#275: Gift Giving Ideas

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Elsie:

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You're listening to The Beautiful Mess Podcast, your cozy comfort listen. This week we're going to share

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ideas for putting together advents, unique ideas, low cost or free holiday gift ideas, epic personalized gift

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ideas and neighborly gift ideas. And we'll also share our book report. Are you ready to talk about gifts?

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Emma:

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Let's do it. Let's do it. Gift giving season.

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Elsie:

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Hell yeah. I love gift giving. I love gift giving. What I love most is it's your love language, the planning. I

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think it's my love language. Yeah. Of the, it brings me so much joy. The Five Love Languages by Gary

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Chapman. I remember that from our childhood.

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Emma:

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Yes. And you like receiving gifts and you like giving gifts. Yes. And I do think you are a very good gift giver.

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Elsie:

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Thank you. So these tips are all brought to you by all, and gifting is really fun. I do think it is an

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opportunity to make people feel seen, and it can also just be fun. I also think making it fun for yourself

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instead of it being a chore is a good perspective to try for. So yeah, no, I definitely agree with that. I think

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that there have been years of my life where I didn't have very much money. And holiday gift giving was

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stressful and you difficult and frustrating. And then there have been years of my life where I was kind of

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just checking the boxes and just trying to get it done. And then there have been years where I really got

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into it and enjoyed it. So that's what we're trying to make this episode about. Wherever you are in life,

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hopefully. I personally don't think you can enjoy buying every single gift on the list. If you're like me and

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you do, I do the whole family. Every single thing. There's one person that does everything and it's me.

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And I think a lot of women have that role in their families, and it's a common thing or whatever. I'm not

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saying it should be that way, but way for some people it is. And for me, it's like I just kind of took on that

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role and at a certain point I tried to sort of get my husband to do part of it, and it just didn't really work

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for us. So I just took it back and I was like, whatever, I'll just whatever. But yeah, I think that the years,

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whenever I put the most thought and planning into it are the most fun. So hopefully this episode will

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help you if you're working on gift giving, to put a couple of things in there that are unique and fun and

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bring you joy. I do think that it should be fun for the person buying the gifts and not just a chore.

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Hopefully. Hopefully. What's your thoughts on it? Do you do most of your gifts and do you enjoy it?

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Emma:

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Yeah, I like buying gifts. I don't do tray side of the family. I think that's kind of what you're talking about. I

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don't know when, but at some point I did. I think in the beginning of our marriage you cut him off, but at

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some point I said, I'm not going to do this anymore. It's your job. I wasn't brave enough. Well, I did

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before I said it and I was kind about it. It just wasn't like a fight or anything before I said it though. I did

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tell myself, I was like, look, if it doesn't get done, you have to accept that you cannot then just take it

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over embarrassed or you're whatever you need to mean it if you're going to say it. And so I did. There

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have been times that something got forgotten or not bought. There have been times that I didn't buy a

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gift for someone on my side of the family. I forgot. And I accept all of that. It's fine, whatever at the end

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of the day, for real, who cares? You know what I mean? It's just gifts and yeah, I don't know. I feel like it

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should never really be a big problem in a relationship. I would hope not, but I just don't buy anything

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beside his family. And then on our side of the family, some years ago, I'm trying to remember what even

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year we decided, but we had a year where us siblings got together and we were like, Hey, let's not do

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gifts for each other anymore. Let's just do gifts for the kids and gifts for our parents. And we're not going

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to do each other, not because we don't love each other, but just like it's a lot of planning. It's a lot of

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logistics. Yes, it's a lot of money too, but it's kind of more like just doing it. So we try to do something

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special for birthdays or other times of year. I actually think a random GIF is really fun and we all just

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agreed to that and have stuck to it. And I think that's great too. Some people would not like that, some

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do it. But if that's something you maybe bring up and see what your family thinks, I think that can relieve

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a lot of stress sometimes. It just depends. Great. No reason not to discuss it. Just bring it up and you can

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always be like, no, nobody wants to do it. That's fine.

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Elsie:

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Yeah, I think that especially if you're in a situation where a lot of people are trading gift cards, that's a

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good time to be like, Hey, can we not don't do it?

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Emma:

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Or what if we do more of a white elephant? Everybody buys a gift card and so you get one or whatever,

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and we all put it into a pot and we have a little moment or whatever, that kind of thing.

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Elsie:

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Okay. Let's talk about white elephants first. They're called all kinds of names. I don't know what they are,

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but we do one in our book club. We do one in Jeremy's side of the family. I think that it is one of the best

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ways to do a low budget gifting situation where it's like, it's fun. It's fun for a party. Everyone can spend

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$10. You can make it where it's not too expensive for anyone. It's fun. It's a thing to do. You know what I

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mean?

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Emma:

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Yeah. A lot of times it ends up being an event at the party. It's almost like you're playing a game. And

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that's sort of half the fun of it, really. Some people even do, I think they call 'em gag gifts where it's

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something bad that nobody wants or that type of thing, and it's meant to be funny. And that's great.

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Elsie:

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On Jeremy's side of the family, last year, his mom started doing a white elephant, but you have to bring

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something from your house that you already had. So it was literally free and the gifts were hilarious and

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just awful, horrible, awful funny. All the things. A couple of them were sweet, a couple of them were

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normal. But I feel like people, if we do it again, people will be even more unhinged. You kind of see what,

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because you got the vibe, so you're like, okay. Yeah. It's like re-gifting really horrible things, basically is

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the vibe. And it's fun. Love it. I love it. So yeah, I would suggest that if you're looking for a way to make a

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party fun and silly, and I personally thought that the bringing stuff from home was just as good as the

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$10 gift because it's with the $10 gift, I feel like I'm trying to find something that's technically $10, but

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it's really better than that, and I'm trying to, you know what I mean? Yeah. It's actually kind of hard to do.

