I purposefully worked today so I wouldn’t be out in the madness that is Black Friday. I did venture out for coffee this morning it seems everyone was fast asleep in bed, having shopped yesterday starting at 6 p.m. On the way home from our Thanksgiving at my brother’s house, we did pass the outlet around 7:30 p.m. and it wasn’t as crazy as I thought it would be. We did see lines outside Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy and other similar stores driving home though. I hope they got some good deals.

I did shop today, but online only. Here are a few “deals” I took advantage of.

~ Tory Burch ~
20%, 25%, or 30% off depending on how much you spend

I was able to get my beloved Rayna Dress with this promo as well as a cropped Simone Sweater to match it. The Lizzie Tunic is a gift and the Willa Dress is one I’m hoping will be a great dressed up but casual dress for daily wear. 
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~ J Crew ~
Take 30% off with HOLIDAY

The Elephant Parade Tee was too cute to pass up and the rest of the items are for The Boy for Christmas. He loves the Ludlow Chambray Shirt
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~ Anthropologie ~

Take 25% off with HOLIDAY25

The Capri Blue Bar Soap in Volcano will make a great little gift. It’s my favorite scent I get a new candle every few months. I never noticed the Harlyn Sienna Silk Trousers but I hope they fit as the green looks gorgeous. I also bought the Harvest Moon Poncho in Ivory. 
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~ Sam’s Club ~
iTunes $25 4-pack

This 4-pack worth $100 was $79.47. These make great stocking stuffers!

$100 iTunes Gift Card Multipack, 4x$25

~ Etsy ~

I think this rolling pin with Christmas items is perfect for easy but imprinted Sugar Cookies. I found it at BoonHomeware. They are shipping from the UK so I think this will arrive just in time for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS pattern embossing wooden rolling pin, laser engraved.

Are you shopping any Black Friday sales or did you take the day off? I am actually almost finished since I bought a lot of items last year at Anthropologie after Christmas. I have ring holders, aprons and other little items for gifts this year and they all were between $4-$10 each.

Follow me on…
 

With help from my girlfriend Catalina, and a few other ladies, we threw our friend a Baby Shower last Saturday. I have never been around so much pink! The baby’s room is going to be pink, gray and green with elephants and giraffes so we followed the same idea, excluding the green and the giraffe.

The biggest, and probably only project was a tulle table skirt. I saw an image on Pinterest of it and found a super easy tutorial on how to make it. I ended up making this for two different tables and I was surrounded by pink tulle at the end.

The Gift Table was set by the bay window and had some wonderful natural light streaming in. It made for some beautiful pictures. I added paper flowers on the corners and paper lanterns hanging above.

The Cake Table was the second tulle skirt table and held the cake and other treats.


The cake if from a local shop and the topper is from Etsy. The seller made it and shipped it well wrapped. This cute little elephant sweetie is made from fondant and just adorable. The stand is my aunt’s and is used for all family events where there is cake, from weddings, to baby showers to graduation and birthday parties.
Another idea from Pinterest were these yummy filled strawberries, recipe here. I chose to hollow out the strawberries instead of cutting an “x” into them as it was easier to fill. I made a few extra so we could all sample them before the guests arrived. I added Graham Cracker Crumbs instead of Chocolate Shavings. Catalina ordered personalized M&Ms.


I found some super adorable invitations and other templates with baby elephants on them from Etsy. The banner was hung at the fireplace.



I also found some baby games that weren’t the standard “How big is Mommy?” or the “My Water Broke” or even the gift-opening “Bingo” game.



The dining room table held a bouquet of flowers and the guests take home gift of hand sanitizers in various pink flavors.



We served a Tortellini pasta salad, Chicken Avocado Salad with fresh baked croissants from a local bakery, and a fruit salad my family has at every party. We had cute elephant water bottle labels for the water and Strawberry Lemonade and Mimosas were served as well. There was such a small group I used glass dinner and salad plates I found for a steal at Tuesday Morning.

Everyone had a great time and lots of gifts were received. The men had a “Diaper” Poker party so they received plenty of diapers that should last them a few weeks. You can see more Shower ideas on my Pinterest board.

I received my recent purchase from Etsy seller, Joyful Star. It’s the cutest, most stylish Earth-friendly coffee kozy/sleeve.

Here’s what came in the package. Look at that cute little bicycle charm.

The color I picked out. I wanted a Green and White one but decided this one will be easier to hide coffee stains if it doesn’t come clean in the wash.

Bonus gift: Two cute cards with envelopes

Here’s a different sleeve on the coffee cup.

So, here the GIVEAWAY part. I have purchased **5** additional coffee cup kozies to give away. To make it easy I’ve already selected the colors and they are already packaged, ready to ship so it will be COMPLETELY RANDOM as to which one the winners will receive.

Here are the sleeves so you have an idea of which one you might get.

Rules:

1) One entry per person please.

2) Leave your name AND email address in the comments. Don’t forget to subscribe to the comments.

3) Entries will be taken through Friday, Mar 12 at 7 p.m. Central time. No entries will be counted after that.

4) United States and Canada entries only please.

5) I will use Random.org to select the winners. Please respond in a timely manner so I can ship quickly. A new winner will be chosen for winners who do not respond within 48 hours of my email/announcing.

6) I will contact the winners via email and also post it on the blog. Please check back and see if you’re a winner.

Location : Interstate 10 Frontage Rd, San Antonio, TX 78256,