Gift giving is hard. I’m not one who can just stroll happily through a crowded holiday market or mindlessly scroll through web gift guides just to happen upon the perfect present for every special someone on my list.
One thing that is easy for me is choosing or finding words that inherently connect to my nearest and dearest. This year’s gift guide is based on this principle. Six powerful quotes, six dynamic personalities and a smattering of gifts that will make your life that much easier and theirs so much merrier.
Get to it.
The Compassionate One
For the friend who volunteers on the weekends. She’s the one who sent you a card when your cat died. She often crams 50 people in her Park Slope apartment for a “potluck
Charlie Mackesy Art
I recently discovered the man whose artwork I’ve had hanging above my bed for 8 years now after seeing it in a second-hand art shop in Savannah. The charcoal sketch gripped my heart for reasons I didn’t understand. A few months ago as I was moving the piece that I purchased in a frame, as the sketch slipped in the frame, I noticed that there was an artist inscription below the mat. It was the name of the same artist I had somehow found on Instagram and whose inexplicably stirring yet simple illustrations had struck me via this virtual medium as well. Take a stroll through his Instagram gallery. Find the piece that speaks to you and towards her. Order here.
Monthly Flower Delivery
Because the person who gives constantly and mindlessly and heartfully deserves to be gifted often. Setting up this monthly flower delivery service will remind her how good it feels to be cared for. Sign up with Urban Stems, choose a different bouquet each month. And make time to write the note. You have time. You do.
Polaroid Notes
She probably uses the postal service more than anyone you know. A card for your birthday, your housewarming, your cat dying, and just because she thought of you in that little gift shop in Boerum Hill…. give her this set of abstract yet personal notes to send off on every whim. Purchase here or from your local bookstore.
Locally Made Candle
Candles feel overdone, but the good ones are often prohibitively expensive but unfailingly fill your home with warmth and love and will help get rid of that potluck stench that tempts her to never have another. And you don’t want that. My favorite are from Apotheke are made in Brooklyn and burn clean for hours. Pick one out at Bursen and Reynolds in Greenpoint.
Supergoop Makeup Setting Spray
A heart this big tends to shed tears often, because empathy is her middle name. Get her a mascara (and setting spray!) that will stick with her while she’s handing you tissues and listening to you list why you’ll never get over what’s his name
2019 Moon Phase Calendar
Because she often tells you, “It’s just the moon, baby. It will pass.” And not that you care if that’s based on anything or not, but trust me, she’ll love this. I buy mine from Driggs Merchantile in Williamsburg or online by Margins.
The Romantic One
You know the one. The one who never seemed jaded by a bad date; the one who sees the world through rose-tinted glasses. She radiates seduction with intention and encourages you to redownload tinder-
Milk and Honey by rupi kaur
We have all become so jaded by Instagram, except for the ones who still believe that it can be used to spread love and beauty and art instead of #shamelessselfies and obviously injected booty pics (they are, right? I mean COME ON!). Those ones are Rupi Kaur and the receiver of her book, Milk and Honey. One of the original Instagram poets, her “gallery” makes us all believe in a better
A Significantly Old Bottle of Wine
Rose Gold, anything.
The one who sees the world through rose colored glasses won’t have to tint anything if it’s already rose gold. Gift her with Alexis Bittar and
Leon Bridges, “Coming Home”
This smooth and soulful album will keep her warmhearted and slow-dancing all through winter.
Passeport De La Parisienne (a notebook)
A charming little Parisian NotebookFor love notes and musings and everything else on her heart.
Love Poems by Pablo Neruda
Nothing is more beautiful than the way this man uses words to describe love. Plus each poem includes the original Spanish translation on the mirroring page so she can keep learning those #romancelanguages
Window Herb Garden
Because if anything tempts her heart to be cold, its the requirement to
The Hustler
This is the friend who will stop at nothing to put herself out there. The one who is always working on a new project, always networking, always knows someone who knows someone who she’ll connect you with. Her bookshelf is full of spiritual, professional, and intellectual motivation. She has a motor in her that never stops. you tell her to quiet down as she talks excitedly about her next big idea because it’s so good will get stolen from the sanctuary of any Brooklyn bar, guaranteed. You’re confident she never sleeps. Show her you understand the hustle and bring something to the table with these gifts.
