Tips for Choosing a Holiday Dress #fashion

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Choosing a dress for the holidays can be a real challenge. There's nothing worse than being over-dressed, except for maybe being under-dressed. As I browsed for my holiday dress on Azazie, I made a list of tips that will help you as you shop for your perfect dress for this holiday season.

Tips for Choosing a Holiday Dress:

1. Choose something basic. To get your money's worth, you'll want a dress that can be worn long after the holidays are over. This Azazie Rylee dress can be worn for Christmas, New Year's Eve, and other events that call for a dress. You can always add some pizazz to a basic dress with glittering jewelry, belts, and colored scarves or wraps that have sparkly elements.
2. Choose something comfortable. You may be in your dress for hours. Choose materials that move with you, rather than constrict you. This dress is made of a flowy, soft chiffon. Azazie will custom fit any dress to your measurements to ensure it fits you perfectly. 
3. Choose something with either no sleeves or short sleeves. You can always throw a jacket on top. If you're dancing for hours, you're going to want to shed your jacket or wrap and still look fabulous. I love that this dress ties behind my neck because it gives me assurance that my chest stays tucked away where it should.
4. Choose something affordable. There's no reason to spend hundreds of dollars on a dress. This dress from Azazie costs just $79. Your friends will be more impressed with the great deal you got on a custom-fitted dress.
5. Shop at www.azazie.com first. They have a huge selection of dresses that are perfect for the holidays, weddings, and more!

www.azazie.com
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Gluten-Free Holiday Appetizer Ideas

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Just because you or some of your guests are eating gluten-free, doesn't mean you should have to sacrifice tasting delicious holiday appetizers! These scrumptious Gluten Free Bites in Dark Chocolate Coconut will delight all of your guests. They come in six delicious flavors.

These tiny squares of tastiest are actually The Gluten Free Bar, cut into six bite-size pieces. Each little square is packed with delicious flavor. The GFB comes in six delicious flavors that you and your holiday guests will love.

Try the GFB Peanut Butter, Cranberry Toasted Almond, Coconut Cashew Crunch, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin, and Dark Chocolate Coconut. Try the GFB Bites in Chocolate Cherry Almond, Dark Chocolate Coconut, Coconut Cashew Crunch, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Blueberry Almond Crunch, and Chocolate Hazelnut.

All of the GFB products are certified gluten-free by the GFCO, certified vegan by Vegan Action, certified kosher by Kosher Michigan, GMO free, and soy-free. GFB bars and bites are the perfect time-saving, gluten-free way to enjoy delicious holiday appetizers. They also make great stocking stuffers!

www.theglutenfreebar.com

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Christmas Gift Ideas from Gourmet Gift Baskets

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Gourmet Gift Baskets has all kinds of great gift ideas this year! Check out this huge gift box filled with nine different holiday popcorn mixes. Each bag is perfect for two people to share, or go crazy and let everyone choose their own bag.

This Popcorn Sampler gift box from KingOfPop.com includes nine popcorn flavors of the season - Holiday Anise Cookie, Dark Chocolate Chile, Gingerbread, Strawberry Cheesecake, White Chocolate Peppermint, Cinnamon Bun, Dark Chocolate Orange, Tuxedo, and Banana Cream Pie.

Hosting a holiday party? Open all nine bags and pour each one into a tall clear glass for a delightful popcorn bar! Tie a ribbon around each one with a tag that says its flavor so everyone can sample them all. It's also the perfect gift for that popcorn lover in your family.

The Christmas Coal Popcorn Stocking is filled with Black Cherry popcorn, it's a great gag gift for the office party or for extra-naughty children! Check out gourmetgiftbaskets.com for more great gift ideas that will please everyone.

gourmetgiftbaskets.com

The Christmas Pickle Tradition

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

The Christmas Pickle Tradition is a wonderful way to share the joy of Christmas with your family. This beautiful gift set includes a full-color hardbound book and a Christmas pickle ornament, packaged in a beautiful keepsake gift box topped with a red bow.

