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January 19, 2016

Christmas recap

Hello there! I hope this past Christmas season was a time of joyous celebration and peace with your loved ones.  I find it hard to believe it is already the start of another year, a time to reflect on the past and prepare and dream of what may come in this new year.  


I recently posted about alternatives to big box Black Friday Christmas shopping for gifting this season and was challenged by a friend to write about which, if any, of these I actually ended up using, so hence, a recap tonight.  And I want to be clear that I don't intend to write this recap in a "look at what I did" way, it is more an intention of personal accountability to the purpose of this blog. 

For starters, I didn't actually end up participating in small business Saturday this year. Truthfully, I didn't even go as far as looking at the local businesses participating. Later in the season, I did check out a local kids' consignment shop for some fun gifts for our nieces and nephews and a Christmas dress for Beatrice. 

Etsy is an amazing hub for hundreds of small businesses selling artsy, unique gifts.  This year, I found several gifts on Etsy, some that were able to be monogrammed for a personal touch. Just make sure gifts like this are thought out ahead of time, to account for personalization and shipping time. 

Pura Vida Bracelets were given to a few people this year. It is nice supporting a company that also gives proceeds to various charities. 

A few of my favorite gifts to give this year were paintings for two of my nieces.  Partly because their family is in the midst of moving, so they have been planning new colorful bedrooms, but also because painting is such a luxurious activity.  

Lastly, I bombed the original "experience" gift my hubby (story for another day), but we are hoping to get out on the slopes for a day this winter instead. Experience gifts are so fun, especially knowing it is something that will feed a relationship well. 

What fun gifts have you given or gotten this year?
Any from the list of alternative ideas?