happy holiday season, friends!
i for one am thrilled to have made it through thanksgiving relatively unscathed (families are hard, that is all i will say) and free to spend the next few weeks decking the proverbial halls with sparkle and twinkly lights and frasier fir candles. i love this time of year, when it’s cold and cozy but not yet so freezing that you can’t go outside without seeing your breath refracted in the winter air. when every day is a candle day and a baking day and a big comfy sweater day and a maybe i’ll make a big pot of minestrone just because it’s chilly outside day.
i also love this time of year because giving gifts is my love language. and—not to toot my own horn—i think i’m pretttty good at it. i love nothing more than spotting and purchasing the perfect present (i often buy gifts months ahead of time, both for the holidays and for birthdays!). i love wrapping paper and ribbons. i love the surprise, the exclamation of oh my god i love it, the happiness of trying the new thing on or out immediately.
and while yes, we should talk about consumerism and capitalism and the whole “no one really needs presents” thing, giving people gifts makes me really happy.
which is why i spent an ungodly number of hours curating the 100 or so gifts you see in this guide. so! let’s get into it, shall we? i hope you love these. i hope you shop from them, because please goddess make those hours worth it, you know? but mostly, i hope they make you as happy as they make me. times are tough right now, and the joyful act of giving someone you love something they’ll love—well, that’s the type of joy i want and need.
ps: this is most certainly too long for email, so if you’re reading in your inbox, make sure you click to read the full thing in your browser!
without further ado, i present to you…
there is little i love more than something sparkly, so i thought: why not dedicate an entire series of gifts to all that glitters?
pearl headband | sequin bag | rhinestone beanie | red hair bow | celestial studs | metallic eyeliner | gold bubble hoops | gold sparkly socks | sparkle lurex sponges | silver croc coin pouch | gold metallic makeup bag | iridescent medium pouch | rms living luminizer | rhinestone encrusted earmuffs | gold moon necklace | bow studs |
my take on home gifts = gift the things that one might see out in the world and think, well, i shouldn’t really spend my money on that. ie, don’t make them super practical (though practical is nice when it’s pretty, like gingham oven mitts or patterned aprons!). make them beautiful and sophisticated; everyday objects, but elevated.
heidi caillier book | double sided brass vase | jonathan adler gold lips mug | floral coffee mug | gold hand incense holder | NYT no recipes recipes (sam sifton is the best!) | gingham oven mitts | brass teapot | marble trivets | black painted cups | maison louis marie candle set (one of my fave scents!) | patterned apron | pink + purple wine glasses |
this set might be my favorite, because it’s full of things i truly adore—many of which i own and love already. we’ve got my go-to travel wrap, my favorite socks, the highlighter that’s basically the paris filter IRL, my favorite all-natural cleaner, and the lip/cheek tint i wear every single day. we might as well have called it things sarah loves. but little luxuries works, too.
olverum pillow mist | heart beanie | summer fridays jetlag mask (the GOAT for dry skin) | summer fridays tinted lip balm set (i want this!) | chai candle | hillhouse home insulated tumbler | the very best socks | cashmere wrap (use code INFG-SARAHJ10 for 10% off!) | fancy soaps | merit highlighter (this is what i’m wearing when you compliment my skin!) | tomato leaf candle (the most incredible scent) | safran candle | saint olio cleaning spray (obsessed with this brand) | olio e russo lip + cheek tint (i love french melon!) |
hear me out: it’s hard to buy clothes for other people. but people you know really, really well? buying clothes for them can be a slam dunk. for one, clothing is a gift they’ll get a lot of wear out of. it’s also a chance for them to get something they might not splurge on for themselves, but really want. do this category right, and you can knock gift-giving out of the park.
leopard print scarf | periwinkle beanie | sherpa coat (looks so much more expensive than it is!) | fuzzy birkenstock clogs | silver loafers | the BEST oversized cardigan | alpaca crewneck sweater | demain tee | clare v lips baseball hat | french enough sweatshirt | navy blue sambas | the coziest varley zip | red leather mini tote
back when i went into the office on the regs, i was alllll about the paper goods. now that i work from home 99.99% of the time, i have less reason to buy pretty pads of paper and my favorite pens—but i gotta say, having curated this series, i’m tempted to deck out my at-home workstation with all of the things. or, at the very least, spruce up my to-do list game.
