Then There is ALWAYS a Blue Box from Tiffany's ...

I don't EVER want to hear a husband say he doesn't know what to get his wife. Because I have yet to come across a woman in this world who wouldn't love a blue box under the tree. And I've said it before, but I'll say it again - even if you only have $100 to spend, Tiffany and Co. has a perfect something. 

And just in case you need a few ideas...

All I want for Xmas comes in a blue box... by hipmamab on Polyvore

And if you are in the San Diego area... Tiffany and Co. just opened a new store in the UTC mall in La Jolla. That means you North County men no longer have the "it's too far to Fashion Valley" excuse.

And by "men," yes, I do mean Jason. 

What would you like to find in a blue box under the tree this year? 

DIY Craft of The Season: Mason Jar Snow Globes

When I saw these at my local Anthropologie retailing for about $28 my first thought was immediately "I can SO make these for SO much less." And since I need to throw myself into at least one craft a year, I went on a mission to make the perfect mason jar snow globes. 

And since all the postings on Pinterest for this craft seemed to just be a basic "HOW TO" - I thought I would take you deeper into what I have learned while trying to make these "craftacular."

1) The Trees:

The best ones to use are actually the ones from Michaels that are meant for the California Missions. Now, that being said, I'm not sure they sell all the California Mission stuff outside of California. {Duh} But I'm sure your local craft store has little model trees. Don't get the super little ones. They get lost. Get the ones that are about 5 inches or so tall.

2) The Snow:

I used 3 kinds of "snow"

1. Snow Neige - WOW, I love this stuff. It's perfect for spraying on the little trees to flock them a bit. 
2. Glittery Craft Snow - also from Michaels. Just a little bag. 
3. Regular Flakey Craft Snow - Used to create scenes with the ceramic Christmas houses, this is a pretty big bag. I actually put the glittery ones and the regular ones in a big ziploc bag to mix together. 

3) The Mason Jars

This is where me doing this first can help you out. You want the QUART sized, Wide Mouth, as plain as you can get jars. Don't do the "quilted" ones because you can't see the trees though them. Also, pint sized jars are too short for the trees. Most grocery stores carry a decent selection of mason jars and they run about $12 for a dozen. 

If you want to do a bigger display, Target does have glass jars for about $5 each.  

The steps:

1) Flock the trees with Snow Neige and try not to go crazy and flock everything in sight. {real issue, I promise. It's SO MUCH FUN.}

2) Use glue dots to secure the flocked trees to the inside of the lids.

3) Put about 2 pinches of the snow mix into the jar. Just enough to cover the bottom of the jar. You really don't need a lot at all. If you use too much it will bury the tree. (plus the more times you take it out and put it in the bigger the mess you will make)

4) Put lid on and flip over. Voila!

5) I tied a little ribbon around the bottom for a festive look. But you can use twine or add a little tag. 

These turned out SO cute I can't stand it. They are a perfect hostess gift for all those parties or even just little things to give to your neighbors. Also would make a good Teacher gift OR if you are the room mom that needs to organize the Holiday craft, this would be a good one!

Also, if you went crazy with the Neiman Marcus/Target collection and bought way too many of the Tory Burch lunch boxes thinking they would sell out in moments and that you would be the COOLEST friend ever by having extras to give as presents {yea, who could I be talking about?!} these jars fit perfectly into these lunch boxes and it looks super cute. 

Nebraska and Back: 10 days, 6 states, 5 hotels, 1 speeding ticket and 3,000 miles in a 2013 Cadillac SRX

Honestly, before this trip I would never have considered getting a Cadillac. To me, luxury meant European - preferably German. Caddys were what grandmas in Boca Raton drove. But after 10 days of practically living out of the back of the 2013 SRX, I'm now obsessively wanting to get one. Without a doubt I can say this was THE best car for our family road trip and we loved (almost) every minute of riding in it. 

Our trip took us out to Omaha NE to visit Jason's family for Thanksgiving. The route took us up the I-15 through Nevada, the corner of Arizona, Utah, up through the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and across the Western plains of Nebraska. Some areas were breathtakingly beautiful and serene, while others were…um… not. I lost my favorite pair of flats, the kids watched about 25 movies (some a few times) and we experienced a trip of a thousand family memories. 

"Like a Lear Jet on Wheels" - Jason on Twitter

While the SRX is a crossover SUV, it drives like a sedan. Smooth and quiet, this car has power and our model had all the bells and whistles. The moon roof that stretched back over the backseat was perfect for not feeling "cooped up" after 7 hours of driving, and offered the kids a panoramic view of the snow-covered Rocky Mountains and unique sandstone canyons of Utah. The back-up camera helped us to make sure we were not about to run over a left-out piece of luggage, while the side mirrors signaled if there was someone in our "blind spot." And did you know that after a long day in the car, the seat warmers act like a heating pad to ease your sore back? That's not something you see in the literature! 

The Cadillac CUE system kept the kids entertained in the back with the Blu-Ray player, and mommy and daddy happy to be able to listen to the music THEY wanted to in the front. The navi led us astray once or twice - but for the most part kept us on route, with weather and traffic updates in addition to where the closest Starbucks was located. We even got the "chance" to test out OnStar's emergency service when we came upon the scene of an overturned big rig outside of Moab just minutes after it flipped. 

And yes, the car drove so smooth and quiet that Jason even got a speeding ticket. 

In his defense, he was going 10 MPH more than the posted speed limit and within the flow of traffic - but I'm sure that NE State Trooper saw the CA plates and thought there was no way we'd be back to fight it. Regardless - what's a road trip without a ticket of some sort? 

And we put that car through the paces. Packing it up, in and out, fast and slow, up and down altitudes of thousands of feet above sea level and across rolling, flat plains - the SRX PERFORMED. It got good gas milage and looked as good in Moab, Utah as it did pulling up to the Aria in Las Vegas. We were all comfortable and able to charge up when needed with the multiple USB ports throughout the car. My kids normally can't drive to Target and back without fighting, and while the trip wasn't scuffle free, they did about 90x better than I expected them to do. And yes, I will happily give the SRX credit for that.  

I will admit, when they came to take the car back yesterday I considered chaining myself to it and screaming "NOOOOOOOO!"

1 vehicle, 3,000 miles and about a bazillion memories….

*Thank you to the GM West News PR team for allowing us to drive this car for our trip! Opinions are true and our own. While we were loaned the car for the purpose of this travel, we were not compensated for any tweets or posts. But we would totally be okay if the car reappeared in the driveway with a note saying "it's yours!" tomorrow. Just throwing that out there. You know - "the secret" style and all.