2011 holiday gift guide

I am not a huge fan of gifts simply to fulfill a requirement that "you have to give a gift because it is a holiday". In fact last Christmas we did not exchange gifts in my family and that looks to be the case this year, too. For many reasons, doing Christmas giftless really simplifies things and allows me to focus on aspects of the holidays that are a bigger priority for me: spending quality time with people I love, enjoying downtime at home and the beautiful decorations, cozying up while it snows outside, and focusing with a thankful heart on all that I have.

All that said, I don't have anything against gifts. And, I do enjoy giving well-thought out gifts that genuinely reflect the gifter and giftee. So it is in that spirit that I am putting together a gift guide this year. Between now and Christmas, I will post gift ideas for different people based upon relationship (dad, mom, sister, etc.) or based upon interest (foodie, fashionista, book worm, etc.). There may be some overlap or I may post a few good "sister" gift ideas over the next month. If you have a specific gift idea request for a certain type of person in your life, shout it out in the comments and I will come up with something.

So, with the beautiful holiday of Thanksgiving come and gone let's enjoy the next month ... listen to Christmas music, enjoy the holiday decorations, sit by the fire, read a good book, eat some delicious food, and do a little meaningful gift shopping.