You waited until the last minute. You found out they spent a lot more on you than you did on them and want to even it out a bit. The recipient runs an account that is a shrine to consumerism and you cannot possibly imagine one more THING she needs. I get it. Here are things that aren’t things that I have bought and liked.
- Eco Modern Concierge Gift Card. Or any local organizer. When I talk to anyone about getting it all done – a lot of people reach their outsourcing maximum at the same place. They have some level of housecleaning service. They do the grocery pickup or delivery. It seems like the delegating comes to an end there. Using an organizing service brought me so much PEACE this year. It’s not just the day the project gets done. To me, the real benefit happens when you bring the people who created the project on to help keep you on track throughout the year. For example, we hired Amy and her team to organize the kitchen and pantry and now every quarter or so, they come back and “touch it up”. They help us get back on track and make changes as our needs change or as they see holes in the current system. We have them come monthly and rotate through different projects every month. We use 3-4 hours every month at around $90/hour.
- Celebrity Memoir Book Club Patreon. TTwo incredibly gifted comedians review celebrity memoirs. Like anyone they save the JUICY shit for the patreon including naming names (especially in the comedy world). They are as hilarious as they are insightful and I believe, like myself, they are haters to their core. I say that with all the love a hater has, truly. I laugh out loud at least once in almost every episode. I have started an internet campaign to get them to cover The End of Normal on their show.
- Pop Apologists Patreon – TTwo sisters who are the kind of people you pray you get sat next to at a dinner party – engaging and quippy. They cover all things pop culture and their patreon is so juicy that they sometimes only leave them up for a week. They feel like Call Her Daddy read some books and got a show on E! (Okay writing this I just googled that Alex Cooper went to Boston University. But she got $60M from Spotify and I went to a state school so this is punching up and totally fine.)
- Chili Oil – My dad is a man of many talents. At his core he is a maker. He makes all kinds of stuff. Food stuff. Wood stuff. Robot stuff. Art stuff. He makes everyone’s Christmas gifts and one of the things he made last year we have enjoyed all year this year. He made Yeung Man Cooking chili oil. Pizza. Eggs. Corn on the cob (or really any veggies). And of course literally every Asian inspired meal you can think of.
Sidenote – if you have a tinkerer in your life, google Maker Spaces near me and consider buying a day pass for them. Maker spaces are exactly what they sound like. They often have expensive machinery someone on hand can teach you to use like 3-D printers, vinyl and plastic cutting machines.
The last two links here are for https://ecomodernconcierge.com/services