Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

As I sit here relaxing Christmas night, it is hard not to reflect on the holiday season. 

The sales and the shopping...the gifts and the grabbing...the crowds and the complaining...the lists and the lagging.

This Holiday season has been very interesting.  It's came and went so fast and furious.  I feel like it's a blur now.

My kids enjoyed it thoroughly, but we have two more Christmas celebrations to go, four total.  We tend to be completely exhausted by the end.

Most importantly, though, we see family and friends and get to spend quality time with all of them.  And that is what the holidays should be about.  And about giving not receiving (but that is hard to explain to children).

I truly hope that all of you have a great holiday season.  Take time for yourself and take time to visit with your family and friends.  Life is short!

Enjoy your day and your holiday!

Lynn

Major Sale!!!

Go to Nordstrom Rack!!

Run...don't walk to Nordstrom Rack!!

Everything there is on sale.....

Nanette Lepore, Trina Turk, and Tory Burch marked down to $29-$59.

Hunter Boots were originally $175 marked down to $69-$99.

Unbelievable!!!!

I got a Trina Turk skirt for only $29!!!

Enjoy your day!

Lynn

Holiday Gift Idea #4 and #5 and #6

Holiday Gift Idea #4:  Wine Sampler

This is a great idea for someone who loves wine.  From the Tasting Room, get an at-home wine tasting sampler with 1.7 oz bottles on wine from a variety of vineyards.  It's a pefect way to sample different wines and not go broke or waste a full bottle of wine if you don't like it after the first sip.  Go to tastingroom.com and get six 50 ml. bottles for only $34.99.


Holiday Gift Idea #5:  Tube Scarves

What a great gift idea for all women, tube scarves or infinity scarves.  They come in all fabrics, textures, and colors.  I have seen them range in price from $9.99 to $199.  And with these tube scarves, you don't have to worry about how to tie them or how to wear them.  All you have to do is wrap it around your neck once or twice or even three times depending on the length of the scarf.  You can find these scarves are local boutiques or at department stores.


Holiday Gift Idea #6:  Candles

Okay, this is a no brainer!!  If you really don't know what to gift someone, you can always buy them a candle.  There are so many to choose from, so you can't go wrong.  However, my advice is to choose a fragrance that isn't too strong.  Make sure it's subtle enough and not too overpowering.  Just make it simple.


Good luck with the rest of your holiday gift shopping.  I still have a few more gifts to buy, and luckily, my children are in school this whole week!!!

Enjoy your day!!

Lynn

Sales!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know that I told you that I would blog about holiday gift ideas, but I just had to tell you about all of the sales that are currently happening.
 

It was originally $89, marked down to $34, additional 40% off that price, then I used one of my Gap reward cards.......I only paid $1.07!!  Yes, just a buck!!!

Then I went to DSW to check out the shoes.  Every once in awhile, I find a great pair of shoes and a great deal.  Check out what I got.......

I don't know the original price on these shoes, but they were marked down to $54, then 80% off of that price, I used a reward certificate.........I only paid $1.07!!!  Yes, again...just a buck!!!  Can't beat that!!!

Then there's TJ Maxx.  They have marked down a ton of their Runway to the Maxx designer clothes...Missoni, Catherine Malandrino, Versace, Nanette Lepore, Valentino shoes, LAMB, Joe's jeans, Hudson jeans, Vince, etc. 

My point being..........today I was out and about trying to finish my holiday shopping (I was home bound three days this week with a sick child), and I stumbled upon these sales!  Unbelievable!!!  When you least expect it...that's when you find the greatest deals.

So while you are doing your holiday shopping, don't forget to treat yourself to a little something...you deserve it...and these sales won't make you feel guilty!!

Enjoy your day!

Lynn



Every store, seriously, every store is having a sale from the Chanel Boutique, the Ferragamo store and Barneys New York to Old Navy and the Gap.  Actually, the Gap has an additional 40% off their sale items.  Check out what I got.....my "Chanel" inspired holiday jacket.  It fits like a glove!!!

Holiday Gift Idea #3

Here's holiday gift idea #3 (for women)...........Makeup Palettes!!!!

These wonderful makeup palettes are sold everywhere from department stores to Target.  They also come in all different sizes.  Check out these:

Avon Expert Mega Palette.....$32, (and it's really huge!) 36 lip glosses and eye shadows, 6 blushes, 3 brushes at avon.com.

