Small Gifts
The older I get, the less I like a lot of gifts flying around at Christmas time. I like to know that people I care about are using their money for things important to living a life - especially my children, and my aging mother, and even my siblings. I don't need much from them. I like their "presence."
But we are brought up believing Christmas is heavily laden with gift -giving and if you see a spot on TV about shopping on Black Friday, shoppers putting up tents in front of Best Buy three days early, Target opening its doors on Thanksgiving and maniacs trampling fellow shoppers at Walmart to get through the doors at 4 a.m. when they open, you would think we are a culture of vultures, inhumane and materialist pigs and that gift-giving is a competitive sport.
But there are ways around that. Think small!
I can mostly buy myself what I want. So something as fantastic as the perfect French pepper grinder from my mother for my birthday is just the bomb as my kiddos would say. I think of her every single time I grind pepper and appreciate the very best grind of pepper I've ever known!
Another favorite gift is paper. Cards, journals, writing paper. Who can't use that!? Just tonight, Lee and I needed to write a thank you to someone who took us to dinner in New York last week. Well, I have my own beautiful letter press cards, but it wasn't quite right to use that if the note was from Lee, too. So it was wonderful to remember the very cool cards I bought in Paris, a set I found in a small paper shop near the river, designed and made by the owner. They are his ink drawings of bugs. I just fell in love with them.
And as it is crazy making to get OUT to shop these days, you can buy some of the most wonderfully edited selection of papers, cards and writing materials from my friends Nick and Wendy Brown at Brown Ink without ever leaving your home! And prices so very affordable for the quality of the product.
Here are some of their goodies that are on my wish list. Find more on their beautifully designed website, here. Go to STORE, but only after reading Wendy and Nick's thoughtful posts.
www.brownink.com
But we are brought up believing Christmas is heavily laden with gift -giving and if you see a spot on TV about shopping on Black Friday, shoppers putting up tents in front of Best Buy three days early, Target opening its doors on Thanksgiving and maniacs trampling fellow shoppers at Walmart to get through the doors at 4 a.m. when they open, you would think we are a culture of vultures, inhumane and materialist pigs and that gift-giving is a competitive sport.
But there are ways around that. Think small!
I can mostly buy myself what I want. So something as fantastic as the perfect French pepper grinder from my mother for my birthday is just the bomb as my kiddos would say. I think of her every single time I grind pepper and appreciate the very best grind of pepper I've ever known!
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| The French Perfex pepper grinder. Grinds perfect pepper! And it makes for a tongue twister, too! |
Another favorite gift is paper. Cards, journals, writing paper. Who can't use that!? Just tonight, Lee and I needed to write a thank you to someone who took us to dinner in New York last week. Well, I have my own beautiful letter press cards, but it wasn't quite right to use that if the note was from Lee, too. So it was wonderful to remember the very cool cards I bought in Paris, a set I found in a small paper shop near the river, designed and made by the owner. They are his ink drawings of bugs. I just fell in love with them.
And as it is crazy making to get OUT to shop these days, you can buy some of the most wonderfully edited selection of papers, cards and writing materials from my friends Nick and Wendy Brown at Brown Ink without ever leaving your home! And prices so very affordable for the quality of the product.
Here are some of their goodies that are on my wish list. Find more on their beautifully designed website, here. Go to STORE, but only after reading Wendy and Nick's thoughtful posts.
www.brownink.com
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| Place cards that could work with any table - natural linens with white plates or damask and gold-rimmed place settings. |
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| Thinking Lee's grandson, Miles, needs this! |
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| Happy making holiday card for people on the go. |
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| I'm partial to anything French after our trip to Paris and always have a place for another journal. |
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