Secret Santa & Stripes/Gingham OOTD

The always stylish Jessy of The Little Dust Princess organized a Secret Santa exchange for the petite community and I was excited to join in this year.  Thank you Jessy for putting this all together!  My Secret Santa was Cynthia of Shorty Stories - make sure to check out her blog, one of the older petite blogs out there.

My goodies from Cynthia included Almay makeup eraser sticks, Burt's Bees lip balm, and a pretty beaded bracelet.  Thank you, Cynthia!  This is perfect!  I haven't tried the eraser sticks yet but they'll be great for on-the-go raccoon eye fixing and the lip balm gives just the right amount of color without any stickiness.

In case you're wondering, I drew Lor from Petite in the City.  Check out her blog if you'd like to see what I got her :)

I also received some goodies from Jean of Extra Petite and Annie of Really Petite.  These beautiful ladies have amazing blogs (the first ones I started following) and were among the first to welcome me to the blogging community.  Thank you gals for being so sweet and thoughtful!  <3

Beauty goodies (can't wait to try them!) and trim for Baby / Toddler crafting projects (perfect for my scrapbooking and shadow boxes!) from Jean.

 

A beautiful orange striped LOFT sweater from Annie (it was like she read my mind - stripes AND orange!) that I wore the first chance I got :)

Sweater:  LOFT Stripe Button Down Back Sweater, XSP, gift from the lovely Annie

Shirt:  J. Crew Crewcuts Boys' Button-Down in Large Gingham, Sz 14

Necklace:  J. Crew Resin and Chain Link Necklace, Navy Blue

Skirt:  J. Crew Bell Skirt, Sz 2

Shoes: Tory Burch Afrikan Reva Ballerina Flat in Razor Blue

I forgot to take a picture of my bag with the outfit!  This is a late birthday present from Hubby (not his fault, I took 2 months trying to figure out what I wanted) - a Rebecca Minkoff MAC Clutch in Stone with gunmetal hardware.  I LOVE it!  It is the perfect size for toting around my essentials and can be carried cross-body - a must for coordinating the kiddos.

If you're wondering how the Revas are doing in my breaking in process, I found the perfect shoe stretchers on accident last week.  Cardboard inserts that came with my Dansko clogs!  My problem areas are the back elastic and the pinky toe area.  This insert is helping stretch those for me and it's making a big difference.

Whew, that was a long post from me :)  Hope everyone has a wonderful and happy new year!!

(CLOSED) GIVEAWAY: Hand-Knit Chunky Scarf

The winner is WHW Katelyn!  Please contact me within the next few days to claim your prize - congrats!!

.I've been trying my hand at knitting recently because it's a good craft for my current lifestyle.  I can sit on the couch with the kiddos and knit with just a few materials.  I'm very much a newbie and am still trying to figure things out but I was very flattered last week when some of you expressed interest in my knitted scarf.  So it's time for another giveaway!

 The winner can choose from the Buttoned Wrap Scarf or the Slouchy Cowl (both are wool blends in case anyone has sensitivities):

Buttoned Wrap Scarf in Spice (an orange-red color)

Slouchy Cowl in Charcoal Gray

To enter, just leave a comment for each of the following:

1.  Publicly follow this blog (click "follow" in my sidebar) and let me know which style you'd like
2. (Optional Bonus Entry) Follow me on Twitter (click "Twitter" on sidebar and follow)
3. (Optional Bonus Entry) Click to tweet and leave me your Twitter ID

The winner will be randomly drawn on December 31st and will have 2 days to claim their win.  If unclaimed, another winner will be drawn.

Good luck!