Thursday, December 17, 2015

What I got myself for Christmas!

Blogmas Day 17
During my Christmas Confessions, I shared that I buy myself Christmas gifts. I've been doing this every year since I was a teenager and it has become a holiday tradition I have with myself. Before you go thinking I'm a total narcissist, let me explain my reasoning behind it all…When Christmas rolls around, I'm not one to make any holiday requests from family or friends. As an adult, it feels just a bit odd to me to ask anyone for anything. And throughout the year, I try very hard (really I do) not to blow money on myself. At Christmastime, I started using the holiday sales as a chance to purchase the leather boots I'd been wanting all year long or as an opportunity to get the new vacuum cleaner I needed. Not every year involves a big present. Gifting myself at Christmastime simply gives me the opportunity to finally splurge on myself guilt-free. Just as I do with the rest of our Christmas budget, I set a little aside each month. Here is what I bought myself for Christmas 2015! 

Kate Spade Christmas Bow (Bourgeois) Earrings 
When these Kate Spade earrings came out a few years ago, I totally fell in love, but I was in no position to buy a Kate Spade anything. Every Christmas, these pop up again on various fashion blogs and I'm reminded of how much I wanted them. So when these randomly became available again during a Kate Spade 75% off sale, I didn't think twice about ordering them. 
Is is practical to own a pair of earrings that I can only wear for certain months out of the year? Heck no, but at only $20 I really just didn't care. It's Christmas!

New PJs 
I also bought the cutest set of pjs. I really didn't need these and 11/12 months of the year, I would have left them in the store. But this month, I indulge myself a bit more. This Mistletoe & Mimosas tee is on point as the softest shirt ever. Perfect for bedtime! And I couldn't leave these flannel shorts behind. They are covered in little white scottie dogs with hearts. They remind me too much of my Westie pup whose name happens to be PJ. 
Now I have pjs of my PJ! 


Lush Bath Bombs & Melts 
The Lush bath bombs are my new favorite obsession. Seriously, I haven't found one that I don't like. I already love hot baths, but adding these into the mix releases some of the best scents…cedarwood, grafruit oil, sage. And the scent stays on your skin for 2-3 days. I picked a bunch of these up for some of the many women in my life because really, who couldn't use a relaxing soak. And while I was out, I grabbed a few for myself too. 

Moscow Mules
I wanted to get a set of these for my DIY bar cart last winter, but I decided to wait for them to go on sale during the summer. No such luck! Basically, I have wanted these for exactly a year. I finally decided to say screw it and bought this set

Meri Meri Baking Kits
Meri Meri is the cutest little stationary company and as an added bonus, they make the most adorable baking kits to dress up your desserts! Even though I bake a ton and these kits only cost a few dollars, I've never purchased one because they were unnecessary. Told you I don't like to waste money. I'm glad that I got two holiday kits this season for dressing up cupcakes. I found the Nutcracker version at HomeGoods, but the Gingerbread kit is still available here.

UPDATE
After I meticulously created the collage above, I purchased a few more things. I thought I was done buying myself stuff, but then Husband and I made some decisions about our travel plans for 2016. More details to come once we get things finalized, but for now, just know there will be lots of camping and hiking involved. When we hike, Husband insists on pretty much carrying everything. But I'm not quite as breakable as he thinks and I really wanted a daypack for myself. Luckily, nothing listed above cost me more than $20 so I had plenty of wiggle room left. I got a really good deal on this ultralight daypack and this hydration system.

I did a ton of research with reading reviews on this pack. It's ventilated and keeps the storage space separate from the water bladder, which is great for preventing spills. In addition to holding all the supplies I would need for a day of hiking, my DSLR will fit in here as well! Plus, the site I bought it through was apart of a rewards boost promotion being offered by one of our travel credit cards. So I earned 8 travel points per dollar I spent on these, instead of the usual 2 points. The additional points will be great for lowering the costs of our upcoming trips. I haven't received these yet, but based on the reviews and videos I watched, I am pretty certain I will be happy with them.  

Did you pick anything up for yourself for Christmas? Or am I the only weird one?

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10 comments:

  1. I love that you splurge a little on yourself around the holidays. Especially because you are so good about spending the rest of the year (something I seriously need to work on...New Year's resolution anyone?). THOSE BOW EARRINGS! I totally forgot I wanted those desperately and they're still on sale...I get paid tomorrow so juuust maybe I'll buy them if they're still on sale.

    Also I love those PJ shorts (especially for you since they look like PJ!) and Moscow mules just taste better out of copper mugs, so that was an awesome decision.

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    1. Budgetting is the hardest, so I definitely build in rewards like this. If I resist the urge to buy something I don't need at Target, I transfer the money I would have spent into our savings or travel fund. Even if it was just $5. It's really good positive reinforcement for me. If you are thinking about getting the Bow earrings I would definitely recommend them, they are only $19 right now (which is spectacular for Kate Spade) and I'm getting so many compliments on them. Love them. They had this same PJ pant in socks and in pants and I was tempted to buy those too! And your right, the drinks do taste better out of the actual mule mug. Glad I have these for the winter

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  2. Moscow mules are one of my favorite drinks--love those mugs!

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    1. We are loving them! I'm sorry that I waited so long to get these

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  3. I always buy myself presents! Especially since my birthday is first before Christmas. I have never seen those earrings but I LOVE them! So bummed that they're out of stock! I just bought my first set of Moscow mules as well- I found them at TJ Maxx!

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    1. I adore TJ Maxx, they have the best things for the best prices. It's my go to over any department store.

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  4. It feels so nice to know that I'm not the only one buying gifts for myself for christmas:) You have amazing things there, love the Kate Spade earring they are so festive and perfect for christmas! Do you want to support each others blog by following each other? Please let me know so I can follow you right back:)

    xoxo
    www.theclosetelf.com

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  5. I love the bow earrings! Perfect the holiday season and Christmas. Also, the mugs for the bar cart....I love them. I really want those kind of mugs. Are they good for retaining heat?

    liz @ sundays with sophie

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    1. Well part of why people use the Moscow mugs have has to do with their thermal conductivity, but these are really meant for bar drinks, which are cold. If you place a hot beverage in these, you would almost certainly burn yourself. But if you wanted to use these for hot cocoa or coffee I'm sure you could find a non-copper version that that a copper like finish. That way you get the best of both worlds

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  6. Cute items! So on board with those earrings and the bath bombs - totally faves.

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