Question: Are shoes to personal to gift?

I don't want to give too much away in case the birthday girl is reading (Happy B-day P!), but let's just say that to go to her birthday outing, the type of shoes worn will be very important. So, this raises the question: Are shoes too personal of a gift? As long as you know the proper size and the style of the person, I thought it might be okay. Then again, shoes are a very selective thing. They depend on the brand, the fit, the comfort, etc.

In the end, I decided to forgo that idea in favor of something a bit safer (update to come). But, if you are a confident gift giver, and you are sure the shoes you are buying will be adored, I say go for it. Or, as an alternative, what about a gift certificate to Zappos, Shoes.com, or, my personal favorite, Shoemall.com (if they have the same shoe, they are usually at lower prices than Zappos or Shoes.com, and they do the same free shipping, yadda, yadda, yadda) and a color print out of some shoes you think they'd like?

Here are some great party shoes:

Steve Madden's "Luvvy" in black/white. $79.95

Bonus! They have a matching bag. $48.00

Naturalizer "Focus" pumps at Shoemall. $69.95

Made by Elves (how cute!) Gold Wingtip shoes at Urban. $68.00

Carlos Santana "Flirt" Snake print flats at Smart Bargins. $39.95

Name Cake

Saw this great idea for a cake over at Pyglet Whispers. The letters were carved out of butter cake. Not sure I could make such perfect letters, but I guess whatever I mess up I could hide with icing and an extra m&m. Yummy!

Green Queen

Delight.com is a a must-see for serious gift givers. The concept is so simple, they post a great product every 24 hours at a special price. Not to worry, even if you don't make it to the site in time, you can still purchase the items, but no longer at a discount.

I think this is a good continuation on my "This is a Plastic Bag" post. Here is a black and white green gift set that includes reusable grocery bags, produce bags, and water bottle---perfect for on-the-go shoppers.

Only 30 minutes left on the special price of $54.12!

I SEE

While making my daily blogging rounds, I found these prints from Keep Calm over at Poppytalk. I am in love!

What a perfect gift for an urbanite. The prints sell for £15.00 plus shipping. If you want have the print framed in one of these fabulous frames, you can expect to pay £58.00. Get one while they last --- they're limited editions!

Handmade Jewelry is a Girl's Best Friend

Handmade jewelry is more accessible to the average Internet shopper than ever, and I could not be more thrilled. Jewelry is obviously a great gift for multiple occasions. Here are some of my favorite homemade jewelry sites:

Anne Maa Designs (via Modish)

I love the wire-wrapping and simple stone creations. This jewelry has a little more weight to it, so it's perfect for fall.

Space Mermaid

Space Mermaid was one of the first handmade jewelry designers I saw on the net. The creations are simple, light, and magical. The packaging is also perfection!

Handmade Julz

These are design-your-own bracelets, necklaces, and rings. You pick they type of jewelery, the image, and the wire, and then Julz makes it and sends it to you. The results are great, and one-of-a-kind!

Cat Butts?! Is this a new trend?

Yesterday, I was in Grand Central Station trying to kill time before a train, so I went into Papyrus to look at their giftwrap/cards. While they have great paper and gifts, they also had some, ahem, unique stuff. For example, while I was looking, I noticed a lot of "cat butt" paraphernalia---cat butt magnets, cat butt gum, cat butt stickers, cat butt car air fresheners.

Did I miss this trend or am I just not getting it? They don't have any cat butt products on their website, but if you are interested, I found them at The Cat Connection (they also have a cat butt bag and cat butt posters).

Ommmm....

If you haven't tried yoga, I highly recommend it. Before I took a class, I thought it was going to be filled with super-flexible people doing headstands and splits in mid-air, which just isn't the case. What I like about my class is that there are all levels, all abilities, all shapes, and all sizes. The only downside of yoga is the mat. Most are all the same (pink or red), and after traveling in the car and in and out of the gym, mine has developed a funky odor (according to my boyfriend). I guess it's time for a new mat, huh?

