You may have noticed we’ve taken a bit of a hiatus over the holidays and into the new year.
It’s been a busy time; a time needed regroup and look ahead to the year to come.
Thanks for all the support as we launched into the blogosphere in April and for continuing to read In Good Company into the new year.
We’d love to get your feedback on what you’d like to see in 2014. Interior design? Fashion? Pet Profiles? Home updates? Personal stories? Let us know in the comments.
We’re closing in on the end of 2013. It was a year of ups and downs, but we’re finally crossing the finish line into a new year! Here’s a look back at some of my favorite posts over the past 9 months:
Our dreams of owning a home led to a Living Room Wishlist full of simple lines and patterns.
Adam and I celebrated our first year of marriage this May!
Hanging out with Sween and Parker made for a fun Pet Profile.
I turned a quarter century this year and made some big goals – more like 25 goals to accomplish by my next birthday.
My brother got married at my favorite place in the world!
We bought a house!
With the changing of the seasons came a new playlist.
This #HHHalloween was an all-out bash.
We didn’t get around to cards this year, but Lainey wished everyone a very Merry Christmas.
What a year. What a year. Looking forward to 2014 – a year full of fresh starts, new dreams and more adventures. Cheers to 2014.
What kind of things do you want to see from us next year?
Interior design, pups, house projects, personal stories? Let us know!
It’s a “Laindeer!”
Merry Christmas! We hope you have a wonderful holiday with your friends and family.
Love,
Melissa, Adam, and Lainey the Reindeer
(The Laindeer wouldn’t sit still.)
I absolutely love giving gifts. For those of you into the “Love Languages”, one of my top 2 languages is GIFTS (the other is ACTS OF SERVICE). I have had so much fun looking at the gift guides and gift inspiration boards from some of my favorite bloggers (quite a few that overlapped with my own personal favorites); however, every time I sat down to do one for the blog, I didn’t feel as I was bringing anything new or note-worthy to the conversation already taking place on the internet. This got me thinking about intangible gifts.
Every time somebody in my family asked me this holiday season, “What do you want for Christmas?”, I have been at a loss for a quick response. Sure, there are things I want when I see them, but I didn’t have many overarching “wishes”. The older I get, the more I start to ask for things I NEED as opposed to WANT. After coming up blank for an immediate want, my mind wandered down the “needs” road for a response- a new boiler system, a car for Troy that can drive safely on the highway, money towards my students loans, etc. All of my needs were not things I felt comfortable discussing as Christmas gifts, so instead, I was left with no response or “I don’t really know” (the worst thing you can tell a family member who is frantically trying to finish their Christmas shopping, right?). Outside of the standard “gifts”, I guess I am really craving experiences, the ability to be creative, time with family, etc.
An intangible gift may still cost money, but it is something that you can’t bottle up. Something you can’t put on the shelf. Something you can’t break or need to replace next year. Kater Leatherman, author of Making Peace with Your Stuff, captures this whole idea when she said, “Intangible gifts have appeal; they have staying power because of the experiences and memories that are attached to them.”
With that concept in mind, here are my Top 5 recommendations for intangible gift giving:
1. Give tickets to concerts, movies or shows, and sporting events.
Some of my favorite gifts have been from this category. A show or event is fleeting, but as cheesy as it sounds, you make memories that last so much further than the event. My aunt/dad have both given me tickets to Broadway traveling shows for The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked on different occasions, and I still light up just thinking about them. Sometimes this type of gift is tough to give as a “surprise” since you have to arrange schedules, but the time together is so worth it (and you both get a “gift”). Last year, I knew I wanted to take my aunt to see the Les Miserables movie at the theater when it came out, but due to our schedules we could only go on Christmas day, which just so happened to be opening night. We had such a great time despite getting there super early on our favorite holiday.
2. Give the gift of relaxation and self-care through massage services, manicures/pedicures, yoga class, or gym memberships.
