2014 Great Christmas Exchange: Update!

Hello Friends!

I survived my last first day of school!!  Yay!  I also survived my last first week of school, and while I am looking forward to this semester...I already have some serious senoritis!  Let's rehash last week, shall we?  I got a new planner, it was 14 degrees outside on the second day of class, and I got my haircut Friday (don't worry - it curled back up!)!  

I also discovered my new favorite store, but that is a story for another day!  Today is about rehashing about the 2014 Great Christmas Exchange!!  You will remember a few months ago, I signed up.  Now that I have received my gift, I can finally show you all what I sent/got!

First: Who Did I Get & What Did I Send?

I got Beth from Life With Bethie the Boo!!  She is super awesome, and is a very stylish lady if I do say so myself!  Beth is in a different area of her life than I am, but she is still super interesting and inspiring!  I am really glad I picked someone so amazing!  I also got so excited that I completely forgot to take pictures, so hope you don't mind Beth, but I am going to use hers!

So here is some back story on Beth.  She is from Minnesota, she loves to be stylish, and she has a son who just turned one!  On her Elfster, she listed Gone Girl and the 2015 planner as items she wanted, but I found both of those fairly inexpensively, so I wanted to buy her some other things.  One of the beloved drinks of North Carolina is Cheerwine!  It is not wine, but a cherry flavored soft drink.  LOVE!  So I sent her two of those, and she said on her Q&A that she loved scarves and owls, so I combined them and found this really cute owl scarf!  My favorite gift that I sent her was The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree.  It is an Appalachian Christmas story that my mom reads to us every year since we were children!  Even as an adult, I read it to Joshua this year.  So sweet!  I loved that she loved what I sent her, and you can read more about her experience here!  

Second: Who Got Me?

Tabitha Panariso!  Tabitha is a blogger, wife and mama!  She lives in Colorado, and in my opinion, she is really awesome!  Unfortunately, I went stark wild when I got my box, and I didn't really take any pictures (sorry blogging community!)!  Instead, I am pulling pictures off the retailers' websites!  The first item Tabitha got me was a Contigo Tranquil water bottle!  It is awesome because it opens with a wide mouth for filling and adding ice, but then I can drink out of smaller opening so I don't spill it all over myself.  Anyone who knows me, knows I have a drinking problem (somehow I miss my mouth!), so this is great, easy to fill and super easy to hold on to!  I love it!

Second thing I got was a set of three beautiful Botanical Notebooks from Rifle Paper Company.  They are beautiful, and right now I am using one as a minute notebook for Ceres, so they are really great!  Love them!

Last but not least, Tabitha sent me a cookie stamp!  Now I love to bake, and so as soon as I opened this gift, I had to bake some cookies!  I made peanut butter cookies, and stamped them with "Made With Love," and they were wonderful!  

Tabitha also sent some mistletoe (I think) and a very sweet note!  If you want to know more about Tabitha, you can check her out here!  I definitely recommend reading Tabitha and Beth's blogs, as they are both very thoughtful, thought-provoking, and encouraging to read!  Thank you ladies for making my whole holiday season bright!  

Did you participate in the Great Christmas Exchange?  

Like I said, let me know!

XOXO,