The Post Holiday Gift Guide

So I totally planned on writing this post the day after my last post, making it a Christmas miracle that I actually posted twice in one week and giving you all the perfect last minute holiday gift ideas.  I felt bad until I realized that some of you will get gifts that you don't like so you will need some ideas of what to get when you return that crappy sweater you got!  Also, the items on this list can totally apply to birthday gifts, anniversary gifts and just because gifts. Anyhow, every year my friends and I have our annual Girl's X-Mas: aka the white elephant and lots of champagne and wine night.  This tradition has been going on for over 15 years and I must say it's a daunting task to come up with a gift that gets stolen and becomes the hot ticket item, (because this is the whole point). My friends all have pretty good taste so I thought I'd share some of the amazing gifts that have made an appearance at one of our parties.  Oh and because my friend's rule, they flew me home this year so I wouldn't miss Girl's X-Mas!

All links are clickable:

Jonathan Adler: This is my go-to because I know most of the girls love JA, also he has lots of items in the $50-70 price range.  (I registered here for one of my wedding registries-Kyle couldn't figure out why we were getting so many elephant pieces.) I love the salt and pepper shakers, vice canisters, candles, pillows.  Like I said, I have a thing for JA.

Jo Malone: Candles and Cologne from Jo Malone are always a hit, (cologne is perfume here at JM). The packaging alone is beautiful.  It's a bit risky to shop for colognes here because the scents can be a little out there.  My favorites for both the candles and colognes are Peony & Blush Suede and Wild Fig & Cassis. I've seen amazing gift sets at places like Neiman Marcus,  Bloomingdales, Saks and Nordstrom.

LAFCO: Best. Candles. Ever.  The Home Scents are labeled for each room in your house. How cute is that?  These natural soy based candles will last over 60 hours and once you've burned through those hours you can reuse the beautiful glass the candle came in anywhere in your home. They have candles for the patio, guest room, music room, ski house, lake house, ranch house...well you get the idea.  These make the perfect personal gift for anyone.  And they smell amazing!

Speaking of beautiful glass art pieces for your home, you cannot go wrong Jeffries Glass. The hand blown drinkware glasses are amazing. Although he does not have the Nest Series wine glasses on the site yet, you should enquire about them.  The artist hales from beautiful Laguna Beach and sells his stuff at craft fairs such as the Sawdust Art Festival. These glasses are sturdy, beautiful and one of a kind!  Supporting local artists is always a good thing too.

Anything Anna Beck makes is GORG, and I am not just saying that because I know her and happen to think she is also an awesome human being.  Seriously, check out her stuff and try not to find something you wouldn't like for yourself, your sister, best friend, wife, partner, mother, daughter... you get the point.   Plus, if you buy the "Circle of Life" necklace, 100% of the proceeds go directly to the Bumi Sehat - a charity that supports woman's clinics in Bali and now Haiti that provides health and emergency care services.

A favorite perfume of all the girls is Kai.  The oil lasts forever, both in the bottle and on your skin! They have since come out with body wash, candles, lotion and even deodorant. If you have never smelled this before do yourself a favor and get some, you won't be disappointed and either will the special someone in your life ;)

Child came along just about the time we were looking to switch up or add to the Kai obsession.  It was our friend Courtney that found this little gem of a scent at a boutique in Encintas, Ca.  It soon became "one of the most sought after hard-to-find perfumes in the cult-niche brand world of beauty boutiques" I 100% believe that, this stuff smells that good.

The newest in scented oils came about this year and was again introduced to us by our girlfriend Courtney. Caudalie Devine Oil smells amazing! You can apply this light oil all over, it's also perfect as an after-sun lotion.

Speaking of sun, this is the perfect little bag to bring to the beach by day and use as a clutch by night.  Samudra makes totes as well as pouches in the most fun prints!  The Neon Palms was a hit with all the girls and definitely was a hot-ticket item!

For the tech-savvy friend in your life, Michael Kors makes an adorable little clutch that can fit an iPhone or Samsung phone.  No need to lug around your purse when running errands or hitting up the town at night!

Anthropologie anything.  You cannot go wrong with something from here.  The scarves, jewelry, leather gloves  (ahem, if you live where it get cold in the winter), clutches and wallets.  The list goes on and on.

I hope you all had an amazing holiday, here's a picture of me and the girls at the Girls X-Mas 2013. This pretty much sums us up.

~Mrs. G

The Month Of Sag's

This is the Month of Sagittarius!  So many of us are December babies and I want to say a very Happy Birthday to all of my amazing friends born under this sign!  This of course includes my Husband whose birthday is just two days before mine but always puts my day first!

