Earlier today I mentioned that I love giving gifts when I have a good idea.  Here’s a list of good ideas:

Books

• The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin is a great memoir for a woman looking for ways to make life a little sweeter.
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett is one of my favorite books.  I gave this to Mike’s mom a few years ago and she absolutely loved it.
• Operation Beautiful by Caitlin Boyle is a book about thinking beautiful thoughts.  I actually haven’t read it myself but it’s on my Christmas list.  Based on Caitlin’s blog Healthy Tipping Point, I know it will be an inspirational, uplifting read.
• Malcom Gladwell’s books are really interesting.  I’ve given Outliers and What the Dog Saw to Mike’s dad.
• Cookbooks–The Abs Diet Cookbook is perfect for someone that wants to lose weight while eating good food.

Consumables

• Tea–I love the Fruit Sangria tea from Argo Tea.  I bought some while we were in Chicago.  It’s a great treat for the work day.  If you do give this to someone, consider getting a tea ball to go with it.
• Coffee
• A bottle of your favorite wine
• Nice chocolates: I love peppermint bark from Williams-Sonoma.

Stationery

Note cards are a great gift that help the recipient give joy all year.

• I love American Stationery. I got a beautiful set for Christmas a few years ago, I gifted a monogram set to a friend that helped a lot with our wedding, and I made customized note cards for our wedding thank-you notes.
• These note cards are on my wish-list this year!

Magazines

I think magazines are the gift that keeps on giving. Who doesn’t love getting mail? You could find a magazine for anyone on your list.

• For a sister or friend, I love SELF and Shape.
• For your mom, your mother-in-law or aunt, I love Real Simple (they have a 2-for-1 deal for the holidays), Martha Stewart Living, O, The Oprah Magazine or MORE.
• For a guy in your life, Men’s Health is a good one and Sports Illustrated is a classic.

Experiences

Experiences are good gifts because they give the recipient something to look forward to and then they create memories. Some ideas:

• Restaurant gift cards
• Night at a bed and breakfast
• Concert or theater tickets

So there you have it, some of my favorite gift ideas. You may also get some ideas from my list of best and worst gifts from our relationship.  If you’re still looking for ideas, I love this gift guide by LearnVest that applies the Love Languages to gift giving!

I’d love to know:

What are your favorite gifts to give?

It’s Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year.  So I’m writing about gifts today.  This morning I shared my thoughts on giving and receiving gifts. Later on I’ll share my suggestions for great gifts.  But first, a look back at some gifts Mike and I have exchanged over the years.

We’ve celebrated a lot of birthdays, Christmases, anniversaries together–well 8 of each so far–and exchanged gifts for most of these occasions.  Some presents have been great, some middle-of-the-road, and some not so great.  Here’s a list of the best and worst gifts we’ve given each other.

Best from Jo to Mike

• poker table-top with Flyers tickets inside
• tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld–This was for a birthday and I started giving Mike clues about a month before the show.  Creating the clues was really fun and stretched out the enjoyment of the gift.
• a trip to Boston to see the Kennedy Library
• hand-made fleece blanket
• tickets to Nickelback in Hershey Park

Best from Mike to Jo

source

• pink iPod mini–Mike got this for me for free freshman year of college by getting a certain number of people to click a link.  It was a ton of work.  I really really wanted an iPod that year.
• tickets to see Mary Poppins on Broadway
• pretty off-white down vest from Gap
• a right-hand ring–Mike bought me this for Christmas one year.  I lost it at work.  The next year, he surprised me by getting me the exact same one to replace it.  I remember we went through the McDonald’s drive-thru and were sitting in the parking lot and he said, “Can you get me a napkin out of the glovebox?” I opened the glovebox and there was a ring box inside.  I opened it and was so surprised and excited.