Persian Yalda Celebration // Winter Solstice

Today is officially the first day of winter! In Persian tradition the first day of winter is know and celebrated as Shab-e-Yalda which translates to the night of Yalda. This night signifies the longest night of the year. Yalda is celebrated on the eve of the winter solstice. There are many traditions tied in with Yalda. The main attraction of Yalda is the beautiful table spread that includes  pomegranate, watermelon, fruits and nuts, and tea! Friends and family gather to stay up on the longest night of the year to eat, read poetry from the book of Hafiz, sing and have a good time all night long! 

 

Hope everyone has a lovely Yalda and enjoy all the delicious pomegranate!

Holiday Gift Guide // Subscription Box

We are entering the final stretch of the holiday season. If you are still frantically looking for the perfect holiday gift I am here to offer you a solution - subscription boxes!! I have rounded up the best subscription boxes on the market. I personally love gifting subscription boxes because it's the gift that gives on giving. Depending on the service you can gift a 3 month, 6 month, or yearly subscription. Gifting a subscription box will make you the family MVP for sure!! 

Birchbox // For The Beauty Lover - I've personally been a BB subscriber since 2012. It is the perfect gift for the beauty obsessed person in your life. A 3 month subscription is $30, a 6 month subscription is $60, and a yearly subscription is $110. There also is a men's birchbox for the leading man in your life!

Raw Spice Bar // For The Chef - My little brother gifted this to me a few years ago and I absolutely love it! It's a great way to find inspiration for new recipes. The spices are delicious!! A 6 month subscription is $52 and a yearly subscription is $88.

Box of Style // For The Fashionista - This curated box, by Rachael Zoe, is perfect for the fashion lover. Each box is filled with items valued over $400. There are 3 gifting options available - 1 box is $99.99, 2 boxes $199.98, and 4 boxes $349.99. 

Try The World // For The Traveler - This box combines travel and food by providing a curated box of gourmet food from a new country every month. There is an option to gift a country box or a snack box for various subscription periods.

Teabox // For The Tea Lover - Last year I gifted this box to my mom for her birthday and she absolutely loved it! She is a huge tea lover and loved receiving new teas each month to try. There is a gifting option of 1 month $29.99, 3 month for $85.50, and 6 month for $162.

Book of the Month // For The Book Worm - I just signed up for book of the month and I can't wait for my first box! I set a personal goal for myself to read more books! I'm constantly reading articles and following the news online but I want to make a conscious effort to read one book a month. There are gifting options of 3 months for $44.99, 6 months for $79.99, and yearly subscription for $149.99. 

Barkbox // For The Canine - Let's not forget our four legged fur balls that bring so much joy to our lives. Each box has a curated theme which includes toys and treats for your dog. There are many subscription boxes to sign up for here.

Sock Panda // For The Sock Lover - This is a fun subscription box of socks. It's perfect for men, women, and kids! My brother loves colorful crazy socks so I will definitely be gifting this to him! There is an option for monthly, 6 month, or yearly subscription!

Happy holiday shopping!

Holiday Gift Exchange for the Office Ideas || Under $35

one // two // three // four // five // six // seven // eight // nine

'Tis the season for secret santa, white elephant, and all the holiday fun at the office! I've found a bunch of great items perfect for any co-worker. All the items are less than $35 and budget friendly!! How adorable is this business card holder? It makes the perfect gift for your boss! I also love this S'well water bottle - I always keep mine at work and take it to meetings.

There is also a special post on my friend Bailey's blog featuring 37 Fashionable Holiday Outfit Ideas. Check it out for some inspiration on what to wear to your upcoming holiday party!

Have a lovely day!

Sports Themed Baby Shower

This past weekend we showered my darling sister and brother-in-law and their little boy with lots of love at their baby shower. I convinced my sister to let me throw her a co-ed sports themed baby shower and she totally went for it! I had such a blast planning the event. Everyone - especially the guys - loved the theme, games, and delicious food! Today I'm sharing all the details on the event.

