First up, Indy Grrrl

First up is Brandy who is Indy Grrrl productions. I have been following her blog for a while. The first day I stumbled upon her blog I sat and read every single post and was hooked. She has been one of the most fantastic individuals I have come in contact with on the internet. She's brilliant, with a heart of gold, and makes everything super fun. She was also the very first person I've ever worked with and purchased items from on Etsy. She has two shop's on Etsy-- Indy Grrrl Productions and Balm Box (will provide links at the end of the post) Everything here is handmade, by her , with love, and it is fantastic.

I had the pleasure of purchasing a set of best friend necklaces for my friend and myself. Brandy's communication is wonderful, her packaging is beautiful, and I want to buy up her entire store on a daily basis. Along with my purchase she sent some extra goodies for Christmas, and even a personalized hand written note. On top of that she sent a sampling from Balm Box, which is some lovely Gummy Bear lip balm. I will certainly be back for more! The balm was perfect, as I find myself struggling with lip balm on a fairly regular basis because nothing feels exactly like I want it to. The closest I've come is Burt's Bee’s, but the Balm from Indy Grrrl smells WONDERFUL and feels fantastic. Everything in her shops really is made with love.

One of my favorite things I've seen though I've not purchased yet is her Mystery Boxes, which is packed full of Indy Grrrl goodies. You can buy a surprise for yourself, which is pretty awesome, and I don't expect it'd be anything less that super pretty, fun and wonderful (I will be purchasing one in the next week or two!).

When I purchased our necklaces, I actually made a special request for them. I had seen them listed in her shop previously, but they were gone. However I sent her a custom request, and received almost an immediate response and it was a great one! She could certainly make those necklaces for me. She worked with me on chain size, pendant size, and within my budget. On top of that she managed to have them shipped to two different locations, with enough time for Christmas. She answered any questions I had promptly, let me know when they would be shipped, and she did all of this in the middle of finals for school, being exhausted, and wanting to pull her hair out, but she still made me feel fantastic about my experience with her and her shop. I will be shopping with her for a long, long time!

The necklaces were perfect, adorable, glittery, and I almost want to sleep in mine because it’s just too cute.

I <3 Indy Grrrl Productions, and Brandy herself! Please stay fantastic Brandy! (I kind of felt like Ron Burgundy with that last bit! :P) And thank you very much for keeping me entertained and providing excellent gifts <3
XOXO
Indy Grrrl Blog -http://indygrrrl.blogspot.com/

Indy Grrrl Productions -www.indygrrrl.com

Balm Box -http://www.etsy.com/shop/BalmBox

My shopping love....

Now that all of the Christmas shopping is done and it's near time to open the gifts, I just wanted to share a bit about my most favorite place to shop. I have come across a lot of people who are very skeptical about buying online, and buying from Etsy in general, so maybe these next few posts will help shed a bit of light on the Etsy shopping experience.

I personally despise fighting the mobs at stores and the mall, and it was even worse this holiday season due to the roads turning to ice on the weekend before Christmas. Thanks to Etsy.com I have not had to brave the stores nearly as often this year as I have in years past.

Etsy is a website full of handmade goodies from people all over the world. Every person who sells items via Etsy has their own little shop. The experiences I have had with Etsy have been beyond fantastic. There is nothing better than really wishing to purchase something special for your family and friends, and finding someone who will make it for you. The folks on Etsy are so personable; usually have really great holiday specials, and at least the ones I have come in contact with make you feel like you are the only person in the world. You really can find anything you could ever think of on Etsy and enjoy doing it!

I want to share a bit more about a couple of gal's and their shops that have been extra special to me this season. These lovely ladies are Brandy from Indy Grrrl Productions and Stacy from EssemDesign. These ladies have made even my Christmas shopping something special. I will be sharing my experiences with these ladies as well as info on their shops over the next post or two.
<3

Merry Super Bowl

It's getting closer and closer to Christmas. This time is suppose to be about family and friends, getting together, getting fat together for a couple of days, and sometimes exchanging gifts just to see the other person smile. I love Christmas, I always have, the shopping stresses me out a bit, but I love giving gifts more than anything I think. I've done more shopping this year than I ever have before, and it was a blast.

When I lived with just my dad, we generally didn't have a Christmas tree nor celebrate Christmas because my father is not religious and to him Christmas is just a religious holiday. So instead we celebrated  Superbowl! Which now I find hilarious, when I was a kid it bothered me for a while but I got use to it. Everything was the same with gifts and food and family, just no tree and on a different day, which is ok, I don't think it really matters what day it is as long as you're together.

Now the thing that makes me the most sad,  yet is the most ironic is that my father passed away last year on Christmas Eve. When he died my oh so lovely grandmother just left me a voice message to tell me, that I checked while I was half drunk and had just gotten home from dinner with my husband. Christmas last year was the worst Christmas of all, as was the Super Bowl :P I had a hard time, I spent my Christmas sorting through things, packing up a now empty apartment, fighting with my brother, crying with my family, but it's over now.

