I had a conversation with my coworkers over lunch the other day about holiday wishlists, and what their kids are asking for, and what’s at the top of their lists these days. It got me thinking about what I wanted this year - I can’t believe Christmas is only a little over a month away, YIKES - and what I’ll be gifting…funny how the list shaped up very differently than this one from a few years back! (Also funny how I wanted silly things like Urban Meyer as ND’s football coach LOL LOL.)
This year, I’m gifting very practical things to the vast majority of people on my list…I think it’s very telling of my current state of exhaustion and the intensity of my caffeine addiction that the first thing I purchased was coffee mugs for my bosses/teams. I’m a huge fan of Anthropologie’s monogrammed collections, and they were a perfect purchase at 20% off this weekend (my favorite new offering is this Margot mug, which reminds me of the Paris Métro!). For work, I’ll stuff them with homemade peppermint bark, wrapped up prettily in cellophane with a bow. Couldn’t be easier!
My friends and family will be receiving a much more festive and fun assortment of gifts - my favorite thing to do is to pull together sentimental little items, either inside jokes or things I’ve noted they want over the course of the year. I think it’s always nicest when you know someone has put thought into what to get you and why, versus just buying something trendy and/or expensive. Of course, details on gifts for my loved ones can’t be revealed here - suffice it to say I’m GREAT at presents.
As for what I’d like to see under the tree, any of these would suit just fine in a perfect and pragmatic world:
A really nice vacuum - we still haven’t purchased one and I’ve been making do with our Dust Buster hahahaha someone save me from myself PLEASE.
A Coravin - I’m the only wine drinker in our little apartment of two, and I certainly can’t - er, shouldn’t - drink a whole bottle by myself every time I open wine. That said, a lot of my wine is high-end or rare, and I don’t want to run the risk of letting it spoil before I can enjoy it! A Coravin would be the perfect solution - a single serving of wine, without having to even remove the cork? Genius.
A car wash and detail package - I’m very bad about keeping my car clean and have a horrid tendency to track in mess, and I would love to have an excuse to regularly go to the fancy car wash and have it hand-washed.
New Clarisonic brush heads - for my annoyingly combination skin - and an electric toothbrush - because I’m very jealous of Dave’s.
Pyrex glass food storage - we’ve been discussing wanting a set for months and have yet to pull the trigger, surviving instead on our mismatched and past-their-prime Tupperware.
A ClassPass membership - 2019 WILL be the year that I actually commit to trying fitness studios in the Bay Area outside my Stanford-sponsored classes!
A Kindle - I’m noticing my eyesight getting worse (must get to the opthalmologist) and attribute it to lots of time spent reading on my iPhone. Would love to see if Kindles are worth the hype.
Pottery Barn’s ultra-cushy rug pad - we need one for under our living room rug, which wrinkles terribly without one.
Starbucks/Philz gift cards and/or Nespresso cups - like I said, the caffeine dependency is ramping back up to its peak levels circa EY 2013.
And just because not EVERYTHING can be practical and utilitarian and utterly grown-up, I would legitimately die and go to heaven if someone bought me these:
HI. DEAD.
Happy almost-holidays loves!