A Last-Minute Gift Guide: Father's Day

If you're a procrastinator like me, I hope you'll find this list of Father's Day gift ideas helpful as you try to find that perfect gift for good ol' Dad before Sunday. As I did on Mother's Day, this list is made up of things that I think my own dad would like to receive, or has been excited to receive in the past. And to give you a sense of what my dad is like, I have a disclaimer right off the bat: my dad is not a sports guy. He couldn't care less and I bet I'd still have my $20 if I told him "I'll give you $20 if you can tell me what sport Kevin Durant plays. LeBron James? Uhhhh Kobe?" But the apple doesn't fall far from the tree so don't ask me any sports questions that are unrelated to the NBA. Unless there was a scandal, then I probably know about it. My dad is into other things that a lot of other dads are into though, such as books, movies, music, current events, the outdoors and traveling. So as long as your dad does not live, breathe and eat sports they would probably enjoy some gifts in common. Alright, here is the list. Fingers crossed something is right on target.

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1. A subscription to The New Yorker. This is what my dad always asks for for Christmas, and if he doesn't get it, he'll shell out the $60 for an annual subscription as a present to himself. The New Yorker, Netflix and Costco are the only things my dad will financially commit to, so I put this at the top of Father's Day gift ideas.

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2. Concert tickets. One of the things my dad and I connect on is music (he may have gone to the same Blink-182 concert that I did when I was 15; hell no we did not go together or find each other while we were there), so tickets to a summer concert makes a lot of sense for a Father's Day gift. (And that was a fluke in his music taste I swear - he has a legit man-crush on Bob Dylan.) So... Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jimmy Buffett, Santana, Steve Miller Band, and my personal favorite, Rush, are all playing tours this summer along with many others. Even if your dad's favorite band only plays at casinos in the middle of nowhere now, he still may want to go. Just do a Google search and see what's up. And get 2 tickets, obviously.

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3. A well-made hat. Did I mention my dad is somewhat of an adventurer? When he came through Portland to visit me on the way home from an extended stay in Thailand, not only was he decked out in traditional Thai clothes but he would not take off his safari hat. He said that when he wore it he felt "like Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond." Yeah he said that, and he doesn't read this blog, so I can repeat it. :) If you consider getting your dad a hat for Father's Day, remember that it can be any kind of hat - baseball, fishing, hunting, golfing, safari - but make sure it's a good quality one that will last forever.

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4. A good TV series on DVD. Have you seen The Wire? Have you seen The Sopranos? Dad will be happy for a long time if he has one of these amazing shows in his possession (and you will too if you're still living at your parents' house). While these are officially the two "greatest shows ever created" according to their Wikipedia pages and people with good taste, I've heard there are some other good ones out there but I can't vouch for them because I haven't seen enough of them: Breaking Bad, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Band of Brothers (a miniseries), Boardwalk Empire, Six Feet Under, and of course, Mad Men (which I have seen and can say that it's great). Go get your dad a good TV show on DVD and help keep Best Buy in business. Ahh memories...

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5. Something leather. Men just like leather, don't they? Especially worn-in, rugged, natural leather. So manly. This gift could be anything from a travel bag to a pair of moccasins to a watch with a leather strap. Find a leather item in your price range and go for it.

And that's all folks! I hope this Last Minute Gift Guide gives you some new ideas for Father's Day this year, and that you have a fantastic day with the fam on Sunday!

How do you plan on celebrating Father's Day this year?

Gift Guide: Mother's Day

Mother's Day is just around the corner, so I thought I'd try to be on top of things and do a little gift guide for the special occasion. This has also been a brainstorming tool for my own gift-giving, so Mom, you're banned from this blog for the next two weeks. Even though you admitted to opening and rewrapping your Christmas presents under the tree as a kid, I'm going to trust you to stop reading now. ;)

When thinking about Mother's Day gifts, I try to come up with something that will be both very personal and a special treat, meaning I think about what my mom really likes, but I'll give her the "splurge" version that she'd never buy for herself. When creating this list I thought of what I believe my own mom would enjoy or has enjoyed receiving in the past... 

1. Above is one of the best home decorating coffee table books in existence. Created by the makers of Domino Magazine, it is a great interior style guide for anyone who appreciates a beautifully unique home. My siblings and I actually gave this book to my mother a few years back and I think we would all agree that this is one of the biggest winners so far. Oftentimes, when my mom and I are chatting on the phone and the conversations turns to interior design, she'll ask me to grab my own copy of Domino and then she'll tell me what page to turn to so I can see her latest inspiration. Then we gaga over all the beautiful photos for a half-hour. That's how we bond long-distance. :) There are all kinds of attractive coffee table books on topics ranging from Southeast Asia to Standard Poodles, so I'm sure you'll find something to your mom's liking if this is what you decide to go for. image via

