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I am home sick with yet another stomach bug (my second this December — thanks, kids!) and so let's have a fun conversation… what is the best gift you're giving this year? What is the best gift you've ever received? Were they thoughtful, small gifts — or big, swing for the fences kind of gifts?
For my $.02… my husband gave me a thoughtful gift one year of crazy socks. We may not even have been married yet, but he noticed that although I tend to wear solid neutrals (well, black mostly), I'm a fan of crazy socks — and I was touched he noticed.
In terms of the best gift I'm giving this year… hmmn. I promised my eldest son we could go back to Universal Studios when he finished all the Harry Potter books, and he just finished book 7 last week, so I suppose I should get started planning that trip — we also may have a rescue cat in our future. (My youngest wants a dog, cat, and a Russian tortoise… so we're compromising on “cat.”) How about you guys?
Stock photo via Stencil.
anon
I’m very excited about my kids’ gifts, as usual, but I have the hardest time coming up with something for my husband. My daughter is getting an American Girl doll (all of my childhood dreams are coming true), and my son is getting a bunch of stuff he will love.
Anonymous
I just learned, but have not yet listened myself, that there is an American Girls podcast! I have 3 co workers who are listening to it and they give it rave reviews.
Bria
Any recommendations for things to do in Nashville? My husband and I are going this weekend as a special trip (no kids) – I’ve never been. Thank you!
Just a reader
Go wander through the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Check out the website. The atrium/courtyard is amazing, and while I haven’t been at Christmas, it’s supposed to be filled with great lights. There are lots of restaurants, bars, etc. in the hotel atrium, so you can spend a while there. Not sure about reservations for meals this time of year, so you may want to check before you go. Downtown great places to eat: Sea Salt – Fabulous food! Brunch at The Hermitage Hotel. (And unless you’re a glutton for loud punishment, do NOT waste your time with the bars on Broadway!) Have fun!
Pep
Attend the Grand Old Opry if you can get tickets. This was my favorite part of our Nashville trip. The performers who are on the schedule will be joined by other performers depending on availability – so who knows who might show up! Each performer only does 2-3 songs, so it’s a wide variety. It’s also a live radio broadcast!
Anonymous
My family and I all enjoyed the Frist. It was a surprise because we all like very different things and I am particularly not a big fan of art museums. We also really enjoyed the Johnny Cash museum and the big central park (don’t recall the name). Oh — and Prince’s for hot chicken, of course.
Anj
I have NEVER commented on this site before, though I love scrolling through, but I’ve lived in Nashville for 11 years and just this week wrote the lengthy list below for a visiting relative. I felt compelled to share :) Enjoy your trip – it’s a lovely city!
Morning/afternoon: Explore the 12th South neighborhood for coffee at Frothy Monkey and a walk around the boutiques, including: Reese Witherspoon’s store Draper James, Outdoor Voices, White’s Mercantile, and Moda Boutique. Follow shopping with lunch at either Bartaco for unique fusion tacos, Burger Up for awesome burgers, or Edley’s for Nashville BBQ. Get ice cream for dessert at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream in the same neighborhood. Pose for a picture at the iconic “I Believe in Nashville” mural.
The Gulch neighborhood would be another fun place to do brunch, followed by shopping: options there include Adele’s (their Sunday brunch is an upscale all-you-can-eat buffet), Milk & Honey, Saint Anejo, and Biscuit Love. After brunch, walk around the many shops until about 3 PM when the rooftop bar LA Jackson opens at the top of the Thompson Hotel. Great view of the city and good (if slightly overpriced) drinks!
In a part of town called 100 Oaks that is a little less touristy, you can get brunch at Stay Golden (the biscuits are amazing) and then go next door for a candle-making class at Candle Bar. Be sure to book your class in advance, as they fill up. TopGolf is another fun activity, as is bowling at Pinewood Social (again, make a reservation in advance.)
Evening: For dinner, I recommend Moto in the Gulch for great Italian, Butcher & Bee in East Nashville for all types of food (try the whipped feta), or Silo in Germantown for upscale and delicious small plates. If you end up eating in the Germantown area at night, visit Von Elrod’s for German beers and then go dancing at the Back Corner, which is a pretty fun and swanky club.
