One of the worst questions in the world must be “what do you want for Christmas??” (this also applies for birthdays, valentines day, Easter or whatever)
The fun part of a gift should be receiving something that makes you happy, comes as a surpirse, but most of all, it should be something you like. Now that might be just the hardest part of buying a gift.. Believe me, I had numerous mall visits and google searches to find the perfect gifts for my Christmas dinner guest. Because the biggest thing I tried to avoid is a fake “thank you “what the heck should I do with this” smile.. Luckily, I believe this goal was definitely succeeded. If you don’t know what gifts to buy, definitely check out the pictures below of my cosy Christmas dinner, and most importantly… The gifts!!
THE CHRISTMAS TREE!
Specially for John, A hand made paper Big Ben on top of the tree ;-)
Who said you need Christmas balls in your tree? Birds will do too!
Ah! And not to forget.. My dutch clogs under the tree.. Not sure if that is a tradition, but now it is!
The dinner table.. And a pile of gifts under the tree.
Team Bakes! Showing of our cooking skills..
The missing reindeer ;-)
All right, now on to the gifts!
My room-mate Michelle who is a dutchie too, is probably more addicted to tea than the Queen of England. While roaming around in Galleries Lafayette I found a tea section in which they sold.. Spicy Chocolat tea! Uhm hell yea! Turned out to taste good too! As if that’s not weird enough I found this little shop in Dubai mall called Teavana. They have so many amazing tea, but the most exceptional one was a little ball, that turns into a flower when you drop it in hot water!
My other good friend / ex room-mate Mina is seriously the biggest fan of 2-pac and Biggie. With his strong obsession he might even be a re-incarnation of Faith Evans… ;-) I seriously searched hours to find some old school ghetto merchandise but turned out that that was quite a task! Until I passed by Virgin Megastore in Dubai mall where they had… A book with the original pictures of 2-pacs hand written lyrics! Ha! To top it off they also sold me an image based book on what really went down with 2-pac and biggie.. Real Hustler style ;-)
Then there is Olya.. Olya is my craziest and oldest friend in Dubai.. When we were in Carrefour searching for a new suitcase, she asked the guy.. “excuse me, don’t you have anything pink or leopard print?” The guy stared at her with a face that looked like it just had been put on pause with a remote control..As she was about to travel suitcase-less I gave her this super cute Leopard print suitcase! She send me this snap of her new suitcase in action!
One of my other good friends Shrekanth is a very talented fashion designer! His fashion knowledge will put Anna Wintour to shame, as he know all the facts and details about designers and collections. Below snaps of the 2 fashion books I bought for him at Bloomingdales Home.
For Rhian I knew I had to buy something to do with beauty.. I always call her goldie locks as her hair is always beautiful and perfectly curled. Just a week before my gift search I received a present from my colleague Jihae, who is the stylist of Bloomingdales. She gave me 3 different super nice hand creams from L’occitane! I got so obsessed with them that I went back to the store to by a little gift box for Rhian. Next to that I got her a peacock eye-shadow pallet from Benefit by Matthew Williamson bought at BasharaCare. And As I could not afford caviar on the table, I added a little Caviar nail polish set for some glam nails.
For my brother I knew exactly what to buy. He lives in Antwerp – Belgium, but every time he comes around we go out on adventure! That’s why I bough him a very cool book from Virgin mega-store. Last year I got the same gift from my best friend Romy, so I decided to now buy it for my brother in order to do this together. The book is called: 101 things to do before you die! It’s full with tasks like; Milk a cow, be a superhero for a day, and my favourite.. get arrested! Better not to complete this task in Dubai :-) I also got him this epic Kenzo cap, just because Kenzo is epic. As the third gift I gave him a Gucci bamboo USB stick, as I guess that’s exactly what you need as an interior designer…. (which he is)
I have to admit that is was also quite easy picking a gift for my Styling intern Rohma. She always tells me stories about her mom complaining about the big question when she is going to find herself a man. And boy, believe me, she is picky! So I gave her this hilarious and best relationship guide I ever had. It’s a book from Virgin Mega-store by the comedian Steve Harvey called “act like a Lady, think like a man.” To be honest, by now I must be considered as a VIP customer as I purchased this book over 7 times for all my friends. And yes, it was beneficial! It’s seriously the most hilarious and honest guide on how woman think man think, and what men actually really think!
And last but not least.. the gift to my boyfriend! On this one I think I deserve a little tap on the shoulder, as it is quite a good move! The best gifts are the ones on which you can actually benefit yourself too! Even though living in Dubai already feels like a holiday.. no one can resist the powder white beaches and palm trees of … Thailand! That’s why I decided to surprise him with a flight ticket to Koh Samui, so we can visit Ko Nang Yuan, one of my favourite islands in the world! We are flying end Feb, and I will surely update you guys with some nice pics!
Now that my pockets are empty, I luckily can say that I got spoiled too! Check out below what goodies I have received!
My boyfriend bought me these amazing Prada shades. The shape is seriously unique!
Mojeh Magazine gifted me with the super cool Givenchy Pandora bag! Cant wait to use it!
www.SpektreSunglasses.com send me some super cool shades! (Soon more on the blog)
And Astrid from Nüdwear send me this super special christmas gift! Nüdwear makes the most handy strapless + backless bra’s and nippy covers (can’t help but blush!) Unfortunately I’m not going to do an outfit post on Nüdwear ;-) but believe me, under every open back dress or strapless top I’m wearing a Nüdwear bra! You really have to check their website and try out some of their stuff! nüdwear
My brother is someone who is always a star in finding gifts. For John he bought a coffee maker, because he knows how much I hate it when John smells like coffee.. Thanks bro! But luckily I got something super epic! A “new vintage Polaroid camera!!” As we are living in the “if you don’t take a snap of it, it never happened era” you forget how precious pictures used to be! So this goodie will only come out for the most important snapshots!
Last but not least I have to tell you about Mimi from Kaleidoscope by mimi! She gifted me with this gorgeous handmade laptop case / clutch! Next to the amazing designs, kaleidoscope also give a percentage of sales to various charity organizations! Can’t wait to take this beauty out!
So there you go! You just successfully finished my biggest fattest gift guide post ever! Really hope you enjoyed and got inspired for your next gift shopping spree!
Links:
virgin megastore
Teavana
nüdwear
Basharacare
Kaleidoscope by Mimi
Spektre sunglasses
Mojeh magazine
Incredible story there. What ccurred after? Take care!