Gemütlichkeit Gift Guide

There are so many gift guides these days, I debated making this one, except that it's just fun to do. Kind of like how we used to circle things we wanted in a catalogue even if they weren't realistic. And maybe if you are struggling to find something for someone, you get an idea here.

1 The Future Without You

Book by Max Pinckers & Thomas Sauvin. You may recognize Thomas Sauvin's name from his Beijing Silvermine project where he has created "an archive of over a million negatives salvaged over the last 14 years from a recycling plant on the edge of Beijing." This, however, is a book from discarded transparencies of 90s stock photography.

2 Russ & Daughters

Care packages shipped. This is the first place I recommend to anyone going to NYC. My Oma always served lox for Christmas, and I say every year I'm going to order this. Shipping is pricey, so a cheaper alternative that also feels like a warm hug would be a couple of boxes of Manischewitz matzo ball mix. By the way, Manischewitz did a major brand overhaul in the last year and it is so good. Here is the Before for comparison.

3 Jello Lighter

Decor from Edie Parker. Those who know me know I have a special place in my heart for Jello. Here is a permanent and useful sculpture that will not melt as Jello does in FedEx shipments. I learned this the hard way.

4 Lego

I love putting together Legos and they have a lot of fun "adult" stuff such as the Back to the Future DeLorean, a dried flower table centerpiece, and an Atari 2600.

5 The Browser

🦒 Subscription to their full edition. I've become hooked on their free email which includes two long form articles each day and they're never things that I've already seen somewhere else. Their paid edition includes five stories plus video and podcast recs.

6 Gerber Pocketknife

Gerber Pledge in Lichen Green. Probably the most useful thing I own is my pocketknife, and there's no better feeling than seeing someone struggling with opening a package or realizing their bottle is not a twist-off, and being able to come to the rescue. This is not the knife I carry daily, but one that I found researching a gift for someone else. I can't bring myself to remove it from my cart, and I'll probably buy it one day.

7 Calm Strips

I find certain textures soothing and I can't decide if these would be awesome or feed a bad habit.

8 Huggies

I found that I was not wearing earrings consistently and the holes were always just about to grow back together, when I decided to try (go back to) wearing the kind that you just keep in all the time. I found Studs.com and lo and behold it was earrings and not some porn site. I like that you can buy all of their earrings as either pairs or singles.

Happy Festivus! And even if you celebrate none of the upcoming holidays, remember there's always someone you know with a December birthday.