Another Holiday Gift Guide (of Things I'd Like to Own)
Maybe you see something here that you can buy yourself or your mama.
A servant to the capitalist machine, I love, love, love gift guides. As we near the holidays, I wait with anticipation to add 100 new tabs to my waiting 300 tabs of all the little things I want to buy. And I thought, well, maybe I have a gift guide. And here it is.
Random Ideas for Nerdy Presents
Buying magazine subscriptions or single issues as gifts warms my cold, weary heart. Three I’ve written for and love are Maggot Brain, No Depression, and Orion. I used to get my niece Kazoo for girls ages 5-12 and I’ve gifted n+1 with no complaints.
It just occurred to me that you could give a gift subscription to this Substack!
Indulge people’s hobbies. For instance, I like to bake now, so even like nice extracts or spices from a company like King Arthur Baking would be a delightful present.
Facebook Marketplace and estate sales are great places to get funky secondhand stuff for collectors, like this thing below which I found on Facebook.
For a Glow Up Gift
These gorgeous Aiden Jae hand-strung gemstone necklaces and bracelets need to be worn throughout the holidays and into eternity. And some might say Aiden Jae can boast the best jewelry designer in Miami or Fort Lauderdale.
Fashion Brand Company’s EAR earring and butter necklace belong in my jewelry box. I’m also marking this AI soccer midriff.
A few affordable beauty products I want to try to hydrate this crackly winter skin are Herbar face oil, Uni body serum; and this Experiment “super saturated” face mask.
Fun tights are in right now just like they were when I was in high school. These Les Belles aren’t as radically patterned as those of my teenage days, but they can jazz up an adult outfit.
4kinship is an Indigenous-owned company with incredibly original repurposed clothing, but I always make sure to check the accessories tab. I want all the jasper rings.
Hungry Friend Gifts
Edible gifts rule. Level up with this pistachio spread — it’s better than the one at Costco by a lot. And I wouldn’t say no to a personalized olive oil or even some (not edible) soap from Flamingo Estate.
Candles that look like food are my soft obsession. The Big Night olive candle my niece got me for my birthday last year smells like white flowers. And I want these that are John Waters-level weird.
Baking books or cookbooks are something I don’t love buying for myself but I want. Bold Fork Books has a wonderful selection. I’m interested in the Turkuaz Kitchen cookbook and all Great British Bake Off contestant books, especially Giuseppe Dell'Anno’s Giuseppe's Easy Bakes: Sweet Italian Treats.
For the Offspring
Try Etsy for something adorable or personalized, like this weird toy for the future trucker in your life or this bow and arrow for your tiny elf person/Zelda fanatic.
YouTubers all have merch, and that’s what kids want. My kid, at least.
Anything Jellycat is my idea of quiet luxury. Love a good, weird stuffy.
In the same vein but with more heart, every year we “adopt” an animal from World Wildlife Fund. This is the gift I buy that gives me the most joy.
Mama Wants Clothes
I have a winter jacket and it’s a boy’s Uniqlo puffer. As a short person, I tend to swim in women’s jackets, but this swirly, furry Desigual coat above is so rad, I wouldn’t mind being a tiny head sticking out of the top.
Le Set is pricey, but I love the pointelle collections. These look better braless and I’m at an age where braless is not exactly as appealing as it once was. Also my lifestyle is such that, where would I now wear a sheer braless top? Where? Please give me an occasion!
I want every single La Veste item.
I want to live in this merino wool hoodie with delicate flower strings by the Knotty Ones.
Tombolo has clothing with style and a sense of humor and I will take one of everything, please. They have items for all genders.
Something else I will probably stalk forever and never buy myself are classy, luxury-lite Sabah shoes. Perfect for an international trip or a kids soccer game.
I wanted to ask my parents for a New Yorker subscription for Christmas but I was afraid they'd laugh at me.
Should I buy a gift sub for a certain former blogmate of ours? I feel like that'd be funny.