Surprise! It's Christmas in July

It's always so much fun when the ladies of The Blended Blog do gift exchanges!!  This summer Whitney spearheaded our Christmas in July exchange.  We always use Elfster for our picks and it's a lot of fun anticipating who I'll get each time.  Today we're sharing the gifts we received from our Secret Santa!  I was super excited when I received my gift from Sheila who blogs over at Making the Most of Everyday!  She's one of the few TBB ladies I have yet to meet in person, but with her gift, it's clear she knows me regardless!!

Sheila sent my a fun summer cover-up, fabulous sun hat and some sunscreen so I stay safe.  I laughed when I opened the package because just a few days before I commented on how much I always loved seeing Sheila in her sun hat, and wished I had one too!! Now I do!  Sheila said she was waiting on pins and needles for me to get my package because she had already sent me the hat before I commented in her blog!

There's even a hood and POCKETS!!  Love it!!  

I've worn this cover up at least a half dozen times already!  

Thanks so much Sheila for helping me do this summer thing...and doing it fashionably at that!!  

Head on over to Shaunacey's blog now to see what I sent her!  Fingers Crossed she liked it!!

A Christmas Gift Exchange!!

So excited to be participating in the Christmas Gift Exchange with the ladies of The Blended Blog this year!! The swap is coordinated on Elfster, which I love because it's super secret (not like the Secret Santa I participate in with my family!)

My gift arrived last week and I debated opening it until it was time to write this post, but I just couldn't wait. I was super-excited that sweet Leslie was my secret Elfster!

 She filled my box we so many wonderful gifts. I was touched by the sweet message in her card and how hard she worked on the gift to make it me!!

 Here's what was included!

This super cute wine grass ornament is just perfect and right at home on my tree!!

This pretty snowflake wine stopper is awesome...and so needed!! I was just thinking about how I wanted to get one!!

These cute Christmas cocktail napkins will be the perfect addition to my Christmas Eve gathering!!

So will this raspberry chipotle dipping sauce. Yum! It says for grilling, marinade, and dipping and dipping! So I am going to serve some for dipping on Christmas Eve so we can all enjoy it!!

And last but not least Leslie sent these, too cute for words, wine bottle koozies!!

I was so touched that Leslie sent one for me and my best friend, Mel. You may remember that back in August for Friendship day, Mel and I joined forces with Leslie and her sister Valerie for a blog post about best friends.   Leslie is always so sweet to comment on my insta pics with Mel and tell me how our lifelong friendship is so special!! It was so kind of her to remember us BOTH this Christmas!! WE LOVE YOU LESLIE!!!!

A huge thank you, Leslie for my gifts!! I love them all...you know me so well!! LOL!

During this Christmas season, Leslie, I wish you and all your family the most Blessed of holidays. And nothing but great things and good health in 2016. So many exciting things to look forward to for you all!!

Much Love,

Katie

Now please head on over to Sheila's blog to see what I sent her in the gift exchange!!

It's Reveal Day!!

YAY!!  This post is a long time coming and has been in the works for a while!  Today's the day the Style Me girls and I reveal our blogger exchange gifts.  We are just a such a fun group, aren't we?!? Just like we did around Christmas time, we had another secret gift exchange via elfster this Spring. And a big thanks goes out to Deena for coordinating this for us again too!!

During our last link up we wrote about our homes....so our gifts reflected "home"!

I was super excited when I received my gift in the mail!!  I had kinda forgotten all about expecting it, so it was a delightful surprise when it it saw this on my doorstep.

OK....actually seeing this Pampers box on my doorstep was freaking hilarious!!  They day I got this, a friend dropped me off and we saw this for the first time together.  I was like "What the hell"... and she was like, "Is there something you need to tell us?!?  

Hahahahahaha

Yes, people this Solitary Life I live is just a facade!!  I've got a baby on the way!!!  LOL...NAH!!!  

When I saw who this was from it totally made perfect sense.  My gift giver was Sarah from Foxy's Domestic Side. She a mama of 2 littles...Mini Fox and Baby Fox!!  I just love Sarah and her blog!  And now she even vlogs!!  So awesome!! And knowing it was from her made me smile because I had sent my gift to her at Christmas time.  Funny how that worked out!!

I got in the door and ripped the package right open, I just couldn't wait!!  This is what I found inside!

There was nothing on top so I opened the tissue paper...to reveal this!  

How cute is this pillow!?!?  I put it right on the chair.  Isn't it just perfect there?

Below the pillow, was this...

So I did what I was told and unwrapped the next gift.    Inside I found this...

It's a photo album.  Love, love, love it!!

And a great gift from Sarah, who lives by the beach!!  Girl, I am coming to visit soon!!  

After I opened the gifts, I opened Sarah's sweet card.  She said she, like me loves to be home, either with her with her sweet family or enjoying some time alone.  So she thought this pillow would fit me well. She is so right.  I love it. I have received compliments on it from everyone who's come over since I got it!

