Bless Your Heart Gift Shop & Boutique

0 Bless Your Heart Bracken Village

Sitting nestled among countless arching oak tress off a beautiful country road is what may be the cutest boutique in San Antonio, Bless Your Heart. It’s part of Bracken Village along with several other shops, restaurants, and antique stores. The setting couldn’t be more quaint, and Bless Your Heart is the star of the village in the big, red barn.
1 Bless Your Heart Building

Once you grab a parking spot, walk up the paved path past the other buildings and cute windmills to the front of the structure.
1.5 Bless Your Heart Windmill

Before even walking inside you can see how adorably decorated and themed everything is! Pink, antique, and shabby chic!

2 Bless Your Heart Sign

The front porch holds huge, metal marquee letters hanging down to welcome you in. Both sides are are spilling over with antiques and furniture both as decor and for purchase. 3 Bless Your Heart Entrance

I couldn’t believe how excited I was about shopping before I even stepped inside! The exterior was so cute on its own, I knew the inside would hold just as many precious items. 4 Bless Your Heart Door

Let me tell you. The inside did NOT disappoint. There are 4 rooms and a lobby area downstairs as well as a section upstairs, and each one is OVERFLOWING with adorable things to purchase. The kind, helpful employees greeted me, and I began my shopping!5 Bless Your Heart Jewelry Gifts

I don’t think it’s too bold of a statement to suggest that you could get shopping done for ALL of the women in your life completed here. This first room I stepped into had such a fun, bright summery feel. It was filled with colorful, jewelry, adorable baby gifts, sassy tees (that said things like “I know guacamole is extra”), and embellished denim shorts perfect for the Texas heat.
6 Bless Your Heart Gifts Clothes

8 Bless Your Heart Gifts

The next room over had a sort of southwestern vibe. It had these amazing, painted cement candle holders filled with fragrant candles, customizable cowboy boots for tons of colleges (I admired the A&M boots for quite awhile!), painted picture frames, and tons of clothes with cacti, which made me extremely happy.  This room also housed an entire section of gifts perfect for teachers for the end of the year!

7 Bless Your Heart Clothes

One room focused strictly on clothes, which they have no shortage of! The styles I saw were unique, bohemian, southwestern, casual, dressy, cool…such a huge range! There was definitely something for everyone. I couldn’t resist buying the cobalt blue peasant top centered above.
9 Bless Your Heart Pillows

If you want to decorate your home as well, they had tons of fun, amazing pillows! That pillow with the red double decker bus came home with me! 🙂 I found these pillows in the fourth room among more boots, sandals, cute tees, and the dressing rooms.10 Bless Your Heart Texas Shirt

I obviously had to step into the dressing room to try on some items myself! I didn’t purchase this Texas Love shirt, but it was so soft and cute, I’m already planning to return and buy it! There were so many cute styles, and I had so much fun trying them all on. They had several tunics and dresses perfect for layering and a huge range of color options.11 Bless Your Heart Clothes Toms

I love those TOMS booties pictured above so much, I may need to return and buy them this fall! Yes, I haven’t mentioned it yet, but the lobby area has an entire wall of TOMS! Everything from their classic slip ons to their sandals, wedgies, and booties! The lobby also has a huge selection of Kendra Scott jewelry, several colors and patterns of Swell water bottles, and a section of seasonal apparel and gifts. When I visited, they had a huge display for 4th of July.  12 Bless Your Heart Gift Shop

I love everything I purchased at Bless Your Heart, and I can’t wait to go back soon and get more! If you’re in San Antonio, or just want an adorable place to shop for unique items with your mom, sisters, and girlfriends, Bless Your Heart is the perfect spot! I’m so happy my fellow San Antonio blogger, Christina of The Social Butterfly Gal, told me about it! Thanks again, Christina!

Have you ever visited Bless Your Heart? Add it to your weekend plans if you haven’t!

Retro Siggy

 

Disclaimer: I used a gift card won via The Social Butterfly Gal for a portion of my purchases, but, as always, all opinions are strictly my own. I just loved the boutique so much, I wanted to share it with all of you!

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Christmas Gifts for The Fashionista

fashionista title

Christmas is almost upon us! Yes, yes, I know some people get in a tizzy when Halloween ends and every store is suddenly red, green, and tinsel-covered, but why not start celebrating the most wonderful time of the year as soon as possible? While I think the main focus of the season should be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ with your loved ones, it can also be a season of gift-giving. I figured I would create a few “gift guides” for various people you may be buying for this year in the off chance you’re stumped on what to buy them. First up? The fashionista!

Clothes can be difficult to buy for someone because they often need to be tried on, but accessories are mostly “one size fits all,” so they’re great for gifting! Another bonus is all of these items can be purchased online which saves you from fighting the holiday hustle and bustle at the mall.

