The Art of Gift Giving

Most of us have heard of the 5 love languages. Dr. Gary Chapman first came up with these 5 love langugaes in his bookThe Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate. They are: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. Today I will be sharing a little bit about my experience with using gifts to express love. "Wait, why should we believe you?" Well, not to toot my own horn (but Toot! Toot!), I have been told multiple times that I'm a master gift-giver 😉. So if you are here to learn a little bit about how to buy gifts for people you care about to show your love and appreciation, then keep on reading.

Thoughtful gifts are never picked out last-minute; they are premeditated. 

I haven't struggled with picking out gifts for my friends, family, or lovers 😛. Whatever the occasion, be it their birthday, Valentine/Galantine's day, or move-in day, I already know what to get them, and the only thing I had to do was the act of shopping itself. I'm able to do this because I have been an active listener and have been taking mental notes during our daily conversations when my friends mention things they want.

If there is something they really want (not just something they want in a random moment) but couldn't afford or aren't willing to splurge on, and if it is something that's within your means, that would make a fantastic gift! On the other hand, if they don't have anything they've been really wanting that they've expressed to you in the past, then pick out a gift that is meaningful to them (either because they've told you or because you've seen them buying it), but add your own twist to it so that it's not too similar to the things they already have.

Here I will share how I picked out the 3 gifts for my friends and ex-boyfriend. Read till the end for 2 bonus gift ideas 👀

1. KitchenAid Bowl Lift Stand Mixer

Jane and I met at work. Being the avid baker she was, she always brought cakes she baked to work and shared them with me. I loved her cakes. They were the perfect combination of sweet and salty, leaving you un-satiated and wanting more even though you're getting full.

When she offered to bake me a cake for my birthday, I was ecstatic. Seeing the entire process go down in my kitchen of her mixing the batter and whipping the cream with the hand mixer to the final product was eye-opening, to say the least. I had no idea that this much effort went into baking a cake. Jane told me the process was even more excruciating before when she used to use just a fork for mixing and whipping before she got the hand mixer.

   "What about those stand mixers," I asked.

    "Yes, that's the ultimate goal, but those stand mixers are 20 times more expensive," she answered. ❶

    (This was the first seed that got planted in my head)

Black Friday rolls around. I saw a deal for KitchenAid stand mixers and sent it Jane's way. Jane told me that she already saw the deal and that deal was for the tilt-head models and she wanted the bowl-lift ones but the bowl-lift ones weren't on sale. ❷ (Seed #2)

When Jane's birthday came, I really wanted to buy her something special because she's been such a good friend. I was searching in my head for a gift idea and the KitchenAid stand mixer came up right away (seed #1). It was not a small purchase so I wanted to make sure that I got the model that she's going to like. That's when I remembered having a conversation about the model with her on Black Friday (seed #2). I was then able to use this "index card" to locate that piece of information in my memory. I went back to our chat history and searched "KitchenAid," and ta-da! Search results returned "I don't want the tilt-head; I want the bowl-lift."

I was able to make the purchase without asking Jane any questions so she was totally unsuspecting. The surprise worked so well and Jane loved her birthday gift. She made more snacks with her new KitchenAid bowl-lift stand mixer right away and brought them to work to share with us. Jane told me that she got nervous when she received the package because she was worried that it was going to be the wrong model, but was so relieved that it was actually the right model. 

I love being able to treat my friends!

2. Seattle Seaplanes Gift Certificate

My ex's apartment was very close to Lake Union and had a view of the Space Needle. When I first went to his place, we spent the afternoon chatting on his couch, constantly interrupted by the seaplanes flying by. That's when he revealed to me how fascinated he had been by those seaplanes and how close they flew to his building and the hours he'd spent sitting by Lake Union watching those seaplanes take off and land.

A couple of months after we started dating, one day we were on the phone and he expressed his desire to get his pilot license to fly those seaplanes. We then started strategizing the side jobs he could take on to pay for those flying lessons. And this was probably the moment that registered in my head that this guy was pretty serious about seaplanes (and it would make a great gift).

Almost a year later came his birthday, and I already knew what I was getting him--a seaplane flying lesson! It turned out that there were a few options in the area, but then I remembered that he said he'd go and sit by Lake Union to watch this specific company's seaplane land and take off, and there's only one such company located on Lake Union, Seattle Seaplanes. I called ahead to make sure that I could purchase a gift certificate. And on the day of his birthday, I just went to Seattle Seaplanes and made the purchased.

Happy was an understatement when he received the gift. He was so overjoyed and thought it was such a thoughtful gift that he took a picture and shared it in his family chat right away. 

“Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.” ― George Orwell, 1984

3. Iris Vase

Rach and I met up for brunch one day and we decided to take a stroll in the neighborhood and check out the local stores. We went into a boutique store that also sold pictures and posters of plants. She looked around and picked up a poster of Iris for her new place, and explained to me that Iris is her middle name and that she's always loved the plant.

When Rach moved again, I decided to get her a housewarming gift. She didn't really have anything she wanted that she didn't already have, so I had to improvise a little. I remembered the Iris poster that she bought, hung on her wall, and took with her to her new place, and combined with the stories that she had been telling me about wanting to get more plants and succulents for her place, the idea of a vase transpired.

I then started searching online for a vase with an Iris design, so that it's not just any vase, but a vase meant specifically for her. In the end, I was able to find one on Amazon, and I'm going to be so arrogant and say that Rach loved her vase, because why would someone as organized as Rach leave the vase out in her living room this entire time if she didn't like it? 😊

Bonus 1. PupSocks

Pupsocks are a great gift option for people with dogs. You can order custom socks with their pupper's faces printed all over! It's a simple (in terms of the amount of work for you) but definitely thoughtful gift! 

Along similar lines, there are also websites that make custom blankets with dogs' faces, PetCanva being one of them.

What do dog owners love the most? Their dogs! So get creative :)

Bonus 2. Supercar Driving Experience

If your person loves cars, a supercar driving experience would be a pretty cool gift (that is, if they don't already own supercars themselves 😂).

The one I'd be doing in Seattle would probably be from Xtreme Xperience 🏎. I would get their "Supercar Track Xperience" where your person will get behind the wheel of one of these exotic supercars and actually drive high-speed for 3 to 4-lap after a brief instructive course.

We all spend our money in different ways. I love spending it on experiential things or materialistic things that enable more experiences.

And gifts don't need to be expensive. Remember, it's the thought that counts! (but money definitely helps too 🤑)