aWESOME, eASY LAST-mINUTE gIFT IDEAS

Know what makes the holidays tough? Supply chain problems. Amazon delivery theft. Parking snarls at large malls. Procrastination in general. If you’re like me, you’re trying to cross everyone off of your list to show your love and appreciation this holiday…but coming up short. During a year of personal upheaval, there’s extra pressure to show your biggest supporters how much you appreciate them.

If you’re in a pinch right now, I have ten low-stress, fast gift ideas for you that could help you overcome the overwhelm this holiday season! These are some of the favorite things in my own family, so I hope you can find a thing or two that would be just the right fit for someone in yours. I hope alleviating the shopping crunch will allow you to enjoy your most beloved humans this holiday season and enable you to be mindfully present in its most wonderful moments.

• Farmgirl Flowers ships absolutely gorgeous floral arrangements for a very reasonable price (most arrangements are $65-$85). The peonies, anemones, and California lilies are unique and thoughtful. If you really want to blow someone away, you can get 100 roses for $200.
• Changing Hands is a local bookshop, with stores in both Central Phoenix and Tempe, that sells custom-amount gift cards, and for only $10 additional, they will give you a branded coffee mug to go with it. You can’t go wrong with this for the reader in your life!
• Woodhouse Chocolates, out of St. Helena in the Napa Valley, ships amazing chocolate treats during cool weather! They have wonderful holiday baskets…but don’t be afraid to ask for an elegant custom box of the champagne and brown butter white chocolate truffles. What a way to ring in the new year! And don’t skip browsing their homemade chocolate bars and their cool chocolate art treats for kids!
• Driftaway Coffee offers monthly subscriptions for the coffee lover in your life. This gives the recipient something to look forward to each month while allowing them to sample all different types of coffees from around the world.
• Mantry is another subscription box program for foodies. Their target market is men, but I think anyone could enjoy what they have to offer. Their rustic, wooden boxes contain unique, vetted products designed to excite people who love food that is bold and adventurous.
• MasterClass! Know someone who loves to learn? Master Class is offering its seasonal 2-for-1, full-access memberships for the holiday season. Learn from experts like Gordon Ramsay, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, and more.
• Great Local Activities. There are wonderful activities here and near our Valley for couples and families. Memberships for the Phoenix Zoo, the Phoenix Botanical Gardens are the gift that keep giving. The Immersive VanGogh Experience in Scottsdale is a stunner, and Alcantara Adventures provides panoramic trail rides just north in Camp Verde. Taliesin West is offering a Chihuly exhibit through June. And who doesn’t love patio dining in Arizona’s winter? Gift cards to El Chorro, Chelsea Kitchen, Buck & Rider,  Postino,and  Chantico offer tickets to some of the most snuggly winter patios.   
• Sketchbox is a great art gift for young people. Each box comes with a specific art ‘assignment’, a QR code for a video instruction, and all of the supplies necessary to complete it. The supplies and assignments are unique and varied and provide new challenges for the artsy kids and teens in your life…and quiet time for their parents!
• ​History Lover Subscriptions Again, it can be nice to have surprises coming through the mail each month. This article does a really good job of providing a variety of options to delight the specific type of history nerd you have in your life.
• Escape Room & Mystery Subscription Some of these purchases are one-and-done items, while others are more of a subscription. These provide interactive activities for the recipient who loves to wrestle with mental puzzles and problem solve.