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Holiday Gift Guide

Shabby Apple, Capulet, Holiday, Christmas, fashion

Christmas is in a week and you know what that means? New Year’s Eve is just around the corner. Where did the year go? It sped by so quickly that I can barely remember it happening. I think today’s a great day to giveaway some more goodies. You’ve been buying for everyone else, I want to give you something just for you!

I’m sure you’ve all gotten your Christmas shopping done but what about a little something nice for yourself? Maybe even a little black dress for your New Year’s Eve celebration? Here’s your chance.

You all know how much I love Shabby Apple. Recently, I received the Capulet skirt and Holiday Soiree top from Shabby Apple and I love it so much I can’t stand it.

The Capulet skirt, as in Juliet Capulet, is just as romantic and feminine as you might think in iridescent pink. It’s tea length and billowy, yet fitted at the waist to give you that feminine hourglass shape. Sure you have to dry clean it but that is a small price to pay to be the belle of the New Year’s eve ball. Why not start off 2014 in a bold and fun way? Set the tone from the first moment.

 Shabby Apple, Capulet, Holiday, Christmas, fashion

Features:

Calf Length Skirt

Fully Lined, Center Front Bow, Center Back Zipper, Pleated Waist

Taffeta, 100% polyester

Dry clean

The Holiday Soiree Top goes perfectly with the Capulet skirt or the Under the Mistletoe skirt. It’s dark navy but truly looks closer to black. I like the dramatic color contrast between the skirt and top. It gives it a very polished, sophisticated look.

Shabby Apple, Capulet, Holiday, Christmas, fashion

Features:

Poly Satin

89% poly 11% spandex

Short sleeves

Drape neck

Fitted with stretch

Machine wash cold, line dry

There are many great dresses to choose from this holiday season at Shabby Apple and I am giving away a gift certificate for $100 to Shabby Apple to one lucky reader.  All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me your favorite Shabby Apple piece and enter via rafflecopter below.

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Wild Ophelia, chocolate, holiday gift guide, stocking stuffers, Christmas

I was chosen to be part of the Wild Ophelia Chocolate Ambassador program. Chocolate is one of those things that instantly brings happiness to children and even most grown women. Wild Ophelia is a uniquely American brand featuring all-natural and often organic ingredients sourced from small farms and food artisans. Their chocolate bars tell an American story, and bridge the divide between the local, American farmer’s movement and chocolate.

If you were at BlogHer, you probably got to sample some of their uniquely original flavor pairings and were instantly a fan. They come in all sorts of fantastically original flavors like southern hibiscus peach, hickory smoked almond,smokehouse BBQ potato chips, peanut butter and banana, New Orleans Chili, Beef Jerky and sweet cherry pecan an many more.My favorites are the Hickory smoked almond and the Mined Salt and Seas Salt and Coconut special flavors from the Hunger Games Catching Fire edition. Once you try Wild Ophelia,you will never look at chocolate the same way again.

On the back of each chocolate bar, you’ll find the story and origin of each ingredient. All Wild Ophelia products are made with 100% renewable energy and packaged in 100% recycled board. Aside from the flavors, I was very impressed with the Wild Ophelia mission.

We take sustainability seriously and focus on creating unique, high-quality chocolate while engaging with customers and local artisans through an American roadtrip of foods. Central to our mission is our goal to educate and encourage action. We believe people should be aware of their food’s origins and become active and educated consumers by getting involved and asking questions about sources, pesticide practices, and more. We also strive to help children and adults learn to appreciate their food. Our motto: Respect oneself, one’s food, and others, while relishing in the chocolate-tasting experience.

I am giving away 8 bars of Wild Ophelia Chocolate to one lucky reader. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me your favorite Wild Ophelia flavor. Use the rafflecopter for more chances to win. The contest will end on December 26 at midnight!

In the meantime, if you want a Wild Ophelia Chocolate fix, it is available at your nearest Walgreens! Wild Ophelia makes GREAT stocking stuffers! .

I was provided Wild Ophelia Chocolate as part of their Ambassador program but all opinions are mine. This chocolate rocks!

wild ophelia chocolate, Holiday gift guide, holiday gift guide 2013, twitter party, giveaway

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GoldieBlox, More than just a princess

