Hi friends,

How are you doing? I’m actually doing pretty well, but that feels insane to say, right? Our country is on fire, and as Shakespeare would say, hell is empty and all the devils are in Trump’s cabinet picks. Oy. But personally, putting aside all the very real things that are very really terrible, I am doing pretty well.

Nope, still doesn’t feel right to say! Let’s just move on then.

My husband Ross was away in the beginning part of this week for a work trip. Usually when he’s away, I dirtbag it up and order Little Caesar’s (I know it’s soo gross, but I was really into their pretzel crust pizza with cheese sauce for a dark while there) and binge watch a TV show he can’t stand, like Love Is Blind, but to be honest, I’ve been kind of bored by this season. I’ve still only made it to Mexico. Does it pick up?

Instead, this time, I made actually quite a lovely dinner for myself of Barefoot Contessa’s roasted salmon with green herbs and my favorite easy green olive pasta. I make that pasta nearly every time Ross goes out of town because he hates olives. He even hates hearing about olives. “I hate that pasta,” he said today, even though I have never once made it for him or suggested he try some. “Next time you go out of town, I’m making tuna noodle casserole.” I told him to go right ahead, as long as it’s gone by the time I’m back. (He doesn’t cook, this is a non-issue.)

I’m sending this email early because I decided, for the first time ever, to publish a gift guide in this newsletter, and I wanted the prices listed to be as accurate as possible, so I figured I should send it as soon as I’m done writing it. My intention is to provide a bunch of items at different price points, from a variety of different retailers, including a lot of small businesses. Everything is under $100, and most items are under $50. If you are looking for a more expensive gift, there are plenty of other places that will have ideas for you. With so many people financially struggling right now, I want to be an oasis for people who don’t want to go into credit card debt this holiday season.

I know gift guides in themselves are kind of controversial. They inherently promote consumerism. But personally, I’m buying people presents anyway, so I love reading a good gift guide. Even if I don’t buy anything on it, I just like to see what other people recommend as gift ideas. So here we go:

The First-Ever Like You Know Whatever Gift Guide🎉

I hope this is helpful! Amaz*n links are affiliated, although I tried to avoid it wherever possible. In general, I tried to include more items from smaller businesses and Etsy shops than gigantic corporations, although, you know. This is America, so that’s sometimes hard.

Let’s get into it:

For That Impossible-to-Shop-For Person:

- Everyone drinks water, right? Or at least, they should. (Omit obligatory story about how my grandma only drank coffee, beer, and blackberry brandy and somehow lived to be 98.) Owala makes the best water bottle I have ever used. Their 32 oz FreeSip ($32.99) is never not by my side. I’m a long-time Water Bitch™, and I love that you can either sip or pour the water into your mouth. It also keeps water cold for like an absurdly long time, and it’s voluminous enough that you don’t have to refill it every five fucking seconds. It’s also available on Amazon, if you need that fast shipping. Plus, my friend who’s a nurse practitioner turned me onto it because they gave a discount to medical staff during the early pandemic, which I think is nice.

- I’m obsessed with Anecdote Candles, which smell incredible and have cheeky and sometimes slightly obnoxious scent names like “Bottomless Mimosas” and “Adulting” (okay but that one actually smells soo good). Their holiday scents ($34 each, or bundles for way more) would make lovely host gifts for people like, say, your boyfriend’s aunt who you’re just meeting for the first time. Or for me, because I really want that charcuterie board one. @Ross

- I think vases make a really nice gift, bonus points if you also bring flowers to put in them. There are a lot of nice options on Etsy, but I think my favorite for this year is this super cute orange juice duo ($29.99). It’s kitschy, retro, and colorful in the best way, and will make even some simple baby’s breath or pink carnations look great.

For People Who Like Cheese (a/k/a Everyone):

- Getting things personalized is an easy way to make someone feel like you put in a bunch of extra effort on their gift without having to know anything about them but their name. I think this personalized cheese board ($89) made from marble and wood is beautiful, plus, you can choose add-ons to go with it like coasters, wine glasses, or nut bowls. Besides, just about everyone likes cheese. Even vegans have good cheese options nowadays.

- If that cheese board is too pricey, well, I don’t think you can ever have too many cheese knives. Literally, who in this world is sitting around going, “Dang, I really need to scale back on the cheese knives!” Absurd concept. As a former cheesemonger myself, this set ($31.99) from Macy’s feels the most complete to me, while this set ($35) from the MoMa Design Store is the most aesthetic. You can tell your giftee a real-life cheesemonger recommended them to you!

- And if you want to gift some cheese to go with those accoutrement, you can’t go wrong with Murray’s, which is based in New York City, but ships across the country. Now that the weather is cooler, it’s an ideal time to ship cheese to yourself–erm, I mean, to a friend. Yeah, definitely to a friend. If you want some recs, Challerhocker and comté are real crowd-pleasers, alpine cheeses similar to gruyere, while Murray’s brie fermier is a more challenging brie, funky and mushroomy. If you’ve never had a farm-style brie before, it’s a good one.

For the Home Cooks:

- A fairly inexpensive but fancy-feeling gift is a box of flaky Maldon sea salt ($7.98) and this acacia salt cellar ($11.96) from Crate & Barrel. The Maldon salt comes in such a pretty box, you don’t even have to wrap it, just stick a bow on top. I’ve owned this salt cellar for years and I’m telling you, I’m in there almost daily to finish dishes with a sprinkle of salt. It elevates even the humblest meals. Buttered noodles? Boring. Buttered noodles with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top? That’ll be $25, please!

