Hi there! So Christmas was Wednesday. I spent time with family, ate some food, exchanged gifts - the norm. Mark and I actually exchanged our gifts on Christmas Eve so that we could take our time since Christmas day was pretty filled up.
Altogether, my gifts were amazing! I got quite a few things that were geared towards blogging - this book, photography lights, a nice seamless tabletop studio, and most importantly, the camera I've been pining after! Mark got it for me and I couldn't be more thrilled. It's the Canon 70D. It does a lot more than my current camera - Canon T3 (still a great camera!).
Mark also got me one makeup gift and I bet you could guess what it is............the Naked 3 palette! I really wanted it, but I wasn't sure if I'd be getting it or not. I can't wait to swatch it and create some looks!
For organization, he also got me an acrylic lipstick holder. It holds 24 lipsticks.
My parents gave me some really awesome gifts too. One was a new iPhone 5S - it's the white/silver 32 GB. Before that, I had the iPhone 4S for a couple years and I was due for an upgrade.
The other major gift they gave me was a dresser for our bedroom. It was a complete surprise and we definitely need it! This is the one they got for us from Target in black.
Then for a beauty gift, they got me the Deborah Lippmann Big Bang nail lacquer set, which was on my holiday wishlist! It's a set of 12 polishes that are just gorgeous! I have some major swatching to do.
Anyway, I wanted to share some of the gifts I got because it's fun and I love seeing what other people got too (especially beauty gifts or electronics - those are the most fun to me).
As for the gifts I got for other people, I always like to get things that are either practical or really cool. I got Mark an iPad, which totally surprised him. He had no idea he was getting anything like it. Then I just gave him some smaller gifts.
For my mom, I gave her some new kitchen items - cookie sheets, casserole dish, cake pans. For my dad, a huge Tom Clancy book (he has become such a book worm), this cool handyman reference book, and a Lifestraw. Lifestraw is a filtered straw that you can use to drink straight out of streams and puddles. It's great for camping, backpacking or just basic survival. I also got one for Mark. They're both outdoorsy guys, so it was a cool gift for them.
There were also gifts we got for other people and I made sure to get the best deals on almost everything I bought. Ebates and Amazon (lightning deals!) were a major help to me this Christmas season!
To me, Christmas is not all about gifts though. I really enjoy getting to spend quality time with my family and helping others in need. I usually like to buy a bag of groceries for a family and donate money to a couple organizations. I just like to spread the love. Sometimes it really doesn't feel like it's enough, but if I can help in any way, I'll do it.
So I hope you enjoyed your holidays as well! I'll leave you with my Christmas manicure - snowflake nails!
Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. Some affiliate links were used throughout the post.
