Top 11 of 2011

Hi, my name is Holly. I own this blog.

I've been MIA due to Christmas and staycation excitement.

Lately...

I've been sick, opened presents, traveled around Ohio, lost our cat, got bad news {more on this later}, found our cat, got good news {more on this later}, sent flowers, felt better, gained a new perspective on life, and enjoyed time with family and friends.

Phew.

This is my last post of 2011.

I say it every year, and I'll say it again: where did this year go?! Time flies when you're having fun.

Let's have a looksee at my Top 11 memories of 2011 {in no particular order}!

11. My sister got married

Heather and Matt were married on June 4.

It was a beautiful day and very fun wedding.

These two are utterly perfect for each other.

10. Epic 5th annual trip to Put-in-Bay with my lady friends

Filled with "celebrity" sighting, sunburns, dancing, and too many drinks.

9. Brittiny's bachelorette weekend in Nashville

We whisked Brittiny away for a surprise bachelorette weekend in Nashville.

I had never been, and I truly loved it there.

There was a lot of dancing, exploring the city, and free drinks.

8. Couples vacation in Myrtle Beach

A whole week of fun in the sun with good friends and strong drinks.

7. Celebrated Team Kell(e)y's 30th birthdays

Kelly and Kelley have been BFFs the majority of their lives.

We celebrated Kelly in August in true rockstar fashion.

We celebrated Kelley in bowl-tastic style.

6. My HLP got married

My heterosexual life partner, Brittany, who is also my best friend from college, got married in November.

She and I had a falling out a few years ago, but have since rekindled our friendship.

I'm so happy to have her back in my life because she is truly a fabulous friend.

I'm so happy that she found Brent :)

5. Bus trip to NYC with the girls

For $50 {half off thanks to Groupon}, we boarded the Fun Bus and took a 12-hour road trip to NYC.

We spent 13 hours exploring the city - walking all the way from Times Square to the tip of Manhattan to see the Statue of Liberty and everything in between, including Ground Zero.

It was a gorgeous day and a lot fun despite really tired feet. 

4. Got a new ride

We traded in my 2008 Mazda 3 for a 2012 Ford Escape.

3. Hosted a Columbus blogger meet up with Katie

I absolutely adore Katie and her blog, and I am so happy to call her a friend in real life now!

About 20 bloggers from Columbus came and it was so much fun getting to meet and chat with each of them.

I am truly grateful for the friendships I have made through blogging.

It's a wonderful community of lovely people, and I'm so happy to be a part of it.

2. Crawl for Cancer

This is one of my favorite events of the year!

The Crawl for Cancer in Columbus raises money for a great cause.

It's also a lot of fun and worth every bit of the $40 per person. 

Mark your calendar for May 26, C-busers!

1. I started grad school

I applied, interviewed, got accepted to, and started my master's program in community counseling.

I took a risk and set my sights on a career path completely different than the one I'm currently on.

I couldn't be happier!

I find every class interesting, and I'm eager to face the challenges grad school brings.

It's not going to be an easy road - working full time, going to school, coaching cheerleading, being a loving wife and fur mommy - but it's one that I think is definitely going to be worth it.

I'm not big on resolutions, because I have been the girl who has made them and given up on them after a few months, errr weeks. So I've set a few goals for the upcoming year which seem more attainable.

We'll see how this goes...

What are your goals for the new year?

Cheers to 2012!

and the winner is...

Congratulations to Jenny @ Life, Love and Marathons!

She won my Eversave Columbus giveaway - $15 egift card to Barnes and Noble, $50 gift card to Restaurant.com and $10 save reward!

Thank you to everyone who entered, and a special thank you to Eversave Columbus for allowing me to host this giveaway!

Eversave.com saves you TONS of money by offering a variety of items at discounted prices.

Be sure to sign up for your daily save at Eversave.com!

Shawn and I are packing up and headed to his parents' house today, then my parents tomorrow and Christmas day, then his grandma's house on Monday!

Lots of traveling and time with family and friends! Just the way I like it - well the time with family and friends part. It's always interesting to travel with two 60-pound plus dogs and a cat.

