Knocking Out Your Holiday Shopping

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by LA Simon Malls and Del Amo Fashion Center, but all content and opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands and companies that make Headbands & Bagels possible!
Shopping for gifts during the holiday season can be overwhelming for even the most seasoned shopper. It is important to have a game plan and a list, but what is perhaps another crucial part of a successful day of shopping is a one stop shop location for everyone on your list.

Love this Macy's at Del Amo.

One of those places for me is Del Amo Fashion Center owned by LA Simon Malls. I live only a few miles away and find that I can get a gift for anyone on my list there. Since I do the shopping for both Dan and my families, our list is pretty long but armed with a plan and the number of stores Del Amo has it makes it pretty easy.

For my mom, I always know Macy's and Coach  are great stops for her. She loves classic preppy pieces and our Macy's has a great variety of choices and Coach always has a great little bag.

For Dan's mom, she bought her house not that long ago, so items for the home are always a big hit. Del Amo's Macy's Home store is entirely separate from the main store and is amazing. We registered for our wedding there and it has such a killer variety. No questions asked.

My dad loves the outdoors and Eddie Bauer always has a great assortment of trekking gifts. A few years ago we got him this great collapsible backpack that fits into a small pouch, perfect for traveling!

Dan's Dad and little brother love to tinker. Barnes and Noble has been a great resource for me since they have so much more than books. I have been able to find great building sets and more there.

My sister is always saying she needs new clothes, so between Anthropologie, Ann Taylor Loft and Lucky Denim, I can always find her something.

Dan's sisters both love to entertain. For Laura, who is learning to cook more, I love to go to Crate and Barrel for fun kitchen gadgets while Julie is the entertaining queen, so Z Gallerie is usually a great stop for her!

And of course our nephews, love to game, so GameStop is a guaranteed stop.

When it comes to extended family and friends, I find myself popping into the Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, Gap and Typo for the perfect little gifts and stocking stuffers. Like I said I can get anything here. I am also knitting up a storm these days, so when I feel crafty, its off to JoAnn's for more yarn and other holiday crafts.

Del Amo is also undergoing some major new renovations that will be rolling out through 2015. A brand new food court is about to open in January and in 2015 a brand new Nordstrom is opening (I CANNOT wait!) Also each area of the mall is undergoing a serious face lift. It is going to look amazing when it's done!

Simon Malls is currently running this contest for the holidays!

#10ThingsILove Holiday Edition

A few months ago I shared my first #10ThingsILove post, based off a hashtag that was trending on Twitter. I am hoping to have posts like this every season to share my current 10 loves. So what better way than to have the second post of the season be a Holiday Edition!


Christmas lights on the tree in front of the capital building.
Washington DC, United States.
Picture taken by Jonathan McIntosh, 2004.

10. Christmas Lights

I absolutely adore Christmas lights. There is something that wells up inside of me everything I walk by trees all lit up or a house twinkling in the night. Maybe it is because as kids my sister and I used to play the Christmas Light game, which meant we each picked a side of the car and counted all the lights we saw on our way to our country house; the 3 hour drive seemed to fly by. Now that I live in California it is fun to see Christmas lights on palm trees as well as Christmas trees; the lights are also a great reminder of the season, as the weather is not always chilly.

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9. Shopping

I love to give gifts. It is honestly one of my absolute favorite things to do in the entire world. Therefore Christmas shopping makes me absolutely giddy. The only thing I like better than finding the perfect gift, is wrapping the perfect gift.

Last year's Ugly Sweater Party

8. Ugly Sweater Parties
Every year our friends Brian and Kelly throw an Ugly Sweater Party with White Elephant exchange at their house. This year's is on Friday. All my gifts are wrapped and my new holiday sweater is ready to go! Of course I will have to bring Ralphie the teddy bear in his ugly sweater along for the fun as well.

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7. Red Cups at Starbucks

Red Cups make a girl really happy. I love the Starbucks Caramel Brulee latte that only comes around for a few months a year. My desk at work almost always has a red cup on it. What's your favorite Red Cup flavor?