When I was a little girl, I was raised that little girls did “girl things” like play with baby dolls and Barbie dolls. Boys played with legos and lincoln logs. Girls were pretty and boys were dirty. Boys got to have all the fun while all I got to do was chores and play with toys that taught me how to be a “young lady“. Enter easy bake ovens, play houses, baby dolls who cried and needed their diapers changed. When I tried to climb trees or build forts, I was promptly told that those things were not very “ladylike.” It’s damn hard to climb trees in skirts. Don’t get me wrong; I loved doing all those things but maybe I would have liked to play with the Legos or built something with Lincoln logs? The point is this; I didn’t even know what an Engineer did until I was in college at Purdue University…dating an Engineer. So how could I have ever chosen to be an engineer when no one thought it was worth the bother to teach little girls to be anything more than princesses, mothers and maids until now. Enter GoldieBlox. The video below just made me fall more in love with this company. Debbie Sterling, a female engineer from Stanford University, was always bothered by how few women are in the engineering field. I know firsthand how true this. The numbers are definitely skewed in the engineering field. So, Debbie is did something about it. She started a toy company in 2012 called GoldieBlox to get little girls to love engineering as much as she does. The mission of GoldieBlox is to create fun toys that develop spatial skills and teach basic engineering principles. Girls like to read and boys like to build. Put spatial plus verbal together, story and construction and that’s how GoldieBlox was born. GoldieBlox is a book and a construction toy combined, starring Goldie the girl inventor and her motley crew of friends who go on adventures and solve problems by building simple machines. As girls read along they get to build what Goldie builds using their own tool kit. How awesome is that? No longer are we teaching our girls that they have to stand by looking pretty while fetching cold drinks for the man folks. Nope, we are teaching our girls that they can put on a pair of cute jeans and work-boots and go build it themselves. By designing construction toys from the female perspective, GoldieBlox will be more appealing to a broader audience of children and parents who previously considered engineering a job for boys. Engineers solve some of the biggest challenges our society faces. They are critical to the world economy, earn higher salaries and have greater job security. And they are 89% male. There’s more to girls than just pink and fluff.  We can be anything we want to be in this world. I have not been this excited about a new toy for the holidays for my girls in a long time. GoldieBlox,GoldieBlox and the Parade Float This holiday season, the much-anticipated sequel, Goldie Blox and he Parade Float, Goldie’s friends Ruby and Katinka compete in a princess pageant with the hopes of riding in the town parade. When Katinka loses the crown, Goldie and Ruby team up to build her a parade float as well as other fun rolling, spinning, and whirling designs. GoldieBlox,GoldieBlox and the Parade Float

  • A book series plus construction set introducing Ruby, Goldie’s best friend and princess-turned-engineer.
  • Builds spatial skills, engineering principles, and confidence in problem-solving.
  • Comes equipped with 9 design ideas, a DIY project, and unlimited building possibilities.
  • Compatible with all other GoldieBlox toys.

This installment in the GoldieBlox series makes me happy because we are teaching our girls that they don’t just have to be beautiful waving from the float in the parade, they can build the float! I love it and there are lots more awesome toys by GoldieBlox where that came from. GoldieBlox is changing the world for our girls and I love them for it. That’s why they are on this year’s holiday gift guide as a must have for every little girl on your holiday shopping list. goldieblox., Holiday gift guide, holiday gift guide 2013, Shabby Apple, giveaway Disclosure: I was provided GoldieBlox and the Parade Float for review purposes but all opinions are my own.

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EverPurse, fashionable tech, holiday must haves, holiday gift guide

Over the summer, I was in Chicago and had the opportunity to experience a revolutionary new product called EverPurse.

Never heard of them? I hadn’t either until this summer. But believe me when I say that every woman, everywhere needs a purse, especially if it something as fashionable like the ones from hermes birkin.

The Everpurse is great if you work in social media or any business in which you need constant access to a working cellphone, you need an Everpurse.  I love this product so much that I sound like a damn rep and I am not one. Let’s just say the Topaz Croc-pattern leather clutch and I fell in love at first sight. Well, maybe it was a little one-sided but I was smitten. I fell so deeply for the Everpurse that it’s at the top of my personal Christmas wish list.

EverPurse, fashionable tech, holiday must haves, holiday gift guide

The purse was stylish, sleek and looked like it was made for a night on the city. Oh, I wanted that purse badly. It was gorgeous and would have completely camouflaged the fact that I am a working nerd by disguising the clutch and myself as cool with city chicness. But oh no, Everpurse is not just another pretty face, it’s smart and functional too. Think of it as a pair of Louboutins that fit and feel like sneakers. Finally, fashionable tech!

EverPurse, fashionable tech, holiday must haves, holiday gift guide

You see, the sexy secret about the Everpurse is that it has a special charging pocket into which you place your smartphone. Is your mind blown? That’s right, their patent-pending docking system guides your phone smoothly onto a dock connector at the bottom and click you are charging! It charges the phone twice over. No more endlessly fishing for a cord because nothing is more unsexy than rummaging through your bag, while your phone flat lines. Can you imagine? A purse that charges your phone! I mean is this not the best invention since sliced bread? I am pretty sure that it is. It is for me because carbs are bad, people.