If you want to go downtown, I’d visit Broadway briefly for the full experience and then walk or Uber around the corner to the classier rooftop bars at Dream Hotel, Noelle Hotel, and the Bobby Hotel, which are all right next door to each other. Each bar is currently decorated to the MAX for the holidays. The Noelle Hotel has an unmarked underground bar called “Hidden Bar” that is especially adorable.
If you’re into museums, try to visit the Frist Art Museum, the Johnny Cash museum, or the Country Music Hall of Fame. If you like books, swing by local bookshop Parnassus in the Green Hills neighborhood. It’s owned by best-selling author Ann Patchett.
Oh and, if you like spicy foods, don’t forget to try Nashville hot chicken! If you can’t tell, I absolutely love my city.
NOLA
I’m pretty hard to buy for because I mainly buy myself what I want. One exception is household stuff. For some reason, I put it off. My KitchenAid stand mixer was a great gift for that reason. Totally life changing. The best gift I ever got was a commissioned painting of my cat. My friend gathered different photos of her and commissioned the painting. In the painting, she was sleeping on a bed of pink tulle with a pair of high-heeled pumps in front of her. She passed away two years ago so it’s one of my treasured possessions. I haven’t done a ton of shopping this year. I bought two of the same necklace (with different colored pearls) for two of my friends who admired mine. It’s from my favorite local jewelry store, so that was fun.
Senior Attorney
When we were dating my then-Gentleman Friend gave me a super fancy coffee maker just like the one he had at his house. That was pretty great.
Best gift this year already happened — my son moved into a new apartment in August and was short on bookshelves so I got him two bookcases and Hubby and I went over there last Sunday and the three of us assembled them, which was surprisingly fun and stress free and my son was thrilled to get his comic book collection out of boxes and onto shelves.
Runner-up: My assistant changed her name after her divorce and I’m getting her a nice nameplate for her desk with the new/old name on it, which I know she will love.
NOLA
Love the nameplate idea!
Anonymous
Nice!
The nicest gift I ever got: my life back after a gut wrenching divorce. The nicest physical gift: a painting. Very unexpected and generous.
The nicest gift I’ve ever given: a princess dress for my little niece. The look on her face was the best!
Happy holidays, all!
knyc
My ex husband got me diamond stud earring for my birthday before we were engaged and declared very solemnly: this is a serious preset.
The Original ...
Best gift was 10 years ago exactly… I had left my apartment of 7 years for a temp job out of town. Then I got a job in a different city and had 4 days to essentially declutter and pack up the apartment. As a result, I had an apartment with 7 years of stuff sitting in a city I was not in. One of my friends asked me what I wanted to keep, packed it all up, then posted photos of everything else on craigslist and met buyers. She then deposited the cash into my bank account. When I returned to move out on that super short time crunch, my place was almost empty, my stuff was already packed up, and it took me and that friend a day to load everything into my car and fully clean the place and we were done. Her having done all of that for me and taking it completely off my plate was the greatest gift ever. (Oh, and when asked about it, she only kind of remembers doing it, further proving that what may seem like something small to one person can be forever meaningful to another.)
NOLA
Oh my gosh! I totally forgot the time that my boyfriend at the time went to my house in the middle of the day, changed out of his work clothes, cleaned my bathroom, and then changed back and went back to work. He knew that I had guests coming and was stressed about not having time to clean the bathroom and tub and shower. It was like an elf showed up and cleaned my bathroom!
Anon
Wow, that’s an amazing friend!
Anon.
Favorite gift to family every year: Photo calendar with pictures of the year. Since having a kid, 80% of the pics are of the little one. Makes our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents very happy. And we always order one for ourselves because it’s fun.
Favorite gift ever gotten: A bodycon maternity dress from my husband when I was newly pregnant. He NEVER picks out clothes for me, but this one made me so happy especially as I felt a lot more anxious about becoming a parent than he was. I wore that dress more than anything else.
Second favorite: A full car detail. I’m a commuter, and having my car all shiny and clean was awesome.
lsw
Most excited to give my stepdaughter a variety of Florence by Mills skincare. This is Millie Bobby Brown’s (sp?) line, and she was sooo excited when it came out, but said she knew it was too expensive. I think she’s going to be shocked.
Best gift I ever got was an upright arcade machine from my husband that has Ms. Pacman (my favorite arcade game!) and a hundred other classic arcade games.
