Category Archives: gift guide

gift guide: woonwinkel’s finds for the modern family

{Editor’s Note: This gift guide was sponsored by my friends at Woonwinkel, but the picks are entirely mine. Thank you so much for supporting the businesses that support SMC!} family gifts

You remember Woonwinkel, right? That gorgeously modern home and accessories store in Portland (and online), filled with treasures I don’t see anywhere else – which, in my line of work, is really saying something. Every year, they’re one of my first stops for gifts, and one of the first places I look to fill out my own wish list. So, when they asked if I’d like to come up with a few gift picks from their store and share them with you? You can imagine how long it took me to agree.

The thing that always surprises me about Woonwinkel is how affordable most of their pieces are. Sure, you can splurge, but if you check out this list, you’ll see that nearly everything I’ve picked is under $60 – definitely a steal in gifting parlance. Plus, they really do have something for the whole family, so you can get your shopping done in one spot – and support a home-grown business while you’re at it! And PS: if anyone’s looking for a gift for me, that iPhone case and the brass paperweights are just my size. Ooh, and the ostrich pillow…

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gift guide: becki’s finds for the pickiest people on your list

Well, friends, I definitely didn’t save the best for last (I mean, did you see all of those amazing gift ideas my guest experts had?!). But I’ve put together a holiday wish list of my own, filled with everything from stocking stuffers/last-minute Hanukkah gifts to those little luxuries I can never bring myself to splurge on any other time of year. There’s something for everyone here – your mom, your bestie, your uncle who drinks too much – and a few treats I think you definitely deserve to have under the tree for yourself this year.

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gift guide: ali mejia’s finds for the exotic globetrotter

{This year, I’ve asked a few of the people whose style I spend all year admiring to share their holiday wish lists. Check them all out right here!} sexy gift guide travel gift guide

By now, I suspect it’s no secret that I’m a pretty big fan of Eberjey. Bordering on an evangelist, really. Their lingerie and loungewear is quite possibly the most perfect version of what it’s meant to be: sexy and comfy. In other words, pieces you could actually sleep in, but that also have a decent chance of being ripped off of you, Fifty Shades-style. As it turns out, Eberjey’s perfect formula comes from designer Ali Mejia‘s international upbringing and fanatical attention to detail. Born in El Salvador with a passion for international travel, Ali spent her teen years having her swimsuits tailored to fit. As an adult, when she couldn’t find the lingerie she was after, she decided to create it herself, and Eberjey was born. You can feel Ali’s relaxed, bohemian attitude in every single piece Eberjey designs, from beach-ready swimwear and cover-ups to pajamas and intimates that are addictively good. Just reading her list will put you in the mood for a relaxing island getaway.

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gift guide: joy gryson’s finds for the SMC girl

{Editor’s Note: This year, I’ve asked a few of the people whose style I spend all year admiring to share their holiday wish lists. Stay tuned – we’ll have a new expert every day for the next two weeks!} fashion gift guide

I’ve been a fan (bordering on a groupie) of Joy Gryson‘s since she debuted her very first collection…even her very first bag. In fact, I still have my original Skye bag, and I still get stopped on the street every time I carry it. Joy started out designing for big names like Coach and Calvin Klein, and was the Director of Design at Marc Jacobs (where she designed most of their now-iconic styles) before she left to found her own brand in 2006. Since then, Gryson has grown incredibly, but that impeccable quality and thoughtful attention to detail hasn’t changed a bit. What I love most about Joy – besides the fact that she’s a superstar designer who is so friendly and down-to-earth that she still answers my emails personally! – is her ability to seamlessly blend an uptown aesthetic with downtown hip.

Just as I’d hoped, Joy’s wish list is packed with picks that would be just the thing for a girl whose style is classic with a touch of edge…in other words, you and me! I don’t know about you, but this is the list I’ll be forwarding directly to Santa.

