Archive for May 2007
Gifts for Your BBQ Host
Friends fired up the grill this Memorial Day weekend and invited us to a barbecue. Of course, guests are under no obligation to bring a gift for the host/hostess — after all, “your presence is your present” — but it’s a thoughtful gesture to do so. My wife and I picked out a nice Riesling and slipped the bottle into a colorful, striped wine bag from the arts and crafts store, Michaels.
While wine is a simple, traditional host gift, my wife suggested that we add some spice, quite literally, to follow the grilling theme. Before the barbecue, we stopped at Penzey’s Spices and added three of their grilling spices to the host gift:
Our host and hostess kindly thanked us for the gift and pulled off a great event to start the summer.
Tags: for hosts, gift ideas, wine
(Albert Einstein)
This blog is my writing workout on a topic that colors how I see things: gift giving.
I’m not a professional shopper or corporate gift buyer. I’m just a guy — albeit a guy who likes to shop for thoughtful, memorable gifts. Then write about it.
“Gift Giving Guy” grants me my own column, a place where I can share my ideas and thoughts on gift seeking and giving. Through my blog posts, I hope to better my giving, better my writing, and maybe even better some gift-seeking readers along the way.
I find gift giving an essential but often unexamined ritual in American culture. So, in between the gift ideas and advice, I am hoping to refine my understanding on why we give from socio-economic, cultural and psychological perspectives. Bear with me on these departures into the social sciences and philosophy — or giftology, for lack of a better term.
I’m also fascinated with the operations of traditional retail, e-commerce and interactive web sites. By sharing my ideas and what I’ve found online, I hope to give back and ever so slightly enhance the relevance of the Web for gift seekers.
Essentially, “Gift Giving Guy” is my gift to you. Unwrap and enjoy!
Tags: blog, giftology
Humpty Dumpty: “A present given when it isn’t your birthday, of course.”
(Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass)
Of course, you bought your love a birthday gift. It’s expected. But for a real surprise, give something on a un-birthday, one of the 364 days that’s not your love’s birthday. Make the gift something that shows you care. For example, I keep an eye on how much of my wife’s favorite perfume is left. When it’s running low, I buy the perfume and simply place it next to the near-empty bottle.
One clever excuse for a un-birthday present: celebrate your love’s half-birthday. The half-birthday is 182.5 days from the actual birthday. Use this calculator to find your loved ones’ half-birthdays.
Tags: fragrance, half-birthday, surprise
To spark ideas for a thoughtful gift, start a gift dossier for a loved one. I use the term dossier to evoke a sense of espionage. You are secretly collecting information on someone who will never read the dossier file. After all, you want to keep an element of surprise to your gift giving. Start the dossier in a password-protected Word document. Or you can take the dossier online, using a free service such as Amazon’s Gift Organizer.
A great gift dossier contains:
- A list of interests for brainstorming gift ideas
- Observations of wants and needs and ever-so subtle gift hints
- Links to potential gifts
- A record of past gifts you given (would a variation on a previous gift fit?)
To create a gift dossier, begin your brainstorming and reconnaissance on:
- Tastes: Prefers no frills/down to earth? Or enjoys the finer things?
- Favorite activities and hobbies
- Top authors — the ones worth waiting in line for at a book signing
- Favorite music artists (look for several CDs or Mp3s owned), concerts attended
- Essential movies
- Inconveniences and complaints (could a gift solve the problem?)
- Favorite foods and drinks
- “I’ve always wanted to…”
- Indulgences and splurges
Tags: books, dossier, food, gift systems, indulgences, movies, music
Of course, no one forgets gift occasions like anniversaries, birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, weddings, showers, graduation, housewarmings… need I say more? Rather than scramble at the last minute, use free web sites that email (or text message) you a timely reminder.
Set up the regular occasions (e.g., Christmas, birthdays, anniversary, Valentine’s Day) as recurring alerts. Be sure to make the reminder subject clear, such as “Start shopping for the 5th anniversary gift now.“ Give yourself enough notice to find a thoughtful gift.
Try out one of these free reminder services:
Tags: anniversary, birthday, gift systems, reminders
