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5 posts tagged holiday
holiday wish list wantful gifts
I was excited when Wantful asked to collaborate on a holiday gift giveaway this week. (I’d been following their photographer Collin Hughes on Tumblr and was wondering what they were up to.)
The idea behind Wantful is Gift Well so the team set out to reinvent the current state of gifting (impersonal gift cards, anxiety-ridden holiday shopping…) by giving both giver and recipient options while preserving the thoughtfulness that inspires the best presents.
Pictured above are twelve of my favorite Wantful gifts for $100 or less. I picked the food-related items (cleaver, griddle, etc.) for Chris who does all the cooking at home though I’m the one who writes about it.
Wantful is like a well-curated museum shop that offers enough attractive products to keep your attention for hours but organized neatly so you can make decisions quickly. At the end, you select twelve presents which are tastefully presented in a gift book that’s sent to the gift receiver. Then he or she gets to choose one among the twelve gifts.
The service works like a charm, especially for people who are hard to shop for and friends who live far away. Wantful takes care of presentation, packaging and shipping, essentially relieving long distance gifters the least pleasant part of giving.
To thank you for being a supporter of Amy Blogs Chow, Wantful is giving one of you guys a gift from their collection this holiday!
Here’s The Deal. Simply reblog, reply, email or message me on Tumblr the thing you want most this Christmas. I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday night EST who will get to curate twelve $100 gifts in a Wantful gift book, which will be sent via mail or email. Upon receiving the book, you pick your favorite item and it gets sent to you.
Have fun thinking of all the things that would make you happy, and thank you for reading this blog, a labor of love and personal project that’s introduced me to so many new friends, ideas and opportunities over the past few years.
holiday gifts for people who don’t like gifts
I’ll be the first to admit I’m hard to shop for. Why? For one, I don’t need anything, and the things I want (more time, bear hugs, etc.) are usually not for sale.
Over the years, I have come up with various solutions to my “problem.” In recent years, I have avoided exchanging gifts during Christmas altogether, opting instead to buy plane tickets to visit friends during non-holiday months, and splurge on special occasion meals. This has worked out for me. Still, even I know sometimes you just want to wrap something and give it to somebody.
With this in mind, here is my wish list for the year. Hopefully it will inspire you to be extra awesome and get creative.
Instead of adopting a dog — maybe next year! — I’m asking Chris to donate to Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue, a community of dog rescuers, adopters and fosters that help homeless pups find homes. How can you resist that face? Chip in here.
Stuff stockings with useful retro knick knacks from Restoration Hardware. I like this practical music splitter for sharing music, this manly wall-mount bottle opener for $8 and kid-friendly kaleidoscope for looking at changing colors through a small tube. (I really love kaleidoscopes.)
Contact your favorite artist and buy artwork from them. Even better, commission a project. I hired Clair Rossiter, a young artist in the UK, to create two new logos for me this year. One for this blog, and one for Stupidly Simple Snacks. It was the best present to myself. She sells prints of her whimsical watercolors, too. Take a look.
I am not sure if Aaron Stewart sells his cartoon + real life people pictures, but he should. You have to agree this photo belongs on a Christmas card. I’d buy it by the boxful.
See Aaron’s funny characters on Plaid Oranges.
A photo session with Alice Gao Photography would make a thoughtful present for your girlfriend or best girl friend. Trust me, most people wish for better photos of themselves than the ones that end up on Facebook. Alice is also selling a lovely 2013 calendar, pictured above, based on her popular Instagram photos.
I love this image by Brooklyn photographer and videographer Eddy Vallante. Eddy’s photos are slightly rough around the edges; his subjects are imperfect, sweaty, scruffy and their mascara is running. I like seeing life with its blemishes because that, too, is beautiful, if not more so than something that looks perfect.
Follow Eddy Vallante on Tumblr, and keep him in mind for when you want to remember moments like this and this.
For gifts of food, go Italian. There’s something about Italian cuisine that makes it seem festive, decadent and yet approachable all year round, whether it’s an Italian cookie plate with rainbow cookies, a thick wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano aka parmesan cheese, or a bottle of Italian red wine served with paper-thin slices of prosciutto. Even the Italian national flag looks Christmas-y.
Pictured above is impossibly soft and delicate culatello, which is cured ham made from the back leg of the pig. If prosciutto was an expensive apartment building, then culatello would be the penthouse.
Not to harp too much on ham, but if you are attending a holiday party and expected to bring food, bring prosciutto or culatello. It will make you the most popular person there, and you can thank me later for it.
In summary, Italian food gifts are pretty fail-proof unless the recipient has specific dietary concerns that exclude happiness.
And the best non-food gifts? Those usually come with a good story.
rainbow cookie image via new york magazine
As Good As It Gets - A Peek At Per Se
Given its price point, Per Se is one of those restaurants I’ve kept filed away under “Last Supper” or “Wedding Anniversary Date Place.” And seeing I’m neither married nor going away just yet, I have never entertained the thought of making a reservation. However, Christmas really did come early this year in the form of an email from my friend Cassandra. Her agency represents Spain’s Rioja wine region and they thought: What would pair better with Rioja than a view of Columbus Circle on a snowy night and an upscale ten-course meal? I’m never one to argue with food and, needless to say, it was a flawless experience from the second I burst through the sliding glass doors (how.could.I.be.late.) to the moment we wandered out past the Christmas tree, underneath which lay piles of wrapped presents for underprivileged kids. Despite these orchestrated details, it never felt pretentious and the food - those delicious purees and attention to every last leaf on the plate - was something I will not soon forget.
{new} on amyblogschow.com / Stupidly Simple Last Minute Gift Guide + Giveaway
Happy Saturday! Today I present my last minute gift guide for food (and iPhone) lovers. And, as promised, I am giving away ten holiday gift bags filled with caramels from Liddabit Sweets, fancy sugar from Chambre De Sucre, stationery by ABCD Design, Essie nail polish, and many treats from Real Simple magazine. Visit amyblogschow.com to read my latest post and to enter for a chance to win. easy peasy.
This gingerbread house was created by Aureole’s pastry chef Jen Yee. She said it’ll be part of a trio on display! I snapped this photo of the edible abode on Saturday at Cookies and Cards, an event hosted by Citymeals-on-Wheels to provide New York City’s homebound elderly with holiday cheer in paper form.
In an hour, I crafted four cards and popped pastries. They spiked the eggnog with Kahlua, which I discovered I don’t like. As for dessert, I’d go back for Jen’s lemon sponge cakes, which are extra-delicious soaked in coffee, and her thumbprint cookies indented with homemade jam.
I arrived at Aureole later than most, but found a seat at the self-designated “Productive Table.” I piled a plate with cookies and seized an empty chair beside a guy who was clearly in the holiday spirit. Upon hearing me say “pass the glue stick” and “does someone have the scissors?” a few times, he demanded I record a demo reel and send it to voice-over agents. Apparently, I sound like a cartoon and there are ways to get rich quick.