The biggest and most exciting news for this month (to me anyway) is that it snowed in town!  OK, so it was only a few cm, but still...it snowed, IN TOWN!

This month is already going by way too fast! Let's see, Kyle and I went to Whistler for American Thanksgiving, just the two of us and our mutts.  We stayed right in the village and had an amazing time! We cooked (or should I say Kyle cooked) a full Thanksgiving meal that was perfect and it was even better that we got all the leftovers.  The village looks so pretty with all of the lights, I love walking around and checking out all of the shops.  We had dinner at Araxi one of the nights and I cannot recommend this place enough if you are looking for a place to have a really nice dinner — and you happen to be in Whistler. Oh, we also broke down and got helmets.  Yes, after all these years of fighting it I decided that I should protect myself and wear one. I have a picture below of exactly how I feel when I wear one.

In keeping with the 90's concert tour we seem to be on, we also went to see Pearl Jam.  Remember when I said Chris Cornell was the best?  Well, I think I have to add Pearl Jam to that as well.  They played for four hours, and each hour got better and better. The fans are incredible and so devoted, it was a really fun night.

Kyle had his work holiday party at the Vancouver Museum, Microsoft knows how to throw a party. I needed a good excuse to go out and buy a new dress and heels for the night.  But really, I just wanted to get my hair done.  Why is it that all you need is a blow out and you feel like a million bucks? Since cutting off all of my hair I wasn't sure how in the hell I would style it and if it would look cute.  My new salon that I go to did a pretty damn good job if I do say so myself.  Oh and I have decided that I am wearing red and plum lips all winter long.  Not that you give a shit, but if you are looking for good colors you should look at MAC Viva Glam III and Ruby Woo. Clinque also has Almost Lipstick in a color called Black Honey that they cannot keep in stock.  I take this as a personal challenge and will find this as I am out and about downtown tomorrow.

Vancouver has so many things to do this month and the city really gets into the Holiday Spirit! You can check out everything the city has going on here. We haven't had a chance to check out too many things as I was back in California last weekend celebrating Girl's Christmas.  I am going to update with another post this week as I want to share a gift-guide of sorts with you!  The girls go all out every year and get the best gifts and I think you all should know about them.

Until then...here are some pictures of our month so far...

Hello Winter

The helmet look. I think I am going to start doing the Miley in every photo.  

You better believe it... (us at Pearl Jam)

My hair is ready to Parttttyyyyyyyyy

We get dressed up.

~Mrs. G

'Tis The Season

I bet when you read that you thought I was going to talk about the holiday season didn't you?  I'm excited about the holiday season don't get me wrong, but this is about the snowboarding season and it has officially started!

Our Sunday Funday took us to Cypress Mountain-one of three local places to ride here in Vancouver. They only had a few runs open and there were way too many people all over the place, but it was still fun to go out and make a few turns.  We went with our friend's Allie and Allan who are always up for a good time.  Allie can ride too which is awesome, it's always nice to have girls that you can ride with!

We rode all afternoon then ended our day at the lodge having cocktails by the fire.  This is why I love the season so much.  There's nothing better than being on the hill with friends and ending your day at the lodge surrounded by a bunch of stoked people that had a great day.

So here's to this season: good friends, good snow and lots of après adventures!

~Mrs. G

First chair of the season!

My love.

October, How I Love Thee. YES I know it's November

I keep forgetting to update weekly so instead I'll just keep writing big 'ol update posts. Most of you are on Instagram, (even my mom is on it now, which is a whole other post), anyway most of you that read this follow me on Instagram and are keeping up with #thegaulinlife as that's where I tend to post most of my stuff nowadays.

If you are in fact following me on IG you will already know that October was a packed month for Kyle and me.  We started off seeing Dave Chappelle when he was up here on tour.  Let me just say he has not lost it one bit.  I was laughing so hard I was in tears — the whole show.  A couple weeks later we saw Chris Cornell on his "Songbook" tour.  I cannot say enough times that this was hands down one of the best shows I have ever seen.  It was simply amazing, this guy is talented and can sing his ass off.  He sang "Imagine" by John Lennon, this is one of my favorite songs, when he stared to sing it, I about fell out of my seat.  It was just a great vibe all the way around.  

The most exciting thing that happened in October though was going back home!  We were on such a whirlwind tour and it seemed liked every day and every night was packed with things to do and people to see.  I loved every minute of it!  We stayed with my brother the first week and then stayed down in Laguna our second week.  I loved being able to spend time with my Nephew.  I miss all the little moments with him. We had our Annual Italian Family picnic that has been going on since I was little and years way before that. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am so lucky to have the family that I do.  I love these traditions and I love my family.  It was so great seeing everyone. I really felt like I got good family and friend time in with everyone we could see.  I was sad to leave but when we got home Fall was in full swing and I have to admit I was pretty stoked on my surroundings.

