To Beard or Not to Beard

This is a discussion I've been having with a lot of women lately. Beards are apparently "in" and man is only measured by his ability to grow a full thick beard.

Hal has recently become obsessed with beard growing. He kind of just let his scruff out, and then started to notice it was much thicker than it used to be, so he let it keep growing.

I'm not going to lie, his beard was pretty impressive. He combed it and put beard oil and mustache wax in it to make sure it wasn't all crazy. It was not a bad looking beard.

But man I hated it. I hated kissing it with a passion. Mustache hairs up my nose? No thanks!

So I'm curious ladies. Where do you all stand on the whole beard thing? A few weeks ago we were with some other couples and every single girl there said they were not a fan of the beard. My best friend on the other hand apparently loves the beard. My sister in law also likes her husband better with a goatee.

Hal shaved his off for his CPA exam and I rejoiced so loud you might have heard it.

But apparently the beard is back to being grown. You may hear my tears as soon as it gets to the length of poking me in the nose.

Do you like the beard? Or is a goatee your thing? Or do you secretly want to shave it off in the night like me?

And just for a little holiday beard joy...

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Christmas Gift Ideas For Him

Buying presents for boys can be hard. They like practical/useful gifts. Like makeup and pretty things are useful? When we first got married I gave Hal lots of sentimental gifts that I spent so much time making. He always put on a nice face, but seeing his reaction when I made him an emergency car kit for Valentines last year, I knew he liked it so much more than a picture book of our first year of marriage. Whatever.

So here's my little hipster guide for Christmas Gifts for the man in your life.

1. Charles Tyrwhitt Dress Shirt

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Randomly one day we received a catalog with a great coupon for a Charles Tyrwhitt shirt. We had never heard of them before, but we checked out their store in DC. Hal is kind of obsessed with his dress shirt from there. His has a herringbone pattern on it, and he just loves the quality of it. Can't go wrong with a really high quality dress shirt. Plus they often have their shirts on sale for $39.

2. Personalized Tie Bar and Cuff links

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There are a ton of cuff link and tie bar sets on Etsy. You can get ones handstamped with your initials, and even include a little cute secret message on the inside of the tie bar.

3. Multi tools

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There are so many cool multi tools these days, and seriously, what guy doesn't love one of these credit card sized multi tools? These just scream manly. 

4. Birchbox for Men

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Hal loves his birchbox. He's had it for two years now and has lots of products he loves, from this face lotion, this shaving cream, to anything by Billy Jealousy. Let's be honest ladies, we want a well groomed man, and birchbox for men leads to that. He always gets a full sized product in his. He's gotten ties, socks, bottle openers and all sorts of cool stuff I wish I got in mine. 

5. Beard Stuff

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What is up with the beard trend lately? I'm pretty sure Hal thinks having a beard is the manliest thing in the world. But when your man works in an office, he needs a well groomed beard, so get your man some soap just for his beard. I also happen to know this shop has a beard balm coming soon.              

                               
6. Horn Comb

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Hal was given this comb as a gift, and he has been kind of obsessed with it. It's manly, but pretty, and as an added plus, he will finally stop stealing your brush.