{Update: Wow, you guys are giving me so many fantastic ideas! Keep it up, will you? I promise to get to each of your questions just as quick as I can.}

{Photo from hbp_pix}

Friends, I am smack in the middle of my January blogger blahs. I’m sick of talking coats and boots, and the whole fashion world is ablaze with spring, but my weatherman tells me it’ll be months before we can pull out those spring dresses. I need some fun reader questions to get me through. What do you want to hear about? Send over your pressing style/beauty/home/travel/life queries, and I’ll do my darnedest to answer each and every one of them for you. Pinkie swear.

You know where to find me, right? Facebook, Twitter or old-school email (my personal favorite): editor{at}shoppingsmycardio{dot}com. Let’s chat!

As you might expect, I’m off to spend a wonderful week with my nearest and dearest. But I will have a little New Year’s surprise from of my very favorite guest writers who will be popping in next week, so check back in for that. Something tells me you’ll absolutely love it!

Truly, my friends, I hope you have an unforgettable holiday season. Whether you’re celebrating with roast turkey and pumpkin pie or bad Chinese food and a movie, I hope your week is filled with family, friends, joy, laughter and plenty of hot cocoa.

{My dog, Daisy, who wanted to help with the holiday decorating}

I’ll see you back here in the new year!

Hi, friends! It feels like forever since we’ve talked…all that gift guide madness sort of took over the place (it sure was a fun takeover, though, wasn’t it?).

Now that we’re back to business as usual, the first thing on my list is to introduce you to our newest sponsor (the owner of which also happens to be a dear friend and an outstanding human being): Gemkitty. The site is pretty phenomenal, in fact – it’s like DIY jewelry-making that you get to delegate. Talk about the best of both worlds! No wonder Martha Stewart and Glamour magazine are such huge fans.

Gemkitty has come up with dozens of different styles, all of which are totally customizable with your choice of gems, color combos, metal preference – absolutely anything you can dream up. Your design is then made by hand, with love, and sent right to your door – all without your having to step foot into a bead store or learning to use those teeny tiny pliers.

For me, it’s a perfect solution, since I often have big dreams of creating something myself, but I lack any actual creativity (hence my recurrent jewelry plagiarism). This way, some genius artistic person (my friend Arrs, actually) has come up with the design, and all I have to do is pick the details I love.

I can’t help thinking it’s a perfect solution for that holiday dress you need to accessorize. It would also be a great way to wrap up your holiday shopping for a group of girlfriends – make them each their own pair of custom earrings!

Or just, you know, when you’re sitting around watching Martha Stewart and have a sudden itch to be a crafty girl – you’ll get your DIY fix with a bare minimum of effort. Genius!

Take a peek at Gemkitty’s site – trust me, you’ll get sucked into all the fun.

Our lucky winner of the Perfect Holiday Hostess giveaway with hi, friend is comment #37, Christelle! She won with her bonus entry for tweeting about the contest to her friends…just sayin’.

Congrats, Christelle – I’ll email you! Thanks, everyone, for playing along…and of course, a huge thanks to hi, friend for sponsoring. Their giveaways always make me jealous that I can’t win them myself!

{CONTEST CLOSED…Sorry you missed it! But check back next month for more giveaway fun!}

Welcome back, friends! I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful – and now, of course, it’s time to really get into the holiday swing. (Have you taken advantage of our amazing Black Friday deal from Kara Ackerman yet? Last day…!)

We’re starting our annual Holiday Gift Guide Spectacular Spectacular tomorrow – I know how you all love a good gift guide! – and I’ll have zillions of great gifting ideas for you. But to officially kick off the season of giving, I teamed up with some dear friends, the lovely ladies at hi friend, to come up with a pitch-perfect present just for you. That’s right, it’s giveaway time!

I can’t think of a better, more stylish way to get started on the holidays, can you? As always, I love each and every one of hi friend’s holiday offerings – I have no idea how you’ll choose a favorite. Fortunately, you don’t have to! You’ll win a set of holiday cards PLUS a set of custom stationery PLUS one of those beautiful candles (to hold onto or save as an emergency hostess gift). Best of all, they’ll all get to you in plenty of time to send out those holiday cards on time for a change!

To win all three goodies, just comment below and let us know what you’d pick if you win! You have until Thursday night to enter, and we’ll pick a winner at random on Friday, 12/2!

As always, you get a bonus entry for following both of us on Twitter (@shoppingscardio and @hifrienddesign) and mentioning the contest, or for being our friends on Facebook here and here (you know you want to), and sharing with your friends. Just be sure you come back and leave a second (or third) comment telling me you shared elsewhere.

Good luck!

May there be stuffing, cranberry sauce and at least three kinds of pie piled high on your plate today, my friends. This year, as always, I’m thankful for my family (especially my darling hubs), my friends, and each and every one of you.

