Gift Ideas for the Men AKA the hardest people to shop for

If you are anything like me then the men in your life are the hardest people to shop for.  I struggle so much when it comes to my Dad and Matt and deciding what to buy for them.   I think it is because they don't really give me any gift ideas and lets be real men don't like to shop like women do.

I rounded up a few of my Dad and Matt's favorite things to give you girls an idea of gifts for the men in your life. 

Both my Dad and Matt love the Levis jeans.  They are not into the designer ones and you can't beat the price at $68.  I love them too, they are classic and not too over the top.

This is the version they both wear and love.

|| LEVIS 501 Original

 a few other washes in the same style:

501 Oil Change |  501 Charcoal | 501 Stockholm (on sale)

I also find that athletic shorts are a good gift.  Both Matt and my Dad wear athletic shorts often.  

This Nike Pair is great.

|| Nike Dri Fit

a few other athletic options for your men.

I think the Fitness band would be such a cool gift if you man loves to workout.  It comes in 4 different colors if orange isn't your favorite.  It tracks steps, calories, distance, and activity time.

Under Armor New Tech Tee | Nike Dri- FIT Knit Shorts | Fitness Wrist Band |  Nike Long Sleeve Dri-FIT Tee | Adias Shorts | Bose Headphones | Nike Running Shoes

My Dad Swears by these BOSE Headphones.  He flies often for work and always packs these. My sister and  I actually chipped in and gave him these for Christmas a few years ago.  A bit pricey but so worth the money.
|| Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones

This version is not the noise cancelling kind but they are on sale and it is hard to find Bose on sale!

|| Bose Sound True Headphones

Outerwear is also a good idea.  I know every year when my grandfather was still alive he would give each of us Patagonia or North Face Jackets.  Matt still wears his!

My personal Favorite is this black Northface Fleece and its on sale!

|| Denail Fleece

Other great choices:

Northface Black Puffy Coat (on sale) | Silver Northface (on sale) | Northface Puffy Vest (on sale)

Northface Soft Shell Vest (on sale ) | Northface Wind Stopper (on sale) | Barbour Vest | Barbour Quilted Jacket | Hoodie

and if you need just some miscellaneous ideas:

I have to tell you we received the Bose Wi-Fi speakers below for a wedding gift and they are amazing! and what guy doesn't love a flask or a manly knife with a cutting board- great gift idea if your man hunts or fishes. Plus how cool are the Northface E Tip gloves? You can still use your IPhone and IPad while wearing them!

Bose Wi Fi Music System | Bose Mini Blue Tooth Speakers | Plaid Flask | Knife with Cutting Board | Ugg Bryon Slipper | Ugg Scuff Slippers | Ugg Ascot Slippers | Travel Case | Northface E Tip Gloves | Robe

I know I mentioned before but Nordstrom now price matches so definitely take advantage of that if you see a better price! Plus free shipping and returns always,  which to me makes online shopping that much easier.  The selection at Nordstrom for the gents is really awesome.  Happy Shopping!

thanks to nordstrom for sponsoring this post!

Randoms.

Happy Thursday.  Lets Dish. 

The girls at LAKE WEEKEND WEAR were sweet enough to send me two pieces from their line and I fell in love with it.  The clothes are so soft (made of silk) and comfortable yet still stylish enough to wear out- a genius idea really.  They are a great option other than wearing workout clothes.  They have four pieces in the line : tank top, short sleeve top, pants, and shorts.  They all come in the same 5 colors (Mint, Steel Blue, Petal, Taupe, and Poppy) and can be mixed and matched.   What I love is you can wear them together or mix them in with your day to day pieces.  I frequently wear the short top with my jeans.

I have the pants in poppy and the silk tee in taupe and adore them.   I put them on most nights to get cozy:)

If you want to try out the line use code NATALIE20 to get 20% off your order.  This would make a fabulous gift for someone who loves lounge wear.  I am getting the shorts next! You can shop the collection HERE.

BTW I am wearing an XS in both they run on the larger side.

 

On Tuesday night after the RHBH I watched the Girlfriends Guide to Divorce and loved it.  Watch it or DVR it it is really funny.

I made Ina's Roasted Butternut Squash Salad for dinner this week and man was it good. I have made it before but it had been awhile.  I highly recommend the recipe.  I used kale instead of arugula but otherwise followed the recipe.