But enough about me. These yoga mats and cushions from Beinjoy are a nice change of pace from your average yoga mat. I especially like that the mats are embossed, so there is nothing to rub off or to make things slippery. Buy one for the yogi in your life! (Found via the Stylephile.)

Periodic Table Cards

I might sound like a nerd, but of all the sciences I was forced to take in High School, Chemistry was by far my favorite. Sure, I didn't pull straight A's in the subject, but when it came time for balancing equations I rocked it out! That's why these Periodic Table Cards from Pink Loves Brown caught my eye. They come in several occasions, perfect for the Mr Wizard's in us all! (Found via Indie Shopping)

Card, artwork, or both?

Etsy's artists never cease to amaze me. Check out these pop-up art cards from Crankbunny. They are truly beautiful---enough to keep displayed on your mantle or refrigerator long after the holiday/birthday has passed. (Found thanks to Modish.)

Vintage Book Journals

I just saw these vintage book cover journals from Tyler Bender over at decor8. Not only are these journals incognito (this is a far better disguise than my pink polka-dotted journal with heart-shaped lock from childhood), but they're one of a kind! I love these journals so much, I think I might have to pick one up for myself as well.

Bachelorette-orama!

As mentioned in my previous post, I attended a friend's bachelorette party this weekend. Normally, naughty gifts like lingerie are gifted at bridal showers, but it seems that (in CT at least) bridal showers are dying out to wedding showers only, where gifts come in registry form. Personally, I agree that a separate bridal/wedding shower can be a bit much.

However, every girl needs at least a few nighties, so my friends and I decided to go shopping at Victoria's Secret. The girls that I was with found two very cute slip/pantie (eww I feel dirty just writing that word) combos, but all I could find were a bunch of short shorts with words on the butt (didn't that trend end a couple of years ago? I thought people were starting to realize that writing on your butt isn't flattering? No?). So, on to plan B: Anthropologie.

I ended up getting her this slip, which I thought was too adorable, and wearable on nights other than, well, you know, those nights. It was a steal---$38 bucks! I was going to get a book with love quotes/poems, but I saw this book by Lauren Child (whose website is ridiculously awesome) and thought "Now that's Lindsay." And what better occasion to give a book about a princess and her pea?!

The other bonus for shopping Antropologie---they have seasonal ribbon and gift tissue so I didn't even have to worry about the wrapping.

Welcome Home

Is it just me, or does everyone seem to be buying and/or selling houses lately (myself included)? When I saw this over at How about orange (one of my favorite blogs) I instantly thought, "Housewarming gift!" This Welcome Sign comes from Spell with Flickr, an online tool where you can type in a word and receive a regeneration of the letters spelled out using photos from Flickr. Pretty cool, huh?

Just print out your word of choice (maybe even trying out different languages, like Benvenuto, Italian for "Welcome") on photo-quality paper, frame it, wrap it with a snazzy ribbom or bow, and voila! I think I might try it out this weekend. If I do, I'll be sure to post the results.



This would also work as a gift to someone using their name (as suggested via nested). I can think of a few new, hip mommies and teens who would really enjoy their own Photo-Letter Name Sign.

Petite Pattern Books

Mightygoods posted a blog about the Petite Pattern Book Series. The books come with discs filled with 140 patterns in EPS and JPEG formats. Think of all the uses for these patterns---wrapping paper, greeting cards, place cards, notebooks...Each book retails for $29.95 at Amazon.

Gifted Book

While shopping in Anthropologie yesterday to find (a) a dress for my friend's upcoming wedding, and (b) a gift for her bachelorette party this weekend (yay! More on this later), I saw a book, "Gifted: 1,000 Gift Ideas for Everyone in Your Life." The author, Sarah Weidman, provides "personality types" such as "The Mommy-Any-Minute" and "The Gay Hooray" and lists gift ideas, plus online sites and descriptions of each product. Why didn't The Gift Giver think of this?! You can search inside the book at Amazon.com. It retails for $11.16---not bad for 1,000 ideas.