The photo album I adore.  And it is similar to many others I have. And by that I mean with the two pics per page that you can easily slide in, so I will look perfect on my shelf with my albums. For now though I have it out and on display amongst my summer decor!

Sarah mentioned that I could fill the album with photos of all the fun I have this summer, and I'm going to do just that.  I can't wait  for summer to officially begin!!  5 more school days...woo hoo!! 

Thank you so much Sarah!  You know me so well (even though we've never met...in person!!) I love both gifts!  Sending you a big hug from the East Coast!!

I was really excited when I got my draw of who I had to buy for. Find out who I sent my gift to here!

How much fun!!  Can't wait to check out everyone's gifts.  I've done a lot of blogging this week but haven't been reading much!!  I have no plans tonight, which I LOVE because I've gone from no voice to a gross-sounding voice and old lady hacking cough this week, there were many early nights thanks to NyQuil!  Tonight I plan on vegging on the couch catching up on all the blogs!! So if you see a comment from me late on a Friday I am THAT girl, but I'm a sick girl!  No rest this weekend though, it's a packed family weekend!!  Maybe I'll blog about it!! 

Go check out all the girls blogs to see the goodies they received!! 

Shoes to Shiraz | Two Teens and their Mama | A Lovely Little Wardrobe | 
R Squared  | Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy 

The Mishaps and Mayhem of Solitary Life |  Quilty Joy Joy

Making The Most of Everyday | Puppies and Pretties | She Thought She Could 

 Foxy's Domestic Side | Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After 

Sprinkled Just Right 

An InLinkz Link-up

And if you haven't entered our giveaway yet....go for it!!!

 Puppies & Pretties // Daily Style Finds

Shoes to Shiraz // A Lovely Little Wardrobe // Making the Most of Every Day

Two Teens and Their Mama // Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After

A Little Bit of Cheer // Nick + Nik // Foxy's Domestic Side // The Mishaps and Mayhem of a Solitary Life // Quilty JoyJoy

Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy // Get Your Pretty On

a Rafflecopter giveaway




CHEERS TO THE WEEKEND!!!
Katie

And since the Style Me Girls are some of my favorite people  and these are some of my favorite new things, I'm linking up for Friday Favorites, too!!  

 with Erika, Andrea, and Narci

Style Me Bloggers Secret Santa Reveal!!

This Christmas season I participated in a Secret Santa exchange with some of my favorite people…my fellow bloggers from the Style Me Pretty Challenges!!!  Love that these ladies and I have become such great friends!!  Deena, (our leader and organizer of all things Style Me Bloggers Link-ups…God Bless her!!) of Shoes toShiraz organized the exchange for us using an online system called Elfster.  So cute and super fun!  I signed up for Elfster and was able to get notifications when someone posted in the group!  It also had a cool feature where you could create Wish lists.  I didn’t use this feature this time around though, because our exchange had a stipulation…

We had to get the person we picked a gift specific to our region!  At first I had a tough time with this!  I wanted to send my person wine from the Vineyards out East on Long Island.  Little did I know you can’t ship alcohol (which I for one, think is pretty silly!!! HAHAHA).

As for me, I was so excited to get my gift in the mail!! Lana from Two Teens and their Mama was my Secret Santa. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her blog!  Be sure to check it out!!  Living in Washington State, close to the Seattle area, she sent me some awesome treats!! Should have thought to take pics of the gifts before I opened them...I'll do better next year!!  :)

Starbucks Hot Cocoa because their headquarters is Seattle!

Seattle Chocolates in a gift box shaped like the ferry….which immediately made me think of Grey’s Anatomy and those aerial shots of the ferry McDreamy takes to work!  (I know…I know…I watch too much TV! #solitarylifeprobs

And Sockeye Salmon, specific to the Pacific Northwest, in a beautiful gift box.  Salmon is one of my favorite foods.  I knew I’d save it for a special occasion!  I have decided to serve this as one of the entrees when I have Christmas Eve at my house. I’m excited to tell my family about the Gift Exchange over dinner!!

Chocolate, Starbucks and Salmon...pretty much my favorite things all in one fabulous gift.  THANK YOU SO MUCH LANA!!  Love it all!!

Lana also included a sweet message on a gift tag that now hangs in my tree!!  

I had such a fun time participating in the gift exchange.    I was Sarah's secret sender.  Check out what I sent along to her here!  Who knew that 2014 would be the year of the Style Me Challenges, and because of them, I’ve had the opportunity to meet these amazing woman!  It really is all thanks to Alison and her idea to create these challenges!  It is with gratitude and hugs that I say a big thanks!    

 If you've been following my blog and thinking about joining one too, please read my letter to Alison {here}!  It's been a fabulous, fashionable adventure!


Merry Christmas to you all!!
Katie

An InLinkz Link-up