When giving gifts, whether for birthdays or weddings or holidays or because I feel like it, my personal style is to blend whimsy with practicality: I like to find something useful that also happens to be really cute.  So when I saw a whole bunch of my favorite headbands in Rite-Aid on Friday, I immediately bought a pack – and gave several to a friend at her bridal shower this weekend.  These particular headbands are perfect for wearing under tichels to help keep them in place, and I know that this friend has a fantastic collection of tichels waiting for after her big day.  (She’s Orthodox Jewish, and will be covering her hair once she’s married.) (more…)

Does it really exist?

I don’t know about you, but I find guys to be very hard to shop for.  The first year I was married, I took my husband to Home Depot for his birthday and let him pick out a cordless drill; that was the only thing I knew he wanted, but there was no way I’d be able to find the right one myself.  I can always get him a new tie or cufflinks, but there’s a limit on how many of those he actually needs, since he only wears them once a week (unlike my tichels, for example!).

I like to be practical with gifts – I’m not going to get him a framed copy of some sappy ode-to-daddies poem, or a meat branding iron with his initials (just in case he gets his hamburgers mixed up with the neighbor’s?).   (more…)

I’m not the most reliable gift-giver.  Sometimes I remember my sister’s birthday and send her something cute and personal; sometimes years will go by before I remember to call my parents on their anniversary.  But now that I have a baby, I’m hoping for some decent swag in honor of my first Mothers’ Day.

Decent swag includes obvious things like chocolate, jewelry, and overlooking the fact that I just bought a pile of new clothes.  But for the creative, yet giftly-challenged out there, here are a few guidelines as to what you’re better off avoiding.

1. Men should never buy clothing for women.  Especially if it’s tight. Their idea of shopping is to pick something off the rack that has the right inch-age and then go look at the smartphones on display at Radio shack.  Women do not come in standard measurements!  If you really have no imagination (or know she’d actually like to receive one), get a gift card.

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