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It's hard. Yeah. The 10 limit I think is really difficult. I always end up with a book or something or a bunch

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of basically just lying. That's how I do it. But for a book club, because I don't want to just bring one thing

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that's 10, I want it to be exciting. You know what I mean? I think our limit on the book club was, so in our

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book club, we do a favorite things. That's what kind of the theme of it is. And I want to say it's like 25 for

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$30. We probably said it slightly different every year. I really don't remember. But the idea is whatever

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your favorite thing from that year. So it could be a lip gloss, it could be a candle, it could be a new

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minstrel cup. It could be a book. A lot of people brought menstrual cups and I was like, or disc. So glad I

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don't get one of those.

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Emma:

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It could be anything. Skincare, a really, really cool can opener. It could be anything. And I think what's fun

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about that, especially in a book club of all women, is we kind of all have similar interest anyway. I kind of

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know I can buy skincare in that group. Whereas if it's like your family, I don't know if everybody would

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want that. True. So it's that. And then also somebody kind of takes notes during that gift exchange. And

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there's many times that I will buy things that were from the gift exchange that I didn't end up getting

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that, but it was like someone was like, this is the best lip gloss. This is the, and then I end up buying all

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those things because it's almost like a little bit of show notes. That's true. The show notes were really

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good from that one. Yeah. So that's fun. So that's a good one for friend groups or things like that. Yeah.

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Elsie:

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Yeah. No, I love the favorite things. Okay, let's talk about advents. Okay. Advents is one of my great

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passions in life. So okay, this year I want to talk first about making an advent for an adult or a friend

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because I think, okay, so there's two different kinds of people. There's people that like small gifts and

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there's people that hate them. And I think knowing your friends, you have to know your audience. So

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obviously children love advents love. They love, love small gifts. You can do the 24 days for any child and

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you'll nail it. It's actually really easy and it's really fun. But this past summer or spring we made, so we

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made our friend turn 40 and we made her a box of 40 gifts. And I'm not going to lie, it was a lot of work.

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It was the most work I've ever put into a gift before by a lot. It took probably a month and hundreds

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more dollars than I admitted to you. Whenever I sent you the, I was like, how much Tobin on me? I want

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to pay half. And you told me and I was like, there's no chance. There's no way. She is lying. I was being

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nice. It was so fun though. It was the most fun. So if you want to give, but you have to know that it's the

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right audience. A lot of my friends, they wouldn't want 40 small gifts. This particular person, she loved it.

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And she even spaced it out where it lasted longer. It was really, really, it was just perfect. So that was

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really fun. But yeah, some of the stuff we put in the adults, I wanted to give some examples. So we put

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books and then there was a lot of cosmetics. There was a lot of, and I tried to do things that weren't

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super color specific, so the day hair stuff or lip glosses or my favorite hair oil or what else? Things like

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that. There was a lot of stuff like that. There was a couple bigger things. I know there was a pink dutch

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oven, there was a pink water bottle. There was some stuff like that. There was a couple of edible things.

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So I did a couple of those. World market has these treat boxes where it's treats of Japan or treats of, I

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don't know where else. I think I got the German. I think I got the German one for her. So that was fun.

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Emma:

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And I do feel like that's a key to doing an advent. So if you're doing advent for Christmas, then it's all the

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days leading up before Christmas. And I think it's good to think about, okay, I'm going to do three to five

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biggies. And then there's other little things that are the inbetweens, because every single day shouldn't

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be a biggie. That's kind of crazy. And also let's maybe too much, too excitement, too much money, too

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much everything.

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Elsie:

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Well, yeah, that's the other thing that I have to always think about is I don't want to give a gift that's

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going to make someone feel bad because it's too big. And I do do that sometimes and I don't care. But I

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don't know, you do want to get the perfect medium where it's not too crazy where they're like, I love

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this, but they're not like, oh my God, do I owe you my life? So I got her two days were hyper personal.

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One was a Barbara Streisand t-shirt, which just from Etsy, she loves Barbara Streisand, and that's not a

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common. And then the other one was an autographed Robert Redford poster that I got from eBay. And

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then I just reframed it cuter and that because Robert Redford was her celebrity crush. He actually passed

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right after this. So that was sweet. Anyway, so that was one of the, it was so fulfilling. I cannot

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recommend enough. So if you have a friend who would like a lot of small things, and I think it would also

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be 40 is a lot. If you did it for someone turning 18 or 20, that would be half as many. So I got one when I

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turned 16. It was 16 little gifts. Oh, really? Yep. Oh, that's cute. Yeah, it's cute. Sweet. And then, okay, so

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as far as examples for kids, so I will say I graduated our nieces to the Sephora Advent calendar, which is,

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they're teenagers. They're teenagers, they like it. It's just what they like. It's just the right stuff for their

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age. And obviously it's like a thousand times easier for me to just order the one calendar and ship it to

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them than it is to put together 24 gifts. But I still do the 24 gifts for the little kids, and I think this year I'm

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just doing Oscar and my kids. And then next year I'm going to add in Hugo's too little, in my opinion, this

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year he doesn't need it. Our other little niece will be three next year. I think we're going to start at three.

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So anyway, so for the kids gifts, the biggest tip that I think helps is to, number one, collect all year.

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Number two, with little kids, there is no reason not to reuse old toys that I sometimes put things in

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Oscars that are little stuffies or little. I had this pair of binoculars. I just found that the kids perfect things

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like that. You know what I mean? It's like there's nothing wrong with it. And you have to have 24

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different little packages to open.

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Emma:

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He has a lot of toys that used to be Novas that he loves, like that microscope that talks to you. He pulls

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that out all the time and it's just like something Nova gave him. I think she was kind of over it. It's great.

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Yeah.

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Elsie:

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And then my other tip for the kids is to put a good amount of edible gifts in there. So just little packages

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of cookies, sometimes candy, sometimes just like the holiday aisle of snacks. Just go in there and get

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some snacks. And that also helps fill up the days and it helps space out the bigger things. And it's just not

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as much stuff accumulating for your home and then it goes away. It's fine. And then, yeah, there are so

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many places that sell amazing quality advents, like Lego makes lots of advents. Sephora is unmatched. I

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really think it's the best advent that it exists. We love the David's tea. Advent. We've done that lot times.