Kaweco Fountain Pen and a Octaevo
Because no note should be written with a weak tool, help her deliver the strength behind all of her ideas with this elegant and easy to use
2019 Stendig Wall Calendar
Because
Kuma Powdered Ginseng
Because she stops for nothing, except coffee and sometimes even that isn’t enough. This super-powered powdered supplement will give her that extra boost without the downfall. Get it at Anima Mundi in Greenpoint or from their online store here.
Burn the Midnight Oil Candle
Because you don’t know how she does it, get her a late-night companion that will know, but won’t tell. This burn the midnight oil from Tulip & Bear inspires energy, inspiration, and clarity and will keep all her secrets safe, and smelling great. Find it here.
Horikawa Japanese Incense
And this very Zen Japanese coiled incense that will keep her calm, cool, and collecting inspiration all night. Find it here.
A Bedside Catch-All
Because she likely
Guatamalen Worry Dolls
She’ll never admit it, but sometimes all that stress goes to bed with her and greets her in the morning. These worry dolls will capture those fears and keep them, under her pillow, so that she can rest easy. Mine
Portrait of Frida Kahlo
The women who pushed through so much pain and doubt and turned it into art should be looking onward as this go-getter pushes forward. This hand-painted, gold-foiled Frida painting will be looking on with approval. And, ok, a slight scowl. By a Richmond-local artist and gifted to me… make it a point to find something similar.
Living Proof Good Hair Day Dry Shampoo
Because if she never sleeps, she doesn’t have time to also be on top of hairwashing. Help her make sure no one ever knows with this god-send of
The War Of Art
Take it from someone who’s been in battle and lived to tell about it, Stephen Pressfield’s soul-baring confession about how to break through and be victorious in the ongoing war of the creative is something she must have on her bookshelf.
The Gypsy Soul
Her apartment feels like a museum, full of carefully selected ephemera from trips and original artwork. Stories from her travels never feel pretentious or overdone because she experiences places the way most people experience a lover, with a deep soul connection, heartbreaking and exhilarating and always a part of who she is. And she approaches wine, music, art with the same intensity. With an unpretentious, uninterrupted, unwavering reverence. Give her something that will accompany her on her travels, something to jot it all down, something to add to her ephemera.
Feather Earrings
Dangling delicately yet bold enough that they just might give her wings, these will fit right into her gypsy-chic look. From Alter, $30.
La Voyageur Notebook, Passeport de la Parisienne notebook, Field Notes
Travelers love nothing more than charming, pocket-sized notebooks to accompany them around the world and then remind them, when grounded, of all the beauty they’ve taken in. Help her take it in and jot it down in such worthy ephemera as these, from Archestratus in Greenpoint.
A Spanish Wine Bota
One of my most prized possessions, JB Siguenza wine
Vintage Postcards
To use as decor, as correspondence, as a conversation piece. Give her some you’ve been collecting on your travels abroad or through antique shops. Trust me, she’ll love it. (You’ve been collecting these just for such an occasion, right?)
A Talisman
Why is that elephant always there? Because he’s my eternal talisman and my trusty travel partner. Get her something small to comfort her on rocky plane rides and to find itself in far-away landscapes.
A Dream Catcher
Because she’s a dreamer and believer in harnessing spiritual energy. And, feathers and fringe are
A Vintage Brass compass
with something moving inscribed upon it to keep him moving. Shipped next day from Istanbul, mine is from Etsy and starts at $35.
Natalia Lafourcade’s Mujer Divina
Famed Folk singer and composer Agustin Lara’s songs all reimagined and sung with collaborations from well-known artists, this album is transportive and soulful and stunning. Look for it on Mexican Ebay (No kidding. You’ll never find it anywhere else.)
2019 Moonphase Chart
Ethereal and soulful, she knows that the moon is powerful and omniscient, guider of the tides and our intentions. Let this be a constant reminder. Handmade in Brooklyn by Margins, $22.
The New Yorker
There is a sense of pride when you finally earn the whole “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere,” but this is the friend that has more than made it here, and still isn’t budging. They know New York like the back of their hand. They speak of the city as a lover, complicated and seductive, intimate and indulgent. Their stories of indolence and mischief are enough to fill a library worth of edgy essay collections. They are hip but not overstated; they belong to New York and the city, to them. Wherever they
The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck
Because in order to survive in this city, you have to let train delays roll off your back, people who don’t obey escalator etiquette drift away, and understand that there is really no defense against the weather. Find your zen through the subtle art of not giving a fuck. Buy your copy from Word books in G
Quoted Magazine
“A love letter to New York from the people that live here.” Words and stories taken from the streets and the people upon them, this magazine will replace all of the exasperated “I have to leave this city,” confessions she hears with, “there’s no place like New York.” Get a copy at Spoonbill and Sugartown in Williamsburg or online here.
