If you have been following my Instagram account for the last couple of weeks, you already know that I love Christmas. Really I love the whole two months leading up to it. Aside from the obvious reasons to love it, I feel like it is my blood—I was in fact brought home from the hospital in a stocking, and my mom wanted to name me “Holly.” Yep, I am Christmas Eve baby. I get asked all the time if I hate having my birthday on Christmas Eve, and my answer over the years has been the same—I would never change it.
Growing up, my family, especially my mom, did such a great job making it special. It’s not because I got separate presents, but it’s because every year for as long as I could remember, all of my family would come over on Christmas Eve to have appetizers, homemade Mac & Cheese, play games, and eat my mom’s famous chocolate cake—the one to this day, my husband makes me on my birthday. While you might be like, well that’s what everyone does on Christmas Eve—get together with family—and you would be right. But, not everyone gets to have this tradition on their birthday. I could count on one finger the times that a member of my family has missed celebrating my birthday with me, and that’s including grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. Up until a few years ago, even living 1,000 miles away, my family would still go over to my mom’s to celebrate, FaceTiming me to sing happy birthday. So, yes, I love having my birthday on Christmas Eve, and I love the Christmas season.
I also love giving people gifts. If you know me, you know I pretty much research everything. Over the past couple years, I have found gift guides that other bloggers post super helpful, so I wanted to create my own for you to use now, or in the future. They are a compilation of products I already own and love, things that I have researched and have great reviews, or recommendations from friends and family. Not only are they great for giving you ideas for other people, but maybe you can also find a little something in there for yourself. 😉
Alana xo
I am 35 year-old full-time working wife and mama to two boys--Brody (8) and Bennett (4). I was born and raised in Canada (or America's hat as some people call it), and moved to the U.S. for college where I met my now husband. We currently live in Minnesota, so basically still Canada, and we just built a home last summer. 2020 has been so hard for so many people, and while I am fortunate to be in the situation I am in, it has really made me reflect about what I want in life and how I can continue to bring joy into it. I have realized what brings me the most joy is seeing the people that I care about happy, and also connecting with people on a personal level. Fast forward to here, I want to create a community that I can connect with by sharing products and ideas I love from home to fashion to wellness, but also opening up about moments in my life that have helped me grow, even if they aren't my happiest ones. My hope is that you too can find things here that bring more joy into your life.
I'm ALANA
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