The Christmas Pickle Tradition book is a real treasure. Written by Tammy Lee Dwyer, the story tells of a young elf who believes that Christmas is all about getting what you want from others. As the tale goes on, he learns that the real magic of Christmas is about giving.

Also inside the keepsake box is a note from Santa Claus, detailing a delightful new way to add some fun to Christmas. The first child who finds the pickle hanging on the Christmas tree receives the first present from Santa.

It's a delightful story that is beautifully written and the illustrations are simply gorgeous. It's a wonderful way to help guide your family's thinking away from "getting" and towards "giving" this holiday season. Start a new tradition this year with The Christmas Pickle Tradition gift set!

Get your Christmas Pickle Tradition gift set at christmaspickletradition.com. It's a fabulous gift idea for any family. Be sure to follow them on Facebook too!

Giveaway! $25 Amazon Gift Card - Merry Christmas Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the

Merry Christmas Giveaway Hop

Hosted by Planet Weidknecht

and LeahSay's Views

From November 28 through December 8,

you can hop to each of the participating blogs below

and enter to win a prize on every blog

worth at least $25.00!

I'm giving away a

$25 Amazon Gift Card

so you can buy

a Christmas gift, some holiday decor,

or some delicious holiday treats!

It's my Christmas gift to one lucky winner!

Merry Christmas!

To enter just fill in the contest form below.

Open to US residents, ages 18 and up.

Giveaway ends at midnight on 12/8/2014.

Good luck!

Enter my other giveaways HERE.

Follow me on Facebook HERE.

Weekly Giveaway Linky - Wednesday Wealth (November 26-December 2)

Quinoa Pops Cereal - Review

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Quinoa is a whole grain seed that is packed with protein and is so good for you! Pereg Quinoa Pops Cereal is the perfect way to add quinoa into your family's daily lifestyle. Pereg makes four flavors of Quinoa Pops Cereal - Original, Vanilla, Strawberry and Cocoa. Not just for breakfast, this cereal is a great snack or a new way to add some pop to your other meals.

Quinoa Pops are certified gluten-free, OU Kosher, cholesterol-free, plus they are low in sodium and sugar. They are a much healthier choice than popped rice or popped corn cereal. These tiny pops are lightly sweet, airy, and crunchy. I love the way they taste! My favorite, of course, is the cocoa flavor and I love it as a topping on my strawberry yogurt.

It's also great tossed into banana slices because the cereal sticks to the bananas. Even your kids will love Quinoa Pops Cereal! Quinoa Pops Cereal can be eaten in a bowl with milk, tossed into a salad, and even used as a topping on ice cream or cooked veggies. And it's only 100 calories per serving!

Find out more about Quinoa Pops Cereal HERE 

and check out all their other natural gourmet food products too!
You can also follow them on Facebook!

My Weekend at Lakeway Resort and Spa - Austin, Texas #travel

Disclosure: I was provided accommodations and services at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season now upon us, it's good to sneak away for a weekend. My husband and I drove out last weekend to the Lakeway Resort and Spa, nestled in the hill country of central Texas. It's just west of Austin, so it was about an hour's drive for us.

The resort sits on the shores of Lake Travis and offers tons of amenities to enjoy! It's a great place for a short getaway or a long family vacation. They have facilities that are perfect for weddings, conventions, reunions, and much more.

The entire property is just beautiful, even under the cloudy skies of our rainy weekend. What better place to be stuck inside than a beautiful hotel room with a view of the lake, with even a spa to grab a massage?

The entire resort has recently been renovated and the beauty of Texas certainly shows in the decor of stone, wood, and even a few touches of the old west. The staff at Lakeway Resort and Spa treated us like royalty the entire time we were there.