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I do that one with my partner. I've seen candle ones and there's just, anthropology has a lot of cute ones

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too. If you go on there and look, they have different kinds. They have a candle one. I think it's 12 days

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though. But anyway, yes. So yeah, I think advents are one of my favorite things to give. But remember

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that you should give it to them at the end of November, so they can start it on December 1st and then

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they will get to savor the 24 days of small things. In my opinion, for kids, it's so much better than just

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having it all stuffed into a stocking and getting it all at once. Getting it spaced out is really nice. So let's

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talk about creative gifts. So this year, I think I talked about this on a previous episode, I think on the

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bucket list one, but one of my goals for my kids is to get more useful gifts because last year I had this sad,

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the week after Christmas there was this big box of all their presents in the living room, and there was

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just a lot of stuff that they just kind of never really reached for And it was really not cool. I was like, oh, I

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wasted and I didn't like that. So this share, I'm trying to focus more on stuff that is a little more practical

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and for sure we'll get toys, but just not as many. And so this year I will probably do pajamas and slippers.

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I've already been ordering a lot of their gifts are going to be art supplies because I think that art supplies

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are just one of the ultimate gifts that you can give that keeps on giving. If you get, I found these really

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pretty watercolor pins with a journal that's like a wonderful, joyful gift. And the other day, our 7-year-old

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used an entire pack of watercolor postcards in one sitting. So I was like, okay, she can do this apparently.

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Emma:

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So yeah, on the art supplies thing or I don't exactly know where this tip fits, so I'm just going to put it

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here. So I do a thing where in my phone I will take a screenshot of something that I basically want to buy

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my kids, but I don't need to be buying them stuff every single week. So then I have this folder that's just

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basically gift ideas and a lot of it is art supplies. So that's what made me think of this. And you could put

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things for your partner. It's kind of buying gifts all year round, but if it's something that you don't

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necessarily need to buy that month, you can just take a screenshot of it. It also for me, sometimes makes

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me think about it for longer, and especially for little kids who kind of change their interests kind of a lot.

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Sometimes you screenshot something in October and by the time you're buying stuff in December, they

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actually aren't into that show anymore or that color or whatever. They're kind of more into this other

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thing. So you can then be like, oh, I'm not going to buy this thing, or, oh, this screenshot, it's a turtle, but

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I'm going to buy the fish version or whatever. And so it kind of just helps me stay a little bit organized.

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And it also makes me shop less. I will just buy my kids, especially art supplies off Amazon constantly. And

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I think that's sweet. But I also don't want them to to appreciate things. And I also want to be a little more

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focused. And I also think me buying stuff all the time is not necessarily a good habit for me. So this is just

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kind of a way that I'm shopping on my phone, but I don't actually buy anything. Also, this is sort of a side

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note, but I don't log into Amazon on my phone. I just am not logged in there and I don't have my login

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memorized. I only am logged in on my desktop that way. I cannot buy things from my phone. I have to

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save it in a cart or screenshot it. And then when I'm at my desktop later, I will buy things and it just

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makes me buy less, which is, it just makes me buy more thoughtfully. It's not like my goal is to not buy

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anything. You can make goals around that and that's great. I don't have a specific goal around that at the

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moment. I just want to be thoughtful when I purchase anything rather than just, I'm kind of bored and

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these look like fun crowns for my kids, I'm going to buy 'em right now. It's like, eh, that's not necessarily a

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good habit.

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Elsie:

00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:17.000
No, I get it. Yeah, I mean, when you've done a big declutter, which we've recently done a big declutter in

00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:18.000
our kids' rooms, it really puts it in perspective. That's probably a good thing to do right before you

00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:19.000
Christmas shop so that you don't buy the same types of things that you just decluttered.

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Emma:

00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:21.000
I always clean out their rooms right before Christmas and right before their birthdays. Good. Cause I

00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:22.000
know they're about to get more stuff and I don't want it to feel, I want 'em to be excited about the new

00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:23.000
things and use the new things. And it's just a great time too, if your kids notice when you're getting rid of

00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:24.000
their stuff that maybe they really don't use it, but they just want to hang onto it. That's a good time to do

00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:25.000
it because then they don't notice as much because then they get all these new things for Christmas or

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their birthday.

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Elsie:

00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:28.000
Yeah, no, that's good advice. Yeah. Okay. So creative. I think that doing your Christmas shopping at a

00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:29.000
store, Michael's is a great thing to do, but just bottom line, I think it's just a wonderful, if you have a local

00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:30.000
art shop, I'm jealous. Even better. Yeah, jealous. I'm jealous. And you're very lucky. A fancy set of

00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:31.000
watercolors. I will always be happy when I receive a journal. Always. That's always a great gift. I will

00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:32.000
always use it. I'm just a journal person, a notebook person. You know what I mean? So yeah, creative

00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:33.000
gifts are a great way to go. Okay, so let's talk low cost slash free gifts. So I already talked about how I

00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:34.000
reuse a bunch of my kids' stuff for Oscar's Advent, which I is great, is just practical. It sounds maybe a

00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:35.000
little bit bad, but I would buy the same types of things. You know what I mean? So it's like, I don't know,

00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:36.000
there's really no downside to it. It just feels a little weird. If you've ever bought someone a gift from the

00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.000
thrift store, that also feels a little weird, but there's nothing wrong with it. It's like there's nothing bad

00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:38.000
about it. You're buying them something probably more tailored to their interests than you would from a

00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:39.000
place like Target. You noticed it in a place like a thrift store. You know what I mean? It probably proves

00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:40.000
that they will it even more. It's just a thing that I think maybe it's a Midwestern thing, but I feel like we

00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:41.000
weren't raised to think about giving secondhand things to other people. I don't know. Something's a little

00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:42.000
weird about it. Well, they don't make commercials about it, but just consider this a commercial for it

00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:43.000
right now. Yeah, no, but I love it. If anyone ever gives me something like a used book or anything like

00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:44.000
that, it's always the best. It's always great because it's personal. Yeah, well tell 'em about the books with

00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:45.000
the notes. So yeah, my best free gift idea that I've ever done, it was like three or four years ago, a while

00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:46.000
ago, maybe two, I dunno, maybe two, I dunno. A couple of years ago I wrapped up for Emma. It was

00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:47.000
maybe 10 favorite books of the year. It was a lot. And it was so fun. And then in the beginning of each

00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:48.000
book, I put a post-it note. That was kind of my review of the book, and I actually have kept track and I

00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:49.000
know that she did not read all those books. And some of them she gave away to other people that they

00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:50.000
suited better, which that's good you gave them to remember how you gave Michelle that one book and

00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:51.000
it's like, because it suited her better.