2. Bird baths were a constant fixture in the gardens of my mom's house growing up. I swear we had one in the backyard, one in the front yard and one along the driveway to view out the kitchen window - she loves them. In fact, I actually stole this idea from my mom because she recently gave one to our grandmother for her birthday (even though I'm pretty sure she already had one - it runs in the family). So if your mom already has a bird bath, you could like, totally get her another one. They come in all sizes and styles from modern to baroque, and over time can gather lots of moss and look all Secret Garden-like. And the birds are so cute and fun to watch splash around in the water! Unless, of course, you're one of those people who gets creeped out by birds (my god, there are seriously so many of y'all!). In that case, onto the next... image via

3. Have you heard of Tastebook yet? If not, you're probably about to shout "Bingo!" because it's the ideal gift for anyone who enjoys cooking (and according to Facebook, pretty much everyone "likes" cooking). Basically, it's a personalized cookbook you create online by selecting recipes from sources like Epicurious, the Food Network, Bon Appetit, etc., or you can add your own with personal notes and photos. For example, when my siblings and I put one together for our mom for Christmas, we selected a photo from a family trip to Costa Rica to go on the same page as a Latin American dish (which was most likely Mexican, whatever). You can then personalize the book further by choosing the text and photos for the cover and dedication page, and with a few more clicks of the mouse - you're done. At your doorstep in no time. image via

4. I've always wanted to be a recipient of a "Gift of the Month," so why wouldn't it work for a Mother's Day gift? I'll eventually be a mother and I'm sure I'll still wish for it. I'd choose the Coffee of the Month Club for my own mom because I really don't think there's any other ritual she enjoys more (yes she calls drinking coffee a ritual). In this case, every month she would receive two different kinds of freshly roasted coffee beans from small, specialty coffee roasters around the world. Cool, right? So much better than a "treat" from Starbucks. If your mom doesn't enjoy coffee, there are dozens of other clubs out there from cupcakes to flowers. And bacon. There's a bacon club. image via

5. I may be one of the few people left who still makes mix CDs, and I enjoy pushing my music on other people so much that I don't think I'll ever stop. It takes me a loooong time to make each mix because I always reorder the songs about twenty times until they seamlessly lead into one another and the mix flows in a perfect wave from beginning to end. Phew, that was a long sentence. So if I ever make you one, you better appreciate it. Pathetically, I've only ever burned copies of albums I already had for my mom (Metric turned out to be her very favorite; yes I have a cool mom), so this time around I'm actually going to make her a mix of carefully selected songs that I think she'll really love. And of course, I'll decorate the CD with colored sharpies, because that's the really fun part, don'tcha rememba? image via

6. As we all know, one of the tried and true Mother's Day gift ideas is something that will allow your mom to be pampered a bit. This can be anything from a gift certificate for a massage, to a homemade dinner made by you, to a luxurious, super-soft set of expensive pajamas that she wouldn't have thought twice about purchasing herself. This is the time to spoil your mom, because she deserves it! image via

7. Finally, a homemade card to top it all off is something I'm definitely going to do this year (and I think you should too). I can't remember the last time I actually made a homemade card, but I know how stupidly excited I get when I receive one. Even you self-declared uncreative people can manage to make something beautiful with the wonderful help of Pinterest. Just believe in yourself! image via

And that wraps up my Mother's Day gift guide! Without a doubt pun intended. :) 

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Merry Christmas!

I'm at my dad's house about to chow down on the second Christmas feast of the day, admittedly being the anti-social one by squeezing in a little bit of internet time before it's back to my mom's farmhouse where no such things exist.

So before I'm dragged away..... Merry Christmas!

And, one of my all-time favorite gifts of the day: Blogger Grace Bonney's gorgeous book, Design Sponge at Home. SO HAPPY. Another reason I've been a little bit in my own world today. ;)

I hope everyone has had a wonderful, warm holiday with family and friends. 'Tis the season to be merry!

Almost Merry Christmas!! Shopping anyone?

Yeeeeeeeeehaw from the Lonestar State! Yesterday morning at 5:30am I stepped outside of Houston's George Bush (W? HW? It's ambiguous...) Intercontinental Airport wearing my Ugg boots and heavy winter coat only to find out that my mom's description of the weather being "chilly" actually meant mid 70s. Whaaaaaat? I packed boots and boots and leggings and hoodies. Welcome home...

After making a stop at the Kolache Factory for breakfast, taking a much-needed nap at my grandparents' house and then hitting up Antone's Po' Boys for lunch, my mom, brother and I made our way to the grandiose Memorial City Mall to do some Christmas shopping. My brother and I split from my mom so that we could shop for her and my sister while she shopped for us, and we managed to run into each other only once - at Macy's. Which I'm glad happened because my mom had somehow interpreted the "workout pants" on my Christmas list as any kind of pants with spandex (pocketed, wool, splatter painted, etc.) and I was able to dash in and end the confusion before she purchased something really weirdo. "Look for these brands mom... Nike." What? Gotta rep Oregon.

