Color Swap with Wetherills Say I Do

Christmas is a great time for gift giving, and I had the awesome opportunity to participate in a kind of gift swap called The Color Swap, featuring a bunch of bloggers from The Peony Project (I've been mentioning them a lot lately!). The swap was hosted by Melissa of Two Miracles.
The Color Swap was a gift exchange where you had to buy your partner a collection of things that are their favorite color and things that they like, of course. I was paired with the lovely Madison of Wetherills Say I Do, and she's already posted what I got for her on her blog! You can check that out there. It's about time that I get to talk about and publicly thank her for what she's given me as well!
As you can see, my favorite color is orange, and she did a great job at getting me some cute stuff in that color. I would have to say that my favorite things are all the things she got me from Poppin. All of their office supplies are so sleek and I love how they color coordinate everything. That's a big deal for me. 

As a writer, I think it was very fitting that Madison had given me a notebook. I love notebooks even if I have no use for them. I will always find a use for notebooks. Any excuse for me to write things down or make lists is fine with me. 

Of course, a writer needs a writing utensil, right? I was given a neon orange Sharpie and I really like how the color looks on paper. I was a little nervous, but the color is easy on the eyes and is actually lighter than I thought, which I like. (And excuse my little typo where it says "family," haha.)

The two other products I was given included a pebble eraser and the soft mini tray. The eraser is simply too cute and perfect for me to even use it and the tray is perfect to hold random little pieces of clutter hanging around my desk. I like how both of them feel too. 

Orange recipe cards were the last thing I received in my package, and I couldn't be more happy with the timing of it too, especially since I'm living in an apartment over winter break and am planning on living in one in a few months as well. These will be perfect for me to record all of my mom's recipes for my favorite Filipino foods. I've already started asking her for help on that and these cards will be perfect for me to remember them. 

This was a great gift to receive right before Christmas! I could always use more things to help organize myself, and with each coming year I make a goal for myself to be more organized. I'm hoping that these will help with that, haha. Don't forget to visit Madison's page to see what I got for her as well!