We are all so busy, right? And most of us don’t do the “self care” that we should. A gift like this takes away any excuse your friends/family members may have about spending money on caring for themselves. You can join, too, as a co-relaxer or motivator. My dad, who knows how insanely busy/stressed I get, has gifted me two massages. I don’t take the time to slow down, but a gift like that forced me to (and was just what I needed).
3. Plan a day (or weekend) trip together.
The best gift can just be enjoying each other’s company, but taking a trip somewhere new can make that extra special. If you are planning a trip together, like the tickets, this might be hard to do as a “surprise”. If you want that element of surprise, plan activities and events during the trip that are independent from planning the dates (go see a show, stop at crazy places along the way, etc). You can also give a trip that that isn’t date/time-stamped. For our wedding, we received a gift certificate to a bed-and-breakfast that we had an entire year to use. We picked a random weekend in the fall, invited some friends, loaded the car with board games/drinks, and had the best time! Again, this is something we would not have done for ourselves otherwise.
4. Take something off their “to-do” list (use your expertise).
Anybody that knows me knows that my to-do list is extremely long. I typically measure my day by how many boxes I can check off that list (I know, that’s not healthy). Because of this, though, I feel incredibly loved when a family or friend can check one of those boxes for me. You know how to tile a bathroom? Volunteer to do it for your friends. Love kids, but don’t have your own? Offer free babysitting services and let your friends have a night out. Do you make the best smoothie in town? Make me (I mean your friend) one. You can even make these free services into “coupons” if you want them to have something to still “open” like a tangible gift. One time, Troy and I gifted my mom a renovation of her sewing room for Christmas. She was just starting her mitten business, and her sewing room was less than inspirational. We used my design skills, Troy’s handiwork, and a trip to IKEA to give a gift that has lasted for 3 years now.
5. Share a meal together.
In her book, Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table, Shauna Niequist discusses the importance of having meals together with family and friends. She said,“The heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved. It’s about declaring your table a safe zone, a place of warmth and nourishment.” So, create that space for your friends/family. Not a good cook? Take them to their favorite restaurant. My brother and I go out to eat at our favorite place, San Chez, a tapas bistro in Grand Rapids, as a gift to each other for our birthdays in February and April. The time together is just as sweet as the food we share (again, incredibly cheesy, but so true).
Haven’t found the right gift yet? Try out one of these ideas. I sincerely hope your holiday season is filled with family/friends, experiences, laughter, and some great gifts- both tangible and intangible.
What are some other intangible gift ideas you have?
The countdown to Christmas has already begun.
Everyone gets into the holiday spirit in their own way – sometimes through shopping, baking cookies, decorating, listening to Christmas tunes or in some cases, watching a favorite Christmas movie!
There are tons of choose from (just look at ABC Family’s countdown), but here’s my personal favs.
1. A Muppet Christmas Carol
It’s not Christmas Eve without Rizzo the Rat. Since we were little, it’s become a family tradition to watch the muppets on Christmas Eve in our pjs. The older I get, the better this movie becomes after discovering all of its “adult humor.”
2. Home Alone 1 & 2
KEVIN! Who doesn’t love this movie? It’s nostalgia for us “millennials.” I give the kid extra props for being traumatized by the Wet/Sticky bandits twice and coming out normal… oh wait.
3. Elf
Probably Will Ferrall’s best movie (in my opinion) and the only Christmas movie made in the past decade that is already classified as a Christmas movie staple. “I’m a cotton-headed ninny muggins.”
4. Love Actually
The movie that makes everyone feel all warm and fuzzy about love. See if you can spot all the celebrities before they were “really” famous AND don’t forget to count all the turtlenecks.
5. Christmas Vacation
I have my father to thank for loving this movie. In typical Chevy Chase fashion, the slapstick humor and one-liners are here to deck the halls for Christmases to come.
What movies put you in the holiday spirit?
In Good Company 