The Best Holiday Photo Spots in Dallas

It's here, it's here! The most wonderful time of the year has arrived in Dallas - the holiday season. Dallas has some amazing spots to take a picture (hello Deep Ellum), but once holiday season strikes, the whole city steps up their game. Photo ops are endless, and there are countless great places to pose for an awesome picture to get you in the holiday spirit. Today I'm teaming up with everyone's favorite, Target, to bring you the 10 most instagrammable spots to take a picture this holiday season in Dallas.

These places will not only be so fun to visit this Christmas but will also cause a major spike in Instagram likes, so beware! If you like lights, giant trees, and holiday fun, this post is for you. If not, I don't yet have a blog post for where to find Scrooge's most IG worthy spots. Supply and demand people, supply and demand.

Before we dive into these great locations that will kill it on IG, let's first talk a little coffee. No good photo hunting session ever started without a cup or two of java. Target this year (like every year) has everything you need to make your coffee as festive as your Instagram feed. I'm not going to lie, when I'm on the go, I am no stranger to a plain black cup of coffee. But the beauty of the holiday season is taking the time to slow down, spend more time with friends you don't see that often, and really savor every drop of the month of December. Alas, you have more time to festive up your normal, boring cup of Joe.

Target has so many options to make your coffee a bit sweeter this December. I picked up the 1850™ Brand Coffee Black Gold K-Cup® pods made with Arabica beans, and the Baileys® Irish Cream Coffee Creamer in their original Irish creamy, sophisticated flavor made with genuine Baileys ingredients. Don't worry, this is non-alcoholic, so you can start your day, potentially, with the same flavor you ended with the night before! LOLS!

If you've never thrown a little Baileys in your coffee, you're doing it wrong. 1850™ Brand Coffee is bold but incredibly smooth. When paired with the Baileys creamer, it feels like you're drinking a glass of creamy Christmas. It is just enough sweetness but not overpowering. I don't usually sweeten my coffee, so it's a nice added touch without too much sugar. It's a warm, bold cup of delight that will perk you up and get you on your merry way!

Target, per the usual, also has a massive selection of cute holiday mugs. I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone that Target is nailing the Christmas game.

Target has an available Cartwheel offer (via the Cartwheel app which you canoe found HERE) from 11/11 – 12/22 which will save you up to 20% on participating coffee and creamer!

So now that we have our coffee and creamer for the day, let's get to planning your holiday instagram feed, shall we?

1.  THE OMNI ORNAMENTS 
in the heart of downtown Dallas
📍 555 S Lamar St, Dallas 

2.  DOWNTOWN NEIMAN MARCUS TREE  
*bonus* you can shop with champagne
📍 1618 Main St, Dallas

3.  THE ARBORETUM 
the twelve days of Christmas exhibit
📍8525 Garland Rd, Dallas

4.  HOLIDAY TEA AT THE ARBORETUM 
be sure to book your reservation in advance, they do sell out
📍8525 Garland Rd, Dallas

5.  RUIBAL'S PLANTS
their farmers market location is so festive, buy your tree here too! 📍601 S. Pearl Expy

6.  ENCHANT CHRISTMAS
a complete wonderland in Arlington by the ballpark
📍1000 Ballpark Way, Arlington

7.  KLYDE WARREN PARK
the biggest tree everrr, with a downtown backdrop
📍2012 Woodall Rodgers Fwy, Dallas

8.  THE ADOLPHUS 
added perk, come see me I'll buy you a coffee from Otto's 😉
📍Commerce St, Dallas

9.  MERRY CHRISTMAS YA FILTHY ANIMAL 
taking murals to a new level in bishop arts district 
📍407 N. Bishop Ave.

10.  DALLAS HOLIDAY PARADE
a Dallas commerce st tradition - dec 1 at 10am
📍Commerce St, Downtown Dallas

Anywhere I might have missed you'd add to the list!?!?! Where is your favorite place to take a picture in Dallas or in your hometown?  

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Danone and JM Smucker. The opinions and text are all mine.

Christmas Gifts for Guys Under $50

If there's anything CB and I do well it's treating ourselves. Ok, so we don't buy many big ticket items, but we spend more than our share year round on food and drink. In all honesty, is there anything better to spend your money on?? So when it comes to Christmas, we're a little boring. We would rather set a limit of $50 or $100 and get each other several small things that were thoughtfully selected. Today I'm teaming up with my friends at Walgreens and Gillette to bring you tons of Christmas gift ideas for guys that are all under $50!

