The Gift Exchange

The warm summer weather is officially here in the Northwest. I am not a big fan of the hot weather. I prefer to spend my days inside with the AC cranked up with something cool and refreshing to drink. My dogs, however, will not allow that! They just love the sun and are sun worshipers through and through. They love running all over the yard, barking at the squirrels, birds and passing cars. One of their most favorite things in the whole world is to play ball. Though they’re not very good at dropping the ball once they bring it back. This is not my idea of a good time when it’s 90 degrees outside, but I’ve recently discovered something that will make the dogs and me happy. One of our new Pet Gifts at GiftTree is the Chateau La Paws Dog Lover’s Wine Gift. It comes with 2 bottles of the creatively named Chateau La Paws wine, which was created by veterinarian Dr. Kent Rosemblum. It’s creatively packaged along with three tennis balls. So maybe the next time it’s too hot to play, I’ll set the hammock up in the shade and enjoy a bottle of wine while tossing the ball for my dogs. Sounds like a good summer day to me!

If you enjoy eating pistachios as much as I do or are about to order one of our gourmet gift baskets that contains pistachios, you may find the following tidbits interesting:

-Pistachios are not nuts! It’s true, I swear. What we eat and refer to as “pistachio nuts” are actually the seeds of a fruit. The outer fruit is removed during processing. The remaining pistachio fruit looks similar to a nut and is considered part of the cashew family, so most people refer to pistachios as nuts.

-Pistachios are joyful. In China, they are referred to as “happy nuts” while in Iran they are called “smiling nuts” due to the curvature of the open shell. In many of the Middle Eastern countries, if you hear pistachio shells opening on a tree while you are resting beneath it, it is considered good luck.

-California grows 98% of pistachios purchased in America and is the second largest pistachio producer in the world. Who is first? Iran. So from now on, when you think of Iran, think pistachios.

-Pistachios are the food of royalty. Queen Sheba pronounced pistachios as the exclusive food of the royal household and forbade commoners from growing them. Nebuchadenezzar, the ancient king of Babylon, planted pistachio trees in his famous hanging gardens. Akbar the Great held royal feasts with chicken that had been fed pistachios for the last 8 weeks to enhance their flavor.

Are you feeling hungry for pistachios all of the sudden? If so, type in “pistachio” into our search window and you’ll see which gift baskets feature this delicious “nut.” One of my favorites is the 22 oz. Microbrew Trio & Grilling Gift Set. The pistachios are great to munch on while grilling and taste extra good during the summer months.

So, I have this brother in law who is a huge sports fan! He goes to every sporting even possible. Sometimes, he shows up the night before the event and waits in the parking lot with a bunch of other fanatics that he doesn’t know. For some reason, he always shows up ill-prepared, but I am going to fix that for him!

This Urban Grill Set is fabulous! I mean, you wouldn’t even necessarily need a tailgate to use this. It would also be great as a gift for folks who have a place at the beach, storing easily over the winter. I think I’ll have to get one for my other brother-in-law who has a motor-home. So many gifts, so little time…

Carla Mathis, Customer Service Representative

My daughter recently became a RN! I was so excited when I saw the Get Well Medicine Cabinet on GiftTree.com. She loved it and so did all the nurses and doctors in her office. Her favorite item in the gift is the smiley face ice bag. This gift set is not only for get well, it is great for a mom or grandma, so she can take care of all those little scrapes and scratches that just need a little gummy Band-Aid. The lock is a great addition to keep medicines away from the little angles as well.

Is the new mom you know emotional these days? You will definitely bring her to tears with this gift. Tears of joy that is! The Motherhood Mirror for a New Mother is not only beautiful, but incredibly touching. It is designed for the new mom and her baby girl. It comes with a tri fold box that has a little story about a mother and daughter and their relationship. It also contains a poem from daughter to mother. Also included is a compact mirror in the shape of a heart. One side comes engraved with the word Mother. You can also have the other side engraved with whatever personalized message you would like! The best part about it is the price, 39.95 including the engraving!

