American Girl is excited to celebrate the New Year with the debut of its 2017 Girl of the Year – Gabriela McBride!
Gabriela is a true talent who uses her passion for the arts, specifically spoken word poetry, to overcome personal obstacles and create positive change for her community. I love that these dolls have a “story” and that there’s a book to accompany them. Teresa Harris is the author of “Gabriela”.
Here’s a brief synopsis of the book:
Gabriela has grown up surrounded by the arts—dance, painting, music, and theater. But poetry is becoming her art form of choice, for good reason: she struggles with stuttering and poetry helps her words flow more freely. Although Gabriela is a bit quiet, when she does speak, she is sharp, honest, and funny. But can she learn to harness the power of her words and her creativity to help save her beloved community arts center from being torn down?
Now available for purchase is the beautiful 18-inch Gabriela doll, as well as several performance-inspired outfits, accessories, and toys. American Girl announced that unlike past Girl of the Year characters, Gabriela will be available throughout 2017 and beyond. This is wonderful news for doll collectors.
To connect students with Gabriela’s inspiring message, and to bring awareness to spoken word poetry, American Girl is partnering with Scholastic to create and distribute Express Yourself, a program for classrooms that empowers students to use the arts as a tool for self-expression. The program will be available in March 2017 and will be comprised of classroom resources that give teachers the tools to encourage students to find their creative voices. It’ll be just in time for National Poetry Month in April.
For more information about Gabriela McBride and her story, go here.
Children will be able to get in the spirit with crafts including DIY noise makers and party hats and a kiddie dance party, in addition to enjoying all of the regular fun at Pretend City Children’s Museum.
Join in all the family friendly fun at Pretend City this New Year’s Eve! Hope to see you there!
Blink Inc is a photo studio staffed with professional photographers that are ready to photograph you the moment you walk in. There’s no hassle of trying to find a time, date, and location that works best for you, you can simply go online to their site and book an appointment to come into the studio.
The studio is already set up and offers a sleek, all-white/blank backdrop that results in images that look and feel like a professional, editorial fashion shoot. The lighting is set up to make everyone look their best! (Trust me on this one!)
Here are just some of what they’ll photograph for you at Blink Inc:
It’s so convenient to be able to walk in, shoot your pictures, select which ones you’d like to purchase (the entire shoot is also available for purchase at a great “Buy All” price too.) and then have access to download your photos from a smart phone or device.
Walk ins are welcome at Blink Inc. but reservations are highly recommended. To book your own reservation for their studio, go 
For every $25 you purchase in gift cards, you’ll receive a $5 Bonus card for you to use during the month of January. It’s a win-win situation and everyone loves Islands! My favorite part of giving a gift card, aside from the fact that they don’t require wrapping, is that they don’t have a date on them so no one will ever know that you waited until the last minute to buy it!
For more info about Islands gift cards, stop by the location nearest you to grab one in person or send an e-gift card by visiting 
Also going on right now at Islands, through the end of NFL season, is “NFL Happy Hour” happening each week!
With a full bar of delicious, refreshing libations and a scrumptious menu featuring the most mouth watering appetizers, the bar at Islands is the place to be these days during NFL games. They have special pricing on drinks and appetizers and there are big screens all around to catch the game from every angle! 
Islands “NFL Happy Hour: is available only in the bar area on NFL game days, Mondays and Thursdays from 4pm-Close and all day Sunday. During Islands NFL Happy Hour, look for bartender-call-it drink specials and trivia games at each location with chances to win gift cards and Islands swag! 
So, do you have anyone left to buy for this holiday? Spread the Mahalo spirit and take advantage of Islands great gift card offer this season!
Hasbro and generationOn, the youth division of Point of Light, have partnered for the seventh annual Joy Maker Challenge. The campaign encourages youth,ages 5-18, to spread joy to people in need during the holidays through volunteer service. For every kid and teen who volunteers throughout The Joy Maker Challenge, Hasbro will donate a toy or game to Toys for Tots (up to $1 million worth)! That’s amazing!
