The Holiday Spirit (or lack thereof)

If you're having a hard time getting it together to decorate this Christmas, might I suggest you visit Flower Child on Clifton Blvd? If you've never been, Flower Child is a vintage store, carrying an eclectic mix of clothing, home goods, jewelry and accessories from decades past. Tina and I stopped over this past weekend, and we had an absolute blast walking around. A word of warning- this is vintage retail, not vintage thrift, so you should expect an appropriately different price tag too!

I absolutely LLLUUUURRVVEEE how over-the-top Christmas this store is right now!!

Get in the Holiday Spirit (locally): Urban Home and Garden

A couple of weekends ago, I was at Beachwood Place with clefoodgoddess for the Compassion from Fashion Event, when I happened to noticed a wonderfully decorated store that I had never noticed before: Urban Home & Garden. Lucky for me, the wonderful staff were more than happy to let me take pictures! I found out that the store is Cleveland-based, and there are two locations- one at Beachwood Place, and the other at Beachcliff Plaza in Rocky River.

Seriously, this store is really cute, and has some adorable little gift ideas and stocking stuffers. Not only can you enjoy the Christmassy spirit, but you can get some of your shopping done, and support a Cleveland business while you do it!!!

Come for the shopping, stay for the eye-candy

Wow, I can't believe Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK!!! That time of year is creeping up faster than I can handle, and you know what that means- HOLIDAY SHOPPING!!! Last year, I got a really good head start to my shopping with the Compassion from Fashion event at Beachwood Place, and this Saturday, Beachwood will be playing host to this awesome event for the THIRD straight year.

If you haven't been before, here's what you should expect:
$20 (in advance, $25 at the door) gets you a wrist band that entitles you exclusive fashion discounts at a number of Beachwood Place Stores. If you're one of the first 750 to buy your ticket, you will receive a $10 mall gift card AND a $10 dining certificate to McCormick and Schmick's, making your ticket essentially FREE!! 100% of the proceeds go to The Gathering Place which provides invaluable services for those affected by cancer and their loved ones!

Shopping + a GREAT cause?!? How could this get better??? BUT WAIT, IT DOES!!!
Not only do you get to snack on delicious offerings by Maggiano's Little Italy, but at 7pm, Beachwood plays host to a celebrity fashion show, featuring cancer survivors and local celebs including:

Maureen Kyle

Ryan "Mickey" McLean, from Cosmo's Bachelor of the year 2010 and Bachelorette fame

As hot as Mickey is, I am a married woman, so I'm obviously MOST excited about the shopping. Here's the discounts I WILL be taking advantage of:

BRIGADE: 10% off entire store (N is probably getting some of his Christmas presents from here)

AVEDA: spend $50 get $20 personal blends "purefume"- I need some more hair products, and their hand lotion is a lifesaver in this weather!!

MOOCHIE & Co: 20% off regular priced merchandise- I can't leave the pooches out!! They get Christmas presents too!

BANANA REPUBLIC/THE LIMITED: Need stuff for work

The full list of discounts is available here. You can purchase your tickets here, and if you buy online and use the discount code "266727", you will receive $5 off your ticket price, making it an even better deal for $15!!

So if you want to avoid the Black Friday crowds and get a head-start to the shopping season, I hope you will consider joining me at Beachwood Place this Saturday. Happy shopping all!!

Full disclosure: I received two tickets to this event in exchange for my support via this here blog. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. 

A little buzz

One of my favorite things in Costa Rica was the AMAZING coffee we enjoyed several times a day. It probably has something to do with the volcanic soil, but Costa Rican coffee is DELICIOUS!! So delicious in fact, that N and I are having some shipped to us!!  And I'm happy to say that if you'd like to try some, Amazon carries a whole selection of the Cafe Britt coffees.

With the holidays coming up (this year is going by waayyy too fast), I've been thinking about gift ideas. If you have a coffee lover on your holiday list, you could always gift them some Cafe Britt Espresso with a stove-top Espresso maker and/or Espresso cups!










As a coffee lover myself, there is nothing better than a GREAT cup of coffee on a cold winter morning (yes, I said the "W" word. I'm mentally preparing myself for the inevitable). Do you have a favorite coffee? Do tell!!!

Danger: Carb Overload

For a very long time now, N has wanted a bread maker. I've resisted the idea for obvious reasons: I simply have no willpower when it comes to freshly baked bread. NONE! Well, this Christmas, N's parents finally gave him one:

Express Bread Maker, amazon

N made Italian herb and cheese bread last week. The results:

 

It was absolutely delicious. This bread maker could be the worst thing to ever happen to me.