My Holiday Gift Guide

I have compiled a 2010 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE in an attempt to offer some ideas to my readers. While many of these ideas are very specific to the people in my life (no siblings, no boyfriend), I will also give ideas to you that can be a general gift for people in yours.

My mom loves 3 things: knitting, TV/DVD's, and computer-type things, so when I came to my dad in the Summer to buy her an iPad for her birthday, he went in on it with me. Now, let me tell you, my mom is not the most tech-savvy woman, however, this may have easily been her favorite gift she's ever received. She plays with her iPad non-stop whether it be reading a book on it, playing Words With Friends or Angry Birds, or watching DVD's on it. Yes, the gift is a little pricey but if you have siblings and can all pitch in, if your mom is like my mom, she might just LOVE it.
Shop for an iPad: Starting at $499

Cheaper Alternatives & Other Ideas: A Kindle, a cashmere scarf and glove set, a bottle of her favorite perfume, a gift card to her favorite store, a gift basket of some of her favorite things such as beverages, candy, movies, magazines, lotions, and so forth, or a cool piece of jewelry from HALE. Get creative!
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My dad is a guy who has everything and is impossible to shop for. He loves technology, he loves sports, he loves The Beatles and music in general. He has everything in the above mentioned categories, so to play it safe and keep it fun, I got my dad (accompanied by my mom and I), tickets to go see Daniel Tosh live at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco. No, not all dad's would enjoy the foul humor of Daniel Tosh, but my dad does - and to make it even more fun, we'll be joining him and doing dinner prior to the show. It's a win-win and a great memory. A live show, whether it be stand-up, Cirque de Soleil, a concert, a sporting event, or a Broadway musical, is always a creative and memorable gift.
Tickets for shows can range from about $50-100 per person, depending on the show.

Cheaper Alternatives & Other Ideas: Memorabilia for his favorite team (Giants World Series gear if he's a Giants fan or Warriors new-logo gear), fun city tours on Groupon (AND YOU SAVE MONEY!), an iTunes gift card, a digital picture frame, etc.
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My girlfriends are my saviors and I feel like having positive friendships is a very important element of life. I am so lucky to be surrounded by the women and men that are in my life and while I am thankful every day for this, I don't thank them often enough. We're all in this weird "20-something" position in our life where we don't know what we're doing and need some comfort in knowing we're not alone. I've stumbled across a great blogger, who happens to now be a HALE fan, named Keltie Colleen. No, I am not giving my friend's Keltie for Christmas, but I am giving them her book ($16) and Mantra Cuff ($8) because everyone needs a little inspiration now and then.
Buy the Mantra Cuff and book here and follow Keltie's Blog here.


Alternatives & Other Ideas: Framed photos of you guys, lip gloss sets from Sephora, a mani-pedi day, a bottle of their favorite wine, or a cool piece of jewelry from HALE!
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A cool but pretty easy gift for a co-worker or boss is a box of chocolates. Yeah, See's is boring, I know, but check out Christopher Elbow Chocolates. It literally is chocolate art. Super frikkin' cool chocolate pieces that most definitely get more attention than your traditional See's Candies. AND... they taste as good as they look and are only found in 2 locations in the US - one of them being our beautiful city of San Francisco. Now that's unique.
Check them out at Christopher Elbow Chocolates.

Cheaper Alternatives & Other Ideas: Starbucks gift cards, homemade baked goods, shiny office supplies like a cool letter opener or pen, or a fun coffee mug. Or hey, a cool piece of jewelry by HALE!
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IF I had a boyfriend, I tend to shop for him like I do my dad...in a sense. Guys like cool stuff - they don't like clothes, unless they ask for some specific jacket or something. They like technology, they like sports, they like man-stuff... like steak dinners, working out, and fast cars. The boyfriend is a tricky shopping experience because you want to get him something that he would like but you want to make it personable so it's not something that just anyone could give him. I always think a romantic day trip or weekend trip is a nice gesture and fun for the both of you - wine tasting in Napa followed by a stay in one of the hotels is clutch... so is a weekend getaway to the Central Coast, Tahoe, or Southern California. This can get pricey but from the relationships I have been in, we've always created some sort of "unofficial" bucket list of things we'd like to do together, places to go, restaurants to try, etc. Think hard about whether you have had this conversation with your boyfriend or not and try to cross one of those off your list - it'll spice things up and change up the every day routine for a day or two or three.
Cheaper Alternatives & Other Ideas: A sporting event, something off of his Christmas list, something naughty (feel free to use your imagination there), DVD's or games for his gaming console of choice, a scrapbook of memories, funny gifts only the two of you would understand, etc.