When a gift box from Thoughtfully Co. arrived on my doorstep, I could hardly contain my excitement! If you haven’t heard of Thoughtfully before, lean in because you need to know about them. 
They’ve created a new gifting experience, with their beautifully, curated gift boxes, that’s much more exciting than traditional gift baskets. The idea behind the company is that they believe a gift should last long after the beautiful wrappings have been torn away. 
A truly thoughtful gift is a story – a curated adventure perfect for each special individual in your life. Receiving one of these beautiful gift boxes will allow your friends and family to taste, see, smell, and experience the stories of Thoughtfully.
The Thoughtfully Co. offers a variety of gift boxes to select from including holiday, birthday, housewarming, thank you, food and bar, etc. They also offer gifts that are “just for him” and “just for her”. Each of them has their own unique “story” inside the box. 
I received the Cirque du Sweets gift box which includes:
- Two 6″ Cast Iron Round Skillets
- One 5″ Cast Iron Square Skillet
- Brownie Mix (6oz)
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix (4.8oz)
- Sugar Cookie Mix (6oz)
- Vanilla Frosting Mix (8oz)
- Decorating Bag With Coupler and tip
- Confetti Sprinkles (4.6oz)
- 3 Glass Milk Bottles
- Three Paper Straws
- 3 Elephant Straw Toppers
I am so in love with this set! It’s so cute and perfect to whip up an adorable little batch of cookies or brownies and milk! I get excited about doing things all fancy! Don’t you? 
The act of giving is always in season with Thoughtfully which is why they’re providing one of their boxes as a giveaway to one of my lucky readers! All you have to do is enter below on the Rafflecopter. Good luck everyone!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Connect with Thoughtfully Co. on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
During SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration, in addition to all of the regular shows and attractions, ther are two additional areas exclusive to the event, that you won’t want to miss…Santa’s Christmas Village and the all-new Rudolph’s Christmastown.
As soon as we arrived at the park, we began our celebration by heading straight over to Rudolph’s Christmastown. I grew up watching all of the classic Christmas specials on TV featuring Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer™ so I was on a mission to find Rudolph and all of his friends at SeaWorld!
As you walk through Rudolph’s Christmastown you’ll find so many adorable areas to take photos over there, as well as fun games that are all Rudolph-themed. We also found Rudolph, himself, and he was ready to take pictures. you have the option to take pictures with Rudolph and a couple of his friends. (Characters available may vary.) 
SeaWorld offers PhotoKey™ services to guests, so you have the option to have their professional photographers photograph your family at designated spots throughout the park and then purchase the photos for sharing online and printing out to create keepsakes of your day! We utilized the service at this location for our photos with Rudolph.
We were also pleasantly surprised when Bumble the Snow Monster walked in! He is one of my all-time favorites from the series and we had a lot of fun posing with him. (especially my husband)
There are some very special savory and sweet holiday food offerings in Rudolph’s Christmastown such as gourmet pizzas, a variety of Mac & Cheese, Holiday Crepes, and Waffles on a stick! Warm coffee drinks and hot cocoa are also available!
SeaWorld really spoiled us that night and we ate everything I mentioned above. Their culinary team is amazing!
Right near the Arctic Wild, in Rudolph’s Christmastown, you’ll find the 40′ Happiest Dancing Christmas Tree. We enjoyed a fun tree lighting ceremony with singing elves and Rudolph. The tree is beautiful and changes colors and light patterns as the music changes. Here’s a very short video of the countdown to the tree lighting up:
Next, we headed over to Santa’s Christmas Village to find Santa and Mrs. Claus. There are many different activities and things to explore in Santa’s Christmas Village including:
Wait times to see Santa may vary so please plan your day accordingly. You also have the option to reserve your visit to see Santa by visiting 
We had so much fun at the media review of SeaWorld San Diego’s Christmas Celebration and look forward to going back during the daytime to experience even more fun. Have you been to SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration before?