EverPurse, fashionable tech, holiday must haves, holiday gift guide

To charge Everpurse itself, you can simply place Everpurse on its charging mat. It uses inductive charging to send energy wirelessly from the mat to the purse, so you never have to plug the purse in, not ever! You can leave a charging mat plugged in wherever it’s convenient for you, at work, at home, wherever, and just drop Everpurse onto the charging mat when it needs charging. If you leave Everpurse on its charging mat overnight, it will have a full charge the next morning. How simple is that?

EverPurse, fashionable tech, holiday must haves, holiday gift guide

I can’t believe that I just heard about the Everpurse. It’s crazy. I want one and I need one. Clutches range in price from $189 to $329, which I understand, is fairly pricey for a non-name brand purse but I have two things to respond to that. One, for what it does, I think that $189-$329 is totally worth the price if you can afford it. Two, a little insider information, you may just start seeing Everpurse partner with some of your more exclusive brands; fingers crossed. But honestly, I am not a label whore and the bags are beautiful and functional. I’ve paid upwards of $300 for plenty of bags and NONE of them charged my phone, all they did was hold my junk. I feel so jipped now.

Everpurse from Everpurse on Vimeo.

If you get the chance, I highly recommend you check out the Everpurse because it will blow your mind and it is sure to be a favorite of all tech-minded fashionistas.

What is the number one gift on your wish list this year?

Everpurse, Holiday gift guide, holiday gift guide 2013, Shabby Apple, giveaway

Disclaimer: I was not paid to write this post or given an Everpurse to review. I did however play with one extensively this summer at an EverPurse function. I just love the Everpurse so much that I had to tell you about it before Christmas so you could add it to your list.

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My Girl's Dollhouse, American Girl doll, Twitter party, Giveaway, Holiday Gift Guide

My Girl's Dollhouse, American Girl doll, Twitter party, Giveaway, Holiday Gift Guide

***UPDATE* Due to such AMAZING interest tonight I will be giving away 2 #MyGirlsDollHouse and 2 Gift Packages valued at $75 each! But you HAVE to RSVP via the Linky and you HAVE to be in ATTENDANCE to win!! Good Luck to ALL!!!! Two Wicked Cool Toys PRIZE Packages for Christmas. Two LUCKY Winners will receive: $75.00 Prize Pack which includes Wicked Cool Toys: Scanimalz, WWE items, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles items, Wiggles.

This year, I am hosting my first ever Holiday Gift Guide and I have the privilege of sharing with you some of the hottest gifts this year. I think the My Girl’s Dollhouse by Goodtoy is going to be the it toy this Christmas. If you were at BlogHer this year, you may have remembered being astonished by the My Girl’s Dollhouse at Sweet Suite. FInally, a place for all of their American Girl Dolls to live. I walked in and it caught my eye immediately because it truly is astounding to see in person. My first thought was, “My girl’s would go crazy for this!” I just knew it would be the gift that made their jaw drop on Christmas morning. If you saw it, you know exactly what I am talking about. Have you ever walked into a room, a store, or seen something on television that you just knew your kids would lose their ever-loving minds over? The kind of thing that you just knew would be the gift to end all gifts and then on Christmas morning or birthday eve or whatever the case may be, the gift fell flat…like a fat man into a shallow pool? Well, this is not “that” gift. This is the gift to end all gifts for little girls. This is a dollhouse for American Girl dolls, or any other 18 inch doll. It’s called the My Girl’s Dollhouse and is one of the first of many quality children’s products under its Goodtoy brand. I saw this thing in person at an expo in July and, at 40, I nearly flipped out at the sight of this huge dollhouse. I’m pretty sure, I can safely say, that my daughters would lose it on Christmas morning. My daughters have just begun to get into American Girl. They each have three dolls, and they love to dress up like them and serve them tea and spoil them rotten. American Girl Dolls are my daughters’ favorite toy right now. I am fine with it because they are wholesome, are historically teachable and my girls love them. The My Girl’s Dollhouse is a giant, high-quality, customizable wood dollhouse for 18-inch dolls and their furniture, clothing, and accessories. Can you say American Girl Doll dream house? Because that is what it is. The My Girl’s Dollhouse is 6-feet tall, 5 feet wide and 2 feet deep. It is huge. It comes in four styles, classic and whimsical and built with exactly the same high quality wood. But the real fun begins inside the house. The house has five rooms that the girls can customize to their own liking; match their bedroom to the American girl’s bedroom. There are 12 different styles of rooms to choose from. The house has two rooms on the main floor, two rooms on the second story and one huge room that acts as the attic. The attic has a bar to hang the dolls clothes on; think of it as the American Girl Doll Dream walk-in-closet. But remember the house does not come with the dolls or the furniture, which is all your responsibility to provide. Luckily, we already have some dolls and now I just have to set out looking for the furniture. I’ve been scouring the Internet for the best deals on the furniture and I have found some really cute pieces. There has never been a dollhouse mass-produced for 18-inch dolls, the My Girl’s Dollhouse will be the first of its kind. I think this is going to be a big seller, hot commodity toy this Christmas season. Every little girl is going to want one. I was lucky enough to be provided one My Girl’s Dollhouse to review by Good Toy and I will be hosting a Twitter party on Wednesday November 20th, at 9 pm. EST and one lucky participant will win a My Girl’s Dollhouse of her own and make this Christmas be one your little girl will never forget. What do you think of a dollhouse for the American Girl Dolls?