- Anything from Great Jones makes a beautiful gift for a home cook (I swear by their sheet pans), but I think this casserole dish ($50) is the one thing I’d choose to gift this year. Or maybe this mixing bowl set ($60). Or this pie pan ($30). BONUS: They’re having a sale right now! To my knowledge, they only do one Black Friday sale per year, so get it while the gettin’s good!

- This Lodge dutch oven ($79.90) is the hardest working pot in my kitchen. I received it as a wedding gift because at the time, I thought Le Creuset was a bit much to ask for–what a fool I was! You get one, maybe two chances to make a gift registry in your life, always ask for the nice shit! Anyway, it didn’t matter in the end though, because I LOVE this pot! I make everything in here, from soups to stews to pasta to endless variations on chicken and rice. Plus, it comes in all sorts of pretty colors. So, I say: Le WHO-set?! I’m sticking with my Lodge!

For the Colorful Cocktail (and Mocktail) Lovers:

- I bought this RHONY-inspired stemless wine glass ($16.14) on Etsy a few years back, and boy, did it come in handy when Roe v. Wade was overturned! (It says: “I’ll tell ya how I’m doin’, not well bitch,” a famous quote from Dorinda Medley.) I fear it will get a lot of use over the coming years of Republican bullshittery. The shop, EtherAndOpal, has a lot of fun reality TV-themed gifts, so check there if you know someone in your life who is a Bravoholic.

- Ross and my preferred vessel for casual drinking at home is the stemless wine glass. So versatile! So hard to tip over on your kitchen island and shatter! I imagine these beautiful gradient stemless wine glasses (4 for $29.99) from Wayfair would feel like staring into a gorgeous Italian sunset while sipping your wine. Or whatever.

- But wait, there’s more! My actual favorite cocktail glass is the coupe. Classes up everything from champagne to martinis! The only thing I don’t like is trying to balance a large triangular volume of liquid on a tiny stem, but these wide-stemmed colorful coupes (4 for $56) from Anthropologie solve that issue! I just love mismatched colored glasses, don’t you?

- Don’t drink booze? No problem! These rainbow tumblers ($10 each) from the MoMA Design Store can brighten up everything from sparkling water to mocktails. They’re fun to look at and acrylic, too, so dishwasher-safe. Make sure to mention that in your card.

For Someone You Really Like:

- This year, I discovered the Babeina Etsy store which sells high quality, fairly affordable jewelry. I have this layered necklace set ($51.75) that includes my initial and birth month flower—remember what I said about personalization? I will say, the smallest necklace in that set didn’t fit around my plus-sized neck, so I had to purchase a necklace extender from them, too, but that was an easy fix. It’s gold plated but doesn’t look or feel cheap. They sell a lot of really chic, simple jewelry that I think could suit anyone’s taste.

- Book of the Month (gift 3 months for $59.99) is partially responsible for my book hoarding problem, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. How it works is that you get to choose your book from five selections each month, or skip a month and gain a credit toward a future book. I’ve been a subscriber for years now, and can honestly say they have excellent curation skills. They’re especially great for lovers of literary fiction, thrillers, romance, and fantasy, though they’ll also offer sci-fi and horror picks periodically, and occasionally, a memoir or two. I think anytime you can gift someone a subscription is just so nice, that they’ll be able to enjoy your gift for months to come.

For Your Co-Workers:

- The Mincing Mockingbird makes some of the funniest notebooks on the market. They’re blank notebooks with titles that range from “Screenplays About My Cat” (a favorite) to “Passive-Aggressive Fan Fiction.” I used to buy them constantly when I worked next door to BookSoup here in L.A., which stocks a healthy supply of them. Luckily, you can buy them online, too! Might I suggest picking up their Ledger of Perceived Slights ($13.50) for the petty Betty in your life (who is probably chock full of Scorpio placements, let’s be honest)? Or maybe try Obsessive Lists ($17.50) for your favorite micro-manager, or when all else fails, simply Business Bullshit ($17.50).

Stocking Stuffers:

- A Shop of Things, based in Nashville, has a lot of cute and quirky gifts, but I think what I enjoy most about them are their keychains. I love this “passenger princess” keychain ($10), this “virgin who can’t drive” one ($8), and this one ($8) I used to own but lost somewhere (it says “God bless my shitty overpriced apartment”). You never think about keychains until suddenly you have to make a new set of keys for the cat sitter and have to use a hair tie to bind them together. Don’t put yourself or your loved ones in that situation, okay?

- Put this prismatic window cling ($6.04) on a window that gets direct sunlight, and watch your room be transformed with rainbows! Give the gift of instant serotonin!

- This adorable 2-set of chopsticks ($7.98) from World Market comes with chopstick rests shaped like either dumplings, lucky cats, or paper cranes. How adorable is that? And the price is right!

- I’m freaking obsessed with the La Neige lip sleeping mask ($24). I use it almost every night, and my lips are always so soft in the morning. Twenty-four dollars is a stupid amount of money to spend on, let’s face it, an unnecessary beauty item–unless that item is a gift, in which case, what a steal!! I have one in the classic berry option and one in candy cane, which has a nice seasonality and minty tingle to it.

Alright, that’s it for this year’s gift guide! I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you end up buying any of these things!

If you have a second, I’d love it if you’d like or comment on this post–just click this link to go to the post page. This post is public, so feel free to share it on social media, or forward it to a friend.

Until next time—make the olive pasta.

Love,

Liz

XOXO