Gift Guide: Secret Santa

Secret Santa is one of my favorite holiday traditions! Ever since high school (or maybe even before that..), a group of my girl friends and I have always done a Secret Santa exchange. We randomly exchanged names, shopped for our secret assigned friend, and met up to have a fun little gift exchange. I think the whole premise is awesome — it’s all about quality over quantity. And I don’t just mean price! With Secret Santa, you only have one friend to shop for. So, naturally, you’re less stressed to find the most amazing gifts for each and every single one of your girlfriends… you just have to find one perfect present. I feel like I put so much more thought into finding something that my particular friend will absolutely love. And then the culmination is seeing what everyone chose for their partner in a fun & festive setting! (And you spend way less money, too, since you’re only shopping for one friend, which is always kind of a plus around the holidays! If you’re not already doing a Secret Santa exchange, it’s such a great gift idea for a large group of friends.)

To me, gifting your girlfriends is almost as easy as gifting yourself. You know her favorite brands, you know what she hates, you know what she loves, you know her pet peeves, you know her favorite type of vino (hence, which wine glasses to buy her), you know her must-have shade of lipstick, you know what she needs, and you most certainly know what she does not need. Am I right?!

One place that I’ve been finding a ton of fabulous gifts is Zappos! A few weeks ago, Zappos put together a Secret Santa exchange for a few bloggers. Naturally, Hallie and I had each other’s names. I had so much fun scouring the site to find a few gifts that were perfect for her. I ended up getting her a juicer, a travel coffee mug, and a pair of rain boots. If that isn’t the most random assortment of gifts, I don’t know what is! However, she had been talking about wanting a juicer for months and randomly mentioned that she didn’t have a travel coffee mug a few weeks ago. Done and done! The rain boots were a different story… Every time it would rain, I would still see Hallie still running around the city in her Tieks. The girl needed a pair of wellies! So a pair of wellies is what she got. 🙂 Hallie got me this watch and this candle in my favorite Archipelago scent. She knows me too well!