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gift guide: bridget watson payne’s finds for the art lover

{Editor’s Note: This year, I’ve asked a few of the people whose style I spend all year admiring to share their holiday wish lists. Stay tuned – we’ll have a new expert every day for the next two weeks!} gift guide art

I love my artistic friends. I love their free spirits, their creative thinking, and the way they can just whip up a thing of beauty with a few brushstrokes, a twist of wire, or the click of a shutter. Alas, when it comes to gifting for them, I’m utterly at a loss…my standard grey sweaters simply will not do for this crowd. And so, I’ve enlisted one of the most creative, artistic ladies I know to help us out. Bridget Watson Payne is the Art Editor at Chronicle Books, which means she has a direct line to whatever magic juice it is that makes those artsy friends of ours tick! If that’s not enough, when she’s not ushering new talent through the publishing process, Bridget writes a beautiful blog that shows off her adventures and finds in the art world. I can’t even look at today’s gift guide without my creative wheels starting to spin.

Oh! And how’s this for good news: As it turns out, Chronicle is running a pretty amazing Friends & Family this week. Get 35% Off Everything + free shipping with code FRIENDS. Happy holidays, indeed!

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gift guide: toni & ben’s finds for the hip couple

{Editor’s Note: This year, I’ve asked a few of the people whose style I spend all year admiring to share their holiday wish lists. Stay tuned – we’ll have a new expert every day for the next two weeks!} gift guide couple

Here’s one of the (many) ways I can tell I’m not hip: while reading Toni Hacker and Ben Harnett’s guide to everything a hip couple could possibly want, I kept intermittently exclaiming “What in the world is that?”…followed closely by “Dang, that’s so cool!” (I mean, really….kinetic sand?) But that’s exactly what I’d expect from the brains behind one of my favorite handbag and accessory lines, Hayden-Harnett. These two Brooklynites just can’t help but be hip! Whether you’re looking for one gift you can give to that couple you double-date with every Saturday, creative ideas for your other half, or a few things for your own wish list, Toni and Ben have come up with a dozen finds guaranteed to put you on the short list for Most Popular Couple.
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gift guide: nichole robertson’s finds for the francophile

{Editor’s Note: This year, I’ve asked a few of the people whose style I spend all year admiring to share their holiday wish lists. Stay tuned – we’ll have a new expert every day for the next two weeks!} french gift guide

I was about to launch into a long story about how much I love Paris. But really, who doesn’t love Paris? Who isn’t fantasizing about jetting off to the City of Lights at the first available opportunity? And therefore, who wouldn’t want a chic Parisian souvenir for the holidays? Nichole Robertson is one-half of the duo behind Obvious State, and the incredibly talented photographer/author of Paris in Color, her gorgeous (and Daisy-approved) series of color-themed snaps of her daily life in the City of Lights. Yes, you heard me. Her daily life. Because you see, besides being a bestselling author, Nichole gets to spend a few months a year living in Paris – eating croissant, drinking café au lait, and imbibing in that quintessentially French je ne sais quois.

Nichole is also seriously committed to supporting the wonderful world of handmade, so brace yourselves for some highly covetable Etsy finds in this lot. And PS: if anyone’s looking for a gift for me? I’ll take those Obvious State black & gold Paris prints, please.

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gift guide: kricken yaker’s finds for design devotees

{Editor’s Note: This year, I’ve asked a few of the people whose style I spend all year admiring to share their holiday wish lists. Stay tuned – we’ll have a new expert every day for the next two weeks!} design gift guide

I’d have to ask her (über-talented) husband to be sure, but I have a pretty good feeling that Kricken Yaker is one of those people on your gift list. The one who is so far ahead of the trends, she’s already over things you haven’t even heard about yet. The one whose house you walk into and spend the next hour trying to suppress the urge to Instagram every perfectly-styled bookshelf and expertly-hung art wall. In other words, the one you’re completely stumped by.

Luckily, Kricken isn’t just one of the most talented interior designers I know, she also has a gorgeous store – Vanillawood – stocked to the gills with exactly the kind of gifts you’ll need for people who are, well, a little intimidating. For the person on your list whose shelves are stacked with books by Kelly Wearstler and David Hicks, who knows her John Robshaw from her John Derian, and whose house rightfully belongs in the next issue of Dwell, trust me – Kricken’s guide is going to be a godsend.

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