by Jenny
{photo courtesy of: http://angbrimwil.blogspot.com/}
Last year, the "blogosphere" seemed to be all abuzz with "Favorite Things" parties. The idea is that a bunch of people get together and share some of their favorite things with one another. Think Oprah’s Favorite Things but on a much more-attainable level for the average person. I loved the idea because, essentially, I'm a recommendation gal. If you tell me that you like something or have had good luck with a product, you can bet your boots that I'll be trying it out myself. In fact, if it's recommended here on Style Lush, I make it mine. I believe strongly in the power of endorsement, obviously.
Last year, my friends and I wanted to get together to do brunch for the Holidays and contemplated a small gift exchange. That's when I proposed the "Favorite Things" idea and everyone jumped on board. We established a $10 per item limit, and we each bought 4 (there are 5 of us total) of a particular item that we love. Last year, I bought everyone a pair of my favorite underwear. Most of them grumbled at me (because, ahem, it wasn't necessarily the type of undies that they usually wear) but a year later at our "Favorite Things" exchange last week, a friend confided that she'd gone on to purchase several more pairs of the undies that I gave her last year. Success!
There's something special about giving people something that you really love--it's so much more fun than trying to guess what someone else might like and it feels nice to share a part of yourself with others. It also makes giving someone something practical (because you truly love it) less verboten.
Last year’s exchange was tons of fun--we all loved the idea and couldn't wait to do it again this year. We imposed the same $10 per gift limit and met for brunch (sans husbands and kids) to visit, eat and do our exchange. Here's what I gave as my "Favorite Thing(s)" this year:
I love little bowls for rings, change, keys, etc.--bonus points if it has an animal on it. I gave 2 of these giraffe bowls, 1 elephant bowl, and 1 bird bowl--$7.99 each. {Purchased at Home Goods, but can't find a link to them online.} And Motif hand soap,--$2.99 purchased at Target--because I'm a near-compulsive hand washer and love nice hand soap that looks like it came from a high-end boutique.
Here we are enjoying brunch
(L-R Katie, Sarah, Elizabeth, Me and Stacie)
And here’s what I came home with:
Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Markers; (from Katie) Burt's Bees Tinted Balm Duo; (from Stacie) No Whining...print (similar); (from Sarah) and Charley Harper print--from a calendar, then matted and framed (from Elizabeth)
We’ve discussed even doing a summertime “Favorite Things” party but instead of buying four $10 things, we’d each buy one $40 item and then draw names. Coming up with a $10 item that I love is always a little tricky, but I can come up with tons of more expensive items, so we might give that a try to break up the doldrums of summer.
Do you have any fun gift exchange ideas? Please share!
{Photo credits: me}