wonderland puzzle | colorful file folders | market list pad | 5 year journal keepsake set | days of the week to do list | the BEST pens (le pen for the win!) | floral washi tape <3 | lips pad | heart notepad | pretty pencil set
i take my auntie responsibilities (my two oldest and dearest friends both have young kids) very seriously, and that means starting early on their holiday lists and attempting to CRUSH the gift-giving game. this year, crushing it meant ordering “color them in yourself” pajamas (so fun!!) for one set of kiddos (along with lots of fun stickers for the older one, who is sticker-crazy) and snagging the above wireless headphones for the other (on his wishlist, according to his mom!). crossing fingers and toes they’re happy on christmas day!
wireless kid’s headphones | lite bright (my friend joia said she thought her 4 year old son would LOVE this!) | teddy bear slippers | heart stickers | little hunter boots | custom baseball hat (i got these for the kiddos last year. rave reviews!) | colorme pjs | tonie box (i hear great things about these screenless storytellers!) | custom name crayons | iridescent puffy coat |
it’s me, hi, i’m the problem, it’s me. and by problem i mean SOLUTION TO ALL OF YOUR PROBLEMS BECAUSE HERE IS A GUIDE ENTIRELY FOR THE SWIFTIE IN YOUR LIFE. and yes, friends. i want every single item here. because of course i do. also: everything you see above is from etsy, which means it’s highly likely that shopping the above board = supporting a small business. win-win!
album mug (covered in) swiftie stickers | cornelia street sweatshirt | tay-do list | vigilante shit beanie (obsessed) | taylor pencils | get it off my desk notepad | cassette keychains | “still at the eras tour” mug | karma is a cat sweatshirt | holiday house baseball hat | fuck the patriarchy keychain |
this category is full of things to make you smile, make you giggle, make you happy. or all of the above. i mean, hello mushroom disco ball. hi, yes chef hat. and honestly, who doesn’t need a fuck it pillow?!
fuck it pillow | DILF mug | wavy phone case | pedro pascal bookmark | yes chef hat | floral pop sockets | striped packing cubes | NY or nowhere tote | disco ball mushroom | smiley face sweatshirt | starface acne patches | bon voyage passport case
i try my best to buy a good portion of my gifts from local shops—both in my hometown and here in new york. a good 80% of what you see above comes from leif, an amazing gift and home shop on grand avenue in williamsburg that i ADORE. if you find yourself in new york, make sure you pay them a visit. if not, you can order online!
wild ideas notepad | lost letters candle | martini olive picks | dried flower bouquet | fuzzy slippers | bath bombs | blue floral ceramic dish | get your ducks in a row notepad | floral washi tape | breathe shower pebbles (aromatherapy for your bod!) | salt soak | brass flower spoon | rainbow claw clip |
last but not least, a sneak peek into my own (somewhat imaginary, somewhat real) wishlist. a few of these things are more than i can expect anyone to spend, but i’m hopeful my fam in particular will take note and go in on one or two of these. there’s my favorite everlane cardigan—now in hot pink and on sale for under $100!—a gift certificate to my favorite hot yoga studio, metallic snowboots that would be PERFECT for my new year’s weekend trip to canada, the most perfect metallic leather pouch (if you travel, you can never have enough pouches), and a very practical option: a new humidifier, to help me get through steam heat winter here in new york.
metallic leather pouch | humidifier | pink cardigan (i’m a size L, fam) | floral washi tape (can you tell i love this and put it on multiple guides?!) | lurex metallic sponges | rhinestone ballet flats | y7 yoga gift card | silver snow boots | clare v book | summer fridays lip balm |
and there we have it!
approximately a zillion gifts, many of which are on sale right now and will undoubtedly still be on sale when you reach the bottom of this newsletter, as it’s cyber monday, and the deals are hot hot hot.
thanks, as always, for supporting this newsletter. shopping these links = giving me a tiny commission as compensation for the hours upon hours of work i put into sourcing these guides, and perhaps more importantly, giving me a cushion to start saving up to leave corporate america someday (like, many somedays away, but still!).
Thank you for putting together such an amazing gift guide, Sarah! Love the kids colorme PJ's and definitely going to gift them to some of my friends little ones :)
The rhinestone ballet flats! The saffron-scented candle! The "fuck it" pillow sham! What a gift guide, Sarah. Thank you!