gift guide: BFF edition

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I love shopping for my BFF! Well, really I love shopping for all of my friends. They're easy because they don't ask for anything and there's nothing they really need, so I can just get them fun stuff I know they'll love. The key to shopping for your BFF is to give her something that makes her feel special, but that she probably wouldn't buy for herself. Like these luxurious Hanky Panky boyshorts (the best boyshorts in the history of boyshorts)... they're awesome, but I have a hard time spending $30 a pop on underwear. Or the Capri Blue candle from Anthro... the best candle in the history of candles (noticing a theme here?) but again, I have a hard time spending $30 on a candle. Okay, maybe I'm just cheap. All I know is that any of these would make a great gift for the gal who knows all your dirty secrets and loves you anyway.

Stay tuned for the final gift guide next week... gifts for (almost) anyone!

gift guide 2012: husband edition

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I don't know about you, but the man in my life is rather hard to shop for. He buys classic things that last and don't need replacing very often, which over time means that the list of things he "needs" gets pretty slim. And what's worse, he already has most of the things on this list (1-3) so my own gift guide doesn't help me much, but hopefully it will help you!

I can't recommend the Red Wing boots enough… they're classic, and of impeccable quality. And the lip balm is one of the few products I can get Jared to use on a regular basis. Now let's chat about #5, since I know this one is probably a little controversial… but there isn't a man alive that wouldn't want photos like this of his wife! The trick is to find a really high quality photographer who specializes in this type of photography. I haven't done a boudoir shoot, but I think I would someday… I think it would be fun to get my hair and makeup all done up and pretend I'm a Victorias Secret model for an afternoon. You know, a VS model who has barely worked out since she had a baby and shows only the teensiest bit of skin. Hot! But seriously, you should go for it. I've heard from several women who said it was a huge ego boost. And I'm guessing it would be your husband's favorite gift ever. :)

Stay tuned for next week's gift guide for your BFF!

gift guide 2012: toddler edition

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Every Wednesday until Christmas I'll be posting a gift guide with shopping ideas for all of your favorite people. I'm starting off with a guide designed for my favorite little gal.

We try to keep Emma's play space clean and uncluttered so we decided not to get her any toys this year. (We realized this is probably the last year we'll get away with that, so might as well take advantage of it while we still can!) We asked family members for board books (we loooove the Pigeon books) and art supplies for her, and we're giving her the Learning Tower (#1) and made her a personalized mini book of names & faces (#3).

What are you getting for the toddler in your life this Christmas?