Holiday Gift Guide Part I — Quirky and Perky Finds for Fun-Loving Gals

Christmas is coming!
Christmas is coming!
I’ve never been a huge fan of Halloween — first, there’s the fact that I’m a scaredy cat (for me, watching a horror movie is akin to water torture); second, I always dread the slew of pranks that occur on Halloween evening (lawns being covered with toilet paper, cars and houses coated with smashed eggs, the firecrackers shoved into people’s mailboxes and so forth); and I really take issue with the number of absolutely scandalous costumes worn by tween and teen girls (the sexy kitty and sexy bunny ensembles have gotten out of control and now, of course, there’s the Miley- Cyrus- at-the-VMAs costumes that are soaring in popularity this year).
This evening, the W New York Hotel Union Square will unveil a new installation, “W Room and Boards,” consisting of five celebrity-designed skateboards arranged in an interactive display that allows visitors to learn more about each artist and the inspiration behind each board’s design.
Sure, she nagged you about eating your vegetables, reminded you incessantly that she was neither a maid nor a short order chef, and monitored your every utterance in case a curse word slipped out, but she also cooked you chicken soup when you had a cold, kissed every scraped knee and tiny boo-boo, read your favorite bedtime story so many times she could recite it from memory, stitched up your favorite stuffed animal for the 100th time, cut the crust off your sandwich, drove you to ballet or baseball practice at obscenely early hours, and displayed every excellent report card or sports team trophy with the pride others would reserve for Nobel Peace Prizes.
Springtime: that magical season when blades of grass break through soil once covered by snow, when perky birds begin to perch on once barren tree branches, when the sweet fragrance and vibrant hues of newly blossomed flower petals lifts our collective spirits and blesses us with a renewed sense of optimism.
Talk about one man’s trash being another man’s treasure.
Dress your sweetheart up in your love for Valentine’s Day — whether the recipient of this affection (and, as a result, these gifts) is a friend, colleague, daughter, or even yourself.
While your love might not cost a thing (to paraphrase J.Lo), every girl enjoys a token of affection from time to time — however humble or extravagant it might be.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been bringing you a plethora of gift ideas inspired by thriving cities around the world — and yet, we’ve focused predominantly on goodies for the ladies, so we thought it was only fair to show the fellas some love with a gift guide installment dedicated exclusively to them.
With less than two weeks remaining until Christmas, our Holiday Shopping Around the World gift guide is starting to feel like The Amazing Race — but don’t worry: we’re taking on all the challenges and doing all the heavy lifting so that your journey to the finish line will be easy breezy.