The baby shower venue was Cazbar in downtown Baltimore. Cazbar has an amazing space upstairs that is perfect for a private event! We had about 50 guests and there was plenty of space!! The venue is extremely easy to work with an completely went along with my vision for the space. I worked with  the talented Rebecca from Peacocks & Paisleys Event Decor to transform the space into all things sports. Rebecca also did the event decor for my sister's engagement party and wedding therefore it was a no brainer that I needed her expertise for the baby shower. All of the balloon decoration was done my Elana Royfer, who was referred to me by my coworker, and she is insanely talented. It took her less than an hour to set up all the balloon decorations fort the event!!

The dessert table backdrop was the focal point of the room and Rebecca did an amazing job with setting up the pipe and drape for the backdrop. A great backdrop is key for photos and making the event memorable. During the shower I had all the guests take photos with the mom and dad to be and used the photos to send with thank you cards, everyone loved it! I found the perfect Sports Theme It's A Boy Banner from Etsy and picked up these sports onesies for background decor. The referee balloons were the perfect touch to tie in the sports theme and made for some hilarious photos with some of the guests. I found adorable Sports Candy Favor Sticks for party favors along with sport yo-yos wrapped in soccer, football, and basketball treat bags.

I planned for only three baby shower games. The first game was "Guess How Many Candies Are In the Bottle" which ended up being a very competitive game! I picked up these sports theme candies to fill the baby bottle and the winner took home the baby bottle of chocolate candies. The second game was "Who's That Baby?" and guests had to guess which family member's baby photo it was. My brother-in-law's sister sent me all their baby photos and I gather my family's photos for a fun blast from the past game. My sister and BIL totally loved this game. The last game was who could drink juice from the baby bottle the fastest. I had three guys volunteer for this game and it was absolutely epic!! The winners of all these games got MVP coffee mugs and Starbucks gift cards. Instead of a traditional guestbook I opted for a polaroid camera with extra film that guests used to snap photos and sign for the baby boy.

The brunch was all taken care of by the amazing staff at Cazbar. Since it was a co-ed shower I knew the food had to be on point or else the guys would not be happy! The menu included: Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, Cacik, Tossed Salad, Turkey Bacon, Chicken and Kofta Kabob, Eggs Benedict with Soujuk, Spinach Pastries, Assorted Rolls, and Bread and all the coffee, tea, juice of your dreams. The food was absolutely delicious and the service was exceptional. I can't thank the staff and chefs at Cazbar enough for the amazing service they provided. The food was honestly the one thing I was not worried or stressed about because I knew it would be perfect!! All of the dessert - cake, cake pops, mini cupcakes, and sugar cookies - are from Enchanted Cakes and Treats. Fun fact about the cake - I din't want to waste any cake so I asked the bakery to make the bottom layer a fake cake and only the top layer an 8 inch marble cake! I'm happy to say that no cake was wasted in the production of this baby shower!

I found a fun Snapchat Geofilter for the baby shower that went perfectly with the whole sports theme.

In another life I want to be a party planner because I find such joy in planning events and making my vision come to life. I had such a blast planning my sister's baby shower and loved that she trusted me to plan the entire thing! If you are planning a sports theme baby shower or even birthday party I have all the intel and more than happy to share!

Jewelry Organization for Apartment

Apartment life in the city is small. I've become a master at organization and switching my closet out by season. I'm a believer in seeing my closet in order to know what is in it, or else I will keep buying duplicate items. When it comes to jewelry organization I love having it displayed like a store or boutique. I keep my everyday go to pieces jewels on display for easy access. I got this shelf unit from Ikea originally as a TV stand but ended up transferring to my bedroom for organization since the height was a bit low. 

I purchased a variety of gold shadow boxes, necklace stand, trinket dishes and displays to store my jewelry. I have my special occasion pieces stored away in the cubbies. For my stackable rings and most used every day rings I keep them store in trinket dishes for easy access. All my watches are stored in one shadow box for ease and organization. 