For more information about Christmas at SeaWorld San Diego, visit 
Spending time in the kitchen with my daughter and getting to cook and bake with her this time of year is so special and one of the activities we love doing together most. What I don’t love about this time of year is my “holiday heartburn”! It literally tries to ruin my time! Heartburn is the worst!
I didn’t always suffer from heartburn but now whenever it flares up, I’m extra sensitive to many of my favorite foods and have to miss out. Well, I am NOT going to let heartburn ruin my holidays this year!Thank goodness I discovered 
It’s such a great way to treat frequent heartburn and gives me the confidence and comfort to enjoy all of the festive holiday foods, especially my most favorite: peppermint. I could eat peppermint everything! I think peppermint should be its own food group! I even stock up on peppermint goodies this time of year so I have enough to last me once winter is long gone.
One of the recipes I always make during the holidays is Holiday Peppermint Bark. It’s so simple to make and I get asked for the recipe quite frequently by other family members. The recipe only has a few ingredients and doesn’t take very much time to prepare. 
Holiday Peppermint Bark is also perfect for gift giving. Who doesn’t love to receive homemade goods at the holidays? It’s also something special you can leave out for Santa when he visits your home on Christmas Eve. This year I’m going to leave out some Holiday Peppermint Bark for Santa, along with some Nexium® 24HR. I know he’ll appreciate this too! 
Ingredients:
I just get bored with the same old lunches and I also find that if I don’t pack enough food or go to work without a lunch at all, I end up grabbing not-so-healthy things. One of my personal goals when this school year started (I’m also a teacher) was to reduce, or even eliminate, “driving through” for lunch.
I feel like I’m just out of ideas and tired of the same old lunch: a sandwich, chips, and a diet soda. I got pro-active and set up an appointment with a nutritionist at Kaiser Permanente Orange County to talk about some healthier lunch packing options. During my appointment, I got some really great tips and ideas that I want to share with you. 
The first thing I leaned was that “a lunch doesn’t have to look like a lunch“.It’s a concept that seems odd and not normal to me. When I think about packing a lunch, I visualize what my own mother used to pack for me. However, I learned that the most important part about packing what you’re going to eat all day when you’re away from home is actually the balance between nutritional value and adequate portions. 
The nutritionist helped me think of a long list of “non-traditional” lunch items to include in my lunchbox. Here are just a few:
Honestly, I love all of these new ideas for lunch. I’ve actually seen other teachers eyeing my lunch in our Teachers Lounge.
Although water isn’t actually food, the nutritionist stressed the importance of drinking enough water on a daily basis. I shared my water drinking challenges with her. As a teacher, there are days when I walk around my classroom just carrying my water bottle around and still have a full water bottle at dismissal!
She suggested adding natural flavoring by using things like cucumber or strawberry to my water. I love the way it tastes when it’s infused and it’s so much easier to drink my daily requirement now. I also learned that water isn’t just important for your insides, which helps regulate you, but also beneficial for your external appearance, aka your skin! Drink your water!
The nutritionist asked me right away to describe what my weekly lunch meal prep looks like. I really didn’t have an answer for her because prior to meeting with her, I didn’t set aside much time for meal prep. Lunch making was more of a “throw-it-in-the-lunchbox-5-minutes-before-rushing-out-the-door” sort of thing! She discussed the benefits of carving out that time each weekend to do this. On Sundays, my daughter & I team up to make the shopping list for weekly lunch packing, go to the grocery store, and package and measure out portions of foods that can be done ahead of time. (ex. nuts, cut up cheese, etc.) 
While I was at my appointment with the nutritionist at the Kaiser Permanente location in Irvine, there was a Farmers Market going on. I love shopping at a Farmers Market! 
They offer the freshest fruits, vegetables, and other products that are all locally grown and made. I found a variety of local produce, honey, nuts, teas, beef jerky, breads, and specialty foods there, many of which are organic!
There is also food you can order to eat right then and there, such as gourmet tamales. All of the vendors are very friendly and there are lots of great things to sample before you buy. 