One of my black friday purchases arrived and I am loving it.  It is actually still 40% off.  I am wearing a size small it fits TTS.  The color blue is so pretty in person.

\\ Joie Blouse

Another black Friday purchase that I am smitten with is this JCREW nightgown.  I love to sleep in nightgowns and was going to take a picture in it but then I thought wait, that is weird to post a picture in my nightgown. But what I like about it is you can wear it around the house and it is not see thru or inappropriate plus it is the softest thing ever.  I bought a small in the black and it fits great.  I love it so much I just ordered the gray as well.

|| Night Shirt (extra 40% of with code SNOW)

I am so excited because Charleston just got a Pink Chicken Store!  I stopped in this week with 

Frances Moon to check it out and it is awesome.  The cutest girl stuff ever.  I will be there Saturday night hosting an opening event if anyone local wants to stop in!  The event is from 5-8

 Frances Moon of course came home with both the adorable dresses she is wearing.

So confession I have tried to start meditating.  Not the chanting kind but I have started trying to take 5-10 mins usually at night to sit and breathe deeply to try and clear my head.  I have a hard time relaxing and my mind is always racing and I heard meditation helps.  You know it has made me way more relaxed and I have slept better at night too.  On that same subject I just ordered Eckhart Tolle's a New Earth to read- anyone read it?  Oprah approves so must be good:)

I have a new breakfast obsession.  Grapefruit and bacon.  Most days I eat turkey bacon but a few times I splurge and eat the real kind which is way better.   If I am really hungry I add a piece of avocado toast.  I swear eating the grapefruit everyday has helped me drop a few pounds.  I know they say it ups your metabolism and I have lost 2-3 pounds since I started eating it.  

Blake Lively, makes me want to be pregnant again.  She looks amazing and she is having Ryan Reynolds baby enough said. Jealous.

The cutest Santa Cookie and Cocoa dishes from Papersnob arrived this week.  Sterling was so excited about them!  They also come in a pink and blue design as well.  They are melamine so the kids can't break them so adorable!

21 days til Christmas!

Christmas Card Outtakes | Minted Favorites

This year I am actually on the ball with my Christmas Cards.  They are ordered and en route and should hopefully be in the mail next week!  This year I decided to do a picture of all 4 of us.  I normally just do the kids because it is damn hard to get everyone smiling and looking at the camera.  I decided to enlist my friend and photography Brook Bertschy to snap some pictures to ensure we were all looking good- she does wonderful family photos if you need them!   

I thought I would share a few of the outtakes we didn't use for our card.  There were so many fabulous photos- after my cards arrive I will share the final product!

I went total cheeseball and had us all dress in coordinating Christmas colors.  Normally I am so against the matchy stuff but I guess I was feeling the Christmas vibe this year. Fa la la la la:)

Outfit Details ||

NATALIE || Blouse same style different color (similar) | Necklace | Jeans | Shoes

FRANCES MOON || Dress | Shoes

STERLING || Sweater | Jeans | Boots

MATT || Shirt (similar) | Pants

I love to use Minted for our holiday cards.  They are fast and the quality is amazing.  The cards are super thick which I think makes for a more elegant card and I just love the foil pressed cards.  If you have yet to order cards you must check out the Minted site.   There are so many amazing designs, I spent over an hour browsing and picking our card out.   I tried to narrow down my favorites for ya'll to see.

You can shop all the Foil Printed Cards Here.

If you have not ordered cards you can use the code DBDD10FS to save 10% on your order and get free shipping!  If you spend more than $150 you can use code JOY15 to get 15% off your order but that does not include free shipping.

|| Merry Christmas Foil  

|| Joy Foil

This one is precious if you just had a baby and a great way to tie in a birth annoucement and Christmas card.

|| The More The Merrier

|| Modern Dot

 || Merry Gold Foil

|| Peace Gold Foil

This one is great if you want to use more than one picture

|| Faith Love and Family

|| Merriest Christmas

|| Confetti 

 || Happy Holidays

and if you don't feel like doing a picture card these are beautiful non-photo cards.

Added bonus they do Custom printed addressing for your envelopes!

