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Business & Tech

Gifts of the Season

Shopping ideas for friends and family

Holiday shopping is similar to picking a restaurant for dinner – you love these people, you see things that make you think of them all the time, and yet when you actually have to buy a gift your entire brain goes blank. Where to go, what to buy? So many people, so little time!

So I did a little perusing for holiday gift ideas to share with you, and found some pretty cool things. I even tried to reserve the impulse to buy everything for myself. Ah one of the great holiday shopping pit falls, the ol’ “one for them, two for me….” trap.

I selected three stores that you can nearly find something for everyone in – lovely, useful, interesting, thoughtful gifts that your friends and family actually won’t throw out or give away.

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Sterling Place

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363 Atlantic Avenue

Sterling Place is one of the best gift shops I know of – always filled with beautiful and unique gift ideas at affordable prices. Their pieces come from all over, and the quality is superb. I found some far out gifts during my recent trip – totally original and person gift ideas. Nothing generic here.

Picnic at Ascot is a British company that has brought picnic products to the US. Sterling Place carries a variety of their pieces. No more plastic bags and paper towel napkins, this is picnic dining courtesy of a Jane Austen novel. The picnic kit for four features a fashionable backpack that has a waterproof liner, thermal shield insulated cooler compartment, detachable wine holder, and comes with melamine plates, stainless steel flatware, cotton napkins, wine glasses, a wine key, a cutting board, cheese knife, and spill proof salt and pepper shakers. I think that this is a beyond awesome gift for someone who you know enjoys summer days in the park or at the beach. The set for four is only $95 and has a lifetime warranty for many picnics to come.

I like to buy gifts for people that are meaningful and a bit sentimental. Sterling Place sells reproductions of historic maps, literally of any location in the country. You can give them the address of where your parents had their first house when they were married and they will reproduce a map. It’s such a thoughtful gift, and will give years of pleasure as well as being a great source of conversation in someone’s home.  Buy a map for $145 framed, or $85 unframed with a basic map. Just make sure to allow two weeks to get your order!

I have the hardest time shopping for men – they’re so utilitarian, but I can’t bring myself to buy them something that isn’t at least a little beautiful or well crafted. I am madly in love with these antique razor handles, circa 1890, that have been fitted with contemporary (changeable) mach3 blades. Shipped form England, these razor handles are all unique, and are made of carved ivory or mother of pearl and sterling silver. The handles are just gorgeous, and at $125 would change the whole feel of the start of your day. They are elegant and refined and remind you of when simple tasks like shaving were an art and a ritual. And I should say, these razors are wonderful for the ladies too.

 

Exit 9 Gift Emporium

127 Smith Street

Exit 9 is a pretty awesome place to find gifts, from fun inexpensive gifts to really interesting cool stuff you’ve never seen. It’s think kind of place that makes you want to think of someone for the gift, rather than trying to find a gift for the person.

You have to wonder how many iPhone users out there wear gloves with the right pointer finger chopped off at the tip. No longer – Echo makes warm gloves ($32) with magnetic threading in the fingertip that allows you to use a touch screen with your gloves on. You don’t have to get frostbite every time you want to send a text message anymore.

I love the housewares at Exit 9, they’re so New York – stylish, well-designed, compact, practical. Joseph Joseph is a company that makes fantastic kitchenware with a strong emphasis on streamline design. A few of my favorite products are the Eight Nesting Bowls ($60), which feature colanders, strainers, and measuring cups and spoons in a rainbow of colors, the Elevate Utensil Set ($50) with six cooking utensils hanging beautifully (and with space efficiency) like a merry-go-round, and the Baking Gift Set $50, raspberry colored rolling pin, pastry brush, spatula, and pie timer. Perhaps best of all, however, is the Chop2Pot ($20) a cutting board that folds in on the sides to allow for you to pour your chopped ingredients right into the pot or pan without all the messing falling of the sides.

Exit 9 also has all sorts of cute gifts that won’t break the bank, like kitchen timers and salt and pepper shakers in adorable shapes and colors for as little as $10.

 

Jonathan Adler

378 Atlantic Avenue

Simple, bright, modern home accessories are the name of the game at Jonathan Adler. This is a great place to find gifts that anyone would appreciate and find a place for in their home.

Delectable Pop Candles and Glasses are a charming gift. Made from hand blown glass in hard candy colors, the candles ($38) come in crazy fragrances like watercress, pepper, fig, and tomato. These candles are like two gifts in one, because once you have burnt them down, you have a fantastic drinking glass. Buy four different ones for different rooms, and soon enough you’ll have a set of great glasses. If you can’t wait, however, you can also purchase Pop glasses in rocks ($14), highball ($18), or goblet ($22).

Another cool gift are the matchstrikes ($42), which come in the shape of a devil, boombox, squirrel, or pipe. I love this kind of stuff, because most people wouldn’t buy a matchstick for themselves, but when gifted, it’s such a cool thing to have. Now when you go to light the candles in the dining room, there will be no more digging around for matches from bad restaurants that have been crushed in back pockets and pocket books.

I absolutely love the Rolling Stones spoon rest ($38). Made from lovely white porceline, and highly useful in the kitchen, this spoon rest is a way of saying to your friend “I know that even though you’re a parent now, you’ve still got some rock n’ roll in you.”

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