top 10 :: favorite christmas gifts

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone... again. It always seems to fly by. I'm still listening to Christmas music for a few more days... just trying to stretch it out a little bit longer. My holiday was frantic, but fabulous. We were in Houston and had a whirlwind weekend of Christmas celebration. I received some super awesome gifts this year... a lot of stuff from my wish list and a lot of surprises too. Here are a few of my favorites...

1) My Pyrrah necklace.

This is what Lance got me this year. I was way excited about it... 1) because I had no idea what he was getting me, and he can rarely keep surprises to himself... and 2) because these necklaces are so flippin' cool. Have you heard of Pyrrah before?? Basically this awesome couple started designing jewelry from 19th century wax seals. Lance picked out the Five Fleur de Lis necklace for me to represent our time here in Louisville (the fleur de lis is the city symbol for Louisville).

2) My James Avery ring.

I had this amazingly beautiful smokey quartz ring on my wish list this year... fully expecting not to receive it. I needed one last thing for my top 10 wish list and I have always loved anything from James Avery... but this one was a tad pricey. My dad always gets "his girls" (my mom, sister and me) a little something special just from him. Well this year, he completely surprised us by giving all 3 of us the gorgeous smokey quartz ring. I love it.

3) My Lulu Lemon pants.

Not all of my gifts were jewelry... I also snagged the awesome Lulu Lemon pants that were on my wish list. I'm hoping these pants are just what I needed to get me motivated to work out again. And... if all else fails, at least I can look like I've been working out... Lulu can always help with that;)

4) My (I mean, our) fancy decorative tray.

This year my grandparents got everyone something for their home. Lance and I lucked out with this beautiful decorative tray. It's huge. I'm already daydreaming about where it will go and what purpose it will serve in our house... I'm thinking breakfast in bed for Julia...

5) My Erin Condren gift card.

I have been eyeing the Erin Condren planner for quite a few months now... trying to decide if that would be my twenty-twelve planner for next year. I am still new to the Erin Condren fan club, but basically everything on her website is amazing. Well, I visited my cousin (and her precious new little baby girl) over the holidays and she let me flip through her planner... and that was all it took... I'm hooked. Lucky for me, my cousin happened to give me an EC gift card... which I will be using shortly to order my new planner!!

6) Our state prints.

Specifically Kentucky and Georgia. I am waaaayyyy excited about these. My sister discovered the B&A Prints shop on Etsy, and we both instantly added these clever state maps to our wish lists. I think it would be really cool to have a little collection for every state that was meaningful to you. We are hoping to eventually add Alabama and Texas to our state wall.

7) My blue Gap jeans.

Well... they're really more like jeggings, I guess. But they are the most awesome jeggings ever. I love the color and I love how comfortable they are. I will definitely be seeing if they have any other colors...

8) My Happiness Project book.

Santa brought me The Happiness Project book by Gretchen Rubin. I have heard really great things about this little book... the subtitle on the cover was all I needed... "The Happiness Project... Or, why I spent a year trying to sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read aristotle, and generally have more fun." Okay, I'm in. It reminded me of my 30 by 30 list... and makes me want to go ahead and create a 40 by 40 list. If this kind of stuff leaves you feeling inspired, then you really need to go over here and read about how this girl celebrated her 38th birthday... amazing.

9) My new watch.

Compliments of my rad sister. I was wanting a new watch for Christmas this year... and my sister totally pulled through for me. I love the tortoise band and the gold details. Love. Love. Love.

10) Mulah. Cash money. Dollar bills.

I mean, who doesn't like a little bit of Christmas cash?!? Lance and I have already agreed to use a portion for some fun spending cash for each of us, while the rest is going straight to savings... well actually, it will probably be used to knock out some more debt. But hey, that is one heck of a Christmas gift if you ask me.

What about you? Did you receive a special gift this year? Or were you able to give a special gift this year? I'd love to hear...

Linking this up to Oh Amanda.