Sydney Armes

Gift Guide December 13, 2017

Christmas Countdown: Gift Guide For Everyone!

If you are anything like me (Sydney), you just realized that you have less than 2 WEEKS until Christmas and you still have tons of gifts to buy! Where did 2017 go?! Of course, I’ve had months to shop and prepare, but instead I’m ordering last minute and rush shipping everything. I’ll be using our 2017 gift guide to knock a couple of things off my list (slash I’ve already ordered a few of these things for myself – Merry Christmas to me!). It’s broken out by category to make it easy to shop – For Him, For Her, For Baby, For Toddler, For Kids, and Stocking Stuffers Under $25.

Click here to view the gift guide.

Though you couldn’t go wrong with any of the items on these lists, I’ve highlighted a couple of my favorite items I will be buying this next week!

For Him

The Nest Learning Thermostat is one of my favorite things we have in our house. You can change and monitor the temperature on your phone through the Nest app. So, if you are out-of-town, you can turn the air down and save energy and then when you are headed home, you can set it to the perfect temperature. My husband and I always battle about the temp (I always think it’s too cold and he always thinks it’s too hot) so this also a good way you can change it without the other person noticing… I’m joking… kind of. We love our Nest thermostat and it is a great gift that any man would love!

Beauty November 28, 2017

Give the Gift of Good Skin with Dermalogica

I have shared about my love for Dermalogica on Instagram before – I use a variety of their products every morning and evening, and I love how clean and moisturized they make my face. I am definitely a true brand loyalist! I wanted to convert Sydney, so I asked her to try two of their limited edition holiday gift sets – the AGE smart Daily Defenders and the AGE smart Lip Smoothing Duo – to see what she thought. Spoiler alert: she loved them. More details below!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am ready to start thinking about buying everyone on my list their Christmas gifts. I have been listening to Christmas music since the day after Halloween, and even though I’ve been itching to decorate the tree, I’ve held back and waited until Thanksgiving was over. Now all that’s left to do is trim the tree and stock up on the gifts.

I am obsessed with finding new skincare products and sharing them with my girlfriends and my mom for Christmas. Every year I gather up my favorite products and share them with the ladies in my life! I especially love finding new products that help reduce wrinkles and makes me look younger, so I was so excited to try Dermalogica’s AGE smart Daily Defenders and AGE smart Lip Smoothing Duo after hearing Ailee speak so highly of their other products.

Mom Talk November 7, 2017

New Mom Care Package (Plus, $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!)

I recently announced on Instagram that I had one of my best friends, Sydney, join the Snapshots by Ailee Petrovic team (now officially a team, since there are two of us!). Sydney has been helping me with getting contracts setup, social media management, organizing my photography course and editing the material, working on a newborn photography guide, and lots of other incredibly helpful tasks! Today, Sydney is publishing her first blog post – something near and dear to both of us, since we both have little ones under 1 – what to send/gift to a mom with a new baby. She has the best ideas and explains why a new mom would need each item! I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did. To celebrate Sydney’s first post, we’re doing a Pinterest giveaway with a $100 Amazon gift card prize! All you have to do is pin the graphic above and follow me (Snapshots & My Thoughts) on Pinterest! Enter below! Good luck and happy reading.

1 Slippers // 2 Face Masks // 3 Candle // 4 Eye Masks // 5 Robe // 6 Hat // 7 Water Bottle // 8 Mini-Wine Bottles // 9 Dry Shampoo // 10 Hand Sanitizer // 11 Lotion // 12 Amazon Gift Card and/or Starbucks Gift Card // 13 Pacifier Clips // 14 Sanitizing Bags // 15 10-Ft Charging Cable // 16 Mom’s One Line a Day // 17 Philosophy Bubble Bath // 18 Bringing Up Bebe // 19 KIND Bars

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On June 17th, I became a mom to my precious baby boy, Camden, and I can tell you, it is the greatest joy I have ever felt. He is the biggest blessing in our lives and every time he smiles, I just melt.

As a new mom myself, I certainly know how hard those first few days and weeks (and let’s be honest, months) can be for new Mommas. I couldn’t have done it without my family and friends supporting me and Philip, my amazing husband, throughout the entire process. I can’t say thank you enough for every late night that my mom stayed up with Cam while I took a quick “nap” (ie – laid in bed and looked at pictures of him), for every text and phone call with my girlfriends who are already moms who shared their guidance and experiences with me to make me feel more normal, and for every meal that our friends and family brought over so I didn’t have to think about cooking… I could go on and on, but I have felt so loved!