c/o thank you La Playa Carmel for our complimentary stay! Picture provided by La Playa

The Holiday season is such a great time to relax into the peace and joy of the crowded malls and people honking at you because you stole their parking spot! hahaha If this is the opposite of the picture you have in your head read more!

Consider giving a Memorable and Meaningful Gift! Here are 3 ideas from my heart to yours!

1.- Take A Trip Instead of Buying Gifts

Friends!! I love you and I want to make sure you have all the tools this season to focus on what is truly important to you. If you don’t like “shopping” here is my GIFT to you! I love to give and receive gifts but sometimes I feel like our generations places too much weight on the gift giving the entire season. One of the ways our family has made sure we focus on the truly important is by GIVING of our resources and then thinking of other ideas for gifts that can be meaningful and memorable. One of the gifts our family has opted for in the past has been the gift of travel. We’ve saved up as a family and have taken a trip to Mexico for Christmas instead of getting each-other presents! Last year we saved up and instead of gifts we visited Monterey and took our girls to the Aquarium.

This year we had the opportunity to stay at La Playa Carmel complementary for my birthday weekend and it was such a gift!! The property was stunning and cozy at the same time! We could not believe the complimentary breakfast each morning along with a full omelet and waffle bar! WOW! Now that’s how you do it! It was such a great room with a beautiful view and we were walking distance form the streets of shopping and coffee and restaurants in Carmel! If you’re looking for a great, luxury place to stay for your Christmas vacation, I highly-highly suggest La Playa! You will leave refreshed! If you’d like to see our vide InstaStory highlights from our trip click here!

While we stayed in Carmel we visited Point Sur and it was one of the most spectacular hikes I’ve ever been on! The ocean is just gorgeous and the hike is so mellow just I like them! My husband used to think when I said I wanted to go on a hike that I meant I wanted to go repelling from dangerous rocks and risk my life! Well, I might be slightly exaggerating but this hike was right up my alley! Peaceful and almost flat! Ha!

And I visited the Carmel Roasters Coffee house (very often) for their coffee is my favorite in the whole wide world! Yes I said it, the whole. wide. world!

TIp #2 Get The Right Bags For Your Travel!

Sponsored by: Kipling! Thank you so much for your sponsorship!

The Kipling collection with Disney has released their Mary Poppins collection ! Who else is as excited as me?! I love Mary Poppins and I’m nearding out over the new movie coming soon! When Kipling reached out to me to see if I’d like to collab, I squealed a little.

When I opened up the package of the adorable collection I held my little kite key chain and sang, “Let’s go fly a kite up to the highest heights, let’s go fly a kite and send it soaring!” I’m tearing up as I’m typing these words because this song has really inspired my life! I believe music and art have a way of encouraging our souls to keep going and not give up! This movie really moved me as a kid and it continues its legacy. So for Kipling to give me a keepsake and reminder in an amazingly-adorable collection of tinny backpacks, or a cute card holder, or even a big backpack that can fill my laptop and all my stuff as I travel, is incredibly inspiring! I feel super grateful and fortunate! Thank you! Kipling also has standard (no print) backpacks if you’re not as keen on the Mary Poppins collection as I am! ha! They even have cute diaper backpacks!

I think these are a great gift idea as well for the travel lovers in your life! They are amazing quality bags that travel well with you! The zippers are very sturdy and the bags will be as heavy as you load them. I linked down below my favorite ones from the collection for you to check out!

3.- The Gift Of Art

I don’t know about you friend but I have been healed by many an art piece! Be it a painting that took my breath away and gave me hope in it’s brushstrokes. Or a song that inspired me to dance and experience my body in a different way. Or a movie who’s story helped me sort out my own. I believe picking a piece of art as a family or for yourself can really leave a memorable and meaningful impact in your life. It would be a piece of art that you meditate over each-day allowing it’s beauty to wash over you and remind you of your intention for the next year! I think the art you surround yourself with can be highly motivating and what you keep before you eyes has a great influence in your life! Maybe you have a dream to become a (fill in the blank)! You can pick a piece of art that inspires you to take action towards that dream, every day! Or you can give art to someone you know needs a little beauty and inspiration in their life! Z Gallerie gifted me a beautiful piece called The Queen Of The Store and I am so grateful! It’s been on my wall since I got it and it’s inspiring me to follow more of my dreams! At times when they seem far away, this painting is sure inspiring the action required to make dreams into goals and my goals into action that will eventually turn into reality!

Thank you so much for visiting me today. I surely hope you enjoyed this different gift guide! I am all about gifts because that is my love language. But I’m learning to keep the main thing the main thing this season! I love you and I pray you focus on what is most important to you! Thank you for reading!