Since the campaign’s inaugural year in 2010, more than 960,000 total acts of service have been completed, with 6 million dollars’ worth of toys donated to Toys for Tots by Hasbro
I was so excited when I received a giant box of toys from Hasbro on my doorstep! There were so many great toys inside the box and my daughter loved getting to open it and peek inside. I explained that the toys were going to be donated to families in need and she then helped me pick out the organization we’d be donating them to. We decided to take them The Orange County Ronald McDonald House.
The box was so giant that it barely fit in the back of my car. Ronald McDonald was there to greet me on the front doorstep when I dropped off the toys. I was happy to learn that my donation was just in time for their annual holiday party, which welcomes over 375 guests, who are either current residents at Ronald McDonald House Orange County or have stayed there within the past year.
I think it’s so important to encourage kids and teens to become “changemakers” in their communities and the world, through service. It really teaches them about being selfless. How do you teach your kids about giving back to those in need? Don’t forget to visit the campaign website before December 23 and sign up to be a “Joy Maker” too for Hasbro’s 2016 Joy Maker Challenge! 
Hasbro has so graciously offered to send one of my readers 2 boxes of 20 toys each, 1 box of toys to keep and 1 to donate. You can be a Joy Maker too! Enter on the Rafflecopter below! Good luck and Happy Holidays!
I also teach school and am a first grade teacher, which requires me to be up on my feet a majority of the day. I spend a lot of time on the carpet with my students reading to them and doing many activities. A 
Recently expanded to include even more great retailers to choose from, the newest area offers holiday shoppers even more great stores to shop at including:
Did you know….The Outlets at Orange is the only shopping destination in California to include Bloomingdale’s Outlet Store, Neiman Marcus Last Call, Nordstrom Rack and Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th? 
The Bloomingdale’s Outlet was the last one to join the center, just this Fall, and is the only location between San Diego and San Francisco.
From shoes to accessories and apparel for men’s women’s and children, all four department stores provide exclusive name brands at value.
After grabbing a cup of coffee in at the center’s Starbucks, I ventured over to check out the new area and was instantly drawn to the fountain, located just outside of Under Armour.
I love the serenity of the fountain and could’ve stood there and listened to the water flowing, all day long.
Among the drought-friendly landscaping, you’ll also find welcoming sitting areas to take breaks during your holiday shopping. It’s nice to be able to sit and cross things off your “Christmas Shopping List” before heading back out again. 
The Outlets at Orange is home to over 120 retailers and restaurants and offers shoppers a ton of choices to dine and shop at! 
This Saturday, December 17, join The Outlets at Orange for a holiday celebration including a live ice sculpture carving and carolers. Guests at the Outlets of Orange can enjoy holiday music from the carolers from 12-4pm.
To show appreciation to its fans and local community 
During “The Twelve Days of Giving Sweepstakes” different prizes will be awarded to a consumer every day from December 10 – December 21. The daily giveaways are announced every day on Frontier SoCal’s Instagram, so be sure to follow @FrontierSoCal on Instagram so you can be the first to find out what we are giving away! Also, you can enter twice per day. that’s twice the chances to win!
I’m fairly new to wet shaving and only started getting really into it about six months ago, Since then, not only have I had the best shaves of my life, but I feel like I get a little bit of daily serenity and “me time”, before the craziness of my hectic work day begins.
I also tried out their new “Sweet Almond” shave soap, which is just one from their new line of shave soaps, along with the 
It’s OK to take back ten minutes out of your day to regroup and wet shaving is where it starts, in my opinion! Be daring, and try out some new scents and really explore all the inventory West Coast Shaving has to offer! I guarantee that whether you’re buying this for yourself, or you’re shopping for Dad, brother, souse, significant other, etc. they will surely enjoy getting back to this age old tradition of shaving!