I also keep my perfumes lined in a pretty silver tray to spritz on after putting on my jewels. I also keep a mason jars of perfume samples - I get so many from Sephora - and this is my favorite way to store them. These tiny perfume samples are great for travel and having a few in your clutch or purse for a mid-day spritz.

Shop my favorite jewelry organization pieces below!

Oh BOY!

Snuggle Bunny Gift Set

I'm thrilled to share the exciting news that I will officially be an Aunt come January 2018!! My darling sister is expecting a baby boy and I couldn't be happier. Not many people know this, but life long dream is to be that cool Aunt - I just want to spoil them rotten and take them to Disney theme parks! I'm driving my sister crazy with all the baby stuff (I've already picked out his bed, car seat, stroller, and bedding) and I'm not even sorry about it! #AuntyLalz

Now I won't go all crazy Aunt and be talking baby stuff - yet! My sister told me on my birthday the gender of the baby - a boy - and I was over the moon. Talk about best birthday gift ever!! As soon as my sister told me I wanted to get a gift to congratulate her. Thanks to Knack they have made gifting super easy! I'm personally a huge fan of gift sets and love the idea of gifting a box of cute items instead of just one gift and Knack has a wide selection of curated gift sets for any occasion. I normally go out and build my own gift sets however with Knack each gift set is beautifully packaged and includes a complimentary custom message - making the whole process seamless and easy!

I quickly started scrolling through the baby gift set collection and fell in love with the Snuggle Bunny Gift Set. I can totally imagine taking photos of my little nephew in the adorable knit hat and sweater. My sister and brother-in-law absolutely adored the gift set and it made it all the more real that a little bundle of joy will be joining our family in the new year.

Knack has also launched an initiative to help Hurricane Harvey Survivors. You can purchase one of three curated gift boxes from their website and Knack will give the same gift to an organization supporting those impacted by the Hurricane. 100% of the proceeds from all purchases will support the relief efforts.

The boxes come in two themes with corresponding recipient groups: 

-Send a Moment of Play Knack with entertainment options for kids of all ages and the same gift will be sent to children in shelters.

-Send one of two toiletries Knacks as a gift for those displaced by the storm, and the same Knack will be sent to those adults in shelters. These Knacks, the Uplift Houston: Quick Refresh Kit and Uplift Houston: A Restful Pause, are comfort gifts for those impacted.

All proceeds from the sales of these boxes will be used to purchase more boxes for those affected. The items included are in direct response to the outcries of and needs of those impacted by the natural disaster.

The Knack packaging, which will enclose the items sent to recipients, is 100% recycled and recyclable and will not contribute to the waste efforts that the city of Houston may face. Concurrently, the Knack boxes are filled with items that are largely recycled, recyclable and that have a low carbon footprint. The products in the gifted Knacks include items from Texas-based company Bright Beam Goods and Seattle-based MiiR which has contributed to over 44 clean water and health projects worldwide.

Have a lovely day!

Candy Club

I am obsessed with monthly subscription boxes. I've been a longtime subscriber of Birchbox and I've tried several others. My newest subscription box find is Candy Club! Now if you don't already know, I have a major sweet tooth. I am one of those people that has a candy drawer at work and candy in all of my purses. I'm always adding candy to my cart at the grocery store checkout lane. Don't even get me started about Costco - that is a danger zone for me! My absolute favorite is sour candy!

I love the concept of Candy Club because it delivers candy straight to your door on a monthly basis! That means no more desperate CVS runs for candy supply. Candy Club offers all type of candies - chocolate, toffee, jelly beans, sour belts, and gummy candy. You can sign up for a monthly, 6 month, or 12 month subscription. Each month members received three featured candies, that you can select ahead of time, and even upgraded your box to receive 4, 5, or even 5 candies! It's such a fun monthly treat for any candy lover.

What is your favorite type of candy?