Our hotel room was beautiful, with blue-grey decor that mimicked the gentle waves of Lake Travis. Even the art of the walls featured wavy lines. Our room featured a king-size bed, a sitting area and a desk area. I loved the full-pressure shower-head installed in the bathroom.

Lakeway Resort and Spa also offers valet parking and room service if you desire a weekend experience of complete luxury. There is so much to do at Lakeway Resort and Spa that I actually watched the hotel channel to see what they offered!

Along the far window of our hotel room was a sliding glass door out onto a private balcony that overlooks Lake Travis. The resort sits on a small peninsula so we could see the shoreline on the other side and wistfully wish we owned one of those houses. Although it was overcast, the temperature was perfect for being outside when it wasn't raining.

I'm guessing when the weather is nicer, this part of the lake is filled with boats, water skis, and jet skis. It's a bit sad to see how low Lake Travis levels are because of the drought. We could see the normal water line across the lake.

Photos just can't do justice to the beautiful, expansive view of Lake Travis from the private balcony in our room. Check out the video I made on my new Samsung Galaxy Tab S of the view:

Giveaway! Chicken Soup for the Soul: Touched by an Angel

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Have you ever had an experience so incredible that you just know in your heart that it was a divine intervention? Several years ago, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that affects every part of the body. My husband said I was in so much pain that, even when I slept, he could see the pain in my face. The pain went on for months as I saw doctor after doctor, taking every pain medication prescribed, but nothing helped. It was affecting my life horribly and I was even considering quitting my job at the time of teaching. I prayed to God all the time, out loud, for Him to heal me. About six months of excruciating pain went by and I finally found a doctor who could help me. He discovered I was misdiagnosed with fibromyalgia and that I actually had crushed bones in my neck that were pressing against the nerves in my neck. Three days later I had corrective surgery and woke up completely pain-free. I still have a scar on my neck that I hope never goes away, because I believe God healed me through that doctor, and that scar is my reminder of His love for me and that He hears my prayers.

Do you believe in angels? I believe in angels and I also believe that I have an army of God's angels around me all the time. When I am stressed, scared, or anxious, I visually imagine them around me. I pray daily that God's angels surround those I love too. Chicken Soup for Soul: Touched by an Angel is a wonderful book, filled with stories from people who have experienced miracles in their own life. There are nearly 400 pages of stories about divine intervention and I enjoyed every story. Like most Chicken Soup for the Soul books, many of the stories brought me to tears. It's wonderful to see God working in people's lives. I'm so excited to give a copy of Touched by an Angel away to one of you! It's a wonderful holiday gift idea that will touch someone's heart. You can buy it HERE.

Win a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Touched by an Angel!
To enter, just fill in the form below. The giveaway is open to US residents, ages 18 and up. Giveaway ends at midnight on 12/5/2014. Good luck!

Enter my other giveaways HERE.
Follow me on Facebook HERE.

Giveaway! Holiday Scents Softsoap Body Washes

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Now you can take the scents of the season into your daily routine with these limited edition Softsoap Holiday Scents Body Washes. These incredibly moisturizing body washes will wrap your body with joy and happiness.

There are three limited edition scents - Venetian Vanilla Spice, Parisian Berry Bliss, and Alpine Mint Frost. They smell SO good! My favorite one is the Venetian Vanilla Spice. My skin gets really dry and itchy in the fall and winter, but the Softsoap body washes really make a difference in how comfortable I am in my skin.

These would be a great holiday gift! You could get one of each holiday scent and package them into a wicker basket with some white washcloths tied with some festive ribbons. As a mom, I would love to receive this kind of comfort and joy for the holidays!

These limited edition Softsoap body washes are only available through the end of December, so don't miss out! You can find them at your local Walmart store. Find out more at www.softsoap.com and enter below to win all three body wash holiday scents!

Win all 3 Softsoap Holiday Scents Body Washes!
To enter to win, just fill in the contest form below. Open to US residents, ages 18 and older. Giveaway ends at midnight on 12/7/2014. Good luck!

