GIFTS - for the ladies

Ladies might be intimidating to gift, because they already have everything (like most people around us actually, making gifting hard) or are very picky about stuff. Thus I tend to go with gifting experiences and more out of the box ideas, but of course cute things that a specific lady would love never fail to amaze me as well. The key when gifting clothes or objects is to pick something that the person will love or need, something that screams "this is so her".
Here are 10 gift ideas for the ladies in your life:

1. Travel
A gift voucher is a common last minute idea, but if it comes from Mr. and Mrs. Smith it would be like Santa let you sneak peak on her list. Just look at their listings and destinations, a pure dream.
If your budget is tights, pick a travel book from their great collection (Italy, Ireland, France, etc.) or any destination travel book you can find.

2. Cooking
For a lady that enjoys cooking a couple of cooking classes would be a great idea. For the ladies that enjoy eating more than cooking, pick the option of booking a private chef at home to cook them dishes of their liking. Here are some examples I googled and I'm pretty sure there are local ones depending on where you live. A couple of chefs have started doing this in Tirana, Albania as well.

3. Reading
A yearly subscription in magazines that interest her is one of my favorite gifts. So small but so smart and keeps giving all year long. I'd send my mother and my mother in law interior design magazines such as Domino or Elle Decor and my Albanian favorite Living.
For book lovers, make them fall in love again by gifting a set like this. Pick classics, fairy tales or poetry, that every woman would love. Penguin makes beautiful covers for great books and I fell in love with them at first sight. Beautiful and easy to display, while insured entertainment inside.

4. A personal stylist
This is a relatively new trend I see spreading around on internet for a while. People from different countries make it possible for you to feel like a superstar while shopping especially for your needs and picking up styles and things you might look great in. No matter where you live, you can find a great local one or choose online services. A good example I can give you is Shannon Ables, editor of the lovely blog The Simply Luxurious Life. I love everything she writes and curates, so I'm sure she would be great to work with in styling sessions, picking an outfit or an entire capsule wardrobe. You can learn more here.

5. A life mentor
I never thought there'd be such thing until a year ago when I found out several lovely ladies offering their knowledge and wisdom to people in need. I was suspicious at the values delivered at first, but after subscribing to their newsletters and reading blogs and advices, I truly appreciated the opportunity to have a mentor. You can choose a specific theme, like personal, finances, work or life in general. Jess Lively is amongst the great ones and I'd love to have a session (or ten) with her.

6. Learning
For the bloggers or for the ladies trying to learn photoshop, gift them a ticket to Blogshop, run by the talented and awesome Bri Emery, that now comes in an online format, videos that you can watch from your couch.

7. Flowers
Most ladies love flowers and you can never go wrong with a beautiful bouquet. How about flowers delivered to her monthly, or even weekly? Who wouldn't love this? Pick a local flower shop or an online service and have fun with the compilations.

8. Art
This one is a classic favorite as well. While paintings are a more personal thing, based on taste and your space, have fun and be elastic with prints, the latest trend evolving crazily lately. You can find them on Etsy or from artists like the amazing Stephanie Sterjovski or Jen Ramos, that are known for their super popular and feminine pieces. Another great source for art prints (also phone covers, laptop stickers, mugs, t-shirts, totes, pillows) is Society6 which features different styles and independent artists (you can also find a piece from me too).

9. Baubles
This involves another gift card, but it's for Baublebar, the ladies' wonderland, full of gorgeous jewelry with affordable prices. Go buy one for every girl you know. This is a perfect digital gift for ladies far away from you, but if you mail the gift card to her, you can add a personalized pendant inside at no additional cost. So cute!

10. Decorating service
This one is so luxurious and lady like. For the one that has everything, send her professionals to decorate her house. I'd love people from Dolce Casa (my favorite decor shop in the city) to come over and beautify my space.

By the way, if you haven't finished decorating the house yet, here are two posts from last year that come to your rescue with decorations you already have at home (part 1 and part 2)

I had so much fun putting this particular gift guide together, because I love all this presents and wouldn't mind getting one (or all) for myself. Just in case you are wondering, I have no affiliate links or sponsored suggestions here (as in no other post in this blog until now). Not that it is a bad thing (actually I wish I did) but just to be honest with you that these are all people and companies I have tried, loved, trust or I would like to buy from them in the future because of the great reviews from others. There you go now. Just don't spend all the money on yourself ;)

| Love, Lisa |