00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:52.000
Emma:

00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:53.000
Sad emo book probably. I don't remember what it was exactly. I was like, this is, but you knew when I

00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:54.000
started reading the idea of you, I text you right away and I was like, you're posted Inside here is hilarious.

00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:55.000
It was like this book rules the cover's awful.

00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:56.000
Elsie:

00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:57.000
It was like worst cover, best book until the end of time. There's no other book. It Do not get me started

00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:58.000
on the idea of you. You'll regret it. I already did a whole every time.

00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:59.000
Emma:

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No, this was such a great gift too. And it felt very personal. Well, it's like she was giving me something

00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.000
that she had enjoyed. These are books she had read. They were personal recommendations. They were

00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.000
personal recommendations. And they also each had a little note in them that was like, it wasn't that it

00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.000
was about me, it was about the books, but it felt like having a personal shopper for books. It was really,

00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:04.000
really special. And they were all wrapped in these brown papers, so it was like you couldn't tell what they

00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:05.000
were. It was just really, really fun. And it didn't cost anything more than it was hundred percent free.

00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:06.000
Yeah, you'd already bought them. I literally just took them from my bookshelf. I'm always putting books

00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:07.000
out in my little free library. So it's basically stop doing that and just keep the one if you loved it and then

00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:08.000
give it to someone and be like, I read this and I loved it. I thought of you, whatever. It's great.

00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:09.000
Elsie:

00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:10.000
Yeah, I do think that that's a great gift idea. You can also do that with kids' books when your kids are

00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:11.000
outgrowing. We've been going through that lately where I think I'm holding onto some, it's really when

00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:12.000
your kids are outgrowing picture books. But I'm like, but I don't want to not have a thousand picture

00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:13.000
books in my home. You know what I mean? So it is a good time to at least pass some of the favorites on

00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:14.000
to the other littler kids in the family. Yeah. I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm supposed to get

00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:15.000
rid of the board books one day. No, I'm not in that era. You don't have to, but I don't have one can make

00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:16.000
how I'll do it. These are our books though. Yeah. How do we do this? We're fully in chapter book level,

00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:17.000
but that doesn't mean we still can't enjoy. Yeah, I can still read a picture book at bedtime, and that's not

00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:18.000
weird at their ages, but we're kind of coming to the end of it and I can see that and I'm definitely buying

00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:19.000
less of them. But yeah, I don't know. It's magical. And they're a wonderful thing to pass on to other kids

00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:20.000
if you have a chance.

00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:21.000
Emma:

00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:22.000
Okay. Now they're low cost slash, it's not really free. This is more low cost. But I think that giving pictures

00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:23.000
is always a great gift, especially for mothers, grandmothers family members. I mean, I consider when you

00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:24.000
send me a holiday card in the mail that has a picture of your family on it, I consider that a gift. And I put

00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:25.000
them all up on, not on our mantle. I put them on our piano mantle and we look at them all month long

00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:26.000
and I just love it. So that to me is a little gift for casual friends across the country and that kind of thing.

00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:27.000
Family members, you're not going to see that kind of thing. But I also think just nice framed photos of

00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:28.000
your family or of just your kids or whatever, the vibe that you give to people is really, really nice.

00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:29.000
Elsie:

00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:30.000
Yeah, no, I totally agree. I love holiday cards. I think that's one of the best things about being American is

00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.000
our holiday card culture. I do stand by it. I do think it's great. I already bought mine. Yeah, I already had a

00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:32.000
photo shoot and I already bought mine. I love it. I love receiving them. I love giving them Actually helped

00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.000
mine on the fridge the entire year. This year, actually, the old fridge, we just had it moved out of our

00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:34.000
house yesterday and I took them off of it yesterday. So that was also special. I don't know if I'm going to

00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.000
leave them up the whole year, but I did find a place where I could if I want to, and there's something

00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:36.000
really special about it.

00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.000
Emma:

00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:38.000
Yeah, you just get to see your friends who you don't see very often, and you're watching their kids grow.

00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:39.000
And a lot of times it's pictures that they didn't post online for whatever reason, maybe shows the front

00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:40.000
of their home or whatever. And so it's just special and fun. Love it. I need to do my shoot now. Oh, I'm

00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:41.000
always the last person. I always am. The last person this year, I was like, I don't have my together in so

00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:42.000
many ways, but I am going to do the, I want to be the person who you get the Christmas cards right after

00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:43.000
Thanksgiving. Oh my God. I'm like, I'm going to be that person this year. I did my shoot. I already ordered

00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:44.000
the cards. My God, they're sitting in a box in my office right now. I've already done it. Trey was like, what

00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:45.000
is this? Christmas cards? And I was like, I don't have anything together, and I just needed a winner. He

00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:46.000
was like, okay, good for you.

00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:47.000
Elsie:

00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:48.000
Good for you. Look at me like that. Okay, so let's talk about epic personalized gifts. So, oh my god, my

00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:49.000
favorite category. So I think one of the most special things you can give is a leather bound of someone's

00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:50.000
favorite book. Isn't that? That's nice. It's special. It's cool. It's not the kind of thing you're going to buy for

00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:51.000
yourself usually. So it's like it's a pretty safe bet that they don't already have it, and it's just magical.

00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:52.000
Emma:

00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:53.000
And it's almost kind of a decor piece. Obviously it's a literal book, but if it's one of their favorites, they've

00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:54.000
probably read it. They'll probably reread it. I mean, it depends what the book is, I suppose. But it also is a

00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:55.000
nice decor piece that kind of says something about them that you can put on a nightstand, on a shelf,

00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:56.000
wherever, coffee table, whatever.

