Happy new year, and happy holidays! Christmas Day may be over, but it's still the holiday season, so my Christmas spirit isn't gone yet (though I'm not sure it ever fully goes away). It's been a week since Christmas, and my favorite part of the holiday is most definitely giving presents. I actually love giving gifts no matter the time of year as I've been known to buy gifts for my family and friends especially for no reason. I even buy gifts for my favorite gymnasts and performers. So I definitely love Christmas because it's all about giving.
But of course, I also enjoy the receiving. It's nice to see what your loved ones think you would like, and I've been blessed and am so thankful to receive all that I did this past Christmas. I don't know what I did to deserve it, so I just want to thank everyone who gave me a gift and show them how much I appreciate it, which is why I'm sharing what I got for Christmas in this post.
(If you want to shop any of these items online, just click the name of the item. Yes, I realize this means I've seen the price of these, but that's not why I linked them. I just want people to be able to buy/find the items if they want. Besides, I'd already seen some of these things before, and it doesn't mean I know how much someone paid for them. After all, the holiday season means lots of sales and promo codes.)
My sister, Ashley, themed almost all of my Christmas presents around Disney Princesses, and they were all products I knew about but hadn't bought for myself. The first one was this comfy crewneck.
I first saw discovered this sweatshirt (and maybe the company itself) when I saw
Stephanie Styles, one of my favorite Broadway actresses ― and one of my favorite people ever ― wear this in an Instagram post. The Snuggly Duckling is the name of a place in the Disney movie
Tangled, which
is definitely one of my favorite Disney Princess movies. Rapunzel is my favorite Disney princess, and pink is my favorite color, so I just loved this. Now I can match my fave!
I remember Ashley sent this shirt to me on Instagram once, and I instantly enjoyed it and thought it was funny. In case you don't know or haven't figured it out, the saying on the shirt is a play on a line from "Part of Your World" in The Little Mermaid. Ariel sings "I want to be where the people are," but this, as the site says, is the perfect shirt for the introverted Disney fan, because introverts need time away from people. I am definitely an introvert, so I thoroughly enjoy this and am so glad the text is pink! I showed this to my brother, and he actually wanted to know if there was a men's version, because he, too, is an introvert.
Everyone could use a good denim jacket, and this is a great one. My sister and I have discovered a lot of Disney-related clothing brands lately, and Cakeworthy is a great one. You may have even seen some of their merchandise in a Disney Store.
Now that the '90s are back and trendy, I've been seeing not only a lot of denim jackets, but embroidered denim and patches and pins on denim. This jacket combines that with all of the Disney princesses that existed in the '90s. This is such a fun denim jacket that will make me feel just as cool and royal as the princesses on the back.
Here's the one non-Disney-related Christmas gift I got from Ashley. It's actually related to one our newest interests, Broadway. So this shirt is from a collaboration with a Broadway dresser and blogger, Teale Dvornik (aka The Backstage Blonde) and TodayTix, a site that helps theater fans find last-minute tickets to Broadway shows and other theatre events all over the world. Teale originally sold "strong female lead" shirts on her own site store but collaborated with TodayTix for a special collection.
While "strong female lead" often refers to a powerful leading lady in a movie, TV show, play, musical, or any other performance art piece, it can also just refer to any strong woman. This shirt is to inspire women and girls to be the "strong female lead" in their own lives, which I love. And of course, I adore that this shirt is pink, because the original ones Teale sells on her website aren't, and you know I love pink.
Patagonia 'Better Sweater' Jacket
One thing I can always count on getting for Christmas is pajamas. My mom always buys me at least one set of pajamas. Whatever else she buys me is usually a mystery unless I specifically ask for something and she says, "This is your Christmas present, then." This year was a mystery year ― sort of ― but more on that later.
Since I hadn't asked my mom for anything specific for Christmas, I didn't know what she was going to get me. So I was definitely surprised by this Patagonia jacket. I'd never expressed interest in having one, but I definitely wouldn't have minded owning one. My mom bought my dad one for Christmas last year, but he never used it, so he gave it to Ashley. I guess my mom wanted me to have a Patagonia, too, and now I do!
I honestly don't see myself wearing this too often, because this is definitely a more outdoorsy jacket that you'd wear when you're hiking or something, but it'll be nice to have a light but thick jacket to keep me warm when I don't want to wear something big or puffy. I finally have a casual winter jacket to alternate with my North Face!
These next three items are from my best friend Carly, and what I love most about them is that she put together an outfit for me when I'm usually the one putting an outfit together for her, so I am very touched! The first part of her gift was this super comfy-looking hooded chenille sweater. Chenille is totally in right now, and I actually don't have a chenille sweater yet, so this is perfect. I also don't own a hooded sweater, but it seems like a great idea, so I'm excited to wear this.
The next part of my gift from Carly are these shorts. How fun are these?! I love the gold. I love the leopard print. I love the flare fit. It's so glam but not in your face. Paired with the chenille sweater, these would be cute and dressed down a bit.
Marina de Buchi Personalised Script Name Gold Bracelet
And here's the last thing Carly got me for Christmas. I don't actually think I've ever owned a piece of jewelry with my name on it before, so I'm pretty excited about this bracelet. I don't really wear bracelets in the winter because my arms are almost always covered, so no one can even see what's on my wrist, but I can't wait to wear this.
Henri Bendel Jetsetter Backpack
My mom has been kind of obsessed with Henri Bendel for the past year or so maybe, so it was only time that she'd get me a Henri Bendel bag. Back to the my Christmas present from her sort of being a surprise: this one was so not a surprise. She straight up asked me which Henri Bendel Jetsetter backpack I wanted, which was nice because then I knew I'd like it, but it also took away some of the fun in getting presents and being surprised.
Anyway, now every girl in my family and all of my mom's sisters have Henri Bendel Jetsetter backpacks. My mom bought one for everyone. None of us have the same one, though. What's great about this backpack is that it can be a backpack or a messenger bag, which I love. Who doesn't like versatility? Now I'll take good care of this bag because Henri Bendel is going out of business soon and this will be my first and last bag from them.
Pink Longchamp Le Pliage backpack
My mom's sisters are pretty big on designer bags, so it makes sense that my aunt got me a pink Longchamp backpack. She actually bought me a classic purple Longchamp purse a few years ago, so I'm glad I got a pink bag this time (because you know I love pink and it's nice to have a different color since the styles are very similar). This isn't as big of a bag as my Henri Bendel backpack, but it's still a good size that could fit everything I need in it, including a water bottle. This color is great for spring, and I don't have a backpack in this shade of pink yet, so I'll definitely be using this in a few months.
If you guessed that my sister got this for me, then you're right! This limited edition ColourPop Disney Designer lipstick was the final part of my Christmas present from Ashley, and it's the only thing I knew she got me. I don't remember when we found out about the Disney Designer collection, but when we did and the hot pink Jasmine lipstick was out of stock, we were both bummed.
As you definitely know by now, pink is my favorite, and Jasmine is one of my favorite Disney princesses (definitely my favorite Broadway Disney princess ― I love Courtney Reed!) So when she found out ColourPop restocked the Jasmine lipsticks, she told me she bought two for me. I also bought one for myself before Christmas, because they had free shipping, and I know they won't be around forever. I've already used the one I got myself and love the shade of pink. Definitely princess worthy!
Happy new year! What did you get for Christmas and/or how did you spend your holidays?