Coconut Ginger Chicken + Gratitude Beads

I am so excited to share this recipe with you guys, it was incredible.  I made it a few weeks ago and have been dreaming about it ever since.  The whole family loved it and we all ate seconds. At first glance the recipe may seem complicated but I promise it is not.  The hardest part is blending the onion, garlic, and ginger and cooking the meat.  After that your pot or crock pot does the work for you.  We served ours over white rice and you could brown rice but I really do recommend white rice for the recipe.  I think white rice just soaks up the sauce better and brown rice has more of a nutty flavor.  The sauce on this dish is the real winner, I am not kidding Sterling and I sat and ate it like soup it was that good.   You can use any veggies you want in here, the original recipe called for snap peas, but I did a mix of broccoli and bell peppers.  I also let this simmer for almost 3 hours.

Enjoy!!

|| C O C O N U T  G I N G E R  C H I C K E N ||

original recipe via Simple Bites

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 inch cube of ginger roughly chopped
• 1 small sweet onion, peeled, quartered
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into four
• 2 cans coconut milk, not shaken
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1 can of baby corn cobs
• 1 bag frozen broccoli and frozen peppers or any mix of veggies you choose)

For the spice blend

• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground tumeric
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Combine ingredients from the spice blend together and set aside.
2. In a mini food processor, combine garlic, ginger and onion and pulse until it forms a paste.
3. In the bottom of a slow-cooker placed on a burner heat olive oil and melt butter. Add pureed aromatics and stir well. Cook for a few minutes, then add spice blend. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Move aromatics to one side of the pot and add chicken pieces to the pot. Cook chicken slightly on all sides, using a sturdy wooden spoon to move it around the pot. It should get thoroughly coated with the spice mixture.
5. Open the cans of coconut milk and remove the cream from the top using a soup spoon. You should have about 1 cup. Pour the coconut milk over the chicken and with both cans, it should just barely cover the chicken.
6. Drain the corn cobs and chop in half. Add to the slow-cooker.
7. Place the slow cooker in the base and cook on low for 4 hours.
8. Whisk flour with coconut cream until smooth and add to the chicken. Stir well. Add frozen broccoli and peppers or other vegetables of your choice. Cook for another half an hour or until you deem the chicken cooked and the vegetables hot.

....................................................................................

This time of the year with all the hustle and bustle, and holiday madness I think it is especially important to be thankful and grateful for what we have.  I am trying hard to teach my children this.  We are so fortunate compared to so many others.   It is easy to get caught up and forget the real meaning of Christmas.  It is also easy to get caught up thinking about the challenges and negative parts of our life.  I find it helps me stay centered to take a moment to sit and quietly thank God for all I have and have been blessed with.

I mentioned these gratitude beads and prayer beads last year but this time of the year I tend to use these beads more often. 

I always let Sterling help me,  each day we make a point to sit and say what we are thankful for and pull a bead (or several) aside.  It is a nice reminder especially during this time of the year to be thankful.  As overwhelmed as I feel, I am so lucky, I really do have such a blessed life.  There are so many people fighting way bigger battles out there.  I can't help that I am a worrier by nature (although my dad claims I can change this) but I can change my outlook on things and choose to look at the positive side and be grateful.  I read a great verse in my Jesus Calling the other day about starting your day thanking God, such a good reminder.  Often we pray for help and things we want but sometimes it nice to just stop and Thank God for what we have.  I try to sit with Sterling and we each pull back a bead and say what we are thankful. 

One of my mom's dear friends makes and sells these prayer/gratitude beads.  They are such a wonderful gift for someone.  A new mom, a teacher, someone going thru a rough time, a fab stocking stuffer.   Anyone can benefit from these gratitude beads.   She will hand make them in any color you want.   I love the idea of gifting these to friends and family.  I am thinking of doing these as end of the year gifts for Sterling's teachers.  I love the idea too of bringing these to new moms post baby.   Such a wonderful idea for anyone to be thankful.

  The beads start at $22. 

You can email my mom's friend Kathy at Heron39@aol.com to see a full catalog of the beads or to place an order.  The beads usually come with something attached to the end think a disc or cross etc but my children  ripped mine off- go figure:) They still serve a purpose!  They come in so many different colors and materials and they come packaged in a sweet little bag with a small book filled with some gorgeous photography and inspirational quotes.  I am telling you guys this would be an amazing stocking stuffers!