Image c/o SnoopyPictures.org

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today’s tip? Well, Black Friday/Cyber Monday fun, of course! I was actually planning to skip this little tidbit this year, but there are some goodies – many of which are starting today! And you know I can’t resist sharing a good bargain. Here’s what I know so far, and I’ll update periodically through the next day or two – we’ll put the newest deals at the top:

• Kara Ackerman: come back HERE to find out which gorgeous piece you’ll get 50% off on, beginning at 12:01 am on Friday, 11/25!
• Grayling Jewelry: 40% off sitewide on Cyber Monday, 11/28 + free shipping & gift wrap! Use code MONDAYMONDAY.
• Madewell: 20% off $150+ purchases, 25% off $250+ and 30% off $350+ (and free shipping) now through 11/27.
• Anthropologie: 25% off all sale items now through Sunday; goes up to 50% off all sale on Friday only.
• J.Crew: 25% off + free shipping on orders of $150+ now through 11/27 with code YOURGIFT.
• Botkier: special Black Friday sample sale starts now, take an additional 10% off for “liking” them on Facebook.
• Shopbop: Spend Some, Get Some with code BIGEVENT ($50 off $250, $100 off $500, etc.)
• Elie Tahari: 20% off $400+ with code GIVETHANKS, beginning 12:01 am on Thursday.

Happy hunting!

Welcome back, iVillage peeps! I hope you have your holiday gifting list all set now, and are ready to move on to the fun part – shopping! Today’s challenge tips are my secret formula for surviving Black Friday, but my best advice is to avoid it altogether.

BONUS TIP #2: Think Outside the (Big) Box

Black Friday has a siren song not many of us can resist. But there are better ways to spend your holiday weekend than duking it out over the last Tickle Me Elmo at your local Target. Instead of heading straight for the big box retailers on the day after Thanksgiving, head to your favorite local, independent stores and see what’s on offer. Often, they’ll have deals to rival the big chains, and you’ll have warm fuzzies from supporting local business (not to mention avoiding those mall parking lots!). Here in Portland, local shops have teamed up to create their own event for Black Friday – shoppers will get prizes, discounts, and all sorts of goodies. I’m guessing we’re not alone – check around for similar events in your area.

Need an extra incentive? American Express is sponsoring its second annual Small Business Saturday event this year. Pre-register your AmEx card, and get a $25 statement credit if you shop at a small business on Saturday, 11/26.

Also, don’t forget to check your favorite blogs for deals from brands and shops way outside the box. Here at SMC, we’ll be offering an exclusive Black Friday deal from one of our favorite designers – you won’t want to miss it!

First of all, I want to give a big, warm welcome to all of the iVillage Holiday Challenge visitors today! That’s right, my week of coaching started today, and I’m sharing all of my best tips for making the holiday shopping season virtually painless (I swear, it’s possible!).

We’ll be kicking off holiday shopping here at SMC next week (I like to give Turkey Day its due), with a truly fantastic giveaway and a bevy of holiday gift guides sure to make your shopping even easier. And I also have an amazing deal coming up on Black Friday, exclusively for you lovely SMC readers! It’s from one of my very favorite designers, and guaranteed to be a perfect fit for every girl on your list.

If you aren’t getting my daily tips this week, I’d love to have you on board – just head on over to iVillage and sign up! (No spam, I promise.) And for those of you already on the list, I thought I’d pass along a few bonus tips throughout the week – just my way of thanking you for stopping by.

BONUS TIP #1: Give Santa a hand.

The other day, I walked into a store with the hubs, and pointed out a sweater I liked. “This would make an excellent holiday gift, sweetie!” I said, batting my eyelashes. For once, instead of nodding mindlessly and walking away, my husband let me in on a little tidbit that explained a lot about the gifts that end up under my Christmas tree. “I want to get you things like that,” he said, “but I have no idea what size to buy you.”

I tell you, friends, it had never even crossed my mind that he didn’t have my sizes down pat (as I do his). But it explained a lot. So, right now, do it with me – send your spouse, boyfriend, partner, or otherwise-involved-person a list of all of your sizes. And be thorough – I’m talking denim size, shoe size, pant size, sweater size, coat size, ring size…even hat and glove sizes. Anything he might need to get you the holiday gift of your dreams. Trust me, your significant other has no interest in rummaging through your closet to figure out your sizes. So, help him out!

First, a couple of fun announcements:

* If you happen to be one of my Portland readers, my sweet aesthetician at Portland Spa and Boutique is offering my readers a huge 40% off laser hair removal packages! That’s as good as a Groupon, but at the spa you actually want to go to (and without the mad rush of people). To get the deal, just call and mention Shopping’s My Cardio – they’ll hook you right up.

* Have you signed up for the iVillage “Get Organized For The Holidays” challenge yet? Today’s the kickoff – be there or be square! I’m telling you, my tips (well, everyone‘s tips, really) are pretty darned awesome…you won’t want to miss out.

* I’m working away like a busy little elf on Shopping’s My Cardio’s legendary holiday gift guides this week. They’ll be here the week after Thanksgiving (what can I say, I’m a purist), and I can’t wait for you to see them! In the meantime, though, it means I’m getting by with a little help from my friends, so you’ll see some guest posters here this week. This is a crop of seriously stylish ladies – I know you’re going to love each and every one! And I’ll still be around…you know I can’t stay away long.

Because you were good enough to suffer through the minutiae, I think it’s only fair you should be rewarded with something pretty:

I’m 100% obsessed with these beautiful (and reversible!) new clutches from Hammocks & High Tea. Each one is more gorgeous than the last. They’re simply the perfect rendering of the folded clutch trend you see absolutely everywhere right now – I’m so glad I held out! The size (11×7) is just right, the leather is sumptuous, and the pattern on the reverse is classic H&HT loveliness. I was lucky enough to nab the cobalt blue, since you know I can’t resist that color. Plus, how perfect for holiday travel?! Store your lingerie inside for the trip, and when you get there, you have two different clutches in one, that work for day or evening. Genius, I tell you.

Have fun with my guests this week, friends…give them a warm welcome, won’t you?