the jackpot today with these 3 items from the 75% off Kate Spade Black Friday sale which ends tomorrow. I searched high and low for that Ooh La La bangle and it's been sold out for nearly a year as was the iPhone 4 case (because I'm not upgrading my phone anytime soon). I was over the moon to have found both. The bow coin purse was just the icing on top! My shopping budget was $100...

Over the years when trying to shop for a hard-to-buy for person, I've found that photo gifts seem to be a hit. Anything personalized, monogrammed or that reminds someone of really wonderful memories is a winner. Photo books have a way of telling a story, they make for a beautiful accent for anyone's coffee table also. Out of all of the companies I've come across, blurb seems to provide the most polished looking final product. As the leading indie and self-publishing platform,   Blurb   has an entire online bookstore full of unique books by an incredible array of undiscovered, self-published authors, artists, and photographers. And while these books probably aren’t in your recipient’s bookshelf, many of them should be. So, if you’re thinking of giving unique gifts this year, consider these titles below. Each costs around $40 USD or less: Cookie Cravings by Maria Lichty and Heidi Larsen We all have cookie cravings. Popular food blogger Maria Lichter decided to put them into s...

Every year around this time (and sometimes a few months earlier if I'm really organized) I begin making a list and thinking about what I want to either make or purchase for each person on my Christmas gift list. I'm a big believer in sticking to a budget so I write out the names of each recipient and break down the value of their total gifts based on what I have to work with that particular year. Then, I decide if I'm going to get one larger gift or a few smaller gifts and write some ideas that come to mind for each person based on their needs, wants and what they like. My favorite gifts to give are those that are meaningful and will be used or enjoyed over and over again. Certain people are harder to shop for than others but when it comes to the important ladies in your life, such as your mom, sister, best friend or daughter, I don't know of a single woman who doesn't appreciate a quality piece of jewelry in a timeless design. :) Jewelry is something that I persona...

{via} For as long as I can remember I've dreamed of having a dedicated craft space. I envisioned large working surfaces, a gift wrapping area, a dedicated table for my sewing machine, well organized bins and a closet to match. Every Christmas Eve as I sit on the floor in our family room or at the kitchen table surrounded by wrapping paper, bows, tags and gifts, I think how much fun it would be to have a wrapping area (not to mention private) so those you purchase gifts for won't see what you got them. I would sometimes take to my previous shared guest bedroom/office space but that has since been cleared out and overtaken by a certain newborn and all of her belongings. ;) A month before she arrived I set up a very tiny area in our den with a secretary desk and my existing office chair where a bookshelf used to reside, to have as my own working area. Since most of my office stuff is still in plastic totes and the majority of what I'm doing these days (apart from caring for ba...