Holiday Gift Guide

Holidays are supposed to be relaxing, but gift shopping stresses me out every single year without fail. For the past couple of years, I’ve actually kept an ongoing list on my phone. That way, whenever I see something somewhere that I think would make the perfect gift for someone, I jot it down. Because otherwise I’ll always forget, and when the time rolls around for that person’s birthday (or if it’s Christmas), I’ll be like “OMG I swear I had thought of the perfect gift but I can’t remember anymore.” So to prevent moments like those from happening again, I highly recommend keeping a list! Just jot down the item and the person’s name in your phone. That way, you’ll be on top of your gift game the entire year 🙂

Now, moving on to the gift guide! These gifts are meant to be thoughtful and affordable, and I’ve divided them up into three categories. So, here we go!

THE YUMMY:

Of course, me being me, I have to start with the food-related stuff, haha. Snack subscription boxes are a great idea, in my opinion. There are so many out there now that you’re bound to find something that your friends/family will enjoy. I’ve seen coffee themed boxes, health conscious boxes, protein focused boxes, you name it. Here is a post I found with the 411 on 13 different subscription boxes. One box that I didn’t see that I thought I would mention is Try the World. The boxes are slightly more expensive at $40 for a box every 2 months, but their specialty is that each box targets food from a different country, featuring all kinds of local snacks that you can’t find anywhere else. It’s a very cool concept, and something you might want to consider!

A slow cooker is another good option, and definitely something I wish I had invested in earlier since I can’t cook to save my life, haha. But a slow cooker makes everything easier! You can find a ton of amazing recipes online and you really don’t need to do much at all to make a delicious meal with it.

The next item is something that I had never seen before, until like a few days ago. But it’s absolutely genius! A frother! The first thing I immediately thought of was using it for hot chocolate to make your drink light and fluffy, and I guess that’s what Williams-Sonoma had in mind as well.

THE COZY:

It’s winter, and Christmas is the perfect time to help your loved ones stock up on warm and cozy goodies. Slippers are great because everyone could use a pair in the house, especially when it’s freezing at night. Blankets are great as well, and you can find super cute ones with great designs. Or you can hand make them as well if you’re feeling extra crafty.

And pillows. I can’t even begin to explain how much my current pillow has changed my life. I used to HATE sleeping (took forever to fall asleep and never slept that well), but after I got this memory foam pillow, I feel like my sleeping experience is complete, haha. I got mine from Amazon and your head literally feels like it’s resting on a cloud. I can’t rave about this product enough, haha. My boyfriend got it for me last Christmas, and I got one for my mom on her birthday because she was complaining about not being able to sleep well. This pillow changed her life too!! So gift someone an amazing sleep experience this year 🙂

THE EXPERIENCE:

Experience gifts are great for getting friends and family to hangout together. You could buy an Escape Room experience for several of your friends (most rooms have a 6 person capacity), so you’ll kill 6 birds with one stone! For those of you who don’t know what escape rooms are, they’re like puzzle solving games ramped up to the next level. It’s great for team bonding, and the time pressure (usually an hour) makes it even more exciting. The scenarios vary depending on the venue you go to, but I remember the one I tried was a bank robbery scenario. We played the role of robbers and we had 60 minutes to steal the diamond in the top-secret vault. The setup was very good, and it actually looked like a bank office!

Paint Night is another fun activity and it’s actually not as hard as it looks! The instructors at these events are great, and they explain each step of the painting so it’s not like you’re on your own. At the end of it, you get to take home your own re-creation of a famous piece of art. They usually simplify the original painting to make it doable in the 2-3 hours, but all of them still turn out VERY good!

Cooking classes are another idea. I think this is more of a couples activity, but I’m sure families could find it fun as well. These classes are pretty pricey though, and since I’ve never been to one, I can’t really say much about them. But I mean, the idea of cooking with a group of people in a professional kitchen and then eating the good food after sounds like a pretty good experience, doesn’t it?

So there you have it! I hope you found these ideas helpful, and I wish you all the best in your gift hunting this season 🙂 I have some exciting new travel posts coming up soon, including my last two Vancouver itineraries, so stay tuned!

XOXO,