Dear GGGs, a friend shared this amazing gift guide with me and I had to pass along the goodness! It’s the To & From Holiday Guide—a digital mag created by style mavens Katie Anderson and Meg Biram, who brought together dozens of fellow top lifestyle bloggers to curate picks for fab, creative gifts this season. Here it is for your perusal (and soon-to-be obsession!). Amazing, right?

I checked in with the ladies to learn how they came up with this collaboration.

What sparked the idea for the guide?

Katie: Giving and receiving gifts is definitely my love language. I’m constantly on the hunt for unique products and brands that people I know will love. However, I know that not everyone feels that way. So many of my friends and family get really stressed out around the holidays and are overwhelmed with all the gifts they need to purchase. A lot of bloggers put together holiday gift guides, but I wanted to create something that is comprehensive, easy to browse and appealed to everyone.

Katie, you said you knew you needed partner to make it happen— why? And how did you know Meg would be the perfect fit?

Katie: This was definitely a two-person job. Not only is it more fun to collaborate with a partner, but it always seems to make the end product better. Meg and I had become friends through blogging and I’ve always loved her style. I also knew that she had experience in graphic design and magazine production. I can’t imagine having done it with anyone else. It was a no-brainer.

How did you cajole the bloggers to participate?

Meg: Both being bloggers we know what types of projects bloggers like to participate in. Everyone is busy before the holidays so we wanted to make it really easy for them to participate. Even though it may not seem like blogging is a small community, it actually is, and all of the participating bloggers know that they can call on us at any time for anything. It’s important to support each other.

So, what item in the guide are each of you most coveting?

Meg: My wishlist is on page 6 & 7. It’s really hard to pick one from that!

Katie: That is a tough question! Luckily I know that my friends and family are using my wishlist (page 4 & 5) to shop for me this year. I am hoping several of those items, including a Wacom Bamboo Tablet, end up under my tree.

I recently spoke with CNN about tips for women to earn their worth in the work world. If you’re thinking about asking for a raise (and given the gross disparity in wages between men and women, you likely should be!), try these tips:

• Choose to negotiate. Although there has been new research challenging the notion that women don’t ask for raises, it’s my experience coaching women and particularly millennial women that they are still hesitant to ask for more money or benefits. The biggest improvement most women can make is choosing to negotiate in the first place.
• Gather your arsenal. You need to research the going rate for your contributions. Look at sites like salary.com and glassdoor.com to get comps for what you should be making. Also, practice your pitch. Do a mock conversation with a friend or mentor to build confidence– and brainstorm responses to inevitable counterarguments.
• Quantify your Accomplishments. Never focus on why you need a raise, but instead why you’ve earned it. Be ready to list all your accomplishments in a manner that matters to management. Instead of simply naming what you did, describe the results. What customers or $$$ did you bring to the company? How did you directly contribute to the bottom line?
• Think like a tiger mom. Research has shown that women feel much more comfortable asking for things when negotiating on behalf of someone else– as would an agent, or a mom negotiating for her child! Visualize and think, how would you make a case for them? Then, take your own advice!
• Take “No” for “not now.” We often hear, ‘don’t take no for an answer’– but that’s not very practical advice when it comes to an employment situation and you need the job! If your boss turns down the raise, use the opportunity to get real feedback about what you can do to get a yes next time. Say, “It would really help my future efforts to know what, specifically, I can do to earn this raise.” Get your boss to commit to a timeline of when she’ll reconsider– and follow up in 3, 6, 9 months, etc.

Are you getting what you’re worth at work? Probably not. Yesterday I spoke with WABC about a new report that shows men outearn women in nearly every major U.S. market. In many places the gap is more than 100%! Yet, at the same time, a recent study by Catalyst has challenged the myth that women “don’t ask” for promotions and raises. They found that some women do in fact ask– they just aren’t offered as much in return. How can you reconcile this information and do your best to close your own pay gap? Check out the video below for some my tips:

Wanted to share this great video I caught on thegrindstone.com of a talk Gayle Tzemach Lemmon gave at a TEDx event. Lemmon is a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a contributing editor-at-large for Newsweek Daily Beast, and author of the New York Times bestseller The Dressmaker of Khair Khana. I’ll be needing to download that to my ipad asap.

In the presentation she talks about her work women interviewing women entrepreneurs all over the world, and urges women to think beyond “micro-hopes” and “micro-ambitions.” Just watch it. You’ll be inspired.

Are you annoyed by the messy microwave or noisy co-workers chatting on their cells? You’re not alone. LinkedIn released a global survey of 17,000 workers today on the top office pet peeves. Here are the top five:

1. People not taking ownership of their actions
2. Constant complainers
3. Dirty common areas
4. Starting meetings late or going long
5. People who don’t respond to emails

LinkedIn’s survey also found interesting correlations related to gender. For example, 62 percent of U.S. women were bothered by “clothing that’s too revealing for the workplace,” while only 29 percent of U.S. men surveyed said that was a problem (Is this really surprising?!).

There are also many cross-cultural differences. Americans are particularly bothered by people stealing food from the communal fridge. Swedes are less bothered by revealing clothing in the workplace. Germans are most annoyed by dirty common areas.

Job seekers should also take note: hiring managers were more peeved than others by people who were late.

To see the full press release, visit LinkedIn’s site.

So, what are your top office pet peeves?