Vancouver wins best Fall hands down in my opinion. Everywhere you look the trees are on fire with reds, oranges and yellows.  It really is an amazing sight!  People have been walking up and down our street taking pictures of all the trees. One weekend we headed out to one of the many working farms here in Vancouver and went apple and pumpkin picking.  You see, I found this "Fall Check List" on Pinterest and damn it if I don't take that list to heart.  I am on a mission to do all the Fall things and poor Kyle is such a good sport he'll do them with me!

The last bit of exciting news that most of you may already know is that I decided to take a break from the ad agency world for a while.  I'll still get my fill of project management at home (Kyle loves this about me), but I really needed a change of pace and have decided to concentrate on other things in my life. Kyle is already working such long hours, we were becoming two ships that passed in the night and that is no way to live — at least not for us.  I have always wanted to get into VFX  and had a great opportunity to join one of the best studios in the world.  Yes, I said world and with movies like TRON, Benjamin Button, Titanic, X-Men, and most recently co-producing Ender's Game you can see why I threw out such a hefty claim. Oh I shouldn't forget to mention that they brought Tupac back to life at Coachella.  I couldn't be happier and more stoked on this opportunity and feel blessed to have been given the chance to do something totally different. I work with an amazing group of people.  When I left Team One I prayed I would find that feeling of loving coming into work everyday and I do believe I found it.

I've rounded up some of my favorite shots from the month of October (and a few from past family picnics), hopefully I can get my shit together and update more often.

~Mrs. G

This is my grandpa at one of our Italian Family Picnics back in the day!

Anddddd this is his daughter-my mother at our picnic last month.  We always have games for the kids and the adults and she always comes prepared for the water ballon toss. 

And just because I think it's funny, here she is at a family picnic in the 80's. She really embraced  the whole neon thing.  This is also the time we started calling her "Monochromatic Mom."

We are F-A-M-I-L-Y

My insanely perfect nephew holding Uncle KyKy's hand, he LOVES Kyle.  Also there's the people that made him!

I mean...…

My Pops

This motley crew is also my family. We're such a melting pot of beautiful ladies aren't we! 

She makes my dad so very happy, we are lucky to have her in our lives!

Two of the three men in my life :)

Goodbyes are never easy. I love this for so many reasons.  

My other brother Mikey and Caroline

Lucky to have these amazing girls in my life.  Truly the best of the best right here.

The best of the best part deux!  I LOVE these trouble makers.

This is Mikki, I've known here for over twenty years.  A sleepy morning in Venice turned into a photo shoot, rooting through trees, backyards and local shops on Abbot Kinney- more on this photo shoot soon. 

We only had one night with the Dereks, it was not nearly enough.

He is perfection isn't he?

Fall  in full swing here in Vancouver.

My favorite street to walk down - Trafalgar. Voted one of the prettiest streets in Vancouver.

Clearly I can have fun most anywhere.

My love and I on our date night out to see Chris Cornell. 

My amazingly handsome Husband...

Vancouver, Seven Months Later.

I couldn't think of a better title, remember when I said I wasn't a writer? Anyway, we've been here for seven months and here's a bit of a recap as well as my observations so far...

You can go to any number of grocery stores for your shopping needs and of course we have tons of farmer's markets and local produce stands for fresh veggies but the government says we have to buy our alcohol here

or here, but it will cost you more.

And you always have this with you

This is Caesar country and Bloody Mary's are the devil

I love walking through my neighborhood, which I now spell neighbourhood

to get to this, which I take nearly everyday

and this has never happen to me, thank god.

We got rid of this, because we didn't need two of them.

When you live here

you complain about going here

because you'll have to cross this to get there.

This is how we picked where we wanted to live, we asked ourselves do we want to look at this














or this everyday









We chose the mountain views.

In the winter you can ride here













here

or here

and it'll only take you 40 minutes from the city.

At night this is your view

or this.

And this AMAZING place














is less than two hours away.

I have become quite involved with the yoga community and volunteer twice a week.

One of the locations I volunteer at has this view

And I think I look like this when I am practicing

I hear that when it rains (which is a lot) you really don't use one of these

So I guess Kyle and I will just walk around like this

This rainy season I will live in these



















and my dogs will live in these

And I totally expect that this is what our Christmas is going to look like.

And this is Maggie, wishing you a Happy First Day of Fall!

Love,

Mrs. G

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