" />
" />
" />
" />
" />
" />Some girls get jewelry.
Or shoes.
Or Coach or Michael Kors purses.
Yesterday I got this:
Easy to fold down, easy to open, easy to store during bad weather. And just look at all of that drying space! This baby is awesome!
And a HUGE upgrade over what we had been using.
Sigh.
He loves me. He really, really loves me.
I just can't stop smiling.
I might go wash some clean clothes just so I can use it.
Archive for May 2014
He Loves Me!
Thursday, May 29, 2014
6 Great Mother's Day Gift Guides
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
I am, without a doubt, the world's WORST gift giver.
I have good intentions; I really do. Every year, without fail, I "organize" myself with lists or databases so I don't forget any birthdays or special occasions. (Organize is in quotations because I never actually follow thru on the plan-du-jour so how organized am I really?) And to be fair, I don't forget those occasions. I know they are happening. I recognize them in my own head and might even remember to tell Mike. But I can guarantee you that I won't remember to mail a gift or card in time. I probably won't remember to call on the correct day. I miiiight post on Facebook if I pay attention to the little notification window thingy.
So there I am with my pretty new printable or my colorful database (loosely related sidenote: I just love Excel. I know it's for number crunching but I use it for all sorts of stuff. Those neat little rows and columns get me every time. Plus I don't have to plan how many columns I will need before I start) and I've even created systems so that I don't accidentally duplicate gifts from year to year.
But do I keep up with any of this? Nope. Sure don't.
And now - like pretty much every year around this time - I'm facing Mother's Day and the start of our birthday season (from May through August we have about 3,472,981 birthdays to celebrate) and I'm feeling stressed out. I have no good gift ideas for people and I still haven't mailed Christmas or Easter gifts. This madness has to end.
For the past few days I've been scouring the interwebs and local stores looking for good Mother's Day gifts, but this morning I made a decision: If I can't get it right, maybe I can help you.
So I give to you my #1 Mother's Day shopping helper:
Yup, that's it. So simple, so convenient, so effective. If your mom (or sister or best friend or whoever you're shopping for) likes to pin stuff, check out her boards and you'll probably find some gems that she'll be happy to receive. Ok, ok, full disclosure: I stole this idea from my sister who is the World's Best Gift Giver. (It's really unfair- she got the good hair and the good gift giving genes. She's super creative, too.)
But, alas, neither my mom nor my mother in law are Pinterest mavens so raiding their boards isn't an option for me. Luckily, Pinterest has a great search bar where typing in "Mother's Day Gift Ideas" gets you great ideas like these:
- 50 DIY Gifts for Mom - lots of really cute stuff here, especially if you sew. Neither of the moms I'm shopping for really enjoy crafts but I know lots of moms who do and my grandmother would like several of these projects.
- Shanty 2 Chic Printable and Gift Idea - oooh, this one is super cute! I would like to receive something like this and I could maybe tweak it for a birthday idea but it's still not quite right for our moms.
I should probably have told you from the beginning that both of our mother's are difficult to shop for. They both buy pretty much anything they want and they are both rather opinionated about home decor stuff. Neither of them like smelly bath stuff and it's nearly impossible to find jewelry they like. Now back to shopping. (:
- Skinny Mom's Healthy Gifts for Mom - I'm loving some of these! Especially the sunflower birdbath and the fruit infusing water pitcher, the reusable shopping bags, the L'Occitane Dry Oil... wait, am I shopping for me or the moms?
- Chic Coastal Living's Mother's Day Gift Ideas - a lot of great things here for the chic mom. I especially love ... well all of it, but that Tory Burch tote has me drooling and I totally think I need those J.Crew pjs. Again, though, probably shopping for myself.
- These Long Distance Mugs are fantastic! What a cute idea!
- These Photo Gifts go beyond the normal photo books and calendars. I especially love the coasters and the gift wrap.
That's what I've found so far. The blogosphere is full of some really great ideas and I hope you've already wrapped up your mom's special gift (and mailed it if necessary).
For the record, if I lived closer I'd plan special dates with our moms because that's my favorite kind of gift - spending time with someone special. I'd take them out for a special meal and spa day or something else ridiculously girly. Maybe do some shopping, check out the botanical garden, that sort of thing. But for now, I'm shopping for something special that will remind them that we love them and appreciate everything they have done for us over the years and to let them know that they are always in our thoughts.
If it's not a secret, what did you get your mom? What kind of awesome ideas did you come up with this year?
Please! Inspire me! I've only got four days left to nail this!
SHARE »