What I failed to think about when I wrote this post is CB reading it, whoopsies.

Oh well, these will all still work great for the man in your life!

1. Gillette Fusion ProShield Razor from Walgreens 

Let's first talk about the practical gift that every man will use, that you should go ahead and grab right away. It's a no brainer, and thanks to Walgreens I have a great deal for you. This holiday season, Gillette has released their Limited Edition Gift Packs - the Fusion ProShield razor, which features a premium sleek design paired with a high-quality razor and is just $19.99.

It's the first time a Gillette razor has included a matte black handle, which looks great paired with the chrome razor stand. The Fusion ProShield also includes an all-black FlexBall feature giving it a monochromatic look. This particular gift pack comes with one 5-bladed Fusion ProShield cartridge.

WALGREENS SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER:
BOGO50 (Buy one, get another one 50% off) on Gillette Limited Edition gift packs from 11/18 to 11/24. Plus take $2 off Gillette Limited Edition gift packs from 12/16 to 12/22.

You can find these coupons in the Sunday paper or on the coupons section of Walgreens.com or via the Walgreens app.

If you're reading this too late and you've missed the BOGO50 offer, Gillette is also offering $2 off from 12/16 to 12/22 at Walgreens. You may also find that coupon in your Sunday paper, or on the coupons section of Walgreens.com or the Walgreens app.

Veenie and Gee helped me wrap it up for CB!
Editor’s note * they mostly just got dog hair everywhere though. Very little wrapping was accomplished.

2. CUSTOM CALENDAR

CB asks for a Calendar for his office every year. We do so many fun things that it's always a blast to revisit our activities from the past year. I didn't make him one last year and I still hear about it constantly. Make a calendar for your S.O. or family or friends, it's the gift that keeps on giving.

3. WIFI SMART PLUG

Turn your electronics on or off from anywhere using a smartphone app! This plug works with Alexa and Google Assistant as well. You should probably pick one up for yourself too so you never forget to leave your flat iron on all day (which I do constantly).

4. IPA AT HOME BREW KIT

We love going to local breweries in Dallas (there are about a million of them), but why not try your hand at an at home beer making kit. Plus, it's an activity you can do together. If IPAs aren't your thing (Y THO) there are other flavors as well!

5. MINI WACKY WAVING INFLATABLE ARM FLAILING TUBE MAN

This is so stupid and I love it. Yes it's a gag gift but it would bring me great joy to walk into someone's office and see this tube man going wild in my presence. Great gift, solid stocking stuffer. OR, buy it for your white elephant exchange!

6. MINI DRONE THAT TAKES PICTURES

People buy drones all the time and don't consider the practice it will take to learn to fly it. What if you're terrible? What if you end up never taking the drone out? Rather than going all in on a major drone purchase, try this one for under $40 that even TAKES PICTURES! It has a 7 minute flight time, just enough to see if the whole DRONE LIFE is for you or not!

7. SOLAR POWERED SMARTPHONE CHARGER

Let me lead with saying this has a lifespan of over 1,000 charging cycles!!! WHAT! We have a portable external battery that we always forget to charge up, and it usually only gives me about 75% battery. This bad boy can charge via the wall or from solar power. Buy one for you and your mans.

8. COLLAPSIBLE CHIPPING NET

Who needs TopGolf when you can have a collapsible chipping game in your backyard! Great for any golfer, I know CB would love this. He probably would play with tennis balls and make Veenie go get the ones he misses.

9. PIZZA SOCKS

Shut up and take my money. Pizza themed socks that come shaped as a pizza in a pizza box?!?!!? What a time to be alive.

10. DOG BREED THEMED CHRISTMAS SHIRT

Ugly Christmas sweater party victory here you guys come. I'd probably gift this one a bit earlier, so it can be enjoyed throughout this magical season! Christmas is better with a Jack Russell terrier! LOLOLOLOL

So hopefully these suggestions helped pave the way for the best Christmas giving season ever. Have you found anything your man has gone nuts over for a Christmas gift? Do you plan on getting any of these??

Thank you to Gillette and Walgreens for sponsoring this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #GillettePartner