In Real Life

The winter holidays are coming up and will probably be here before we know it, so it’s a good idea to start planning now. That’s true in particular if you have a lot of people to buy for. It’s also important if you’re like me and have a significant other who’s picky. Over the years I discovered that romantic gift baskets work particularly well for him. He gets an assortment of things he likes and I get to give a nice-looking gift that doesn’t cost that much. And I don’t even have to pick it up from the store, so it works for both of us. As a result, I’m now a real fan of gift baskets. People have pretty much come to expect that’s what they’ll get from me when I give them a gift. And they tell me they really like them, so that confirms I’m on the right track.

The great thing about giving gift baskets is that they come in so many varieties. When I want to send gifts to people who just finished moving into new homes, I normally order wine and cheese gift baskets. Those also work well as elegant thank you gifts or when someone has finished remodeling a home. Still, there are occasions when I’m not really sure what to give, so I just do a search by gender. Entering the search term for “gift baskets for her” or the opposite ordinarily will give you a list of sites that offer a large selection of baskets that range from coffee to Kosher foods to cookies. So I usually find something I wouldn’t have thought to look for.

My only issue with looking for gift baskets on the Web is that normally I can’t get away from the site without buying something for myself! But I’ve made some great purchases that way. In fact, I’m still enjoying some Parisian wines I purchased in a gift basket I found while searching for a friend’s gift last month. I guess I’d better finish those bottles soon. I’m going to begin my Christmas shopping soon and I’m sure I’ll be buying plenty more for myself!