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| Image of the Walker's Benches & Binoculars Gallery |
Hello Black Friday! Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday...since I didn't stuff myself silly yesterday, I woke up and made biscuits to use up the last of my cranberry sauce - Yum!! How was your celebration? Any fun traditions? We usually spend the holiday in MN and I don't get around to my family's tradition very often (a postnap/meal, pre UT/A&M game movie outing) so today I'm staying far away from the malls & big box stores and taking my nieces & L to see Tangled to make up for it...
speaking of malls, since I'm in the middle of a huge purge cycle at my house (ie - everything that hasn't been used in the past year is off to Goodwill, consignment, etc) I'm working very hard at coming up with more intangible presents...We just don't need anymore STUFF...here are a few ideas if you are in the same mindset:
* For the Family: Membership to your local museum - I'm hoping for one to the Walker - they have a great toddler program twice a month so I can get a little culture in mine & Lila's diet at the same time!
* For the kiddos: membership to your Children's Museum and/or Zoo - my sister-in-law does this every year and we get so much use out of it...it's perfect when you just want to pop in for an hour or so and makes a weekly trip to visit your favorite animals more feasible
* For the Cook in the family: cooking classes, gift certificates to a CSA, or membership at a Co-op (hint, hint - can I please get the latter so I don't hang my head in shame every time they ask if I have a member number)
* For the Snowbirds in your life: tickets to a show or tour in their vacation spot of choice...Chris's parents head out to Palm Springs every winter so he's hooked them up with tickets to tour the movie stars homes, Hearst Castle, and shows at the local Casino...
* For the new Mom: A visit from your cleaning lady - I can't think of anything better than having a clean house when you have a newborn (and not doing the work yourself)
* For your best gal pals - I'm hooked on the idea of a private at home yoga session but I'd never turn down time at a spa, getting a pedicure, pilates classes, acupuncture appointments or anything else to help my mental well being
* For The Beer Lover (aka my husband) - the best present I ever bought my Mr was a year long subscription to a beer of the month club...
* For the music lover or sports fan - tickets to see their favorite band/team
* For the Dad who has everything - gift certificate to the cool restaurant in town
Have any good ideas up your sleeve? I love that most of these involve spending time together - in fact my holiday fantasy is skipping presents all together and heading somewhere warm!
Hope everyone has a long, relaxing weekend! OH, and if you, like me, don't have any stuffing leftovers why not whip up a batch of Stephanie's Sausage & Apple Stuffing from the Holiday Recipe Exchange? I think I just might...
xoxo, M
ps - not that I'm eschewing all shopping today - in fact you can still take advantage of 25% off at the shop by entering "HOLIDAY" at checkout ;)
pps - speaking of UT vs A&M - WAH!! what happened this season to the Longhorns?
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Another good one (especially for winter) is a Netflix membership.
ReplyDeleteMy dad is the hardest person to buy for, but I've hit a few home runs with him. He's one of those "I don't need anything" types. So, cashmere socks—his feet are always cold, he'd never buy them himself, but if you give them to him, he LOVES them. This year I gave him "membership" to a father-daughter book club. I don't think we managed every month (kind of a stressful year for us, with moving, etc.) but we made a concerted effort to read several books together. It was so great. I thought he was kind of into it, but my mom mentioned that he apparently tells everyone about it, which I thought was cute.
What beer of the month club did you use? I've got a beer lover here too...
Hope you're having a nice post-Thanksgiving! :)
love all these ideas..i hear you about STUFF..sometimes its gross how much one can accumulate!
ReplyDeleteI must know... what is the source for that fabulous picture!
ReplyDeletei like the the idea of presents being "experiences" vs. "things." thanks for the suggestions!
ReplyDeletehey m! thats my friend andrea in that photo from the Walker! (and i like your gift ideas.)
ReplyDeletechat soon.
X/e
can't believe you don't have a member number yet :)
ReplyDeletechildren's museum members get $15 off gift memberships btw. it's an awesome gift idea. and i was totally planning on doing the csa thing for my family this year since they were always amazed by my haul on the days they covered for us when we were out of town.
Great gift ideas ... I am getting inspired for some intangibel gift giving this year!
ReplyDelete3 things
ReplyDelete1. i am purging too...and wondering where we'll put anything new for the girlies. sad.
2. love the idea of gifting experiences. love it.
3. longhorns...so sad.
So, I read this post yesterday, but saved it to come back to today (when I had more time!)... and I LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more. We are fortunate this year, because Ryan's brother is getting married, so in order to cut down on the shopping, my MIL decided to draw names (perfect.), and I've been taking advantage of Groupon and other social buying sites to buy "experience" presents rather than more *stuff. (Like a weekend away and a wine tasting for my mom and her husband- at a great price!!)
I really love your ideas... and wanted to ask- Do you have a link for the beer of the month club??
Museum memberships are the BEST family gifts that we get these days. We have a quiver-full thanks to our family! And my personal fave, of course, a gift card for the art supply store ;)
ReplyDelete