I'm off to my first holiday party of the year tonight, so it's official - holiday party season is upon us!  Our schedules are about to be filled with office parties, get togethers with college friends, and family gatherings and I'm a little reluctant to say this, but we're at the age that its no longer appropriate to show up without a gift!  While a bottle of wine is always appreciated, I like to bring something a little different that won't get lost amongst the 15 other bottles of wine or alcohol.



With that being said, also take a second to think of your host's personality and lifestyle (like if they don't drink or have a food allergy) and gift appropriately!  One of the cutest thing I've found to give for the person who doesn't drink is this tin of hot chocolate and these snowflake marshmallows.  A great non-food item is this Cupcakes and Cashmere At Home coffee table book.  I bought it for myself a few months ago and could not put it down!  The pictures are amazing and the author has  every topic from decor to organizing to hosting covered.

One last quick tip is to have a few of these on hand for those last minute invites, or if someone shows up with a gift and you hadn't originally planned on exchanging gifts.  It's also great to have a few bottles of wine and some cute wine bags like these.

I have to say, I originally planned on doing a Cyber Monday sale post today, but it seems that most retailers jumped the gun and had their best sales over the weekend.  However, there are still some great sales going on that you can snag some good deals.  The notable places still having great sales are Norstrom, Shopbop, Amazon (deals throughout the day/week), Target (Cyber Week), Anthropologie (25% off sale), and J.Crew (50% off, free shipping, and an additional discount at checkout). 

I hope you had a great long weekend and the Monday Blues aren't hitting you too hard! ;)
Kitty