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6. Winter Olympics Countdown

I actually cannot contain my excitement about the 2014 Winter Olympics. They only come around every 4 years and the summer games in London feel so much longer than only 2 years ago. Even with all the problems plaguing Russia and the infrastructure of these games, I cannot wait. There is something about the Olympics that makes the world seem smaller and for a little while all focused on the same events.

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5. Holiday Movies

I have quite the collection of holiday movies, and for those I don't have, I find myself relying on ABC's 25 Days of Christmas.We watched Holiday Inn a few days ago with my family to start getting into the Christmas spirit and I can't wait to pop in Elf or Love Actually. My tried and true favorite though is still A Christmas Story. What is your favorite Christmas flick?

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4. Music

Does anyone not smile or want to sing along when listening to Christmas and Holiday tunes? I have my XM Radio in the car only set to Christmas tunes these days and every morning I take my shower while singing along to the Love Actually or Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack.

Dan and I at Queen Mary Chill 

3. Colder Temperatures

 It's finally cooler in in California. I know I have said this already only to be disappointed when the temperature swings back up, but this week we are actually having average temperatures below normal for this time of year. I am doing happy dances all the time. I actually have a reason to open my coat closet everyday and I am just giddy with the prospect of layering. It also reminds me that it is actually wintertime!

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2. Wrapping Gifts
I may be one of the only people on this earth that gets tons of pleasure from wrapping gifts, but honestly I think it is more fun than buying the gifts a lot of the time. I love picking out wrapping paper patterns that compliment each other as well as all the ribbons and embellishments I can add. Last year I started assigning wrapping paper to specific families or friends so that it was easy to pull the gifts out from under the tree without having to check all the tags. I already have one family down, need to keep wrapping though!

Christmas Night 2012

1. Family Traditions

I love all the family traditions that come with the Christmas season. Dan and I get to celebrate Christmas with his family a little early every year and his mom is so great about trying to establish new and fun traditions as a family. This year we are heading down on Friday night to spend the night and go out to dinner and then spend Saturday opening gifts and hanging out. We are then off to NY on Sunday for a long visit. Since we don't see my family as often and Dan and I get Christmas Eve through New Year's Day off, we like to head to NY for some quality time. This year we are going to the Nutcracker ballet on Monday. Christmas Eve I then have lunch with two of my best girlfriends and then we are all off to Meme's house (my grandma) for dinner and gifts with my mom's entire family. We then drive upstate late that night 3 hours (very often in the snow) so that we wake up in Upstate NY for what we hope is a White Christmas. Finally we get to spend NYE with tons of our friends from HS and college. I LOVE CHRISTMAS and all the traditions that come along with it.

So that's my #10ThingsILove about the Holidays this year, what would make yours?

Black Friday Adventures

I went shopping on Black Friday at South Coast Plaza with both my moms (mom and mom-in-law), my sister Dom and my sister-in-law Julie. We went in the late morning between the early morning rush and the post lunch crowds. It was pretty empty and nice to just spend time with the girls. Since I was pretty ahead on my Christmas shopping, Black Friday ended up being just a little shopping for me.

Black Friday Purchase Report by preppy-lizzy featuring Simone Perele

I was able to pick up some awesome pieces for myself and a beautiful Tadashi Shoji dress compliments of my mom. The Tadashi dress you see below is in the cream version, I was able to snag  mine in a bright red lace with nude underlay. I am so excited to wear if for Christmas eve!

I grabbed some great stuff at J.Crew since it was a big sale. I ordered this beautiful dress with a black top and gold skirt. I love it because it allows me to use it as a dress or skirt. I'm just awaiting its arrival since they were already out of my size. At the same time, I grabbed some new belts as well as this gold bar striped shirt. It is the perfect shirt with a cardigan during the weekend or a blazer for the office.

Finally I swung through Intimacy, which is my favorite place to snag beautiful and supportive bras. They have a great fitting program where they find what is perfect for you (way better than VS), and through them I have discovered my favorite brand of bras. Simone Perele is a French company that makes beautiful and practical lingerie. The molded cups even have aloe in the fabric so they don't irritate your skin. I was also able to grab some new Hanky Panky thongs. Seriously they are just the best. THE BEST.

Because I used gift cards and my mom bought me my lace dress, I was able to get a ton of stuff, for very little money. Did you get anything at Black Friday?