00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.000
Elsie:

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If you have, okay, a teenager, or, we did this for our kid. So for Nova's birthday, we got her a CD player

00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:59.000
with a book, the books from our youth, the black little binders that go in your car full of CDs. And she

00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:00.000
already has the whole binder completely full. She asks me for a new CD almost every week. She listens to

00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:01.000
them every night. That's really cute. And it's so different of an experience than Spotify. I think there's

00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:02.000
something just developmentally beautiful about listening to whole albums and having that limited

00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.000
amount of choices.

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Emma:

00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:05.000
Honestly, as you're explaining it, I'm like, should I buy a CD player? It's a great gift. I get kind of

00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:06.000
overwhelmed with Spotify. I'm the same way with tv. I end up spending so long trying to pick something

00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:07.000
that I'm like, well, that was all the time that I wanted to watch TV for anyway. So it's like, I don't know. It

00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:08.000
is strange. I didn't grow up with, with streaming or anything like that. It's a whole different thing.

00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.000
Elsie:

00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:10.000
You would use a CD player in your office. If you had five to 10 CDs, you would listen to them and you

00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:11.000
would love it.

00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:12.000
Emma:

00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:13.000
I would, yeah. And I would think about buying another one and decide if I really want it. Know what I

00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:14.000
mean? Yeah. It's the whole thing. It's really cute.

00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:15.000
Elsie:

00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:16.000
No, I love it. And if you're doing more like a teenager or an adult, the same exact thing, but a record

00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.000
player with records, and I think that a record records are one of the most personal gifts that I give every

00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:18.000
single year. I get my husband his favorite records from the year, and it's just such a good, reliable gift that

00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.000
you'll always have more of them to give. As long as that person continues being interested in music,

00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:20.000
there will always be more. You'll never run out. And I think that that's really cool. And it's also just a cool

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:21.000
collection. So epic personalized gifts. There's a lot on Etsy. I just want to say shout out. Just going on Etsy

00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:22.000
and searching personalized gifts, jewelry. Emma and I both have these rings with our kids' names on

00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:23.000
them. Those are just amazing gifts. I don't know, just the kind of thing that you'll keep forever.

00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:24.000
Emma:

00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:25.000
Yeah. My first Mother's day after Hugo, I told, I think Hugo wasn't even born yet. Day is in May, and he

00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:26.000
was born the next month. But that's what I asked for. I was like, here's the link to the Etsy shop. I want

00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:27.000
his name on a ring. It goes next to Oscars. And I wear them every day.

00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:28.000
Elsie:

00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.000
Yeah, they're amazing. And they lost forever. You wear them in the shower, they're quality. And I think

00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:30.000
last year or the year before, we got our mom, this cutting board from Etsy where someone laser printed,

00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.000
they can just laser print an old recipe card. So it was our great grandmother's handwriting, and I think it

00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:32.000
was a cherry cobbler recipe, I want to say. And it just turned out so cute and so special. And that year she

00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:33.000
happened to be getting a new kitchen. So I also think it's a great housewarming gift. If you can get your

00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:34.000
hands on. The old recipe card was the hard part. I had to get my dad's help with that help. Can you think

00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:35.000
of anything else? I also think quilts. Oh yeah, quilts are lovely quilts. They're already very personal. And

00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:36.000
even if you're just choosing the colors that's personal, but sometimes there's quilts with something on it

00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:37.000
that they can be endlessly customized.

00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:38.000
Emma:

00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:39.000
Yes. So these are two other random things that I've bought before for people. So one is for an adult. I

00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:40.000
had bought this for our parents before. So my mom likes cooking a lot. And also my parents are very

00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.000
much homebodies and a lot like me, frankly. So one thing I'll do is set a budget and go to a nicer grocery

00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:42.000
store and just buy anything that I think that they would like. So this could be fancy bottle of olive oil?

00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:43.000
Yeah. Or a jar of really weird pickles. I love a fancy food basket. Yeah, exactly. So it's basically fancy food

00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:44.000
basket, really unique, dried pasta shaped just stuff that I would buy for myself, but I probably wouldn't

00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:45.000
buy all of it at once. And so to me, it's a really fun gift and I put it in a really cute basket that she can

00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:46.000
reuse if she wants. That's just a fun thing. It takes time. You'll be in the store for a little while. I usually

00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.000
pick the basket up or I've brought it with me and kind of making sure it can all fit or I could look cute

00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:48.000
together. And I will say set a budget. You'd be shocked how much you could spend on pickles and olive

00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.000
oil, man. It could start to get astronomical at a certain point, but it's so fun. And then for us in the

00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:50.000
Midwest, it's really cold right after Christmas. It's a season where you stay home a lot. So I think having a

00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.000
lot of fun snacks and things you can cook with is just kind of enjoyable.

00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:52.000
Elsie:

00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:53.000
Yeah. No, I love, that's a great idea.

00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:54.000
Emma:

00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:55.000
So that's one thing for adults, and then something I do for my kids. My kids are at an age where they're

00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:56.000
growing and growing, so their clothes change fairly often. So one of the things that's actually more

00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:57.000
expensive that we buy them from Santa is, and they don't realize what it costs to them. Sometimes the

00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:58.000
most exciting thing to them was the cheapest thing you bought. They're just at that age. So it doesn't

00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:59.000
totally matter. But in my mind, I know we're spending this much on Christmas. I'm budgeting for this and

00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:00.000
this. So one thing we buy them is a really nice warm quality snow outfit. My kids are both boys, and this

00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.000
applies to anyone, but we love to get outside and play. And that doesn't change in the winter, even when

00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:02.000
it snows. In fact, they love being in the snow. But if you don't have the right clothes, and this maybe

00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:03.000
doesn't apply to people who live in warm areas, you might not know this or care about this, but if you

00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:04.000
don't have the right clothes, it's actually really miserable to play in the snow. It's not fun. It's like you feel

00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.000
wet immediately and it's just not enjoyable. But if you have the right clothes, then it's actually really fun

00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:06.000
to be outside sledding for hours. And as an adult, I also have basically a ski outfit, and I don't really ski,

00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.000
and I wear that when I play with my kids outside, and it makes the experience much more enjoyable for

00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:08.000
me. I don't want to be out there in this hodgepodge outfit that just gets wet immediately, and then I'm

00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:09.000
miserable. Get yourself a nice outfit so you can enjoy winter. It's a good idea with your kids. Snow boots,

00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:10.000
love that. Snow boots, gloves that are waterproof. Just do the whole as if you're going to go skiing. That

00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:11.000
way, you just feel good while you're out there. And if they want to sled for two hours, you can. And it's

00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:12.000
great.

