Holiday Shopping

 By Erica and Karen

We love holiday shopping. We actually start thinking about it months before it actually arrives. It often involves some pretty weighty questions. Is this person actually counting on us to give the same kind of gift we have given before—a sweater? Or are they sweatered-out, and would absolutely love something else? How many gifts that we have given to apparently rave reviews have actually been returned not for another size or color but for something completely different? It would be good to know, but will we ever? What would be “just the right thing” to put a smile on a face that has seen a difficult year?

And then there is the where. We love stores at the holidays. The lights, the music, the bustle all put us in the holiday spirit, especially since we can now take advantage of week days and are not relegated to frantic weekends. The holiday markets are festive, especially if they include ice skating and hot chocolate. We check out the amazing decorations and windows at the big stores, and we love the small ones too—especially those with gracious return policies. Museum stores can be fertile ground—especially for stocking stuffers. Check out the Museum of Arts and Design, the MoMa Design Store, and the Brooklyn Museum store. 

We do some shopping on the internet, for gadgets and books, and sometimes for cool food gifts from other places. Custom ice cream? We don’t generally ship directly to far flung friends and relatives, preferring to gift wrap ourselves and send along in one big box. But for those overseas, Amazon gift cards are just a bit more festive than cash even in their local currency.

For obvious reasons, we aren’t going to spill the beans about what we have bought so far this year. But we would love to hear from you—on Lustre or our Facebook Group—about gifts you have found or stores you love for holiday shopping. Bonus points if you have ideas for college kids. We aren’t done yet, and would love the help!