HIGHLY SPECIFIC 2022 GIFT GUIDE: PART 2
More, from my baby's second nap.
Bess help! My 70 yo dad loves to walk flea markets and buys only tchotchkes no one needs. He lives for spreadsheets and doing home improvements though they are often disastrous. I've stuck out in the past years with books, DIY models, VR (no idea what I was thinking that year). He's got a sweet tooth but is not local. Budget $100 help! - Matt
A DIY mensch with a sweet tooth in a non-local situation? This is why Goldbelly was invented. These make-your-own brioche donuts are very hard to screw up and very delicious and have an old-timey feel:
$79 from Goldbelly
My 38-year-old ginger husband whose name rhymes with pants and who writes for a publication that loves diareses. He is weirdly obsessed with the alt right and fascism. budget: very limited. - Sarah L.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is my friend writing about her husband who is also my friend. Monogram a Moleskine with “LBG (heart symbol) PANTS” and that way when he’s taking notes about the fascist decline of America he can remember there is goodness and love in his life encouraging him to keep going?
$26 from Molskine plus monogramming
Or if he is particular about his type of notebook, order a stack of the ones he uses and make a custom stamp for each inside cover. He dedicates his books to you and now you can preemptively pseudo-dedicate his notebooks to you, too! This one seems relatively straightforward to customize and it’s pretty well priced.
$19 from Simply Stamps
My good friend who is immensely warm and generous but is also fiery enough to scare everyone a little bit. I would describe her as an aggressive hobbit. Loves hosting and cooking for friends en masse but dislikes kitchen gadgets, especially if they only serve one purpose. Her musical taste is very cool (as is she), and probably lies somewhere between "Indie Americana" and "Yearning". She also likes plants and gardening.
$75 from Great Jones
69-year old wife/mother/grandmother, can't take a compliment to save her life, curses like a sailor, hates to cook, finds zen in doing the dishes, cant's stand massages, secretly wants to be a witch, formerly a children's librarian, obsessed with Practical Magic and all things Alice Hoffman, terrified of being a burden, exceptionally close to her 4 year old granddaughter, has gone above and beyond helping her daughter (me) out with 2 kiddos while her son-in-law is traveling, favorite thing is getting pedis and burgers with that daughter (which is why that's the go-to gift for mother's day), not-so-secret obsession with handbags.
Budget: $100-200 - Sophie
You had me at “secretly wants to be a witch.” Get her the Taschen library of esoterica Tarot book
$40 from Saks
And her very own Modern Witch tarot deck.
$25.00 from Lisa Sterle
And since she’s a fancy handbag/pedicure lover, an accompanying nail varnish for her new era: Dior Mystic
$30 from Dior
My 75 year old dad who very rarely leaves the couch, doesn't like to travel, watches sports or CNBC non-stop, and isn't at all interested in fancy food or booze. Budget $100ish.
An elder rescue cat to snuggle with him and accompanying $100 gift card to Chewy for various needs?
52-year old stepdad who I’ve never gotten along with. A cop who loves toys of all kinds, legos, remote cars, video games, VR, tech of all kinds... buys himself all the Things so doesn’t want for much. Drives a motorcycle and a vintage mustang and smokes weed in his garage every night. Budget $50-60 - Sabrina
He can leave you alone and smoke a J and build this!
$50 from Lego USA
My single 31 year old workaholic son has very few interests but is incredibly smart and successful despite having severe bipolar disorder. He recently landed his dream job which will mean moving from SF to DC. He does run and occasionally skis or sails. Other than that he works… Budget—$250-$300.
This is a very fitting scenario for an Apple Watch from mom! He can track his runs, stay safe out at sea with navigation/satellite on his wrist, and he can even get reminders to meditate or medicate whenever he needs. And it fits the “DC Successful Workaholic” vibe perfectly. Get one with GPS and Cellular in case you worry about him and want to be in touch.
$250 and up from Apple
A continuation of Part One:
Thank you, Bess. The Apple Watch was perfect—he loved it!
BTW your grandmother was my FIL’s favorite cousin.
Bess, how did you get not one but two superpowers? If you ever decide to offer your gift picking wizardry as a standalone service, I'll gladly sign up.