00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:13.000
Elsie:

00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.000
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. I only have a few more years till my kids get to the age where they stop

00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:15.000
growing and I can't wait. So to just keep buying boots and coats and all the things you buy every single

00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:16.000
year. Anyway, that's not what this episode is about. But yeah, I can't wait till they can collect clothes like I

00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:17.000
do. It's just better. It's nice. Yeah, it's very nice. Would you rather use your snow boots for 10 years or

00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:18.000
one year?

00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:19.000
Emma:

00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:20.000
Yeah, yeah. Another time you might go to the thrift store and look around. You never know if you can

00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:21.000
find, because it could even happen in the middle of the summer, you find snow boots that maybe you're

00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:22.000
going to fit your kid. And that's great, get 'em, because they probably got used for one season and it's

00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:23.000
just how these things go. Yep. Okay. Anything else on epic gifts? Well, I mean, I do give art. I will say I do

00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:24.000
give art, but only to someone who I know them so well. They have to have a specific taste. They have to

00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.000
be in the home, they're going to be in, and they have to be going for a thing. And then I would buy them

00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:26.000
a little something and I would do it small. But whenever people have ever bought me art, it's always

00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:27.000
perfect. Yeah, I feel like that's one of those things, if you're nailing it, and if you're unsure, don't buy it.

00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.000
You probably don't got it. But if you are like, yes, they're going to love this, then you probably know the

00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:29.000
kind of art that they already have in their home. For sure. Obviously art is an amazing gift, I think, and it

00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:30.000
can be personalized. Our mom just sent us this incredible little painting that she made of the girls, and it

00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:31.000
was just on Jeremy's birthday card, but for sure it's going into a frame and it's more meaningful. It's very,

00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:32.000
very meaningful. So also getting little commissions is a great gift idea, especially with someone with kids.

00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.000
It's just really special. I still have all, we used to have so many people who sent us paintings of our dogs,

00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:34.000
and I still have a lot of those. I say I have a lot of pictures of my dogs and even my dog who passed away,

00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.000
I have them sitting by his little earn up in my library, and I say hi to him, and I kind of look at the pictures

00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:36.000
when I do, and it's still a little part of my home that I enjoy. Good. Although obviously it's more sad after

00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.000
they pass, but it's still kind of sweet for sure. Yeah.

00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:38.000
Elsie:

00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:39.000
No, I'm going to make my Peggy Guggenheim pet graveyard. So it's imminent. There's going to be many,

00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:40.000
many, many, many, many, many pugs before the end of it all.

00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.000
Emma:

00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:42.000
At the rate you're going. Yeah.

00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:43.000
Elsie:

00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.000
Stop. Oh my gosh. Okay. Okay. Okay. So neighborly gifts. So this is just like, let's do teacher, teachers,

00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:45.000
neighbors. So teachers, we actually did this blog post on childhood magic a couple years ago where I

00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:46.000
surveyed a couple hundred teachers, sent me messages on Instagram, and it was absolutely, you

00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:47.000
wouldn't believe how unanimous, they only want money. They only cash. They do not want all the cute

00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:48.000
things that people make on TikTok and Instagram where it's like a basket full of stuff. They do not want

00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:49.000
that. They only want money. And I know that hurts to hear, but I think that it makes sense because you

00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:50.000
can't possibly know your teacher's personal taste well enough to know if you're buying them the right

00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:51.000
color of Stanley or the right bottle of wine or the right, whatever it is, scent of candle. You don't know

00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:52.000
them well enough to buy them a gift like that. They just want a gift card or cash. And I think that's

00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:53.000
respectable.

00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:54.000
Emma:

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And here's what I do for pre-K teachers. So I have him make cards. So we do some kind of art project

00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:56.000
with blank cards where he's made the cards and I might theme it around a holiday, or if it's teacher

00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:57.000
appreciation, then it's like rainbows or whatever. I look up something cute on Pinterest. I do think they, I

00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:58.000
give him ideas, us from kids, they said that too. Letters from, yeah. And then I'll have him tell me what to

00:06:58.000 --> 00:06:59.000
put in the card and whatever he says I put in there, unless it doesn't say thank you, then I add something

00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:00.000
like that. And then I include a picture that's like our family and they may not want to keep it, whatever. I

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just think it's nice. And then I put the cash and the cash is the main thing, but I try to put these things

00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:02.000
around it that's personal and took time. And I want them to know that we really are grateful and

00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:03.000
appreciate them, but also it's the cash, that's the point, the main part of the gift, the thing that costs

00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:04.000
money, and the rest of it is just kind of thoughtful.

00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:05.000
Elsie:

00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:06.000
I think that's the way to do it. I think that's great. Okay. So neighbor gifts. I dunno, this is a good one

00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:07.000
because I have not yet done a thing where I put a gift on every single neighbor doorstep, and we kind of

00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:08.000
live the way our house is situated. We have a lot of neighbors behind too. So we have probably seven or

00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:09.000
eight neighbors. So I think when we moved last time, I did cookie boxes at Halloween, and that worked.

00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:10.000
But this time I'm like, that's a lot of homemade treats and you don't know. So yeah. What do you think is

00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:11.000
a good idea for your neighbors? We've lived here a few years, but we haven't really done this yet, so I

00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:12.000
still need to.

