Archive for August, 2008

Grace: I’ve realized that we haven’t written many posts about gifts catering specifically to men (probably because Dan is slacking off), but I thought today I would give it a try. After all, it isn’t Dan’s responsibility to write only about men’s gifts, and I should be shopping for men’s gifts anyways, seeing as an anniversary is coming up.

I am not one of those girls who insists that her boyfriend dresses well and nags on and on about his sense of style, or lack thereof. In fact, I’m a big fan of guys wearing comfy jeans and a tee-shirt they probably got for free somewhere, but I do think that it’s important for men to own at least one nice shirt. My boyfriend would never be caught dead wearing a cheap tee-shirt (hypocritical of me, I know), and he is in love with dress shirts from Thomas Pink.

To be honest, I don’t know much about the different kinds of dress shirts, but even I can tell that Thomas Pink’s shirts are very well made and of high quality. They always seem to fit nicely, and they have an interesting texture to them.  I personally like this black and pink striped shirt, but if you think the shirt is a little too vibrant, I also really like this simple pale blue shirt.  Just make sure you know the recipient’s size before you buy the shirt!

It is important to dress well for job interviews and other business events, but it’s also important on an everyday basis. Many times the way a person dresses reflects their confidence level. Everyone, both men and women, has confidence issues, and for some people, the first step to building confidence may be as simple as dressing well. By dressing in clothes that fit properly and reflect where you want your life to go, you will begin to see all sorts of possibilities. Trust me, confidence may be difficult to build, but it makes all the difference.

Grace: As you probably already know, I am obsessed with earrings. I own so many pairs that I literally have nowhere to put them. My love for earrings may be a bit over the top, but I know that I am not the only girl who owns so many pairs she doesn’t know what to do with them all. For me, earrings are always a default gift; if I can’t think of anything creative or unique for my friends, I’ll end up buying them a nice pair of earrings.

Earrings have been around for hundreds of years; the earliest sign of earrings was found in art work in ancient Persia. Historically, piercing and other forms of body modification were used as a sign of wealth and status. For example, in southeast Alaska it used to be very difficult to raise one’s social status, so in order to ensure their child’s social ranking, parents would hold a community feast. At this feast, the parent or host would pay members of their group to pierce the rims of their child’s ears. The more feasts, the more rings. Since these feasts were fairly expensive, the number of holes indicated levels of wealth.

Today, the piercing of one’s ears is quite popular and is no longer used as a sign of social ranking. However, as I mentioned before, it is quite easy to accumulate earrings, especially if you’ve had your ears pierced for a very long time. I have no way of organizing my earrings other than to store them in boxes, and it has become a hassle to go through that box every morning and untangle my earrings and try to locate pairs. In a world where stress levels are already high, the last thing anyone needs is stress caused by unorganized earrings.

I found this great earring organizer that is both decorative and functional (I’m a big fan of things that look nice but are also practical). Shaped like a tree, you can hook your earrings onto the branches, or you can even hang your bracelets and necklaces! Instead of just buying your friend jewelry, why not buy her something she can use to organize it all? It’ll probably get more use than just a pair of earrings (to be honest, I only wear a given pair for maybe 6 months until I’m ready to move on to the next pair), and it’s a great decorative piece too!

Grace: My family is not very big on gifts.  Our policy is unless you ask for something, you won’t get anything at all.  However, every once in a while a big event, such as an important birthday or anniversary or graduation, comes along and we feel a nice gift is necessary.

While it’s fairly easy to shop for either me or my sister, finding gifts for my parents has become increasingly difficult.  My mom is way past the point of fancy jewelry, and there are only so many cuff links and coffee mugs we can buy my dad.  Luckily, my dad has started a recent obsession with sterling silver picture frames, and for him, there is no such thing as too many pictures.

My dad loves the silver frames is because they are not only clean and uniform (therefore making our unorganized house look clean and uniform), but they are also timeless.  They’re a nice gift that fit multiple occasions.

For example, sterling silver frames make perfect wedding gifts.  The wedding industry is growing quickly and can be very overwhelming, but a young couple can always use a nice picture frame or two.  My parents had a Shinto wedding ceremony, since my mother is Japanese, and even then sterling silver picture frames were the perfect gift.  The classic look of these frames transcends culture and age.

Also, if you are big of anniversary traditions, sterling silver is usually given on the 25th anniversary.  Even if you are not particular on following those traditions, silver picture frames always make for a good anniversary gift.  I can’t even begin to count how many times my parents have received sterling silver picture frames as anniversary gifts, and yet they are also so happy to receive them.

Grace: Dan has decided to be a slacker and go on vacation for the week, so I am stuck posting on my own

Before I started my freshman year at Hamilton College, I was given a new, shiny Macbook as a graduation gift.  I am absolutely in love with my computer; it works like a dream and I’ve never had any serious problems with it.  My only complaint, however, are the speakers; they are so quiet!  I like to listen to music while I study, even though there is no statistically significant data indicating that music improves test scores, but I can’t hear anything at all!  My only hope was to wear my harmful earbuds and hope I didn’t got deaf.

