I Swear by this Product: The Pandora craze!

Like any trend, you think that after a while it will not last and it will lose its appeal.  I have said this about Pandora bracelets and charms year after year and yet, everyone around me is still adding charms, changing bracelets, etc.  And I totally get why!  These charms are the easiest gifts to give, yet they have an emotional, sentimental, personal and lasting element.

If you know anyone with a bracelet, get them a charm and they would be happy...well that is the case with the ladies in my family, in my circle of friends and at my work.  A friend at work even buys one charm for her daughter every time she loses a tooth.  She hopes it will make a nice keepsake for her daughter as she gets older.  She got the idea from another friend at work who has a charm bracelet of her own (of course not Pandora - didn't exist at the time) from her parents who did the same thing when she was losing teeth.  Such a great idea!

At this time of year, I would be happy with any charm from Pandora's 2013 Valentine collection.

Turtle Doves - Via Pandora

Heart Pave - Via Pandora

Love of my Life - Via Pandora

Heart Pave - Via Pandora

Ring dangle - Via Pandora

My Tip of the Week: the power of a picture

I recently went from seeing my son 12 hours a day to only 3 hours, because I went back to work and he started going to day care.  Now all day long I cannot stop looking at pictures of him and really understand how my husband felt when he went back to work after some time off with us while I was home this past year.  So as part of his Valentine's Day gift, I am thinking of doing something for his office with pictures of our son (and even me - assuming he misses me too!).

I think this is such a great gift for a working dad who sees his children just a few hours a day.  It would definitely put a smile on his face especially because I know he would never go out and buy himself a frame or put something together with different pictures.  Here are a few ideas:

Snow globe

Via Black's Photography

Digital photo frame

Via Best Buy

Via Best Buy

Easel Art

Via Tiny Prints

Via Tiny Prints

Via Tiny Prints

Picasa collage in a frame

Create your own collage on Picasa and get it developed and then frame it or develop it on just about any type of photo gift.

Via Skip to my Lou - check it out for a tutorial on making collages in Picasa

Have fun!

Loving these cutting boards!

How great are these personalized cutting boards from Noteworthy Notes!?  So fresh! I love that not only can you personalize them by having the person's name or initials or any other writing on the board, but you can also personalize these in the design you choose to make sure it suits your recipient.

    Check out the Noteworthy site for more designs by clicking here.  Happy choosing!

I swear by this product!: Miracle Blade

I love love the Miracle Blade knives. My younger brother gave us a set as a house warming gift.  He said he saw them on TV and fell for the infomercial!  He was right to fall as they are the greatest knives we have.  Inexpensive, don't need sharpening, easy to hold and have lasted for 5 years without any wear and tear.

Via Target

Via Amazon

This is a great house warming gift for anyone who is just starting out or even for a college student who is going to live on his or her own.  You can buy these at many house ware stores, including Canadian Tire, Walmart, Amazon and Target.

I swear by this product: Nespresso

My husband and I are not big coffee drinkers.  We only drink once in a while but we can certainly enjoy and appreciate a very good coffee.  When we first tasted the Nespresso coffee, we had to have a machine to make it at home.  It was slightly silly because as I mentioned we rarely drink coffee but my husband, believe it or not, felt it would be a great hosting tool (I think he just likes gadgets and like any man, felt like he needed this one!).  So we purchased the Nespresso Cube and I am so very glad we did.  The coffee variety is amazing and every single guest we have offered a cup to, has loved it and some have gone as far as going out and buying a machine of their own.

Le Cube - Via Amazon.com

I don't believe Le Cube is available anymore.  Nespresso seems to have come up with new designs.

The great thing is that a Nespresso machine comes in a range of prices starting at $129.99.

Nespresso Essenza - Via Sears.ca

This one looks similar to the Cube:

Nespresso Lattissima - Via Crate and Barrel

Plus it has some accessories so even if you know someone with the machine, you can still purchase an accessory for them.  We have the Nespresso Milk Frother (for cold or hot milk) and I use it to make lattes and cappuccinos  I even use it to make tea lattes.  You don't have to have the Nespresso machine to benefit from this frother as the frothed milk can be used with any coffee and drink (hot chocolate, just plain milk, etc.).  I can go on forever about how much I love the frother but I will let you try it for yourself.  We recently purchased this for my mom who helped us when our son was first born.  It makes for a great gift for just about anyone and is only $100.