I found a lot of things there to grab for my lunch packing. It’s free and open to the public, every Wednesday (year-round) from 9-1. To find a Kaiser Permanente Farmers Market in Southern California near you, go 
Believe it or not, I actually look forward to packing lunches now. I feel like I have a new perspective and it’s fun to mix it up with non-traditional lunch packing. My daughter even asks to help out more in the kitchen now, since we started doing lunch meal prep together. It’s like a mother-daughter bonding time.
Accompanied by treasured Disney tunes interwoven with the distinctive “Baroque Hoedown”
A whimsical train pulls a giant drum unit that proclaims “Disneyland Presents … Main Street Electrical Parade” in bright lights.
Some of the parade’s most impressive scenes are the 23-foot-tall Clock Tower looming over Cinderella’s Ball, attended by elegant ballroom dancers in costumes covered with lights; and the 108-foot-long finale unit, a red-white-and-blue tribute to America. Elliot, the smoke-breathing, 2 tail-wagging “Pete’s Dragon,” weighs more than 5,600 pounds and is 16 feet tall, more than 10 feet wide and 38 feet long. Guests will need to keep an eye out for Elliot, who disappears from time to time along the route. 
The Main Street Electrical Parade was performed more than 3,600 times for more than 75
Guests who wish to be among the first to welcome the parade back to Disneyland may
This year, Winter Fest will open on Friday, December 16 and go through January 1! There is so much to see and do and you’ll find yourself smiling a lot, among all of the merriment you’ll find there. My daughter hasn’t stopped talking about the snow at Winter Fest since last year! 
Here’s a little preview of what you can expect to find at Winter Fest: 
Winter Fest admission tickets start at just $10 and are a great value. Here are some of the winter attractions and entertainment you’ll find inside Winter Fest this year:
Are you planning a visit to Winter Fest this year? I hope so! I’m also giving away a family 4-pack of tickets to this year’s Winter Fest that one of my lucky readers is going to win! All you have to do to enter is follow the directions on the Rafflecopter below! Good luck everyone! Happy Holidays!
All throughout the Park, there are wonderful, festive decorations, special shows, tasty treats, and the usual thrilling attractions for guests to enjoy. As you stroll through Calico Ghost Town, you’ll literally feel like you’ve stepped back in time and right into the town’s old-fashioned Christmas celebration, “Christmas in Calico“.
For the first time ever, the bustling streets of Calico are overflowing with seasonal joy as its gleeful citizens, from 
New this year, Calico’s Town Hall offers plenty of holiday activities for all to enjoy.New this year, Calico’s Town Hall offers plenty of holiday activities for all to enjoy. Little ones can pen Christmas letters to jolly ol’ Santa Claus or gather round for a special reading of the holiday classic the Night before Christmas by the Calico citizens. 
Everyone can also lend a hand around town by delivering gifts to some of the folks in Calico. Just outside Town Hall, cheerful Calico Carolers roam the festive streets sharing the sounds of the season though songs and hand bell chimes. 
Also in Ghost Town, be sure to save time to watch a performance of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”and O. Henry’s “A Gift of the Magi” brought-to-life at the Birdcage Theatre.
You can also find the toe tappin’, hand clappin’, comedy and bluegrass of Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies in the Birdcage Theatre. They’re always a lot of fun to watch!
During Knott’s Merry Farm, the Wilderness Dance Hall in Ghost Town is transformed into Santa’s Christmas Cabin for the holiday season. This is where you’ll find the jolly fellow himself.
Santa is sure to delight the young and young at heart. Send your season greetings to family and loved ones with special picture of the occasion, pictures can be purchased onsite.
You’ll also want to indulge in one-of-kind seasonal treats like Santa’s freshly-baked cookies, mouthwatering pastries, exquisite chocolate dipped cheesecake on a stick, seasonal craft beers, gourmet hot chocolate with marshmallows and hot spiced holiday wine, plus much more.