I’d love to invite you to our My Girl’s Dollhouse #MyGirlsDollHouse Twitter Party on Wednesday, November 20th at 6:00 PM PST/ 9:00 PM EST!  We’ll be giving away 1 My Girl’s Dollhouse during the Twitter Party!!!

WHAT:  My Girl’s Dollhouse #MyGirlsDollhouse Twitter Party

WHEN:  WEDNESDAY, November 20TH, 2013 FROM 6-7 PM PST/ 9-10 EST

HASHTAG TO USE WHEN TWEETING IT UP:  #MyGirlsDollhouse

WHO TO FOLLOW @TRUTHFULMOMMY AND @GoodToyCom @WIckedCoolToys (SPONSOR) 

Grand PRIZE:  My Girl’s Dollhouse. Retail value $399.00

RSVP:  PLEASE RSVP BELOW.

Join in the Goody Toy #MyGirlsDollhouse party for fun conversation and a chance to win this unbelievable dollhouse for the little girl in your life!

**Please RSVP with your twitter name and link to qualify for a chance to win a prize during the Good Toy #MyGirlsDollhouse Twitter Party.

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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

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Shabby Apple, Truman, Mrs.Robinson, Holiday Gift Guide, Giveaway

One of my favorite things to receive as a Christmas gift and a staple on my holiday gift guide, aside from tech toys, is shoes and clothes and that is why Shabby Apple is top on my list of holiday must haves. To me, almost nothing beats the feminine silhouettes, simple charm and sophistication of vintage fashion. This is why I have several vintage inspired pieces from Shabby Apple. The quality is high and the price is reasonable.

Recently, I received two beautiful new dresses from Shabby Apple. The Mrs. Robinson and the Truman. I love their simple lines and the fact that they both can be dressed up for brisk autumn nights on the town and dressed down for casual days apple picking or shopping with your little ones.

Mrs. Robinson, giveaway, shabby apple

Mrs. Robinson is grey with white cuffs and collar. It looks very demure but the name suggests anything but. Mrs. Robinson makes me think of subtle sexiness, class and sophistication and that made it my number one choice this holiday season. It is loose yet clings to your body in all the right places.

DESCRIPTION:

  • Fitted Bodice with A-line Skirt
  • On Seam Pockets with Elbow Length Sleeves
  • Key Hole Opening at Front Neck a
  • Ponte De Roma
  • 97% Polyester 3%Spandex
  • Machine Wash Cold, Line Dry, Iron Low Heat
  • Made in the USA

Shabby Apple, Holiday Gift Guide, Giveaway, Truman

My other pick was the Truman. It is soft and lovely and, who am I kidding, the Truman makes me think of Truman Capote and all that amazing stories he wrote and that appeals to the writer in me. The Truman will transport you to a bygone era, where an author sits sipping coffee, leaving behind red lipstick like a memory while working on the next great novel. When I wear the Truman, I feel sexy, smart and interesting. Let’s be honest, I’m a mom to two little girls, I can use all the sexy, smart and interesting that I can get these days.

 

DESCRIPTION:

  • Cowl neck dress with elbow length sleeves and self tie waist
  • Available in black
  • Sleeve hits above elbow and skirt hits just above knee
  • Thick Poly/Rayon blend
  • Machine wash cold and hang to dry

These were my two choices but the choice was almost impossible to make; there are so many amazing pieces available at Shabby Apple this holiday season. I’m sure there is something that you will love for yourself.

Good thing too because I am giving away a $100 GC for Shabby Apple so you can get something pretty for yourself or someone special on your holiday list.  You can enter using the rafflecopter widget below. Contest will run until Friday November 15, 2013 11:59 pm.  Good Luck. Mandatory entry leave a comment below telling me your favorite item from Shabby Apple and Subscribe to The TRUTH about Motherhood.

Holiday gift guide, holiday gift guide 2013, Shabby Apple, giveaway

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In all the excitement, I almost forgot to tell you all that my FIRST EVER post is live at Mamalode. I am honored and humbled to be there. I hope you will stop by and read about how I handled my daughter’s request for another baby.

 

Disclosure: I was provided product from Shabby Apple for review but all opinions are my own. I love Shabby Apple.

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