Help
Outfit advice needed. A colleague put me in touch with a GC at a company I would like to work for that does not have an opening right now. We’re meeting for coffee during the workday. My gut says a suit would come off as presumptuous, and I would be shocked if he was wearing one. Is a black suit dress with a tweed going out blazer too formal? Should I go for business casual, like a winter weight pencil skirt with a silk long sleeved blouse? It’s going to be below freezing that day so comfort is a consideration.
The Original ...
Since this person doesn’t know what you may be coming from or heading to, you can probably get away with many options. Since the rule of thumb has always been that it’s better to be slightly too formal than slightly too informal, maybe err on that side? Plus, if you show up in a suit and they show up in sweats (over-exaggeration intentional), you can throw a line in about how you just came from or are about to head to something where your fancy attire would be necessary.
Anon
Ha, silk blouse and pencil skirt is sooooo much more than business casual to me!
anon
lol are you me? I have a meeting like that today, except mine is at the GC’s office. I am wearing a suit, but your pencil skirt plus silk blouse sounds good to me! That’s probably I would do if mine were off site.
Housecounsel
My daughter is studying abroad next semester. I am giving her a set of Away luggage and some fun money for travel. I am really excited about these gifts, even though they make me a little queasy because they remind me that she’ll be so far away for so long. Before that, the little motorized VW Bug I got my preschoolers to drive around in was probably the biggest hit ever!
The first gift my husband ever got me was a bottle of Calyx perfume. We had barely started dating and were walking through a department store back in the days when you would be accosted with sample sprayers. I took a sample and remarked that it was nice. A month later he gave me a bottle, still in the shopping bag. I liked the fragrance, but what it said to me is that this was a man who listened when I talked.
Cookbooks
Best gift I’ve received: a friend of mine made me a stuffed Alot (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html). I named him Klaus, and he lives on the bookshelf.
Best give I’m giving this year: a set of slate coasters laser etched with the greatest college football plays from my alma mater. It’s for a friend who graduated the same year I did.
Praying at work
We had our work Christmas lunch today aaaannnd our boss had us bow our heads and pray. This is a junior college. Would you say or do anything?
anon
Yes. I complain to ethics.
anon
Private or public? If private, not sure there’s much you can do. But regardless of the answer, I don’t think this is appropriate (unless the school is actually religiously affiliated) and sorry you had to sit through that.
Anonymous
Public
anon
Oh heck no, this is not OK. Report to your equity/access/diversity team immediately.
Source: Also at a public institution.
Anonymous
OP here – do I, apologize is not the word, but say anything to Muslim staff or is that just virtue signaling?
anon
I wouldn’t say anything to them. I’m Jewish, and would be really weirded out by someone trying to make a Thing about it with me.
cheslra
Who cares. It is a nothing burger unless you make it otherwise. How will your life change if you just don’t respond? Why do we have to be outraged about absolutely everything? It makes the REAL issues fall on protest fatigued ears.
Anonymous
I agree she shouldn’t say anything to her Muslim colleagues, but people are allowed to feel unwelcome, excluded, weirded out, or whatever feeling. If someone doesn’t point out that harmful or hurtful behavior is harmful or hurtful, then that just means it may happen again. Her life wouldn’t change if she doesn’t respond, but it might if she does – the boss might release that they’re making people feel unwelcome or at least that the boss is potentially breaking the law and should stop. You ask why we have to be outraged about everything, but my question is why should people have to sit down and shut up when someone does something that hurts them? Also people can care about more than one thing at a time, and just because you hear people getting outraged about stuff all the time doesn’t mean it’s the same people getting outraged about all of the same stuff.
anon
Agree, no need to apologize to anyone. Sadly I’m sure they’re used to it by now.
Anon
Also Jewish and agree not to say anything. Also “bow our heads and pray” is more offensive to atheists than Muslims. Unless there is more to the story, he said nothing to exclude people of non-Christian religions (though I agree it’s inappropriate).
LaurenB
Are you in the south?
Anonymous
lol yes
Anon
No, because ten seconds of sitting quietly is not a problem, either socially or ethically.
Anonymous
Speak for yourself. People who aren’t part of the boss’s religion have to either pretend to do something that’s against their beliefs or identify themselves as not part of the boss’s religion. Which opens the door for the boss to treat her differently because of that. The assumption that everyone is part of the boss’s religion and wants to participate (or worse, the realizing that not everyone is of that religion and wants to pray but leading a prayer anyway because the boss wants to and can) in prayer is actually a big problem socially and ethically on the boss’s part. This is a work situation. This is totally different than when I sit quietly for 10 seconds while my parents bless the food at family occasions.
