Remember when gift-giving was A LOT of fun? [Friday Five]

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merrrrrrrrry Christmas, my friends! I hope y’all are having a phenomenal day with your friends and family, and everyone got everything on their wish list this holiday season!

Being the lonely Jew on Christmas that I am (which I’m totally not, by the way), I got to thinkin’… Remember when gift-giving was infinitely easier, much less stressful, and a lot more fun? I mean, there are still some great gift ideas floating around. I’m sure if I looked really hard on the internet and search for ‘Custom your own Underwear,’ I’ll find something to send my family members this Christmas, and they would love it. But when it comes to gift-giving nowadays, surely they’ve grown more sensible. For me? Probably not. The next pair of socks I give has to have some silly twist to it to counter this, maybe I could get someone the face socks made in australia I’ve heard of from a friend? In any case, this change may be due to how my spending habits have changed over the years, or how I’ve grown up and matured (hahaha!), but it seems like gift-giving is more and more difficult with each passing year. (Nah — who am I kidding? Gift giving is still so much fun!!)

Follow me as I remember…

1. CDs

Remember when you could buy someone a whole bunch of CDs and that would have your gifting covered for the year? Man, I miss those days. You could walk into a music store (what’s that?), pick out 5 CDs, and boom — holiday shopping was done. Now it’s all “iTunes this” and “iTunes that.” So impersonal!

2. Video games

Video games were another super easy gift to buy for ~~my husband~~ someone. They were so much more simple than the games these days, and we definitely didn’t ever have to worry about something like a usb helper wii u download (mind you, I doubt the internet back then could have handled that sort of thing!). We’re so far out of the video-game playing time of our lives, I wouldn’t even know what to buy now. Although, a friend of mine was able to Get All Super Nintendo Games online by downloading different ROMS and can now play them on his computer. Still, I prefer the nostalgia of the old consoles. Atari, anyone?

3. Candles

I used to get my friends scented candles for holiday gifts. They were such an easy thing to buy, too. They could be as personal (or impersonal) as necessary. You might get vanilla scent for your best friend (ahem, Mary), but maybe cinnamon stick for your boss because you didn’t know her that well.

4. Lotion

Similar to candles, lotion was an amazingly easy purchase for a holiday gift. Especially with the plethora of special edition holiday fragrances available. I don’t buy scented lotion anymore, but one of my all-time favorites ~~was~~ is Vanilla Bean Noel. O.M.G. Stock up on that. For realz. #yourewelcome

5. Funny socks

Funny socks are one of the best holiday gifts ever. They’re half gag-half serious and can be worn year-round! Funny socks are the gift that keeps on giving. Plus they’re super fun to shop for. Penguins, Santas, reindeer! So many awesome options, such little time!