Christmas is in 41 days.
Hanukkah is in 34.
Kwanza is in 42 days.
Let’s get shopping!
This is a collection of gift ideas comprised of presents I’ve received this year and fallen in love with, items I’ve discovered and am excited to share with you, and special, special ones made by some of my creative and talented friends. And it’s my TENTH year of creating holiday gift roundups. Happy Anniversary to me!
Intimissimi Cashmere Tshirts
On a trip to Verona, Italy in 2008 I discovered Intimissimi and spent a small fortune on gifts I brought back to the states. Through the years I had to order online and pay international shipping fees. In 2017 they opened their first stores in the United States and now we can all have easier access to pretty and cozy things, not just the Italians! These t-shirts are like 9% cashmere but ya know what, a little bit of cashmere is better than none. I have them in lots of colors and they are my fall and winter staples. (They’re on sale right now for $29 regular $49.) But if these don’t fit the bill for loved ones on your list, go to their site and see all the robes, pjs, and lingerie. I bet you’ll find something!
JSJ Crystal Ear Cuffs
I was lucky enough to live with a Knicks City Dancer a zillion years ago, and I got to spend time with many of her dancer friends. They would come to the apartment and lament that they wanted more out of life. More opportunity, more money, more exposure, more love, more of everything. Well, today they are all sitting on big piles of MORE. They are making huge strides in entertainment, fashion, dance, parenthood, film, fitness, philanthropy…. Seriously, these kids grew up and are achieving things. John San Juan is a member of that precious crew and is now a multi-hyphenate, but for the gifting list, I’m sharing about JSJ the jewelry designer!
John’s cuffs are exquisite and hold meaning and energy! I wore an ear cuff all throughout high school and college that was just a dull piece of metal. Where was JSJ way back then? As someone who is trying to love myself more and to manifest love, I’ve always had an affinity for rose quartz. I’m gifting MYSELF one of these babies.
“Rose Quartz is the stone attributed for Self-Love and Inner Healing. It is associated toward practicing empathy, awareness of sensibilities, and creating the healing necessary for active change in the Heart Chakra. Because of Rose Quartz association to the Heart Chakra, there are many ceremonies that program this Crystal for romance and manifesting true love.”
Candle Folk Hygge Candle
I am obsessed with these candles. They were gifted to me and now I gift them to everyone. I’ve gone through quite a few of their scents but Hygge remains the favorite. The word hygge comes from a Danish and Norwegian word meaning "to give courage, comfort, joy" and is used to describe a mood of coziness. This candle embodies all of those things and smells amazing. I dated a guy once who said I inspired him to light candles because my home smelled so nice and was always illuminated with candle light. Too bad he’s not around anymore to get in on the Candle Folk action. These are really good candles.
Fort Hamilton Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup (and Spirits)
“Alexander Hamilton. My name is Alexander Hamilton…”
Organic Maple Syrup is aged in Brooklyn Bourbon Barrels, adding decadent notes of salted caramel, cocoa and vanilla with a kiss of smoke.( Doesn’t reading that sentence just make you crave pancakes?) My friends and I have a joke about Fancy Ketchup, well this is Fancy Syrup. If there is someone on your gift list that enjoys spirits, look at these gorgeous bottles. All of these are made in Brooklyn, New York with a little bit of A. Ham history!
Cooking AND Broadway! The most perfect combination in all the land if you ask me. I’ve been internet friends with Adam Roberts, the Amateur Gourmet, for a few years now. We have mutual friends in common and obviously we have cooking in common. And wouldn’t ya know he listens to Broadway cast recordings while he cooks?
(He also can sit down to the piano and play show tunes too.)
Last year when I was working on the Broadway show Clyde’s, I became internet friends with the Broadway illustrator Justin ‘Squigs’ Robertson when he drew one of my sandwiches into the cast illustration of the show. He’s our modern day Al Hirschfeld and that my food was immortalized into one of Squigs’ incredible drawings is one of my greatest cooking highlights ever. (And my little cooking career is pretty well-lit!)
Last month, along with the actor Gideon Glick, Adam released a cookbook that is a pun-filled love letter to musicals, with 50 Broadway-inspired recipes and Squigs illustrated it!!!! I’m so proud of these men for this collaboration and it’s a prized addition to my cookbook collection.
Taco Holders
It took me a long time to figure out that tacos don’t have to fall over when I make them at home. They just need a special vessel to showcase their goodness and keep them standing at attention like they have in restaurants. So I upgraded my Taco Tuesdays (and Taco Wednesdays and Taco Thursdays and…) with these colorful zigzags. They bring me boundless joy. These are the ultimate stocking stuffer for the taco lover in your life.