This afternoon of being good consumers reminded me that I desperately needed to write this post. I had been wanting to write about gifts-ideas ever since I saw the amazing preview of "Oprah's Ultimate Favorite Things" where people in the audience were hugging and bawling their eyes out and carrying on in a really entertaining way, but then I got super busy and it never happened. Till now.

Well, this is a guide you can use next year. Sorry peeps, you have less than 24 hours to get this done and at this point I'm afraid you're screwed. Or just go to Target... they have something for everyone.

Without further ado about nothing, I give you my shopping list inspired by real-life family members:

1. Beer mugs/glasses for my little brother, who just happens to be 21 and likes to drink lots of beer. Thankfully, he's moved on from the days of being the disheveled guy standing in the front lawn of a house party getting soaked by the sprinkler and having beer cans thrown at him (all in good fun)... He now has a serious girlfriend, two jobs, is getting closer to college graduation and can handle drinking with few party fouls. Red plastic cups can now be reserved for beer pong and flip cup...

Left: Immature brother who likes to play Pong all day. Right: Mature brother who likes to hang out with his sister and grandfather.

2. A subscription to Hobby Farms Magazine for my mom. If you knew my mom and her situation currently, you'd freak out that this magazine exists, because it is the perrrrrfect gift for her. Farming is her hobby, literally. I haven't mentioned this yet, but this whole time I've been sitting here typing away in the kitchen of my mom's farmhouse in Chappell Hill, Texas. What once was a weekend place has become her full-time residence, and she is obsessed. And lemme me tell ya, she ain't no Farmville farmer - she's a real farmer, yo! She has a sizable piece of property with a horse, a dog, a cat and lots of cows. Whenever she calls me in an incredibly good mood, I know that "a new calf was born today!!!!" is about to come out of her mouth. And then she always tells me what she named it, and they are pretty awesome names. My favorite name that she ever came up with is "Friendly." Friendly the cow. There's also Purdy, Pedro, J.D. (...who knows where J.D. came from. Is it like, short for the cow's real name?), and I just named "Kima" yesterday - after the ass-kicking lesbian cop on The Wire. (Best. Show. Ever.) My mom said she's a badass little calf, so it totally works...

3. A picnic blanket for my sister, who appreciates all things "classic," like a picnic in the park on a sunny spring day. Probably spawning from our back-to-school shopping at The Gap in elementary school, she has always leaned towards the traditional. For example.... doll collection? Check. A fan of Charles Dickens? Check. Four year attendance at an East Coast private university? Check. Favorite food, chocolate chip cookies? Check. Monet print displayed in her apartment (in Houston's Museum District)? Check. You see what I'm saying? Plus, like I mentioned earlier it's 70 degrees in Houston right now, so she can use the thing year round!

4. A unique piece of art for my in-college, very cool, very smart and very creative cousin who has her very first apartment. Even though this may sound a little Regretsy to you, she is always thinking outside the box: she once took home the lobster tail from her dinner at a seafood restaurant so she could turn it into a pin to wear. Most likely her mom dumped it in the trash as soon as they got home, but her creative ambition alone illustrates what kind of personality she is. ****Okay, my brother just informed me that she actually did turn it into a necklace and wore it until it got moldy... Wow. Obviously she deserves, and would appreciate, art for Christmas. Right, Jenn?

5. Food somethings for the grandparents. Since they live in Houston and I live in a far-away mystical place called Oregon that they've never been to before, they get super excited when I bring them Oregon-made wildflower honey and marionberry jam. Marionberries???? What are those?! A magical edible berry that's grown far far away from Texas! And they happen to taste a lot like blackberries. Wait, they are blackberries? Oh. My bad.

It's the thought that counts, right?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

They're gonna be big in 2011, just wait...

When I had the Southern-style dinner party last weekend, one of my friends gave me the cutest hostess gift ever: an apron from Anthropologie. I am obsessed. How creative and thoughtful, right? If you come over to my house and I'm wearing it - don't assume I'm baking anything. I may have it on just cuz. It's that awesome. Anyway, I've paraded around in it a bit and come to a conclusion: aprons need to make a major comeback. But in order for them to be relevant to the modern young-person's lifestyle, I think the reasons to wear one should be a little bit more "outside of the box." Because seriously, does Rachael Ray even wear one? So, after some careful thought I've figured it out.

An (adorable) apron would be totally appropriate if:

• You are making anything that relies on a recipe. But that's a no-brainer.

• You are heating up leftovers in the microwave, and stirring is involved.

• You're totally into a guy that's coming over and know that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Guys are visual creatures.

• You are writing out a grocery list and need to get "in the zone."

• You are in charge of making drinks when your friends come over to pre-funk.

• You've had too much to drink while pre-funking, and are at risk of spilling all over your "going-out" outfit. Can't let that happen.

• You're a little too obsessed with Mad Men.

or

• You just feel like it, cuz you don't really like what you're wearing today anyway.

So, would you ever rock an apron?