 I miss my dad, but he made me promise that when he died, I wouldn't be miserable and dwell on the fact, Instead I would move on, and continue to live my life, (well that and to have him cremated and buried on the 50 yd line of the Cowboys Stadium) which is exactly what I am doing (the living my life part). I still miss him everyday, but there are little things I notice about myself that remind me of him, and that makes me happy. I'm glad I learned the things I did, and grew into the person I am now with my dad being a very big part of that.

Even though he isn't sitting at his computer reading this, I want to say thank you dad, even though there were a lot of tough times, I'm very proud to be your daughter, and I will love you forever.

The Super Bowl has been moving later and later each year it seems, but it will always have a special place in my heart. Merry Super Bowl.
XOXO

Oops...

Man that post below really isn't much shorter at all. I also need pictures! Ok will work on posting more so I technically talk less in each post! <3

I <3 it here!

 It's been a while since my very first post, but I'm just working my way into being comfortable with blogging and things of that nature.

So I've picked up some tips on blog posting and the like, so from now on I'll try to keep my posts short and to the point rather than long rants.

I've been here a while now and its Christmas time, currently it is freezing cold here in Manitoba. I  hear it gets colder, and I am being blamed for the lack of snow. I sent it all to Texas I guess!  However with it getting colder I've gotten to shop for winter clothes! I can't remember the last time I've done that. I have purchased some adorable gloves that go up to my elbows, a huge down filled coat, as well as some of the warmest and most comfortable boots on the planet! So I'm slowly working my way into the cold and its becoming my favorite.


To be honest as horrible as this may sound, its really nice being this far away from my family. I miss my mother, brothers, and step dad a ton, but I'm glad to be away from all of the insanity that comes with the rest of my family. I love them but they are exhausting.


I have also learned that Christmas shopping is much better when done from my computer. I've done almost all of it via www.Etsy.com there is some fantastic stuff on there, and some of the most wonderful people to work with on this planet. I did have to purchase a couple of hockey t-shirts for the men in my family via a local mall, and I made some wonderful saskatoon jam to send to my mom and grandmothers. I am pretty content with my gift giving this Christmas. I want it to be much better than the last (I love and I miss you dad! 08/19/1963-12/24/2008)

--Three cheers for shopping in your underwear from your computer chair!--

XOXO

This is new....

Ok, so... I've been reading and following a number of blogs for a while now, they are at this point in time one of my favorite types of entertainment, reading and seeing what other people think and love can be really fun! However I am new to actually blogging myself, so work with me through the next couple of awkward weeks as I decide and find what is the best blogging/writing style for me!

My name is Christine better know as Chrissy. I was born and raised in Texas for the most part, with a few short stays in Missouri, Arkansas,Massachusetts, New York and probably a few other places in between. I have recently moved to Gimli, Manitoba Canada with my little family that includes myself, my husband Victor, and my bad kitty Oz (Yes it is pretty awesome to live in a town that holds the same name as a dwarf). We are staying with my in-laws for the time being until we get on our feet, this includes a 6mo+ wait period for my permanent resident papers to be processed here in Canada, until then I will have to occupy my time with blogs, video games, puzzles, walks in the woods, and photography.

Canada is very different from what I am accustomed to. Everyone I've come across in Canada, leave one person has been extremely pleasant, happy, and polite. I'm in a very small town, not even a walmart in town, the closest one is 20 or so minutes away. My family here, hunts for most of their meat, and grows their own vegetables, it's pretty cool, but so different. Just getting use to speed limits being in kilometers, degrees being in celcius, and the fact that most places here don't have stacked highways due to harsh freezing cold weather conditions, I giggle a little when i seen signs for "split" roads that = a highway.

Since I've been here it has snowed twice, however it was just a bit of snow that only lasted throughout the night and was gone by noon the next day, but I am still in awe every time it snows. I haven't seen any real snow since I was probably 8 years old, but it is still so pretty. My family laughs at me really hard for getting excited about these little snowfalls, when we will have a few feet of snow if not more in the coming months, yet I'm still excited for it. I'm not doing so well with the whole being freezing cold part of winter, since I could wear t-shirts and flip-flops pretty much year round in Texas, so I am excited to shop for boots, gloves, coats, and scarves. I love fall and winter, its nice having more than 1.5 seasons in a year which is about all we got in Texas...hot and less hot. Though I fear I will die of hypothermia, I am excited to see what this ice fishing they do around here is all about. As far as I can tell it consists of cutting holes in ice, drinking booze, freezing and fishing.We shall see!

I suppose I've gone on enough for now, updates and pictures to come as soon as I get out of the house for picture taking fun time!

Here's to new adventures, cold toes, warm kittens, and hot cocoa!
XO