Knott’s world-famous holiday treats can also be found all throughout Ghost Town, including fresh poured-to-order maple lollipops at the Gold Trails Hotel, delectable homemade holiday churros from the Churro Factory and extra creamy Santa’s Milk and Cookie shakes from Coasters.
Returning this year, the PEANUTS® gang, and a cast of world class ice skaters perform in the breathtaking ice show, “Merry Christmas, Snoopy!” in the 2,100 seat Charles M. Schulz Theatre. 
In this whimsical show, Snoopy enjoys all of the best parts of the season, including trimming the Christmas tree, awaiting Santa’s arrival, and attending the Christmas Ball! This ice show is a must-see and is my absolute favorite thing to go watch at Knott’s Merry Farm every year! 
The annual Christmas Crafts village includes artistic craft holiday shops featuring power chainsaw sculpting and elegant glass blowing demonstrations. Entrance to the Knott’s Christmas Crafts Village is free Monday through Thursday, November 21 –December 8, and is included with theme park admission every day.
You’ll also want to make sure to check out what’s new for this year at Knott’s Merry Farm:
Now through January 8, guests at the Resort will find many different experiences and offerings. Although it’s possible to see it all in one day, I recommend purchasing a 2-day Park Hopper (or more days) so you can take your time because there’s a lot to see and do. 
Here’s my own personal guide to the Holidays at Disneyland Resort.
Festival of Holidays
With so many little food and drink themed houses set up in the Festive Foods Marketplace, it’s a foodie’s holiday dream come true! If you’ve ever been to the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot, it may remind you of that. It’s so much fun to go “house to house” and sample different beers, wines and savory & sweet treats! Check out the Complete Guide to Festive Eats 
Another fun part about the Festival of Holidays are the craft tables set up around the park. Kids can sit and spend time learning about different traditional holidays celebrated around the world and make a craft, card, or ornament to take home with them.
Entertainment during Festival of Holidays
The popular Disney ¡Viva Navidad! is sure to wow you as it also returns as part of the fun at Festival of Holidays.
There”ll also be a wonderful finale to celebrate Three Kings Day (Dia de los Reyes).The special festivities for Three Kings Day will run Jan. 5-8, 2017, including music and storytelling in Paradise Garden. Treats for this holiday will include traditional Rosca de Reyes bread.
Meet Elena of Avalor
Santa at Redwood Creek Trails 
When you enter the area, a Cast Member will give you a fun guide to help you find Santa and join in on some fun Elf Games.
“World of Color—Season of Light”
At the top of Main Street, U.S.A., you’ll find twinkling lights, festive holiday garland and nearly 1,800 ornaments decorate the soaring Christmas tree in Town Square, Main Street, U.S.A.. It’s an ideal place for guests to begin their holiday traditions. The Christmas tree becomes an enchanting place for guests to take their holiday photos, up close or with all 60 feet of the shimmering tree.
The classic Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle brightens the park nightly with magical snowfall moments along Main Street, U.S.A., concluding with “Believe … in Holiday Magic” fireworks and its stirring snowfall finale.
Specially Transformed-for-the-Holidays Attractions 
Guests at Disneyland Park can enjoy the one-of-a-kind transformations that create “it’s a small world” Holiday, Jingle Cruise and Haunted Mansion Holiday. Now celebrating its 20th holiday season, “it’s a small world” Holiday has added some “Hidden 20s” for guests to discover on their voyage.
“It’s a Christmas Fantasy” Parade
Santa, who makes a jolly appearance in the parade, also will be found welcoming guests at his special location in Critter Country while he visits Disneyland.
There’s so much to see and do during Holidays at the Disneyland Resort and it’s a perfect time to create new family memories together! For more information, please visit 
A very special thank you to Disneyland Resort for hosting our family for a festive day in the parks
Starting November 26 and running through January 1, Great Wolf Lodge will have a limited number of Snowland Suites available, so book yours 
Spectacular decorations throughout the lodge
North Pole University activities
As you can see, there’s a lot going on over at Great Wolf Lodge during Snowland. It’s the chance to create some new holiday memories with your family and you won’t want to miss out!