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Mondays With Meg: Small Business Gift Guide, 11/30/20

November 30 · Family, Lifestyle, Shop, Style

holiday outfits for women, preppy holiday outfits, preppy Christmas outfits, preppy winter outfits
Sweater (gifted), skirt, shoes (similar), leopard clutch (similar)

Weekly Catch Up

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Although it inevitably was different this year, I hope you were all able to find things to be grateful for and enjoy the day. Brent typically works in an office every day, but we were very lucky and he was able to work from home for a week before Thanksgiving. This allowed us, my parents, and my grandma to be able to quarantine for a week and also get tested for COVID, so we were able to have them over for lunch. We were also able to visit outdoors with Brent’s family later in the day. This was all such a blessing!

Most of our time lately has been spent preparing for the holidays. I took a few days to do a deep clean of the house and get out all of our holiday decor while Brent was busy in the kitchen preparing our Thanksgiving meals. I spent this weekend putting together Camila’s Christmas list to share with family and began shopping for others. There have been so many wonderful sales going on, it was hard to even know where to begin, which is both a blessing and a curse!

family holiday cards, family Christmas cards, preppy holiday cards, preppy Christmas cards, grandmillenial style, grandmillenial cards, grandmillenial table scape

We also received our finished holiday cards last week and they turned out perfectly! In the past we have done our holiday cards with Shutterfly, but this year we wanted to support a small business and I am extremely glad that we did. We worked with The Copy Shop from Bloomington, IL to design and print our cards and it was such an easy process. I simply emailed the design team the photo I wanted to use along with the color scheme I wanted, items I’d like included (bows and greenery of course!) and also attachments of a few card designs that I loved. From there, they were able to design the perfect card for our family! The entire process from designing to printing only took a week and their holiday card packages were actually cheaper than most big companies, even with their personalized design team! If you’d like to create your holiday cards with The Copy Shop simply email tcsdesign@thecopyshoponline.com or call 309-827-5466. Be sure to mention “Meg Mason” and you will receive a free paper upgrade along with a free set of thank you cards!

What We’re Watching, Cooking & Baking

Watching: We’re currently binge watching Suits and we’ve made it to Season 4. Brent previously made it to season 5, but it apparently goes downhill for a few seasons, so he gave up. I’ve been told it gets really good again in the final few seasons, so hopefully we can push through!

Cooking: For our Thanksgiving lunch Brent smoked a whole turkey on the grill and it was honestly the best turkey I’ve ever had! He used this beer-brined turkey recipe, but actually subbed the beer with water and brown sugar with coconut sugar and it turned out perfectly! He also made homemade sourdough bread (recipe from our favorite bread cookbook, Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast), mashed potatoes, and goat cheese mac & cheese. I just started eating goat cheese this month. I haven’t been able to tolerate dairy in almost 1.5 years, but I read that sometimes people can tolerate goat and sheep cheese, even if they can’t eat cow’s milk products. So far it has been going well, which is very exciting for me! I’m ready to experience all of my favorites again with these cheeses!

Baking: My mom made these apple pie bars with caramel topping for Thanksgiving and they were delicious! She was able to make them dairy-free by simply substituting the butter with DF butter. She also used the DF caramel recipe from the True Roots cookbook for the topping and it turned out great!

Weekly Shopping Finds

My goodness, there have been so many wonderful shopping deals going on lately it’s hard to keep up! Unfortunately I don’t have the time to put together full gift guide posts this year, but I did create “shop” pages to help guide your holiday shopping! If you’re looking for ideas for Babies, Toddlers, or Men check out my recommendations below! All items are either current products that we own and love or items on our own wish lists.

Gift Ideas for Babies

Gift Ideas for Toddlers

Gift Ideas for Men

I would also like to spotlight some small businesses that I love. As a small business owner, I can promise you that your purchase from a small shop means so much more than a purchase from a big box business such as Amazon. There is absolutely nothing wrong with purchases from those companies, I shop Amazon, Target, etc. myself! But it’s also really nice to be more mindful of shopping small and helping support these businesses now more than ever. Here are some small businesses that I love:

  • Elliefox: Children’s clothing, embroidery, and gifts
  • Tuckernuck: Class clothing, home decor, and gifts for men & women
  • Dudley Stephens: Fleece clothing made from recycled fabrics for men, women & children.
  • Dondolo: High-quality, unique, and classic children’s clothing
  • Barrington: Totes, bags, leather goods and more for women and men.
  • Grace & James Kids: Boutique fashions for children along with embroidery and custom knit pieces.
  • Criquet Shirts: High-quality shirts for men and boys.
  • ChappyWrap: The softest blankets and throws.
  • The Bella Bean: Perfectly personalized children’s clothing and gifts.
  • Hazen & Co.: Modernly chic jewelry and accessories.
  • Caitlin Wilson: Rugs, pillows, wallpaper, home decor and more.
  • Lil & E: Handpainted watercolor prints (local here in Central Illinois!)
  • Meg & Marie: Had to throw in our shop! Clothing for women, children, and we’ve recently added home items, such as candles.