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Emma:

00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:14.000
So one thing I think can be cute, especially if you're wanting to get your kids involved in making

00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:15.000
something for the neighbors. I think that can be kind of a fun project for them. And I also think part of

00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:16.000
the goal of the holidays is to teach them that giving is the important thing. So anyway, one thing I think

00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:17.000
can be fun is making those jars that are like, it's like you can bake cookies from the jar. Does that make

00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:18.000
sense? Oh, that's cute. Yeah. So it's like a jar filled with flour and chocolate chips and baking powder. So

00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:19.000
it has all the basically dry ingredients or shelf stable ingredients of something, brownies, cookies,

00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:20.000
whatever. And then it has a little recipe card on it to tell them, add two eggs to this and bake it for this

00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:21.000
amount of time or whatever. And you can make them really cute where you fill the jar, so all the flour at

00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:22.000
the bottom and then the sugar and then whatever. And so it look really cute, and your kids can add a

00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:23.000
little, they can paint the outside of it. They could add a little hand print, depending on their hq. You can

00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:24.000
make a card. They could decorate the flip side of the recipe card. And it's pretty inexpensive thing to do.

00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:25.000
And I also think, not everyone, I think people can get a little cagey sometimes about baked goods, but

00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:26.000
this is like, it's not baked. It's just the dry ingredients. It's very Midwestern. It's very Midwestern. Yeah. It

00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:27.000
feels very, just something I would see a lot growing up, and I think it's cute and it can be a fun project.

00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:28.000
Elsie:

00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:29.000
Cute. Yeah. No, I love that. So my main neighborly thing is our little free library. I think I talked about this

00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:30.000
in the bucket list episode, but this year I'm going to do blind date with the books. So I'm just going to

00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:31.000
basically do my favorite books of the year always. But I'm going to wrap them and then write kind of a

00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:32.000
little ominous, if you like, this TV show or if you like this. Is it ominous? Well, I mean mysterious. Oh,

00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:33.000
okay, okay. You know what I mean? Little When you finish this book, you'll die. That would be ominous.

00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:34.000
Okay. Okay. Okay. Mysterious. A little bit of a, I was just trying to think of ominous things to put in books.

00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:35.000
Books. I'm like, whoa. Maybe if it's a scary book, but mostly they're not. This book changed my life for

00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:36.000
the worst. I don't know. Ruined it. That one book. Yeah, that one book I talked about. I'm very much

00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:37.000
looking forward to it. And I saw some at the flea market one day that someone had made. I just thought

00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:38.000
it was so cute. Some of them said how many stars it had on Good Reads, or some of them said what

00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:39.000
categories, but it was still a mystery. So you could kind of, definitely not, you're definitely going to be

00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:40.000
surprised. But yeah, I just think it's so fun and it'll be a little different. No, I love that. Okay. Then the last

00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:41.000
category is kind of tips. So tipping people holidays is a good time to show your appreciation for people

00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:42.000
that help you out. So you say what you do. I'll say some of the things I do, and I think you can do

00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:43.000
whatever you want for sure. It's a good time of year to just say thank you. Yeah. Whatever budget you

00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:44.000
have. I think that the holidays are a great time of year to just make an envelope of cash. I do one for me

00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:45.000
and one for my husband. And we just know that one of our jobs during the month of December is to give

00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:46.000
these amounts of money out as big tips, either at restaurants, we try to do places where we frequent,

00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:47.000
but then also sometimes if you have it in your purse already, you might see a person in need, or you

00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:48.000
might see, I don't know, you just might. Something might come up. It's just something that I read it in a

00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:49.000
book once in a memoir that someone did it and we've done it ever since. And it's just a very good, fun

00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:50.000
tradition. And then occasionally we'll let our children give the tips too. I think one time we did it was

00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:51.000
someone who was doing live music in a restaurant and they went up and put it in themselves. Cute. So

00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:52.000
yeah, I think if there's ever a time of year when you want to give extra big tips, it's that time of year. I

00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:53.000
know some people do the little treats on their porch for the delivery men, and there's all kinds of ways

00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:54.000
that you can, that's what do be thoughtful this time of year.

00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:55.000
Emma:

00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:56.000
I have a jar that goes on my porch at the beginning of December and it, it says, I'll put a note on it that's

00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:57.000
like, dear mail carriers and delivery folks, thank you so much. I know you've got a lot to do this time of

00:07:57.000 --> 00:07:58.000
year. We appreciate you, or whatever. It just says that. And then the jar has a whole bunch of Starbucks

00:07:58.000 --> 00:07:59.000
gift cards in it. Nice. So I don't like to put cash on my porch because it makes me feel a little nervous that

00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:00.000
it won't go to the right person or whatever. So I just put a whole bunch of Starbucks gift cards. But

00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:01.000
obviously someone could steal the Starbucks gift cards too, but whatever. And some people only have

00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:02.000
one mail carrier, and you might know them, maybe you've gotten to talk with them before. But I've

00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.000
noticed at our house at least, we seem to have a lot of different people that deliver at different times of

00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:04.000
day. And I just want to include everyone. Even if it's someone who only did a delivery for me in

00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:05.000
December, I still just have a bunch of cards in there and they can grab one.

00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:06.000
Elsie:

00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:07.000
That's very cool. I think that's, I've seen ones with food, but I've never seen one with Starbucks cards, so

00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:08.000
that's really nice. Or whatever.

00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:09.000
Emma:

00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:10.000
You could do a Walmart card, a target card, just something kind of universal ish. I don't even know if

00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.000
Starbucks is the best, but it just feels easy. And something they could probably even go through a drive

00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:12.000
through and use while they're working if they wanted to.

00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.000
Elsie:

00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:14.000
Yeah. So cool. No, I love that. Okay, well, I think that is all for our gift giving list. Do you have anything

00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:15.000
else to add?

00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:16.000
Emma:

00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:17.000
No.

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Elsie:

00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:19.000
Okay. You go First book report time.

00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:20.000
Emma:

00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:21.000
Okay. My book report is for a book that's in a series. So I recently read Apprentice to the Villain, which is

00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:22.000
the second, and the assistant to the villain series. I'm not familiar with it. So this lady, I think it's kind of

00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:23.000
famous on TikTok. TikTok, this author. I'm not on TikTok as I've mentioned before, but I just get the sense,

00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:24.000
I feel like a lot of the marketing materials, it talks about viral TikTok author. So I'm like, oh, okay, cool.

