Gift Giving Guy

Last weekend, we visited Erie, Pennsylvania to surprise my in-laws, who were attending a 50th-year high school reunion for my father-in-law. June 2nd also marked their 45th wedding anniversary. My wife’s aunt and uncle planned a dinner, and all of the daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren secretly flew out to surprise my in-laws.

The day before we left, we had a vase of purple dendrobium orchids delivered from ProFlowers.com as a gift and a “wish we were there” decoy.

One of my sister-in-laws sent a “floral” fruit arrangement from EdibleArrangements.com with massive strawberries as roses and pineapples cut to resemble daisies. Another created a clever family photo memory DVD using Microsoft Movie Maker, which we watched after the surprise dinner.

My wife’s aunt and uncle were great hosts, offering two cook-outs in addition to the surprise dinner. While in Erie, we brainstormed thank you gifts for our hosts. Her aunt introduced us to beach combing Lake Erie for sea glass. I suggested one gift could be sea glass jewelry — that is, until we discovered her aunt now makes and sells this jewelry.

So we listened for gift hints. You would be surprised how often hints come up in everyday conversation as people describe their interests and favorite things. Her uncle recommended we try breakfast at Bob Evans restaurant, their favorite morning spot. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast there and picked up a Bob Evans gift card.

And her aunt swears by Dunkin Donuts coffee, because other coffees are just too strong. Erie doesn’t have a Dunkin Donuts, so I picked up two pounds today at the shop near work. We’ll send out the thank you package with a card tomorrow.