Blanket Scarf

Plaid Blanket Scarf

Blanket scarves seem to be all the rage right now. They can be tied as a scarf, wrapped around you like a shawl, or used as a picnic blanket. Kidding about the last one…unless you want to, I suppose. The plaid one pictured above would be perfect for your friend to add to her existing outfits, and it’s great for the chilly days to come! (Well…hopefully to come in Texas!)

initial Necklace

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Statement jewelry is changing all the time, so if you want to gift your friend a necklace, something timeless may be the route to take. A simple, gold initial pendant like the one above goes with so many styles, so chances are, she’ll get tons of use out of it!

Classic sunglasses

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You just can’t beat Ray Bans. The pairs I have are still in great condition after years of wear, and they’re so classic. I can’t wear my Ray Bans without feeling cooler…which as I’m typing makes me feel very uncool, but I don’t care. It’s true. A pair of sunglasses is a great accessory your friend can use year-round!

Leather Cross Body 

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Purses can be tricky because people are often particular about what type or size they want. However, a solid-colored cross body would be useful for anyone. A sturdy material like leather is perfect for wear and tear, and it’s convenient to grab as you’re running out the door!

Phone Case

What’s one “accessory” almost everyone is guaranteed to have on them at all times? Their cell phone, of course! A fun phone case could be the perfect gift for your friend, and it would definitely be unexpected. Some people love changing their cases to match their outfit, mood, or the season, so I’m sure a new addition to their collection would be happily welcomed!

There you have it, my short gift guide for the fashionistas in your life! I’m planning to do a few more gift guides this Christmas season, so make sure to come back! Any particular “friend category” you need ideas for? Let me know!

DottedSiggy

*This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using these links, I may receive a small percentage at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Hoots of a Night Al!

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Old & New

I love mixing old and new things, trying new things, or repurposing old things into something new!

For Christmas this year, my parents bought me this precious ceramic egg carton that I use as a jewelry holder. It blends perfectly with my old ceramic and wooden jewelry box behind it.

jewelry holders

I have always wanted to journal. I have no idea why. I have nothing very interesting to say (as evidenced here), but I love the idea of buying cute colored pens and having beautiful penmanship and writing my innermost thoughts in a booklet. Because of this, I always want to buy cute journals I see at the store. I finally banned myself from buying any more until I actually started using them. The journal below is over two years old, but I’ve never written in it because I didn’t want to “waste” it. I now realize how silly that seems. I started doodling and writing in it yesterday, and I really enjoyed it! No, the pen next to it is not fun like I imagined, but I’m going to make sure this journaling is here to stay before I reward myself with a new pack of pens. 🙂

Journalandpen

My hair is long and straight. That’s abouti it. I usually wear hats and headbands a lot because it gets greasy about 14 seconds after I wash it. My hair options right now are pretty limited, so I decided to try out some new braids today! Below is an example of a fishtail braid. It’s easier for me to split my hair into two braids than make one big braid, so I practiced that way today. They still need some work, but I was proud of myself for trying something new!
fishtails

Speaking of new hair, I got mine cut today! You can see it AFTER I cut it below. What’s that? You can’t tell the difference? Well, join the club. Basically no one ever notices when I get my hair cut. Since it’s so long, if I get anything less than 5″ off, I’d be shocked to hear a comment about it! No worries though…I’m happy with how it looks. I’ve been putting off getting a haircut because I’m cheap, but when we moved our apartment gave me a coupon for a free haircut at a salon nearby. I was kind of scared because what sort of shady salon just gives out free cut and styles? My suspicions increased when I called yesterday, and they had an opening today. Well, call me a rebel, because I went and got my hair cut there anyway! It feels much healthier, and the ends look so much cleaner. Inspired by my new and old thoughts today, I mixed new and old pieces together for my outfit as well! My tank top (American Eagle circa 2007) and my cardigan (Old Navy circa 2009) are old favorites as are my boots from Target. I paired those pieces with my new jeans (also from Target) and my totally crazy new hairstyle. I’ve been going through old things in my closet lately, so hopefully I can find fun new pairings in the future too!

Oldandnew

Another old to new adventure I had today was getting new tires put on my car. I called around for quotes for the best tire prices and wound up at NTB. Proven by my screenshot below, I was there for almost 3 hours! Ugh. When I first sat down, I thought the man next to me had horrible B.O., but it turns out it was just his lunch I was smelling so…that was…good? Then, the man next to me fell asleep and woke himself up with his own snores. Finally, the mechanic came in to tell my they accidentally rolled down my window even though I asked them not to. Why? It takes roughly 4 hours to roll back up because the motor is dying. I spent most of my time there looking out the window into the shop and cringing with fear as they tried to (unsuccessfully) yank my window back up. I drove home 3 hours later, $200 poorer, in the freezing mist with tape covering the gaping hole where my window should be.

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I shouldn’t be complaining. If waiting a long time to get new tires for my car today was the worst thing that happened, I think my life is pretty blessed. I already doodled in my journal tonight and watched lots of Malcolm in the Middle with Louis, so I suppose it’s time to hit the hay. Tomorrow I’ll be packing for a weekend in Houston!

SiggyHeart

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