G Train Magnet
More like the OG, right? Ok, fine, whatever. But let’s hear it for the only train in the city cool enough to dismiss Manhattan, all day and all nigtht, forever. Get her this one from the NY Transit Museum.
Brooklyn Map Art
Cheesy? She won’t think so. Because this beautiful and often haphazard grid contains all of the magic and wonder and hardships and victories that make us who we are. Get one here from Modern Map Art, $29.
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
The best coming-of-age novel about life in New York written in our time, you know she already has this. So just get it for yourself or someone who’s on the edge of moving to suburbia right now.
Goodbye To All That
A collection of essays written by female writers on their experience loving and leaving New York, I’ve never read anything that better conveys what life is like in this city. No glitz, no grime, just life. If she hasn’t yet, she’ll love it.
LCD American Dream
Because the American Dream from a New Yorker’s standpoint is cacophonous and addictive and catchy and at times rough around the edges, this album from a band who understands and creates a sound that transcends. Trust me, she’ll love it.
Giles & Brother Railroad Spike Cuff
Made in New York and engraved for free. It’s both understated and eye-catching and I never take mine off. Giles + Brother, $75.
The Refined Urbanite
You can almost hear him saying this. He’s passionate and deliberate, he’s intelligent and artistic. It’s a mix of things that have brought him here; an appreciation and familiarity with the outdoors, a newfound fascination with the finer things, a penchant for respectful inebriation and a need to keep cold, refinedly, in winter. He’s bearded but not overgrown, he’s well-dressed but not unapproachable, he’s cultured and with-it and hip but would never admit it. He’s both a grounded dreamer and a humble intellectual. He knows where he came from but is present where he lives, in the city of dreams, or as he would put it, the best goddamn city in the world. Get him something that will further his boundless curiousity, that will soften his exterior, that will indulge his social tendencies and will maintain his nearly impenetrable composure.
Opinel Inox Pocket Knife
The perfect tool for an intimate wine and cheese party or to free an intwined pigeon from certain rat death or simply to carve your names into a tree in McCarren park, this subtle, french-made flip knife means no harm but carries a strong ready-for-anything sharpness; meaning read to slice through delicate bries and pierce the stronghold of oyster shells and slice the rope of a sailboat and set everyone free, unsuspectingly. Ready for adventure or forced refinement, and available here.
Metal Pocket Comb
Because he’d prefer to view his personal maintenance as an army-grade, steel-tough practice, get him a comb that will tell him, “sure baby, you still look tough when you make yourself look pretty.” Get this one at MCW.
Japanese Gin
You’re inevitably attracetd to him when accompanied by a beer-and-a-shot or a timely, aged bourdeaux (that you love watching his lips tell you about) so get him something that says, “It’s refined and exotic and it’s also liquor. Now let’s get drunk.” This Japanese Gin is the best way to say it. Get it at Duke’s Liquor Box in Greenpoint or you know, any liqour store in New York, for sale next to the $10 handle of Georgi gin because this is just the kind of grubby-refined place we live in.
Aesop Creme
His hands see their fair share of a hard days work/bike ride/hockey game/drumming session, but if you want them… well, you know… just get him some of this and tell him how much better everything feels.
The Revolution Will not Be Televised
Bitching about politics is annoying and all too easy. Understanding where we’ve come from and the achievably hopeful transition we will get to, and the conversations and movements and waves that will overcome it, are something worth engaging in. And then moving and grooving along to, on vinyl, along wiht Gil Scot Heron. This album is for you and him and the sporadic, initmate houseparty. Find it at one of your local record stores.
The Golden Bough
Originally published in 1890, The Golden Bough is a remarkable work by Sir James Frazer. The book weaves tales of human evolution, finding harmony with spirituality, sacred magic, religious dogma, and scientific principle. A must read for the truly open-minded man in your life.
Field Notes and a bold yet refined fountain pen
Just make sure you make an impression enough so that he scratches you little love notes into this thing and then gives them to you alone in a field. Both can be found at Archestratus in greenpoint and other bookstores that are worth a damn.
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