Shell Bracelet by Minimum Design
I was gifted this gold bracelet for my 50th Birthday this year and it’s so special. I have a thing for gold bracelets and this one makes me feel like Wonder Woman when I wear it. They are made in other really unique colors too. It’s a twisted pleated cloth adornment that is like no piece of jewelry or accessory I’ve owned. I feel like I’m wearing a piece of art.
Lisa Congdon X Brooks Running Shoes
It wouldn’t be an All Good Things Holiday gift List without Lisa Congdon. She is my favorite of all my favorites. This year she partnered with Brooks and designed the Run Proud Trace 2 running shoe.
“Show your true colors — all of them. Flourishes throughout the Trace 2 showcase the colors of the Progress Flag to represent the whole spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple harken back to Gilbert Baker’s original Pride Flag. Black and brown stripes, representing BIPOC people, as well as the light blue, pink, and white of the Transgender Flag, represent the most marginalized members of the LGBTQ+ community”.
Do yourself a favor and go to Lisa’s online store. You will find something for someone if not something for everyone on your list.
phix Scented Hairties (playfulness, happiness, inclusivity, expression)
Just in time for the holidays, my friend Erika Shannon and her bestie launched a product for kids! Color me inspired by these entrepreneurs! They are currently selling 9 scents, 4 holiday (limited edition) and 5 signature scents.
“We're Erika and Steph, best friends and moms to 4 amazing kids. We are children of the ‘80s and ‘90s who grew up coveting scratch and sniff and sticker collections, and love nothing more than some good nostalgia.
We know how smelling something delicious from childhood can take us back in an instant, and love that feeling. We want our kids and yours to form happy memories through happy smells that remind us all of good times. Our mood-elevating scents are sure to make you smile, and are perfect for gifting and trading.
We developed phix as a brand that reflects the qualities of playfulness, happiness, inclusivity, and expression. Our hair ties are scented with materials that are hair and skin safe, and free of parabens.”
Support these ladies and their brand new venture by following them on instagram @phixyourhair
Loony Legs Leggings
Designed by a mother-to-be during the pandemic, Valentina began looking for funky leggings with unique patterns to cheer herself up. The designs she found were too predictable so she designed her own brand of funky legging patterns. Her husband said her idea was crazy so she named them Loony Legs. I discovered them during the pandemic and wearing them brought so much joy to my workouts in that dim time. Everyone knows that leggings go beyond fitness wear, these are now part of my chef’s uniform. I get stopped by a lot of people asking about my fashion choices. These leggings are major conversation starters on the streets of New York. Go to her site to see all of her incredible designs. My favorite part about telling people they’re from Loony Legs is this part:
“A tiny, but meaningful action.
For every order sold, we will plant a tree. It's a simple but affective act to offset our CO2 and help protect the planet we live in.
Of course we don't do it ourselves (we make great leggings but are not great gardeners). To make this happen, we have partnered up with Tree-Nation, an organisation dedicated to fighting climate change and reforesting the world.”
Black Friday sale! Get 30% OFF sitewide with code "BF30".
Greg Kessler Paintings
When I moved into my Harlem apartment, I brought things into my new home that had been with me for the 28 years I’d lived in New York. My friend Greg Kessler gifted me one of his paintings and it was the one thing that brought my new space together. The colors are so vibrant and deliberate. On purpose. I love that about Greg’s art. I bet there is someone in your life that loves color and needs some original art for their home, office, school…
“Like the Abstract Expressionists, I engage with the history of figurative and abstract art and constantly push the limits of figuration. I explore overlapping images in airbrush or stencil, with gestural effects laid on top of a drawing or a cartoon image. I attempt to separate the image from the process to create a more complex and visually exciting body of work as well as a personal mythos.”
Isn’t she incredible? And my home is full of fuchsia, turquoise, orange, yellow and orange.She fits in perfectly.
Here’s a look at lasts year’s AGT gift list just in case you haven’t found anything yet. At the bottom of that post you can find links to the other 8 gift lists if you want some more gifting inspiration.
But before we can think of Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanza we have to get through Thanksgiving! So here is a recipe for your Thanksgiving meal. And if you are a guest at someone else’s table this is a really easy side dish to bring.
Holiday Wild Rice
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup wild rice
1 cup brown rice
2 tablespoons Pomora Rosemary Olive Oil, more for drizzling (or any yummy oil)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup dried cranberries, more for garnish
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary ( 1 tablespoon if you don’t use rosemary olive oil)
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds, more for garnish
Directions:
Bring broth to a boil, add the 2 kinds of rice and the olive oil, stirring. Add salt and pepper, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes. In the last 5 minutes add the orange juice, cranberries, rosemary, and almonds. Stir to combine. Let cook 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, but keep covered for another 5 minutes. The rice will continue to steam and the cranberries will absorb the orange juice. Fluff with a fork and garnish with more cranberries and almonds. Drizzle with olive oil.
Food images by Cheryl Stockton of Stockshot Studio