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Gift Guide for Her

December 20, 2019 By Kat

This is Part 2 of my holiday 2019 gift guide! See Part 1 on Gifts for Him.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate for Nordstrom.com and Amazon, so I may earn a small commission on purchases you make through these links.

I wanted to write these gift guides because a lot of the guides I read in magazines or online actually contain a lot of things I would never buy. I don’t know why. So I try to keep these as practical as possible and do a wide price range because your budget will depend on how well you know the woman / how close of a relationship you have with her. So enough talk, here is the list!

Nest Fragrances Grapefruit Reed Diffuser – Perfect for adding a nice scent to any room. I got it a housewarming gift, and it lasted a long time! Plus it looks nice on a coffee table.

Rainbow Silicone Skin Keyboard Protector – After I spilled boba on my keyboard and broke it, I got this colorful protector to prevent future accidents. Be sure to check that it’s the right size for her laptop. This one is for a Macbook Pro. At under $10, this is a good deal!

Kylie Skin Headband – This is from Kylie Jenner’s skincare brand. I have not tried her skincare products, but I’m on the lookout for something to keep my hair back when I wash my face / do makeup, so a headband like this would be nice.

Longchamp ‘Le Foulonne’ Pebbled Leather Card Holder – This is convenient for holding your important credit cards for a small purse that may not fit a wallet. And it’s even more useful for switching purses quickly because everything is in one place.

Uncommon James Girl Boss Square Hoop Earrings – A novel twist on classic hoop earrings from Kristin Cavallari’s Uncommon James jewelry brand. These bold square earrings make such a style statement for the ultimate girl boss.

Topshop Heavy Brush Check Scarf – Scarves make a great gift as they can be thrown over any outfit to add more interest and make it look more cozy. I like a good checkered / plaid scarf for the cold months. This scarf would go well with a black jacket or outfit.

Beis The Travel Set Passport Wallet, Pouch & Luggage Tag – Black Croc – Cute luggage tag and passport holder set. Beis is the travel luggage brand by Shay Mitchell. Everything looks so swoon-worthy! See their Instagram page.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette – Besides being a go-to eyeshadow palette for me (with matte browns and shimmery shades), this also SMELLS LIKE CHOCOLATE because the shades are infused with cocoa powder. Win win!

Tasha Wave Headband – I think a headband would be a cute gift to give a gal pal. Just picked one example here. Headbands are usually at an affordable price range and she could use it to accessorize and look fabulous for the holidays.

La Luna Zipper Front Sports Bra – front zip sports bra that provides full support for the woman who wants to be more active next year. Created by my friend Linda Lippold, the Wrights Active brand donates 5 percent of proceeds to The Joyful Heart Foundation.

32 Degrees Ladies’ Heat Tees and Pants. Costco has a nice brand called 32 Degrees where they make long sleeve shirts and pants that are lightweight but keep you warm. I suppose you could wear these outside as a layering piece, but I like to wear them at home. For my recent Europe trip, I underestimated how cold it would be, but I wore the top and bottoms to sleep and it was a lifesaver!! Having a set of these would be very practical.

Veja Women’s Campo Low-Top Sneakers – This is the brand of sneakers that Meghan Markle wore. Ever since then, I’ve been eyeing them as basic white sneakers to add to my wardrobe. 😉

Williams Sonoma Silicone Utensils – I enjoy using silicon utensils – especially my silicone spatula and tongs. They have a range of sets with varying number of pieces or you can buy individual items. If she doesn’t have any of these, I recommend them!

Sugarfina Peach Bellini Candy Cube – The Sugarfina cubes are a fun gift for a lady who likes her sweets. They have an assortment of flavors like champagne gummy bears and come in pretty bento box sets too.

Okay last but not least:

Massage gift card – send her off to some rest and relaxation with a massage. For those in the Bay Area, Kua Body offers gift cards and has amazing massages!

Style makeover with me – gift her a personal styling session with me, where I take her shopping and show her what styles and brands can fit her body well and make her glow with confidence!

Bouquet of flowers – who doesn’t love fresh flowers? Even better if you picked out the flowers in the arrangement yourself. See my earlier blog post on flower bouquets from Whole Foods.

Photo prints – We take a lot of photos at family gatherings. But for my grandma who doesn’t have a smartphone, that means she can’t see them! So I like to go to CVS or Walgreens to print out physical prints of photos of us from throughout the year and stick them in a Christmas card for her. You can upload them from home and go in store to pick then up. You can usually find a coupon code too!

Good luck in the last days of holiday shopping!! Don’t get run over by frantic shoppers!

Gift Guide for Him

December 17, 2019 By Kat

Guys are notoriously hard to shop for. I always get stumped! That’s why I wanted to pull together this gift guide to help any shoppers out there who are still racking their brain to find something in time for the rapidly approaching holidays.

I like practical gifts, so for awhile now, I’ve been taking note of what would be good gift ideas based on what I come across or see Vince using!

Disclosure: I am an affiliate for Nordstrom.com and Bloomingdales.com, so I may earn a small commission on purchases you make through these links.