I was so tired of my computer’s speakers, that I went out and bought the JBL Spyro speakers.  It may be the girly girl in me, but I love the fact that these speakers are visually appealing in addition to sounding great.  These speakers may be too feminine for some men, but that is really up to you to decide.  Just remember to take the gift recipient’s tastes into consideration before buying a gift, no matter how much we gush over it.

What I really love about these speakers, besides the great sound quality and subwoofer, is their compact size.  I like to keep my desk very spacious and clean, so gigantic speakers weren’t really right for me.  The floret shaped speakers are perfect for someone who doesn’t have a lot of room on their desk, but don’t want to sacrifice sound quality for compactness.  The sound quality is very clean, and the speakers themselves are easy to use.

I would highly recommend these speakers, or any speakers really, as a gift for a college student (especially one who owns a Mac; I know I’m not the only one who complains about their speakers).  There’s no need to buy an insanely expensive sound system for a college student, but it’s nice to have quality speakers.

Grace: As a poor college student, I have a hard time finding gifts for my friends that I think they’d enjoy but won’t leave me broke. The easy way out would be to buy clothing or jewelry, but those gifts can get repetitive and boring.

As a very hands-on person, I love the idea of giving a scrapbook as a gift. Scrapbooking is a fun and easy activity that anyone can partake in; all it takes is a little time and patience. It is a visual form of story telling that was first practiced in ancient Greece. As more people became literate and no longer had to hire scribes to record their thoughts and memories for them, scrapbooks became more popular. Sometime during 15th century England, scrapbooks started appearing as personal journals where recipes, letters, quotes, and other memorable items were placed. Today, scrapbooks are used mainly to preserve memories.

For my friend’s 20th birthday, a bunch of my friends and I decided to buy and start a scrapbook for her, and it was a complete success! We started out with a simple scrapbook, nice and affordable, and started 2 pages. In order to give her a little push, we bought her some stickers, glue, glitter, and other fun crafty things, and printed out a bunch of pictures we thought she would enjoy.

I wasn’t sure if my friend would actually continue scrapbooking, but come finals she’s always sitting in her room cutting paper and pasting pictures. She finds that it’s a great way to relieve stress (and procrastinate). A scrapbook is a great gift for someone who loves arts and crafts and also has the patience and time to actually work on one.

Dan: I have never personally made a scrapbook of my own, but I have received one as a gift. It was a memory capsule of many of the major moments during my four years in high school. I cherish that present more than any other gift I have ever been given. It is so important to me that it has to come to college with me throughout the year so that when I become over-stressed I can open it up and laugh about good times from the past. I am so happy that you gave this gift recommendation, Grace, because it is a very special one. You beat me to it!

Dan: I come from a home that has always kept at least one pet. When I was a child we even had three dogs at the same time; two golden retrievers, Bronze and Zorro, and a beagle named Rusty. They have passed now but we have a wonderful Russian blue named Pua! I have been asked time and time again whether or not I am a dog person or a cat person. To be totally honest I love both and would welcome almost any type of pet (with the exception of spiders…I can’t get over poison/fangs/hanging from ceilings parts).

My cat Pua!

Different families approve of different pet behavior, but we allow our cat to crawl into anyone’s bed if she so chooses at night. However, now that she is middle aged, arthritis holds her back from jumping into bed. She continuously wakes everyone up at night meowing and crying for someone to pick her up and put her in bed. So, a couple months ago my family and I purchased the best solution to our problem, a mini staircase. Made by a company named Hammacher Schlemmer, the staircase is suitable for any pet of 100 lbs or less. Now she has no problem hopping up onto any bed in the house when she wants! It is a great gift for the pet lover and the pet as it provides a helping hand. Allow yourself to be woken up no more in the middle of the night!

As a side note, I highly recommend any and all people to get a pet of some kind. Studies and research have shown that the companion and love of a pet is a great stress reliever. In today’s modern age there seems to be not enough time for anything. The modern age has made too many things possible, and a pet around the house provides a loving connection and a release from everyday life. Some people do not want to invest in a pet because of the constant care that they require. I have to agree and disagree. You may find yourself wanting to forget about letting your dog outside time and time again but the pros outweigh the cons in the end.

The staircase has been a great purchase for my family and will make a great gift for any pet loving individual!

Grace: I cannot believe Dan doesn’t like yogurt; it is inconceivable and he’s probably going to get a urinary track infection from lack of yogurt and I’ll get to say “I told you so!”  However, I am willing to forgive him because his cat is just SO CUTE; I may just steal her!  My dog, Max, is far too big for the pet staircase or any kind of nighttime cuddling (he’s a giant black lab), but I love the idea of giving someone a gift for an older pet.  Max is already 12 years old and I can see how difficult it is for him to move around to be with us.  A gift like this touches more than one living being, and isn’t that the most important thing?