Weekly Question

What are your favorite small businesses? Leave a few in the comments below so I can help support them and spread the word!

Small Business Favorites

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Last night’s wedding guest dress💚 Selling out Last night’s wedding guest dress💚 Selling out everywhere! Comment “WEDDING” and I’ll send you the link✨

I got so many compliments on this gorgeous green dress, and it’s honestly even prettier in person! I plan on wearing it to fall and winter weddings as well as during the holidays (pair with tights and a shawl)🎄

#weddingguestdress #weddingguestoutfit #falldress #ltkseasonal #weddingguestdresses #shopltk
Classic stripes, two ways! Comment "stripes" and I Classic stripes, two ways! Comment "stripes" and I'll send links to both outfits🤍

Leave it to @landsend to have such classic fall pieces and to @doorcounty to provide the most beautiful backdrops. Still dreaming of these picturesque autumn scenes!

Take 25% off your Lands' End order with code AUTUMN25 through the end of September. 

#landsendambassador #doorcounty #stripes #autumnvibes #classicstyle #sponsored
50+ Costume Ideas for Girls🎃 Comment “COSTUME 50+ Costume Ideas for Girls🎃 Comment “COSTUME” and I’ll send links directly to you! 

#costumeideas #halloweencostume #kidscostumes #toddlercostume #halloween2023
How to Always have Fresh Cookies on Hand🍪 Bein How to Always have Fresh Cookies on Hand🍪

Being the cookie lover that I am, I make it my goal to always have fresh cookies available - You’ll never know when you’ll want/need one. The end of a long day? To celebrate something at work? For a friend having a rough week? Cookies, cookies, cookies…always the answer🍪🍪🍪

Here are the rules I follow & some storage tips:
1. When making cookie dough, don’t bake all of it at once, unless you know you’re going to eat it all within 48 hours. Instead, bake what you will eat during that time and store the remainder in the fridge. Fresh > 3 days old.
2. Store cookie dough in the fridge for up to 5 days. It doesn’t need to be rolled into balls for this step. 
3. After 5 days, if you have any dough left, roll it into balls, place it inside a ziplock, and freeze. Freeze for up to 3 months.
4. To bake from frozen, I simply follow the recipe’s instructions and add a few minutes if they look like they need it.
🤍TIP: Plan on doubling the dough of your favorite recipes anytime you make them. It’s so much easier to make twice the amount at once and store it rather than making it two separate times.
🤍TIP: Write the date on top of the fridge container with a dry erase marker to track when it needs to be frozen. Write the name of the cookie dough along with the date in permanent marker on the frozen ziplock bag. 
🤍TIP: For recipes that yield runny/very soft dough, form balls/discs of dough on top of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place the sheet directly into the freezer. Once frozen, remove, transfer into ziplock bags, and place back in freezer (demonstrated in video). 

What am I missing? Do you have any additional cookie dough making/storage tips? If so, leave them in the comments!👇🏻

#cookiedough #cookierecipe #cookies #bakingtips #cookielover
Life Lately🤍 1. Pure joy dancing around and wa Life Lately🤍

1. Pure joy dancing around and watching cousins/friends cheer at a junior football game. 
2. Soaking up the end of summer with s’mores.
3. Family selfie after church this morning.
4. Millie with her beautiful cousins dressed up for their homecoming dance.
5. All smiles after a successful visit to the dentist.
6. This Friday’s Mommy & Millie happy hour (games, snacks, books.)
7. First school project of the year - family leaf
8. Reuniting with old friends and making new friends.
9. Reading her book while listening along on her Toniebox.
10. Family game night fun.
🤍🤍🤍

#lifelately #photodump #family #weekendvibes
I will never get over the beauty of this Earth and I will never get over the beauty of this Earth and a painted sky🌊

Also can’t get over how incredibly soft this lounge set is, the fabric is amazing🙌 Plus, you can pair the pieces as separates! Comment “LOUNGESET” and I’ll send the links🤍

#loungewear #momstyle #matchingset #casualootd #lakepartner #ltkseasonal

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