Gift Guide - Amy Meeker Edition

I decided this past weekend that I hate the mall with a surprisingly large amount of hatred behind my statement of well...hatred. I went to the mall last holiday season. Then once this past year, then once again this past weekend. And each time I hate it even more. I love, love, love, however, online shopping. I love it so much that I even bothered to click up (that's tech for pick up don't you know?) some gifts for my very high maintenance Grandmother who is not Grammie Bea who is in her own way high maintenance but nothing compared to this other Grandmother. Lucky for me, neither Grandmother knows what the Internet is. They think it's magical every time I get an email and think I order the presents I get from a big chute attached to my house and that they just magically appear.

So I thought you might feel a little bit overwhelmed and need to blaze through a last minute shopping list. I know you can still get these things online but you might have to pay for shipping given it's the 15th.

For Him: Bosca Leather Wallet from Nordstrom.com
For Her: Anything from Tiffany. I know, you think, it's out of my budget. But you'll be surprised by some of the things you can get. And one gift in a little blue box is so much better than say when your husband gets you a Playstation and Guitar Hero just so he can play Call of Duty. (Merry Christmas to me 2008)
For Your Brother: Sweaters from the Gap on are on sale 50% off. And socks that normally go for $15 are marked down to $4. Please do NOT just buy him socks.
For Your Sister: If she's a homey type (that's homey not homely) get her either the hand soap/hand lotion in the holder set from William Sonoma. If she loves to cook: you can't go wrong with either cookbook Mastering The Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child or The Pioneer Woman Cooks, by Ree Drummond. Add a nice bottle of olive oil or some fleur de sel (French sea salt). You can get all of it at Amazon. If she's a fashionista: Get her some earrings at Anthropologie. Don't buy a fashionista clothes, purses or shoes. If she's granola and the etsy type: Get her something from etsy, I have no frame of reference for this type of girl.
For the newlyweds: A really nice ornament from swavorski or Nordstrom.
For the teenager: cash
For the tween: anything with New Moon on it. You can get it all at Nordstrom online. If it's a boy tween, I hear video games are popular. I have no idea where to get those.
For the little girl: A trunk of dress up clothes. You can either get a ready made trunk at Amazon or you can go to the thrift store and make your own. The thrift store version are always better but who has time. My girls are getting a trunk of sparkly gloves, skirts, crowns, hats etc. I also recommend the American Girl merchandise. My cousin Tara recommends starting out your little girl with the bitty baby then moving up around Age 7 to the actual dolls. But I am not doing either yet because my girls are not into dolls at all. So I bought all the Felicity and Molly books and we are going to start there. Amazon again.
For the kids who just won't leave you alone for some damn peace and quiet: The Safari Monkey with extra wand. It's a monkey that you hide. Then as the kids hunt for it with their safari wands in their hand, the wands start to light up as you get closer to the monkey. The closer you get the more lights that light up. It's a 2009 version of the hotter/colder game. I plan on making Katie hide it for Jessica and vice versa. Again, Amazon.
For Grandmothers: Estee Lauder White Linen perfume. This is the way all Grandmothers should smell. Digital picture frames with a bunch of family pictures loaded on them are a great idea too. My Dad is going to put in the hours of time it will take to load those on the frame bless him. DON'T get Grandmothers flowers. They will die by New Year and they'll forget what you got them. Grandma's also seem to like anything with a picture on it of you. At least, they act like they do. Estee Lauder is available at ulta.com or sephora.com. The picture frames are best at costco.com or officedepot.com. Chocolate at sees.com.
For Grandpas: This makes me sad because we haven't had a Grandpa for a few years now. But when we had one we found they liked treats to eat, warm socks, flannel shirts and being taken out to dinner. I really miss our Grandpas.
For your neighbor or coworker: I don't bake. I was going to but I just don't. Also, I don't drink. I get people a really nice bottle of French Lemonade or Olive Oil from our grocery store. The lemonade will run you $6-8 and the olive oil will cost around $13-$20. Sea salt is also nice.
For your boss: A nice picture frame for their office is nice. They'll put their family in it but they'll think of you. Thus, you = family = being harder to fire.
For your kids' teachers: This is where we might disagree. I go all out for the girls teachers. First, I have 2 kids in the same class so I feel like my gift should represent two kids. Secondly, they work harder than anyone I have ever known for very little pay. They love and protect my children day in and day out and I really want them to know how thankful I am for them. I do gift cards to Borders in the amount of $50. But, remember TWO kids. A lot of the kids in our class do really nice ornaments for their teachers. But that's still going to run you close to $20. So I think a gift card for Borders, a gift card for a pedicure/manicure, a gift card for a massage or something to make them feel relaxed and pampered is the best way to go.
For your hair stylist/nail technician/cleaning person/nanny: The standard is a tip for the amount of one of their services. If you pay $30 for your nails, you leave a tip for $30 when you get your nails done in December. I give my mother's helper Kayla, one week of pay as her gift.

And please, especially this year, don't forget to donate your used coats to coats for kids, your gently used toys and clothes to a charity, a new unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots and any non perishable foods to your local food drive. There are also giving trees all over every town with the name, age and wish of a needy child on a tag. Then, you go buy that gift, wrap it and tape the tag to the gift.

And most importantly, for yourself: get yourself something good this year. If your "to do" list looks anything like mine, you are going to need a gift card for a nice long massage. Schedule it now for Saturday, the 26th. You'll be so glad.