I hope you all travel safely and truly enjoy you holiday this weekend!

Merry Christmas, love bugs!

xoxoxo

perfect stocking stuffer giveaway via eversave columbus

Hello, my pretties!

I've got a saaaweeet giveaway for you today courtesy of Eversave.com/Columbus!

Eversave is a web site that saves you TONS of money are great items at discounted prices! Be sure to sign up to receive your daily save!

You could win a $15 Barnes and Noble eGift Card, a $50 Restaurant.com Gift Card and $10 Eversave Reward, which will be added to your Eversave account to be used on future Eversave deals that strike your fancy!

So a little sumpin' sumpin' for a friend or loved one and a little icing on the cake for you too!

They don't call me Holly Jolly this time of year for nothing, kiddos. :)

Here's how to enter:

Leave a separate comment for each.

**Mandatory**

Be a public follower of RIS via GFC

Have an Eversave.com account

*Extras*

Follow RIS on Twitter

Like RIS on Facebook

Tweet about this giveaway (be sure to mention @runinstilettos)

Blog about this giveaway

That's SIX (6) chances to win, ya'll!

Remember, leave a separate comment letting me know what you did!

In order to get you the gift in time for Christmas, you only have a little more than 24 hours to enter this giveaway, so get on it!

The winner will be announced at NOON tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 23!!

Good luck, love bugs!

last-minute gifts for guys under $25

If your guy is anything like Shawn, then his wardrobe consists of varying shades of the same four colors, he hates v-necks, all sports apparel must be official team gear, the size of the stripe on a shirt matters, the way pants fall over the top of shoes is very important, and he better not look like a douche in anything he wears (this includes hats and sunglasses).

This either makes him really easy or really hard to shop for during the holidays.

Easy in that he is consistent and you know what he likes.

Hard in that it's next to impossible difficult to come up with new gift ideas to surprise him.

This year, I was so excited because there was a pair of shoes he wanted. Yay, something different to buy him! Don't worry, no spoiling the surprise here. He already opened them. And the box came in the mail screaming hints at him. Oy. He loves them by the way. Score one for the wife!

This year, Shawn and I also challenged ourselves to purchase gifts for each other on a budget of $50. Who does that?! A couple on a mission to buy a house in the upcoming year, that's who. 

In the past, we have easily shelled out hundreds of moolah on each other. 

If you follow me on Twitter (which I know you all do...right?! :)), then I know what you're thinking...

"But he bought you an iPad and an iPhone!" 

He said those weren't Christmas presents (and he uses the iPad just as much as I do), so they don't count, or else he completely blew the budget! Naughty boy.

So if you haven't finished your Christmas shopping, like me, then you might find this helpful.

Remember, my husband (and my dad for that matter) is kinda picky, so I picked a lot of these things with him in mind. 

Gifts for Guys Under $25

{note: some of these gifts are currently on sale, which puts them under the $25 mark, but the majority are normally under $25}

Source: kohls.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: lids.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: kohls.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: kohls.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: kohls.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: target.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: kohls.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: target.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: target.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: kohls.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: amazon.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: kohls.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: target.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: kohls.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: target.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Holly on Pinterest

Wow. 

There's a lot of stuff under $25! 

And hopefully something that will suit the taste of the guy on your list. 

 

Everything, except the hat (Lids.com) and cologne (Amazon.com), came from Kohls, Old Navy or Target.

In my humble opinion, these stores provide just as nice of items as a Banana Republic or J.Crew, but for a lot less.

Now, I know some people may think that paying higher prices means better quality. And in some cases that may be true. But definitely not in all.

At least if when Shawn spills coffee, ketchup, cheese, mustard, pizza sauce (I could go on) on his clothes, I know that we didn't overpay, and actually, his clothes clean up nicely from said dribbles.

 

Remember, this is just my opinion.

And we are by no means wealthy - don't let the electronics fool you - so we love a good deal!

 

Woah, sorry for the post detour.

Hope you made it through the whole thing. 

Though if you're still reading this, I'll assume you did :)

Happy 5 days til Christmas, love bugs!