Thinking Outside the Starbox Gift Card
In my twenties, my friends would often text me with questions like “what’s a sexy/romantic holiday gift idea for my new boyfriend? Now, my texts are more like “hey, am I supposed to buy my kid’s teacher a holiday present and if so, what in the world am I supposed to get them? Times, they are a changing.
Most of my friends have small children and are buying teacher gifts for the first time. And from what I have gathered, 99% of people end up buying Starbucks gift cards on their way to drop-off on the last Friday before Winter Break. I’m not judging. That’s usually my M.O. I don’t have a Pinterest account and ain’t nobody got time to plan ahead on Etsy, let alone craft something up at home.
But I’ve also recently been super sad that so many of my favorite neighborhood spots have been closing. My Chicago neighborhood is being taken over by high end chain boutiques and so many of the places I love are closing. I get it, me and my yuppy family are part of the problem. But kinda like complaining about politics but not actually voting, I don’t feel like I can really complain if I don’t actively try to support local business. So I decided to get teacher gifts made up of some delicious things from three of my favorite local restaurants. Have you ever read The 5 Love Languages book? It basically says that you normally give love in the way that you want to receive it. That couldn’t be more true in this instance.
The gift basket included pickled carrots, onions, and cauliflower from Birchwood Kitchen. Only $5/jar! Caramels from Floriole for $12. And hot chocolate, a mug, and homemade marshmallows from Hot Chocolate for $18. I picked up the gift basket, cellophane, and ribbon from World Market and it was super easy to assemble and took very little time. I can’t think of anyone that wouldn’t like this basket of goodies. (Except maybe for that lady whose cell phone number is accidentally listed as the contact number for Roxie’s by the Slice on Yelp. I talked to her yesterday and I’m pretty sure that nothing would make her happy right now. Ha.)
I hope you try to support your favorite local businesses this holiday season, too. It just takes a little bit more effort but it will hopefully prevent your neighborhood from closing great places and opening up a 5th shoe store and a 4th donut shop. I’m looking at you, Bucktown.
