The BEST Christmas gifts!

I love presents. Giving and getting! The surprise on a family member's face when they get something they just were not expecting at all makes me feel so happy. But what I love the most, is seeing that person really use that gift, showing how much it means to them, and seeing how much joy they get out of it. Some of the best gifts in our family this year that are getting a lot of use of of them, a lot of smiles, laughs, and warmth out of them, I've listed with links where to find them:

Modern Family Season 1 on DVD, my Dad is obsessed! So glad I got this for him - we've gone through almost the whole season, and the one-liners in there are providing Dad with lots of new comebacks! I bought it at Walmart, here

Sometimes, when you find just the right accessory, it can make all the difference. For my mom, I found this scarf at Kohls, from the Simply Vera by Vera Wang line. I got it for her in a deep wine-red color, and she has worn it almost every day since Christmas! It looks great with a lot of her outfits, and she's mentioned going to get it in other colors. You can find the scarf here

Every year, I try to do something personalized for my parents. They love presents that have sentimental value to it, and each year it gets harder and harder to come up with new ideas. Last year, I created coffee mugs on Walgreen's website with family pictures on them. My parents loved them so much, and got so much use out of them, that this year I did the same thing but with all new pictures from this past year. Here are the mugs I created this year, and you can go to Walgreens.com, create a free user profile, upload your pics, and create your own mugs! Here are the ones I created this year. The to-go coffee mug says "The Caschettas" with family pictures, and the coffee cup says "World's Best Dad"

Love me some Coach!

About half-way between Denver and Colorado Springs is this little (big) town called Castle Rock. It's not a small farm town in the foothills of the mountains, but its no big city. It's perfect. View of the moutains, some awesome hiking trails...oh, and did I mention they have the BEST Coach outlet store I've ever come across?! Yes, the reason I love Castle Rock so intensely is because of the Castle Rock Outlets. This past trip, I made two splended purchases...

This Hampton Satchel which is my new everyday purse, marked 40% down the day after Christmas, plus a special 30% coupon for shopping that day :)

And most importantly, this DIAPER bag!!! Yes, it is a diaper bag, but it is PERFECT for carrying my laptop, and many notebooks and books for work and classes. I've been wanting one for a long time, but refused to pay full price unless it was just perfect. Well this one was marked down from $498 to $199, plus the additional 30% off for shopping that day. Not a bad deal if I say so my self!

I'm a sucker for anything Coach. But I'm also pretty traditional when it comes down to it. I don't want some purple leather with one "C" on it, or an orange clutch with sequins and it only says "coach" on the inside. No. When I think "coach," I think classic. Give me a classic black, white, or tan leather. Give me brown fabric with a fun accent. Give me a purse that goes with EVERY outfit, not just one or two.



Until the next Castle Rock trip... :)

Momma raised some ski bunnies!

"What are some of your gifts and talents?" "What is something you are passionate about?"

When I was in high school (and even middle school, and a few times in college) teachers, professors, advisors, my parents...would ask me those questions. On the spot, I had no idea how to answer. Some people can say they're passionate about a particular sport or hobby, some people can say they are gifted with a musical talent, or particular odd quality about themselves. Me, I've never felt that I ever had an awesome talent, or was extremely awesome at some sport or hobby. But as I grow older, I realize that there IS one thing that I am passionate about. And although I'm no olympian, I feel most comfortable SKIING!

The moment I pull up to the base of the moutain, strap my boots on, hear them click into my skis, and pull myself up to the lift with the help of my handy ski poles, I know I am at home. The mountain is where my heart is, and always will be.

The most xhilarating feeling in the world is breathing in fresh, thin mountain air while watching snowflakes slowly fall to the ground. I absolutely love Colorado during the Christmas time, and am so looking forward to my next winter in the mountains!

Catching up

There are so many things I am loving right now, and because of that, I'm really mad at myself for not staying caught up on here! I will be doing several posts, but this first one will be the biggy, the very most important one of all. Not only am I catching up on my blog, but I am loving catching up with my Colorado/Arizona family :)

I love hanging out with my cousin, Brookie. I know I can talk to her about anything, laugh about everything, and we can act like total dorks together - and not think twice about it.

Spending Christmas Eve singing some kareoke with my mom, Aunt Diane, Brook, and Erin. Such a great new memory that we will always laugh about (and cringe at)!

Seeing this little guy grow up with an amazing personality. Nicolas is 10 months and pretty much the joy of our whole family. It is so easy to make him smile and I love kissing his chubby little cheeks!

The Bartons will be greatly missed when they move to China next year, but I'm grateful we'll have Skype to chat! And I am so grateful that I got to see them during this holiday.

I don't get to see my Colorado and Arizona as much as I want to, but the far and few in between times that I do get to see them, I am so grateful for each new memory. Every smile, laugh, hug, picture, story...it all holds a dear place in my heart.