The ULTIMATE Christmas Gift Guide Roundup: For the Girls

Hey guys! So this week, to get into the Christmas spirit I'm doing my research and choosing my favorite gift guide posts by other bloggers so that Christmas shopping could be made just a little bit easier for you. Today's roundup is all about the girls or girlfriends in your life. 
I'll divide the gift guides into different sections, list the blog's name, & try to give mini descriptions so that you don't have to go through every gift guide to find what you're looking for (or you can if you want to, be my guest [:). 
I hope this makes gift shopping just a little bit easier for you by taking a whole bunch of potential gift ideas and putting them in one place! I considered creating my own gift guides, but as you'll see there are already a ton out there, so why add onto the thousands of gift guides when I could just share the best ones? 
Anyway, skim through the different categories and I hope you find something useful! Let me know if you do end up buying any of these items or use any of these gift guides for your own gift giving (or yourself, hehe)! 
GENERAL GIFT GUIDES The Kardia Blog - For the Lovely Lady 
Label Twenty Nine - For the girl who keeps everything in her bag--gifts under $50
Sweet Tea & Sass - For the preppy girl! (guy gift guide included in the same post)
Stylish Classy & Sassy - Gift guide under $50
Mostly Morgan - Other than three of the items featured--including a terrarium, a scarf, and a necklace--(all cost less than $40 anyway), everything on this list is relatively cheap (under $15) if you're on a budget!
An Old Story Blog - For the ultimate money saver--MAKE, THRIFT, & BUY! Hannah features a bunch of things that you could give to basically anyone in your life by making, thrifting, or buying something if absolutely necessary. I love these ideas!
Royally Pink - Some glamorous and luxurious gifts that really aren't too expensive, but they look like they are (well, the Kate Spade candle is actually pretty pricey for a candle but it's still really cute)!
Polished Perfectly - For the college student. This gift guide features a lot of preppy items, so if the person you're shopping for likes that kind of stuff then this is perfect!
Alicia Tenise - Honestly, many of these products are great for the home (and adorable too!) but there are a few fashion accessories and some makeup as well. This is one of my favorite gift guides!
Shell Chic'd - A nautical gift guide for the "nauti" girl. Haha I love puns!
MAKEUP // BEAUTY
A Lovely Commotion - general gift ideas for anyone who loves makeup! Featuring Michelle Phan's new book (I'll post a review on that soon), a Kate Spade iPhone case, a Kate Spade fragrance, and of course, makeup!
Daily Katy - Skincare
Royally Pink - Makeup Gift Sets (I want ALL of these!)
FASHION 
A Lovely Commotion - The Beach Bum
A Lovely Commotion - These aren't clothes, but they are all items related to fashion, whether it's a book on the history of the dress or some statement accessories. 
FOODIE
Butcher's Niche - This great gift guide includes a variety of cooking accessories, like appliances, an apron, and all around pretty things for the cook in your life!
A Savory Feast - This gift guide includes cool and unique cooking gifts for foodies, like a sushi maker, a donut pan, and a fondue pot! 
Strength and Sunshine - Another post of unique gift ideas, such as a tortilla bowl maker, a world cuisine spiralizer (that's a mouthful... no pun intended), and Soom Tahini, which is sesame butter! There are so many other cool gifts in this post as well!
*Many of these gifts are unisex too, so get them for the guys in your life as well!
TRAVEL
Mandy Living Life - These gift ideas include a combination of travel-friendly items and things that you can display in your home to show off your love for travel. If the person you're shopping for loves to travel, these are all very practical (and cute!). 
BOOKWORM
Kate the (Almost) Great - Accessories for bookworms! She makes a few good suggestions of specific things for each accessory she mentions (posters, mugs, e-readers, and other book-themed gifts). 
Polka Dotted Blue Jay - All book suggestions. These are all non-fiction/inspirational books, like Girl Boss, Yes, Please, Crazy Sexy Diet, and a couple more!
HOME // INTERIOR DESIGN
Butcher's Niche - Beautiful and simple home accessories
Open Spaces Blog - These are all rustic holiday-themed home accessories, so these gifts are best given before Christmas, unless the person you're giving them to loves the Christmas season so much and wouldn't mind getting it the day of or after. 
ETSY // ONLINE
Butcher's Niche - Most of these gifts aren't extravagant, but if you really know who you're shopping for they would make really cute and meaningful gifts (I love the big spoon, little spoon pillows!). 
Dirt to Daydreams - This guide includes different price points of some pretty pretty gifts--$25 & under, $50 & under, and splurge-worthy gifts!
Heavens to Betsy - Betsy recently opened an Etsy shop herself, so she teamed up with other Etsy shops to promote some of their stuff with some coupon codes! (I'd take advantage of that if I were you!)
Yearn Love Grow - Ashley talks about different shops she loves rather than items. A few of them are faith based, like She Reads Truth (I wrote about them recently!) and random ones for nerds and mommies and others. 
GIFTS THAT GIVE BACK
Dirt to Daydreams - List of companies that give back something to a certain community (brands include Krochet Kids (the founders are alumni of my school!) and the Giving Keys)
Many Sparrows - Kayla talks about her favorite products from companies that give back and why she recommends them as gifts! (coupon codes included!)
FITNESS
Strength and Sunshine - Some cool products to help aid in making your workouts better!
BLOGGER [*ahem (; ]
The Kardia Blog - Honestly, you could get most of the products on most of any of the wishlists I featured for a blogger, but if you want to get really blogging-specific, these are some great gifts to help aid in the creativity process :] 
MINIMALIST
Label Twenty Nine - All simplistic but chic items for the minimalist in your life (or for the person who is wants to try minimalism--perfect for the new year coming up!)
ARTIST
Label Twenty Nine - All artsy fartsy products :]
A Tiny Traveler - The girl who wrote this intended it to be a general gift guide I believe, but when I looked at it all I could think of was HIPSTER! I know they're not necessarily artists, but I think that the true hipsters are. All the fakes that are doing it for trend don't consider themselves artists. But that's just my opinion! So, anything on this list is sure to be well-received by the hip.
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I hope you were able to find something useful from this gift guide roundup! I worked really hard and did my research to provide some pretty but also some unique gift ideas. Tomorrow, I'll be talking about what to get the man in your life. Stay tuned! 

Valentine's Day Gifts For Him and Her

It's almost Valentine's Day! If you're single, you're either getting ready to mope (which you shouldn't) or planning to go out with some friends. If you're in a relationship like I am, you are probably wondering what you're going to do for your significant other or you already have it all planned out (not me).

If you happen to be in a relationship and don't know what to get for your boyfriend or girlfriend, don't worry, I'm here to help! While I still don't have my gift for my own boyfriend, Darell, after putting together this gift guide, I definitely have an idea of it.

Depending on your budget and the type of person you're shopping for, I've included a few different options for you to give you some ideas!

1. Valentine's Day Coupons 
For: any kind of man (or even woman)!
Cost: As low as $0
I personally like coupons because they are low-cost and you can make them for anyone and customize it to that person's liking. I found these coupons as a printable off of The Frugal Girls. There are more coupons that what you see, but I decided to give you a sample of what they have. Or, if you are more on the creative side, you can make the coupons and hand-write them yourself! Not only is this gift easy to make, but there is no expiration date so he can use this throughout the year!