Enter my other giveaways HERE.
Follow me on Facebook HERE.

Holiday Home Decor Ideas - Big Dot of Happiness

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

If you're having a holiday party or just want to make your home more festive this holiday season, you need to check out Big Dot of Happiness. They are a one-stop online shop with a free concierge service and more than 200 customizable themed decorations, favors, DIY kits, and everything you need.

I received the Red Party Candy Buffet package that is chock-full of a variety of delicious, mouthwatering candies. There are so many ways to use candy as party decor and home decor, or even to add some extra flair to your baked treats.

The Red Party Candy Buffet includes a large box of swirly red and white lollipops. I was especially impressed that each lollipop was packaged in bubble wrap to prevent breakage during shipping. Not a single lollipop arrived damaged.

The Red Party Candy Buffet also included two pounds of red Celebration Sweetworks sixlets and two big packages of red licorice. I'll admit I snacked a bit while I was creating some holiday home decor ideas to share with you!

Also included in the Red Party Candy Buffet is a huge package of Fruit Punch Tootsie Rolls, each individually packaged. Using all four candy varieties, either separately or together, you can create some beautifully festive displays for your party or to enhance your holiday decor. Here are some of the ideas I created:

To make the Sweet Sippers, I used clear glass mason jar mugs, but you could use any clear glass. I put one licorice stick into each glass to look like a straw, then poured the sixlets around it until they filled the glass. I tied some ribbons around the top for an extra touch. You could make one for each guest or family member.

For the Candied Flowerpots, I chose a varied selection of glass mason jars that have diamond cuts on the side for extra decoration. In one I used sixlets as the flowerpot "dirt" and then carefully poked in the lollipop "flowers." In the largest one I used licorice as the "stems" and "leaves" and in the smallest one the tootsie rolls were the "dirt" in the flowerpot. I also added some ribbons around the top of the "flowerpot" jars.

The grand finale is the Confection Centerpiece which features all four candies from the Red Candy Party Buffet package. I layered sixlets in the bottom of a plastic vase, then placed licorice around the edge near the top, backfilling with tootsie rolls to support them. Then I carefully added about a dozen lollipops by sticking the lollipop sticks into the tootsie rolls. What do you think of my ideas? What would you create?

Check out www.bigdotofhappiness.com to get the Red Party Candy Buffet sent to your home so you can recreate these and come up with more great ideas! Don't miss all their other great products for all your holiday party needs too.

www.bigdotofhappiness.com

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What's Your Best Black Friday Score? #BlackFridayGiveaway

Disclosure: This is a Fashionista Event and a promotional item was provided to me by Coupons.com.

Hosts for this event are Still Blonde after all these Years and ModlyChic.

With three children in college, it's almost a given that I shop the sales. Money is always tight, so we're always looking for a bargain! Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year and that's also the day where the best in-store bargains can be found. Every year, I try to avoid the crazy crowds and insane parking lots, but those sale prices end up tempting me out of the comfort of my home. Shopping online on Cyber Monday also reveals amazing bargains.

My best Black Friday score ever was a 42" flat screen television. I don't even remember the exact amount I paid for it, but it was around 65% off the original price. I do remember that it was one of two left on the shelf and someone else grabbed the other one as we grabbed this one. I'm hoping for some more great deals this year and I'm using The Good Stuff to help me get prepared!

The Good Stuff is the Coupons.com magazine and it is a great resource for everything you need to know about Black Friday shopping. The Black Friday articles on The Good Stuff will help you find more information about shopping trends during Black Friday. Just click on the image above to learn more!

Want to win some great prizes? Coupons.com is also sponsoring an amazing giveaway on their site! Find the link to the Coupons.com Black Friday Giveaway on The Good Stuff while you're searching for Black Friday deals, tips for surviving Black Friday, and secrets to shop smart and save big! The giveaway ends on November 28, so hurry!

What's your best Black Friday score? What's on your wish list this year?