Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that you’re up and enjoying a beautiful Thanksgiving Day with your family! Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year… mostly because of the food and because it’s the unofficial start of the Christmas season. (Oh yeah… and the Thanksgiving Day sales online are amazing!)
It’s important to reflect on the things you are grateful for. People who take the time to appreciate the good things in their lives are just HAPPIER people. We all go through hard times. Everyone struggles with things. But we all have a lot of good in our lives. It’s important to acknowledge it and to not just focus on the negative. Negativity won’t get us anywhere. It’ll only leave us miserable, bitter, and unhappy.
And as odd as it sounds, it’s important to be grateful for the bad in our lives, too. Rough times are character building. They make us into better people and if we allow them, often the most challenging moments of our lives can be the most rewarding. Not that I’d wish hard times on anyone or on myself. But when you look back at your life and all the moments that shape who you are, those important, character-defining ones are often the most difficult. Your true heart is revealed when things are bad.
It’s easy to be a good person when everything is going your way. When times get tough, that’s when you really see what someone is made of. Opposition exposes what lies beneath. Attitude is everything in this life. I think that’s why it’s important to look at the silver lining and face every obstacle with an attitude of: what can I learn from this? How can this make me better? Approaching the things in our lives that suck with that attitude will ultimately help you to move past them and to move forward in life happy instead of bitter. When we fixate on how much something sucks, we give it power over us and ultimately, that leads to resentment.
I learned that when my dad died. It would have been so easy to let myself be consumed with thoughts of why did this happen to us and to wallow in it. And yes, I was devastated. It was sudden and sad and hard. But at the same time, a lot of good ended up coming out of it. I started my blog. My family became a lot closer than we were before. We really got to see God’s provision in our lives in a very real way. Obviously, I wasn’t happy we had to lose my dad. But even that situation bore good fruit.
With all that in mind, I wanted to share a few things I’m particularly grateful for this year.
Family.
I know it’s cliche, but I’m so grateful for my family. I’m grateful for their love and support and for the way that they’re always there for me, no matter what.
A Sparkle Factor.
I am so grateful for this platform and for all of you. I am so grateful that this is my job and that I get to do what I love every single day. I always thought that my magazine days were me working my dream job. I know now that THIS is my dream job. I am so grateful that you come here every day and check out my outfits, read my posts, leave such lovely comments. I am so thankful that we’re friends! I love sharing my heart and life with you and look forward to doing it for a long, long time.
Friends.
I am so grateful to have people in my life who push me to be better, support me when times get tough and are there for me no matter what. Blogging has been such a blessing– I’ve made friends with so many amazing girls who love the things I love and are just open, honest, lovely people who make the world a better place. Plus, they’re always down to take 17,000 photos of your latte with you.
God’s infinite grace and provision.
It’s been amazing to see how God provides for our family day in and day out. A lot of people think that Christianity is something you have to believe in based on blind faith. The funny thing is… it’s not like that at all. I SEE God’s divine hand in so many different things every day, in every area of my life. I am so grateful that I don’t have to worry about the future, or dwell on the past. God has plans for us all and is in control… we don’t need to be afraid.
Travel.
I’ve taken some amazing trips this year! Spain, Italy, Boston, Charleston, Disney World. I feel so fortunate to have been able to go to some great places and I hope that next year is more of the same! I love traveling so much. Just getting away, exploring somewhere new. It’s true what they say– once you get bitten by the travel bug, it’s never going away!
So, we’re hosting lunch/dinner today! Our whole family is coming over and we’re hard at work getting ready. I can’t wait to get into some chocolate pecan pie and of course… turkey. And then after dinner, I’m going to settle in and peruse some of the sales! There are some amazing ones going on right now. Honestly, I think it’s horrible that so many stores are open on Thanksgiving… those poor employees don’t even have the day off! I’m a major supporter of online Thanksgiving shopping, though! I’ve rounded up a few of my favorite sales for you:
Favorite Sales & Best Sale Finds
Ann Taylor // 50% off sitewide w/ code: BLACK30
BaubleBar // 30% off holiday collection and gift sets w/ code: HOLIDAY30 + free shipping
Express // 50% off everything + free shipping
LOFT // 50% off everything w/ code: BEGOOD
Nine West // Boots + booties 50% off // almost everything up to 50 % off // extra 25% off $125+ + free shipping
Nordstrom // take an extra 20% off selected sale items
Old Navy // 50% off almost everything
Shopbop // Spend $200+, get 15% off; Spend $500+, get 20% off; Spend $800+, get 25% off w/ code: GOBIG16
Sole Society // 50% off select styles
More Great Thanksgiving Day Sales
- ASOS // 20% off sitewide w/ code: GOGOGO // 30% off sitewide w/ code: THANKFUL30
- Banana Republic // 50% off 5 regular priced items sitewide
- Bloomingdale’s // Take 15% off $100-$199.99 or 20% off $200+ on a great selection of items online + save up to 50% on select items
- Chicwish // 25% off sitewide
- Coach // 30% off select styles w/ code: THANKS2016 // 50% off Edie handbag
- Forever 21 // take an extra 50% off sale w/ code: OHMYGOBBLE + free shipping on orders of $21+
- Gap: // 50% off everything w/ code: TGIF
- H&M // 20% off purchase + free shipping w/ code: 5188
- J. Crew // 40% off purchase w/ code: HOLIDAY
- J. Crew Factory // 50-60% off everything
- Kendra Scott // 20% off everything w/ code: SALE20
- Lord & Taylor // $20 off $160+ purchase w/ code: BONUS + free shipping // extra 20% off regular and sale priced items + extra 25% off clearance and fine jewelry w/ code: THANKS
- Macy’s // extra 20% off + free shipping w/ code: THANKS
- Madewell // 25% off purchase w/ code: THATSALE
- Neiman Marcus // up to 40% off regular prices in select Better Apparel
- Net-a-Porter // up to 50% off select styles
- Rebecca Minkoff // 25% off entire purchase of $100+
- Steve Madden // BOGO 70% off + free shipping w/ code: HUNGRY
- Tory Burch // 30% off purchase of $250+ + free shipping w/ code: THANKS
- Ulta // New and Only at Ulta Beauty! BareMinerals Kits Make Them Stare Smoky Eye Trio OR Make It Glow $10 each + free shipping on any $35 order
- Urban Outfitters // Buy one get one 50% Off ALL apparel
- Victoria’s Secret // $15 off $100 purchase w/ code: SAVE15 // free shipping on orders of $30+ w/ code: SHIP30FREE
Make sure that you check back tomorrow morning, I’ll be rounding up all of the best BLACK FRIDAY sales! Hit the comments and let me know: what are you grateful for?