I’ve done it, you’ve done it, some people are notorious for it: we all forget birthdays from time to time. Birthdays are obviously a very sensitive time of the year for most people and the timely recognition of one’s birthday is often paramount to the gift.

So what do you do if you do forget a loved one’s birthday? Don’t make excuses – just say you are sincerely sorry and then kill them with kindness. Of course, be sure to get them an over-the-top birthday gift to show just how sorry you are. In fact, if you get them a grand enough gift, you can put an end to your driveling apology because the gift will speak for itself.

Some ideas on our site: Happy Birthday Champagne and Chocolate with Dom Perignon. The mere mention of this famous champagne gives people a rush, making it adequate for your belated birthday gift. Flowers are also a safe bet, especially if you remember that this is one situation where bigger is better. Who can be angry when they can hardly navigate through their house without getting a face full of roses? Check out the Superlative Rose Bouquet and good luck!

Last week I had a customer who spent a considerable amount of time trying to find a gift for a few of his clients. He had searched many other websites before finding us, and was looking for “something in particular, and yet nothing in particular.” After getting a little information from him, I was able to help him find a great little gift that all of his clients would love. The New Yorker isn’t your average corporate gift, it’s actually a little bit more. Impressive details, great price tag and quality ingredients make this a great gift to give on a small or large scale. Whether you have 1 or 1000 clients, this gift should be up there at the top of your list for must-gives!

Julie Snider, Customer Service Representative

I work a lot with corporate customers who are placing large bulk orders. One of my favorite gifts to recommend to them is The 5th Avenue. This gift has a great upscale presentation that any corporate client would love to give or receive. There are two different types of great wines that can be enjoyed at any time. There is a nice variety of gourmet items that are great for an individual person or a group of people. I also really like this gift because there is an option to personalize the ribbon. A corporate client can have their company name on the ribbon or a holiday greeting. If you are looking for a great corporate gift, definitely consider The 5th Avenue. You will not be disappointed.

Do you ever wonder why your child screams when you put him to bed? How about why they are obsessed with their pacifier at naptime? Well I may have a little insight for you.

It’s important that when your baby is young (3-6 months) you create a bedtime routine for them. This includes putting your baby in it’s own bed, awake. Now I know how tempting it is to cuddle up next to Junior in your nice big bed, but this is part of the reason bad bedtime habits occur. For instance, if you are always rocking your baby to sleep while it is feeding, he or she will always want to be with you and sucking on a pacifier or bottle at bedtime. Once you think they are old enough to sleep by themselves, they don’t want to. It’s out of their comfort zone. If you have a daily routine and consistently put your baby to bed on it’s own they will begin to “self-soothe.” They become accustomed to putting themselves to sleep without need of a rocking chair or pacifier. Make sure your routine consists of at least 2 activities that you do every night, also make sure bed time is the same time each night. Consistency will eventually plant a trigger in your babies head that it is bedtime. If your routine is bath time then a book, by the time you get to the book your baby will naturally become drowsy as they know it’s bed time.

Another great tool that a lot of parents employ is some sort of soothing noise, and no I don’t mean one of those obnoxious mobiles. Some parent use CD’s, I suggest the Lullaby Lamb with Nature Sounds. This cozy little lamb has a variety of soothing noised to choose from, along with a volume adjustment and a timer. Can’t beat that! Remember that a baby that self soothes is more likely to be able to go back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night. I promise, you will thank yourself later!

If your kitchen is anything like mine, your refrigerator is a giant vortex for just about anything that can be magnetized to it. I have magnets shaped like teacups, Coca-cola bottles, flowers, magnetic picture frames and even magnetic ads from the phone book that I took out because I needed the magnet at the time. I have fabulous drawings from local artists, (my grandkids), coupons, shopping lists, inspirational poems and a magnetic calendar from my insurance company turned to September 2006. As you can see, I need more up-to-date magnets to organize my clutter! I’ll be purchasing the Engraved Magnetic Clothespins to replace some of my old ones with. I get 5 top quality magnets and I can engrave up to 10 characters on each pin. Now, if they only made a magnet that could clean OUT the refrigerator…