1. Dior Sauvage Eau De Toilette – Vince wears this for our date nights. It smells so good!

2. Aer Travel Pack 2 Backpack – Good if he has any upcoming big trips planned!

3. Aer Dopp Kit – to keep his toiletries!

4. Royce New York Travel Leather Catchall Valet Tray – for organizing his coins, keys, and other miscellaneous things.

5. Whiskey Oak Seasonings – by a local Bay Area business and available in these stores.

6. London Sock Company – they have gift sets in various sizes and styles.

7. Adidas Men’s Stan Smith Sneakers – popular pair of white sneakers that he can wear with many outfits.

8. Apple AirPods

9. Williams Sonoma Splatter Screen – to prevent the oil from splattering everywhere.

10. Comfortable Loungewear from Intimissimi – It’s an Italian brand we discovered while in Rome and Vince got a couple of full sets for lounging around / sleeping in. The modal version apparently feels very soft like this sweatshirt and looks great with the pants too!

Experiences

If you prefer to gift the guy an experience, here are some suggestions.

11. BodySpec scan – They have a mobile van that goes around to various gyms and companies around the Bay Area. You go in for a full-body scan and then they print out results about your fat, muscle, and bone information. I did this at Google and it was recommended by my health coach there.

12. Food Tour – Search on Yelp and book a reservation for a food tour. It would be fun to try new foods together! For example, in the Bay, they have different themed ones in the various neighborhoods of San Francisco.

That’s all for now. If you have suggestions for good gift ideas, please let me know in the comments below!

Grace Over Grind

June 25, 2018 By Kat

Grace Over Grind is a fantastic book for entrepreneurs who are looking for a solution to the unending hustle and grind every day without rest. This is a Christian book, where the author Shae Bynes offers an alternative solution: to work and rest in God’s grace where you can accomplish infinitely more than you ever could on your own strengths and abilities.

WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR

I was looking for resources from Christian business owners because I was wrestling with how can I build a business while also serve God at the same time. They seemed to be two opposites – to optimize for revenue $$ OR to optimize for serving God. And all the resources I had listened to up until now, were for the former option.

HER PODCAST

I stumbled upon her podcast called Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur. I listened to a couple of episodes and loved the stories that were shared. They explain how doing business and serving God can be aligned together. Hence, I was curious to check out her book.

HER BOOK

Grace Over Grind is a quick read, it’s only ~ 150 pages, and I finished it within a couple days. The author emphasizes how important it is to do the exercises in the book, so that’s what took me the longest because I was taking time to reflect and write out my answers. There were questions like what are you grinding away so hard at? If you were to dream with God on your business, what would that look like?

AHA! MOMENTS

I realized that being an entrepreneur isn’t about working until your eyeballs fall out. Too often, we get scared, try to seize control of the situation and try to do it all through our own efforts. We get bogged down in our own frustrations of why things aren’t happening even though we’re putting in all this effort. But things happen on God’s time and if we can trust in that, we can turn over our stresses and worries to him. The author clarifies that resting doesn’t mean sitting on the couch and doing nothing. It means continuing to take action but with guidance from God. It’s about surrendering control, being willing to ask God for help, and going where he leads you because it’s ultimately for your best and for the world’s best.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Too many believers in business idolize hard work. They exalt hard work over the presence of God in business.”

“Some people refuse the favor that God has granted to them because they don’t feel worthy of it. Favor isn’t all about you and has nothing to do with your worthiness; it’s about the assignment God has placed on your life.”

“You will have peace in the midst of seeming chaos, and joy, in the midst of unfamiliar levels of hardship or criticism. […] Live within the grace of one day only. That’s how we experience the sufficiency of God’s grace.”

CONCLUSION

Honestly, I also feel like the book could be applicable to people who are in the workforce, who aren’t necessarily entrepreneurs. Living in Silicon Valley, I can literally feel how stressed out people are about their jobs or where their career is headed. The book talks about working intentionally in partnership with God and taking it one day at a time. It put my heart at ease, and if you read it, I hope it does for you too.

Grace Over Grind:
How Grace Will Take Your Business Where Grinding Can’t

I actually got this book for free by signing up for a free month trial with the Kindle Unlimited plan. It gives access to tons of other Kindle books and audiobooks. Let’s see what else I can get through this month!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. And of course, I would recommend this book regardless.

Answers to the 3 Most Important Questions in Life

May 29, 2018 By Kat

The Three Questions By Jon J. Muth

This book has so much wisdom.

The Three Questions is about a boy who wants to be a good person but doesn’t know how to do that. He has 3 questions:

“When is the best time to do things?”
“Who is the most important one?”
“What is the right thing to do?”

All very important questions that I also have…

He seeks advice from his animal friends, but feels like their answers are missing something. He goes to see a wise turtle for an answer and along the way, discovers some powerful answers to his questions.

He learns:

The best time to do things is now.
The most important person is the one you’re with at the moment.
And the right thing to do is to do good for the person in front of you.

Those are such beautiful answers. Love this book so much!! It’s inspired off a story from Leo Tolstoy and told with beautiful pictures and a simple storyline for kids to understand.

For more info, here’s the Amazon link for the book The Three Questions.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. And of course, I would recommend this book regardless.