Prayer
Uhh no, I’m not going to silently condone trampling of the establishment clause in an institution of public education. Hope you’re trolling because this is shenanigans.
Anonymous
Favorite gift to give this year – My parents had these highball glasses in the bar cabinet in my childhood home that had maps of the Manhattan subway system on them. I am pretty sure they’re from teh late 70’s or early 80s. Over the years, they got chipped or faded in the dishwasher, and the last one recently bit the dust my parents move. I found a set in an antiques store recently and snapped them up. My parents met in NYC, so the glasses hold a lot of sentimental value.
lsw
I love this! Report back on how ecstatic they were! :)
Anon
I did this for my dad one year, except it was lowball glasses with mallards on them. He loved those glasses more than any others and was down to one when we surprised him with a set of four we found on ebay.
Senior Attorney
Oh, that’s great!
Reminds me of another great gift I gave, many years ago before you could find everything on the internet: I happened to be at the home of a friend when she dropped and broke one of the teacups from her 50-year-old wedding china. I tracked down a replacement and gave it to her for her birthday and she was beyond thrilled.
Delta Dawn
This reminds me of my sweet grandmother– she had broken the lid to her sugar bowl. It had been her mother’s sugar bowl, and she couldn’t bear to get rid of it. I found a matching one and gave the lid to her. Probably the best response I have ever had to a gift!
anon
My husband’s gift to me one year when I was a new runner was to be my running partner. He wasn’t a runner at all, but he got up and ran with me and cheered me on and it kind of makes me tear up just thinking about it. So very sweet and unexpected.
anon
Oh wow, this is SO NICE.
Em
Best gift – I wanted a Basset Hound forever but they rarely show up in rescue (and we won’t buy from a breeder), so my husband tracked down someone rehoming a 4 month old Basset puppy from a bad situation, took a day off work, drove 4 hours round trip to get her, and surprised me with her when I got home from work. Nothing will ever top that gift.
JuneLily91
+1000 for “we won’t buy”! :)
Anon
Aww I love this!!! And kudos to you for being committed to rescuing.
Peach
My husband had a remote car starter installed in my car. Best. Christmas. Gift. Ever.
Bean74
Favorite gift received: tickets to a hockey game and a night in a new hotel with my husband with all the childcare arrangements made.
Favorite gift given: a replica of the ring from Lord of the Rings given to my now-husband for our first Christmas. Second place is the cutting board engraved with a family recipe my sister and I are giving our mom this year for Christmas.
Formerly Lilly
The Nashville Symphony is doing Handel’s Messiah at the Schermerhorn downtown, if that’s your sort of thing. Even people who aren’t country music fans seem to enjoy the Country Music Hall of Fame. Hatch Show Print has been a letterpress print shop for 140 years; it has been glommed into the Country Music Hall of Fame and has an active print shop, a museum, and a shop selling many things – the posters and historic restrikes make great take home items. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is playing on the big screen at the historic Belcourt Theater. The Nutcracker ballet is at TPAC. The Grand Old Opry is putting on a show at the Ryman Auditorium. Check out Tempered Cafe & Chocolate in Germantown for cozy drinks and treats. Check out the views at L27, the bar at the top of the Westin Hotel. Author Ann Patchett’s bookstore Parnassus is a good stop if there is a dearth of indie bookstores where you live. If you have a car, drive out to Leiper’s Fork, park, and walk around and check out the shops and galleries (do not recommend any of the restaurants there). Best romantic supper in town in my opinion is Margot.
Formerly Lilly
Totally misplaced reply to Bria above.
JuneLily91
This year I just gave my fiance his gift early, since he had an important job interview. He loves Stephen King and I found a pen made from the wood of the tree from the movie “The Shawshank Redemption.” (It’s the tree where Andy buries the money and notes for Red. The tree came down in a storm and the property owner sold it to artisans.) I have to admit that gifts are my love language, and I’m especially proud of this one. He got the job, too! :)
Amanda
The perfect gift is hard to find. I remember one time I gave a gift to my ex husband and he threw it away in front of my eyes. It was a baseball cap. He obviously didn’t believe that thought counted! I am always buying gifts for my sons but nothing is ever quite right. This year I bought a few items from cavebrownapparel.com – they had some awesome Raybans and then I got my daughter tons of stuff from maisonducap.shop – I just hope they like it!