My Favorite Things...(I'm no OPRAH, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night - NOT!)

Fun Gift Basket! 

So...I don't know about you, but when it comes to gift-giving I always find myself running around at the last-minute like a chicken with my head cut-off (this was one of my mom's favorite sayings & she actually saw a real chicken running around like this, yuck!) looking for the perfect gift. It's so frustrating and you would think I would learn i'll never learn after all these years not to put myself under this kind of pressure. I seriously sometimes break out in a sweat in the store because I can't find just the right thing. Luckily, I met a super cool chick a few years back, I won't name names Laura Maiocco who introduced me to her "gift closet." What's a gift closet you ask? (Trust me, I didn't know either.) 

GIFT CLOSET: A magical place where you will always find the perfect gift just when you need it even if you waited until 10 minutes before the party to start looking!

Whoa, what a concept...no running around, no sweating, no stressing out! And the best part, this amazing closet also comes stocked with all the perfect gift wrapping necessities - LOVE IT! So, of course, I adopted stole her idea. They say (whoever "they" is) that (insert word here, b/c I can't for the life of me think of what it is, see I told you my kids stole my brain) is the best form of flattery, or something like that. So long story short, now when I'm out shopping and my kids are on their best behavior both have their headphones on watching their favorite show on their iPads crammed into a shopping cart, I scour the stores looking for fun, creative and unique gifts. And I'm proud to say I have now collected enough fun "gifts" to start my own gift closet ok, it's actually only one shelf in the cabinet next to my desk, but hey, this is an accomplishment for me! So today, I present to you, one of my favorite things cue the Oprah theme music, confetti, screaming audience members who should really be in straight jackets from my gift closet cabinet...shelf, WHATEVER! ....TA-DA....

How Cool! I even included a personal message!

STEMLESS WINE GLASSES

YOU CAN WRITE ON...WITH CHALK! WOOOO HOOO! I love these glasses, they are beautiful and  cheap (only $3/each at Pier 1, chalk is included - SAY WHAT?!), plus, who doesn't LOVE wine? FUN! Plus, add a nice, decently priced cheap bottle of vino and voila, WHAT A THOUGHTFUL HOSTESS GIFT. And who knows, maybe the recipient will even be nice enough have enough class to pop the bottle right there and share the gift. It's perfect...the gift that keeps on giving! And that's why this is one of my FAVORITE THINGS! 

By the way, this particular basket is going to one of my oldest  she really is older than me...by one month and one day and dearest friends Jen who is moving into her new home as we speak and as I write this blog, when I should really be helping her move. Whoops! Hopefully she'll forgive me or at the very least we'll have a good laugh about it over a nice glass of vino provided by yours truly. CHEERS!!!

Any fun & super easy gift ideas you'd like to share? C'mon, you know you want to! The first one to FOLLOW this awesome blog and leave a comment below will win something out of my incredible gift closet shelf...storage bin. I'll even pay for the postage & shipping or hang it in a plastic grocery bag from my front door and you can swing by and pick it up at your earliest convenience. GO!