Via CA Paradis

Another accessories idea is a capsule holder:

Via CA Paradis

Or buy them a nice clear bowl to just through the capsules in.  They are colourful and make for nice counter decor.

A gift from your child: Old Navy Love Notes Collection

It's about time someone did this...It used to be that you had to search for these in specialty shops or have them designed and printed yourself. Everybody hearts NY but what about mom, dad, grandma and grandpa, aunt and uncle, the family dog or cat? Well Old Navy hearts them all! I discovered their collection for kids not long ago and at these prices you can get one for every day of the week!

This would make a great gift from your child to a family member! Who could resist that sweet little face proclaiming his or her love like that?
Most styles are currently on sale on Oldnavy.com which now ships to over 80 countries (yes, including Canada!).
For the little munchkins:

For the toddlers:

They even have birthday onesie's and shirts:

Last of all, what better way to announce your having another child! This is how a close friend recently announced she was having her second. She dressed her son in a shirt that said "Big Brother" and email it to close friends and family! What a cute surprise!

I noticed they're already selling out in many styles so get them while you can!

Top 5 gift ideas for a new mother

The biggest challenge when shopping for a newborn is refraining from buying every teeny-tiny-adorable piece in the store! The options are limitless but what about the new mom? A good friend of ours recently suggested I do this post and I thought it was a great idea! So here goes, my TOP 5 gifts for the new mom:

1) A tea or coffee gift set:
This is the gift my friend received; a David's Tea Assorted Tea Gift Box. She is an avid tea drinker and so this gift was really just for her! The nice comfort of taking the time to have a nice cup of tea and the bonus caffeine boost that comes with it is extremely welcome when you become a new mom!

David's Teas Assorted Tea Holiday Gift Box

David's Teas Assorted tea & Tea Mug

David's Tea Assorted Tea Gift Box

David's Tea Bubble Teapot

David's Tea Bubble Teacups

David's Tea Ice Tea Maker

Starbucks Coffee & Chocolate Pairing Experience

Starbucks Coffee Press Gift Pack

Starbucks Dark Roast Coffee Journey

Starbucks Ready Brew Coffee Tour

2) A baby journal:
New mom's find out pretty quickly that they need some way to keep track of their little ones daily routine (what time they sleep, eat and so much more). I ended up using a random notepad as it was all I had on hand but I would have loved this custom baby journal. Such a great way to have all those little notes in one place as a keepsake for later.  There are many options out there but seeing as I am recently crushing on Pinhole Press, take a look at these:

via Pinhole Press

via Pinhole Press

via Pinhole Press

via Pinhole Press

The inside looks like this:

3) Meals delivered to the door, homemade meals or a gift certificate towards a cleaning service :
Now this one should be at the top of this list...New parents do not have time to cook & clean...they hardly have time to take a shower! Showing up with a homemade meal or offering a gift certificate towards a "meals on wheels" service or cleaning service is like giving them gold!

It can just be a gift certificate towards a couple hours of cleaning, towards a week of meals or even a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant (just make sure it delivers as they won't have a chance to go out for dinner for a little while).

I've never used a service like these. Showing up with some homemade food has been my thing but if I wanted to offer this to a new mother and could not make it to her doorstep I think I would try Mamaluv.com.  They have packages to suit any budget and they offer delivery services in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.  

4) Birthstone jewelry:
I think this would be a sweet gift for a mother who has just had her second (or third) child. The pendants with each child's birthstone can be engraved with the child's name & birth date. They can also be ordered separately to be added with each additional child.

I found this style and more birthstone jewelry options below at redenvelope.com:

5) Gift certificate for a photo session in studio or (even better) at home:
I wish I had done a professional family photo shoot just the three of us in the first few weeks of bringing our son home but time flew by and between changing what felt like a million diapers and feedings every 2 hours (sometimes every hour!) we did not get a chance to have a professional photo shoot done until he was 4 months. New parents never have the time for these things and so having a professional photographer come to your home or a gift certificate in hand for a nearby photo studio is a true blessing and the photos taken will be treasured forever!

Here are a few Montreal photographers and photo studios:

via Sonia Jam Photography 

via Anita Huber Photography

via Boite Blanche Photo Studios

via Magenta Photo Studios

Oooooosh! How cute is that last pic!