Lorac Bejeweled Day and Night Jewelry Box.....$56, Eyes, lips and cheeks all in a jewelry box at Sephora.

Stila Holiday Lip Glaze Collection.....$25, set of 8 lip glosses at stilacosmetics.com.

Bobbi Brown Ultimate Party Palette....$65, eye shadows, glosses, and a mirror at bobbibrown.com.

Elf Holiday Gem Collection Essential Brush Set...$10, a bejeweled makeup brush set at Target.

These are really great gift, and you don't have to worry if it will fit or not.  And you don't have to worry about the right color because these palettes have so may to choose from.  It's so simple!

Enjoy your day!

Lynn

Holiday Gift Idea #2

Holiday gift idea #2 is one of the best gifts to give a parent or grandparent!!

For the last 2-3 years, I have been giving family photo albums as gifts.  They are so simple to do, and you can do them in the comfort of your own home.

It's really hard to think of gifts for my husband's parents.  His four parents range in age from 83 - 94 years old.  I have just simply run out of gift ideas for them.  And since they only see my kids once twice a year, this is a prefect way for them to see what the kids been doing this past year. The family photo album gives them so much joy!!
I do these albums on the Walgreens' website.  All you have to do is choose your album cover (paper, leather or linen), the size (5" x 7" or 8" x 10"), and the color of the inside pages.  Once you download all of your photos, you just click and drag the photo where you want it to be placed.  You can put 1-4 photos on each page and add captions, too.  Once you are done, you save it, you order it and have it shipped anywhere.  The albums start at $9.99 and go up from there.

The first page of the albums, I always have a photo of my two kids with the caption reading "The Schwaab Family 2011" or whatever year it is.  That photo is normally from the beginning of that year.  On the last page of the albums, I put another photo of my kids (taken at the end of that year) with the caption reading, "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Love, Cole and Taylor".  It's the best gift ever!!  What parent or grandparent wouldn't love it?!?!?!

Enjoy your day!

Lynn

Holiday Gift Ideas

There are 15 days until Christmas and 10 days until Hanukkah. Which means there are not a lot of days left to shop for gifts.  And that is why my blog will be about holiday gift ideas for the next few weeks.

Holiday gift idea #1:

IPhone and/or touch screen winter gloves.
They come in all different colors and sizes for men and women.  Most department stores and local boutiques are carrying them.  They have a special fabric on the tip of the index finger and on the thumb so you don't have to take off your gloves to use your phone.  And your fingers won't get cold like those fingerless gloves.  The prices range from $15 - $65.  What a great gift!

Enjoy your day!

Lynn

Another Newspaper Article by Me!!!

I am very excited that my second newspaper article has been published!!!

Click on the link below to see my article for The Doings.



http://lagrange.suntimes.com/opinions/9156793-598/black-friday-not-only-day-for-good-deals.html


Enjoy your day!!

Lynn

Holiday Sales and Coupons!

Wow!  I can't believe how many emails, postcards, etc I have received from retailers this holiday season.  It's absolute mayhem!  I receive at least 25 emails per day from retailers and websites promoting their sales and/or coupons.  Then the mail comes, and I get tons postcards and catalogs full of discounts.

Honestly, I can't keep them straight.  I have saved some of them thinking that I might need to use them.  Then when I am finally ready to use the coupon, it has expired.  But no need to worry.  I'm sure I'll get more in the mail or online.

But the first thing I have to do is organize my holiday shopping list.  You know, who I have to buy for...ideas for the people I have to buy for...how much money I want to spend on them.  There's a lot to think about.

Christmas is three weeks away.  Crap!  I need to get going.  As I worked this weekend at Macy's on State St. in Chicago (I did a St. John Knits Fashion Show), I watched all of the shoppers in the store.  And let me tell you, that store was packed with people.  It was unbelievable!!  It was friends and family weekend which means you could get an extra 25% off your purchases.  I guess everyone had that coupon!!  And yes, I did get that coupon in the mail.  Maybe I will use it tomorrow when I go back there to work.

So my point is....try not to get overwhelmed by all of these coupons and discounts.  It can get out of hand.  Just try to stay calm and try to be a little organized.  You can do it!!  I have faith in you!

Enjoy your day!

Lynn