00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:25.000
Really? So she's on there. Cool. Anyway, this series to me feels very kind of, so it's ya a little bit. It feels

00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:26.000
kind of Disney inspired. So the idea, the premise is there's a young girl who's down on her luck, runs into

00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:27.000
the villain, it's fantasy. There's dragons and stuff of her world, and she asks him for a job and she

00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:28.000
becomes the assistant to the villain. And over time, she falls in love with the villain. The villain falls in

00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:29.000
love with her. It turns out he's actually not such a bad guy. Maybe he's actually going to save the

00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:30.000
kingdom. It turns out maybe the world thinks of him one way, but he's actually another way. And yeah,

00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:31.000
that's sort of the premise. And there's magic. There's dragons, there's other characters. There's a frog

00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:32.000
who's always holding up a sign of whatever he's thinking. He used to be a prince, but he's been turned

00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:33.000
into a frog and it's pretty chased. So the romance is not, I feel like I'm always talking about sex books. So

00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:34.000
just like I said, ya, there's some kissing, there's longing. I'm done with book two. There's not a whole lot.

00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:35.000
It's pretty chased, but it's very fun. And I feel like as someone who's interested in writing as a writer, I

00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:36.000
feel like this is sort of a masterclass in cliffhangers. Every chapter is a cliffhanger. Every chapter ends

00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.000
with, and then they fell off the side of the world and then the world, it's just every single time it's wild

00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:38.000
and it's very much goosebumps, but not that's middle grade and more childish. This is ya. And I'm 40,

00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:39.000
and I really enjoyed reading this, so I don't know what to say, but it's just very, very, if you want every

00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:40.000
single chapter to make you keep reading, this book does it. And it's really fun and the characters are

00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:41.000
really fun. But like I said, it feels very to me, Disney inspired. So if you're wanting something romantic

00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:42.000
and whimsical, but that vibe like silliness, and it's not super dark, it's not super edgy. It's silly and fun.

00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:43.000
This is a really fun series, and I think there's three or four, but I've only read two. But I've really enjoyed

00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:44.000
them.

00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.000
Elsie:

00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:46.000
Very cool. Cute, cute, cute. So what I just read is Para Nay by Susanna Clark. So this book is a 10 out of

00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:47.000
10, out of 10 out of 10, in my opinion. Judging by the cover, I thought, tell me what category, what do

00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:48.000
you think? I would've thought it was going to be like Sea. Sea or whatever. Yeah, okay. I thought it was

00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:49.000
going to be like a Greek God's book by the name, the title and the cover. And it is taking place in the

00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:50.000
modern day, but it is written in Victorian pastiche writing. So it reads like a Victorian novel. And I don't

00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:51.000
know why. I'm just going to be honest. There's a lot of things about it that I didn't understand. I was like,

00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:52.000
what am I reading? But in the best possible way, I was also so in it and obsessed with it the entire time.

00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:53.000
But yeah, once I figured out it wasn't going to be Greek gods, and it was in the modern day because they

00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:54.000
were mentioning the year and stuff, and I was like, oh. Then I was like, well, who is this person? So I just

00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:55.000
googled it real fast. So the RNAi is a painter. So the character is kind of nicknamed after a painter who

00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:56.000
makes elaborate maze paintings a historical person. So the book takes place in elaborate maze like world

00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:57.000
where everything is a room. So you're just going from room to room to room, and there's hundreds and

00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:58.000
thousands of rooms instead of an indoor and an outdoor world, what we're used to. So that was really

00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:59.000
cool. There's a lot of flooding, heavy amounts of flooding in the house. Then towards the end there's

00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:00.000
twists and stuff. But yeah, I read the whole entire book, didn't really understand it, loved every moment

00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:01.000
of it would go back for more. I will reread it again. Absolutely. For sure. So there's some kind of magic in

00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:02.000
there, but I don't know, maybe I'm just reading books I'm too stupid for, or maybe I'm just, I don't know.

00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:03.000
Or maybe I'm just in a zone where I'm like, either I will enjoy it and I just won't ask too many questions.

00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:04.000
But I think I'm just kind of in that zone right now. I'm like, if it's a thumbs up, it's a thumbs up and I don't

00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:05.000
care why I don't care what, I just am going to enjoy. The ride thrill me. Yes. And yeah, it was gorgeous

00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:06.000
and it had a lot of feelings, so I really liked it. I know that our podcast listeners had recommended this to

00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:07.000
us because sitting on my shelf and it has a thrift books, a little sticker on it's spine. So almost always, I

00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:08.000
feel like I am just filling up my thrift books card every time we get podcast emails. Yes. So I know

00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:09.000
someone told us about that. Send your book recommendations always. I have so many books on my TBR

00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:10.000
that are from podcast.

00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:11.000
Emma:

00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:12.000
Strong recommendations, and I love a strong recommendation. Never give a weak recommendation.

00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.000
Don't bother.

00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:14.000
Elsie:

00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:15.000
Hey Nova, what do you have for us this week?

00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:16.000
Nova:

00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:17.000
A meditation.

00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:18.000
Elsie:

00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:19.000
A meditation. Okay, I'm closing my eyes.

00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:20.000
Nova:

00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:21.000
Imagine you are sitting down for a Thanksgiving feast. There was ham all over the table. Pasta stuffing all

00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:22.000
of your delicious, favorite foods. Then it's time to eat. You pick up the food, put it on your plate and take

00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:23.000
a bite. It's the best food you've ever tasted. It's time to go back to your house and time to go back to

00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:24.000
your peaceful place. So before we go, let's say goodbyes. Now we're ready to go back nice and calm.

00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:25.000
Before you go, make sure to take three deep breaths. I hope you're nice and calm now. And happy

00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:26.000
Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. And make sure the people who cooked your Thanksgiving meal, you

00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:27.000
say a big thank you too, because they worked really hard to get it.

00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:28.000
Elsie:

00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:29.000
Oh, that's nice, Nova.

00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:30.000
Nova:

00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:31.000
All good and ready.

00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:32.000
Elsie:

00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:33.000
Alright, have a good week.

00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:34.000
Nova:

00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:35.000
Have a good week.

00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:36.000
Elsie:

00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:37.000
Okay, well thank you so much for listening. We love answering your questions and basing new episodes

00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:38.000
off of your request. So anytime you think of something, email us at podcast@beautifulmess.com. We'll

00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:39.000
be back next week.