christmas shopping – Style Spy Girl

Quick, look at your calendar – Christmas is just days away! If you’re not ready (and might be panicking a little), take heart; you are not alone, and your friendly neighborhood shopping pro is here to help!

When it comes down to the wire, you have two optimal choices to strategize finding that perfect gift:
1. Shop online, or
2. Shop hyper-local.

For those scrambling to find the perfect gifts, here are my top tips for last-minute Christmas shopping!

ONLINE GIFTING

Sorry, no, you probably don’t have time to ship something from Amazon; that’s not what I’m talking about here. Your best bet for last-minute online options are subscriptions! From diamond jewelry to organic dinner, there are tons of both national and local subscription services for just about everyone on your list.

For maximum impact, I recommend printing something out that explains the subscription, and then wrapping it along with a physical item that reflects the theme. For example, if you’re giving a wine delivery subscription, wrap it up in a box with a pair of champagne flutes!

Annual subscriptions are the gift that literally keeps on giving, all year long!

Top Picks for Online Subscriptions:

Beer of the Month Club – Obviously, monthly beer.
Brown Box Organics – Food and recipe delivery
Butcher Box – High-quality grass-fed/organic meat delivery
Fab Fit Fun Box – Lifestyle, beauty, and fashion products
Happy Rebel – Women’s edgy, luxe fashion subscription
Rent the Runway – Monthly swappable dresses, outfits, accessories
The 18 Best Wine Club Subscriptions – Like beer club, but with wine.

EXPERIENCES

Christmas Market in Dresden, Germany – Photo via Faredepot.com

Perhaps the best gift you can give right now is the one you can’t really wrap up in a box: adventure. Designer goods are waning in popularity right now, while travel and adventure are on the rise. Some of that might be fueled by economy and budget, or perhaps a thirst for the perfect photos to post on Instagram. Either way, there’s little in this world more exciting than opening up airplane tickets for Christmas!

Listed in order from most to leave expensive, below are my top picks for adventures you can purchase online in a minute, and cherish for a lifetime:

Winter in Europe – Gorgeous sights, lights, tastes, and shopping. Personal faves are the German winter markets in January, and the designer sales in Paris in February. Flight sales are insane right now, some under $500 round trip!
Tropical getaway – Go relax, get warm & soak in some vitamin D.
Disneyland – (or other theme park) Look for holiday deals!
Half-Day Drive – Leavenworth, WA or Sun Valley, ID are my faves for a weekend getaway!
Close By – The Springs hot springs & spa, McCall Winter Carnival, dress-up dinner at Chateau des Fleurs in Eagle.

HYPER-LOCAL

The Treasure Valley is blessed with a plethora of unique local gift, clothing, shoe, and home decor boutiques. But why choose local over big box stores? The answer is two-fold. You already know how important small business is to a city’s economy, sustainability and growth, so I won’t dig into that…

But the other reason is how well we know each other in this community! Chances are, the person you’re searching to find a gift for has a favorite place to shop. Go there. Show the salespeople the name & a photo of your person. It’s very likely they have worked with him/her before, and know their style and tastes! Walk into downtown Boise’s Piece Unique, for example, say “My wife Mary shops here all the time,” and they are likely to respond: “Oh yes, we love Mary! She’s very into our Baci Fashion line, which is right over here. Her favorite colors are pink and blue, so she’s probably love this sweater!”

Ta-da, the perfect gift! See how that works? It’s one of my favorite things about this town!

Below is a list of some of the best local fashion boutiques in town, where I know you will get that kind of service. (PLEASE comment below and let me know if I’ve missed YOUR favorite store. I love getting to know places & faces that are new and special in this community!)

American Clothing Gallery – Downtown Boise, 8th St.
Banana Ink – Downtown Boise, on 9th between Bannock and Idaho St.
Blue Fringe Boutique – Meridian, near Kohl’s on Eagle Rd. & Ustick
Fancy Pants – Downtown Boise, on the corner of Idaho St and 9th
I Beni Boutique – Meridian, near Eagle exit & Overland Rd., by Dickey’s BBQ Pit
Lyrique Boutique – Eagle & State St., Albertson’s plaza, by Rice Asian Cuisine & Bridal by Marie
Marla June’s Clothing Company – Downtown Boise on Bannock, between 8th and 9th St.
Piece Unique – Downtown Boise, 10th & Idaho St.
Ruby Lou – Downtown Boise, 8th St.
Shift Boutique – Downtown Boise on Bannock near 8th, and their men’s shop Keystone Station on 9th
Walla Walla Clothing Co. – Downtown Boise between 8th & 9th on Idaho St., Meridian at the Village

Find more unique, pretty, and often locally-sourced treasures at the following gift and decor shops:

Dragonfly – Downtown Boise on Main St., between 5th & 4th St. (Free parking in alley behind the store.)
Eyes of the World Imports – Downtown Boise, corner of 16th & Grove
Farm + Flower Apothecary – Boise Towne Square Mall, upper level near Starbucks
Feather & Twine Home – Boise, 3109 State St. beside Re-Pop Gifts
Hyde and Seek – Boise, Hyde Park, on 13th St. & Eastman
Maven – Downtown Boise on Main St near 10th, next to Guru Donuts
Merry Makers Market – Downtown Boise on Bannock near 9th, beside 10 Barrel
Mixed Greens Modern Gifts – Downtown Boise on the corner of 9th & Idaho St.
Re-Pop Gifts – Boise, 3107 State St., beside True Value Hardware store

That’s a wrap! Special thanks to Boise Public Radio’s Idaho Matters show for having me on to talk about all these fun ideas, and the true heart of gift-giving. Listen to the entire broadcast here! ❤

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and may all your shopping adventures be successful!
XOXO,
Tanya

P.S., If you think I missed any shop you love & adore, please add them below in the comments!!! 🙂

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by AmmoPhotog

When hot New Orleans’ t-shirt designers Skip N’ Whistle contacted me about participating in their “Tacky Christmas T-shirt Campaign,” I couldn’t wait to see what crazy/cute little thing they were going to send me!

NOTE: The cute X-mas T shirts from Skip N’ Whistle is on a SPECIAL SALE today only, at Fab.com! Click this link to see more styles & colors: http://fab.com/sale/12902/

My first impression upon pulling my Tacky T from the package was, “Ooh, so soft!” My second impression was, “Yay! A women’s t-shirt that’s actually shaped like a WOMAN!” One of my fashion pet peeves is clothing designers that slap “feminine” designs on boxy, boy-shaped shirts, and pass them off as women’s wear. I don’t know about you, but this woman isn’t boxy! 😉

My “Tacky T” turned out to be pretty darn cute. It perfectly matched my favorite Emerson Edwards “Lace Print” skinny jeans from Vault Denim (See “Style Info” below!) With these two pieces in hand, I headed to one of my favorite local boutiques, Apricot Lane, to style up a couple outfits.

Here’s what I came up with! Warm, cozy, fun, and so very Boise. Enjoy!! 🙂

XOXO,

StyleSpyGirl

~ STYLE INFO ~

Photos by AmmoPhotog
Tacky Christmas Sweater T by Skip N’ Whistle
Lace skinny jeans by Vault Denim (Use Party Code 198127 to purchase!)
All other clothing, shoes, and accessories by Apricot Lane Boise