A little belated due to being on holiday and my packages taking a while to arrive to the United States, but here is a master post of gifts I gave and received this year:
For work Secret Santa: We had to get a gift that began with the letter “R.” After some weeks of struggling to think of something witty, I decided to think outside the box a little bit: I got my boss Harmony a hand lotion and lip butter set from The Body Shop (£10), for relaxation (my “r” word!).
For the person I’m seeing: For Diego, I got him an Architects flag (£20, Impericon online) and some socks he wouldn’t shut up about how much he needed (£5, Primark).
For my brothers: Ryan wanted (and I quote) “weird shit,” so I got him a book I’ve always admired: one volume of pictures of Brightonians and the city, because what’s weirder and more excellent than Brighton? I also included little Post-it notes to places I’ve been so he can get a taste of what it’s like to live here (£10, England at Home). For Kyle, he didn’t give me any ideas, so I got him a little Christmas Lego (£10, Lego shop) set to go with some of the other Christmas Lego sets we display during the holiday season. I have very fond memories of them building Legos all day Christmas morning and hope he got to relive some of that!
For my dog: I got Bailey a doggie turkey dinner from Aldi (£5). I hope he likes it!
For my parents: Chocolate, because you can’t go wrong with chocolate (£12, Clinton Cards). I also got my dad a craft beer set from Aldi (£5), but it was too heavy to post. I have it at my house so hopefully he can come retrieve it someday!
From work Secret Santa: My coworker Florence gave me some beautiful roses.
From the person I’m seeing: For Christmas, Diego got me a new dressing gown (£12, Primark) because my old one was falling apart and gross and a Yankee candle (£8). I love them both and they will bring me a lot of coziness for the coming year!
From my brothers: Kyle and Ryan got me some CDs I asked for: Melancholia Hymns by Arcane Roots and Born to Die by Lana Del Rey. I’ve really been enjoying them lately and wanted to finally get my hands on the physical music!
From my parents: flag pins (I collect pins from every country I’ve been to, from my travels this year, I was missing Spain, Portugal and Egypt and I also needed a new U.S. pin), Ha Long Bay poster, compass bracelet and one year of Spotify. There’s also a bit of money on the way which I will probably use to buy some Lush stuff and clothes.
From my grandparents and aunt: Money, money, money! Most certainly towards my expensive holiday to Egypt I returned from a few days ago. Things that especially stood out were souvenirs and my Advanced Open Water scuba diving certification.
Photo by Kira auf der Heide.