Stocking Stuffers Under $20: The Caffeine Addict

For the second installment of my holiday stocking-stuffer guides, I had to pick some treats for the caffeine addict in your life. Whether her poison of choice is coffee or tea (or a combination of both, like me), these gifts will be sure to bring her some holiday cheer. :)

1. "Is coffee, indeed, the substance that drives history?" According to Barnes & Noble, you should read this book to find out! 

$10.78 (online price), $14.95 (in store) 

Photo A Day: October

What's that you say? This challenge from Fat Mum Slim ended 23 days ago? Oops.... Well I only took five photos for the entire October challenge anyway, so just humor me for the three seconds it takes you to look at them. :)


1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
My favorite picture of the bunch is definitely the bottom middle: That's the trail near my house where I did my longer training runs this fall. So beautiful!

Stocking Stuffers Under $20: The Organized One

I love giving gifts, but I don't love the pressure the holidays put on me to find the perfect gifts for everyone special in my life. I would much rather buy gifts throughout the year as I find things I think my family members would like than buy them something for Christmas just because I need something to put under the tree. One thing I DO love about holiday gift-giving traditions, though? The stockings!! I absolutely love finding stocking stuffers, and most of the items on my personal wishlist each year are honestly more in the stocking-stuffer category.

For the next few weeks leading up to the holidays, I thought it would be fun to create little stocking-stuffer gift guides as my own version of "Wishlist Wednesday." For the first installment, I've rounded up some smaller, inexpensive items that would be most appreciated by the organizers in your life: the planners, the type-A personalities, the paper-product junkies ... you know who I mean. :) I tried to pick items from stores that are pretty easy to find (think Target and Staples), but don't forget to check out Ross, T.J. Maxx or Marshalls for similar gifts in a low price range!

1. My original thought for this item was a cute kitchen timer, but this hourglass timer from World Market was just too pretty and classic to pass up. This would be perfect for any friends who believe in the Pomodoro method and need a cute, unique way to keep track of time.

$12.99

My first "real" giveaway: Paypal Cash!

I know I've been a little absent from this space lately, but I've still been brainstorming ways to expand my content and grow my blog after I finish a few other life projects and can jump back into the blogosphere. Given this thought train, imagine my delight when I found an email from the lovely Amanda inviting me to join her giveaway! This is my first "real" giveaway with other bloggers, and I have to tell you, there are some pretty great peeps in here. :) Please take a minute to at least visit the home page of all the lovely ladies in this giveaway; I guarantee you'll find at least a few new blogs to add to your feed (if you're not reading them all already)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nonfic November: A Guest Post

Remember that post I promised you about fiction/nonfiction pairs for the autumn book challenge? Well, the day has come for me to share my ideas! But you'll have to head over to Doing it the Open Way to see the post; I'm guest posting as part of her Non Fic November series today. This post also coincides perfectly with Jessica's Book Chat link-up topic for the week: nonfiction. I love killing two birds with one stone. Check out the full post here.

Have you read any good nonfiction lately? What's your favorite topic to read about?

Blogger Switch Back: A Swap with Vintage 1973

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to "switch back" with Regina of Vintage 1973. (If you missed our "Freaky Friday" posts last week, check them out here and here!)


Today, I'm going to take the questions Regina answered as me and show how I would have answered them. I have to say, I was pretty dang impressed with Regina's answers! This project really showed me how much we can learn about one another just through reading our blogs. Below, I included Regina's answers as me in black, and I wrote my own answers and comments under each answer in green. Enjoy!

Cityscape on Camera: Evian, France & Vevey, Switzerland

Today is the final installment of my European Extravaganza recap series. I've actually been writing these posts since late July, but it still seems weird to think I'm already done recapping all our fabulous adventures. Of course, there's only so much you can fit into a picture, so I hope I told you enough stories that you could really get a feel for each city and country.

After leaving the Azores (and spending a very long night in a children's playpen at the Lisbon airport), we went back to my mom's condo in Switzerland for a few short days of relaxation and re-packing before heading home to California. My sister's high school friend had flown over to visit her before traveling through Europe with her parents, so we all took an afternoon to take advantage of the warm weather and swim in Lake Geneva ... where we got chased by a swan. And got to see lots of confident Swiss women proudly showing off all 80 of their years. (Don't worry, there aren't any pictures of the latter.)

Freaky Friday: A Blog Swap with Vintage 1973!

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Halloween. I'd love to hear what you dressed up as in the comments! My fiance dressed up as Superman and I dressed up as Lois Lane (kind of a cop-out, but it allowed me to still look professional in my office). Anyway, I'm participating in a brand-new project with Regina of Vintage 1973 today, and I'm excited for you to check out its inaugural post! Regina wrote up a great description of the project already, so I'm just going to include it after the jump. Enjoy!

Autumn 2013 Book Challenge: Month 1

Photo via @mcstroup on Instagram

Can you believe the first month of the Semi-Charmed Autumn 2013 Book Challenge is already over? I feel like it went by so fast! For those of you who have been playing along, here's your first chance to check in and show me what you've read so far. And if you are intrigued and still want to join, it's not too late! Click the link above to read the full rules, and feel free to look back to October 1 and count any qualifying books you've read since then.