The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
- Burton Hillis

Wishing you and yours the magic that is the season! May you be filled with love, peace and joy that sustains and abounds in 2012.

Photo from Crate and Barrel

As the week winds down, I am finally allowing myself to let go — just in time for the holidays. Thank goodness I finished everything on my list before the end of November. It was one of the best things I could have done for myself, as life seems to speed up once December 1 rolls around. Since then, I've styled many a client for the holidays. I've baked cookies for the world (not really, it just feels that way). And I've volunteered for my children's schools. 

So really, the only thing left to do is wrap me up ... in Givenchy, of course!

Photo from youthiswastedonthey0ung.com

Tomorrow is the first day of December. And guess what? I am done with all of my holiday shopping! That list of mine certainly payed off. However, in between shopping for others, I picked more than a few things up for myself. Guilty feelings at first, yes. But I've done my best to channel my inner angel this year. I've had the opportunity to do some pretty cool things for others. Am I over justifying? No matter, my goodies are not going back to the store. 

Photo by Chris Nicholls

Thanksgiving has always been the holiday where we openly profess our gratitude for all of our blessings.

I am making an effort to show gratitude on a daily basis. I am not perfect. In fact, sometimes I find myself making up for the day before.

However, I have realized that gratitude doesn't have to be delivered in big ways. Sometimes, the tiniest of actions or words go farther than imagined. 

Every day is a gift. And I am thankful. 

Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live.

— Attributed to Jacqueline Winspear