What I GAVE For Christmas 2015 -Blogmas Day 25-

When thinking about what I wanted to post on Christmas Day, I started to think about what I love so much about the holiday itself. And not the season, the specific day that is Christmas. Most of what came to mind were family traditions, things that I cherish doing each day of the year. I'll admit that opening presents did come to mind, but what really stood out was watching my family open the gifts that I gave them.

I always get so excited shopping for others and finding that present that you just know is perfect. This year, I think I hit a perfect game with my family, and what better post for Christmas than sharing what I gave my loved ones?

My mom is one of my favorite people to shop for. She's one of my favorite people in general, and the past couple of years or so I really think that I've mastered getting her great gifts. Now, last year, I bought her a discontinued crossbody bag from Coach from an auction app (Tophatter, I believe!) that I had authenticated at a Coach store, and she's used it almost every single day since, so I knew I had to get something fantastic. My mom and I share a mutual obsession love for Disney, and going off of that theme is usually a safe bet. I've heard a lot about coordinate jewelry in the past few years, and I love it: it's unique, personal, and different. I ended up stumbling across the Etsy store StampedExpressionsCo and ordered her set of two coordinate bangles, using the coordinates for Disney World. I asked her to stamp the inside of just one with a heart and "Love Lyss" and she (and by she, I mean Allison, the shop owner!) was sweet and gracious about it. Mom ended up loving it, and because it was a set of two, we have matching, customized bracelets!

Adversely, my dad is one of my least favorite people to shop for. He's one of those people who only wants gifts that are useful and practical (aka boring) or his definition of funny or awesome (which fall into very thin margins). This past summer in Disney, he went over the moon in the new Haunted Mansion-themed gift shop in Magic Kingdom, so Mom and I went with a Haunted Mansion theme for some of his gifts this year. As Etsy is one of my favorite sites, I of course turned there and ordered a shirt from LostBayDesigns that has a picture of the hitchhiking ghosts and says "Beware! One Will Follow You home!" He seemed to like it, and hopefully he wears it on our next trip.

I have two older brothers, and the oldest, CJ, loves Legos. I found this build-on Lego mug on the Wish app and just couldn't resist. The mug itself is a base to build on, so you can play at the breakfast table. This is one of those things that I really wanted to keep for myself, but knew I had to pass along to a more rightful owner. I still plan on using it whenever I visit his house, though ;) (I didn't photograph this gift, or the next one, sorry!)

CJ's wife, Tracy, is all about comfy clothes. Since they've been dating, I've gotten her some kind of cute yet comfy clothing item and some food (she's gluten free, so finding snacks that taste good and fit her diet can be challenging). This year, I found these cute plaid pajama pants from Five Below and threw in some Snack Factory Mini Salted Caramel Gluten-Free Pretzels. I didn't give much to either of them individually, but I did get them some conjoined gifts as well.

My older brother, Mike, is my other least favorite person to shop for. All he ever wants as gifts is money, and I hate giving money. He always needs clothes (everyone always needs clothes, in my opinion) so I went over to Van Heusen and picked him out some shirts (two plain long sleeves, a navy patterned button down, and a sweater-esque long sleeve) and a tie. He says he likes everything, so hopefully I'll see him wearing them soon.

And that's it! I hope you all have an amazing Christmas and end of the year!

What was your favorite thing you gave this year?