The Gift Exchange

Although my mom is amazing (see my Mother’s Day blog)  I feel the need to give a shout out to the other important “Mom’s” in my life because who says the only Mom you have is the one who gives birth to you?

From the day I was born my Auntie Verna has been a constant in my life. My mom and Aunt had kids right in line with each other (pretty ideal for all of us cousins) and we all grew up within walking distance of each other.  My fist sleep over was at her house, she always made us take 3 bits of everything on our plate (even if it was nasty canned green beans smothered in cream cheese) and she punished me just like a mother would (hello wooden paddle that sits on the ledge of the wall just taunting us).   My Auntie Verna is the next best thing when my own mom isn’t there to comfort me. I know I can rely on her for anything and is the first to step up when I need an extra pair of arms around me.

My best friend Krystal’s family took a chance on me when we were in High School, inviting a girl they knew little about to tag along with their family to Hawaii for a vacation. I am not sure if they decided to keep me around of if I just refused to leave, but Cheryl (K’s Mom) took me under her wing and never let go. Over the years I know she grown to love me as much I as love her. On occasion she refers to me as one of her kids, and to be honest, it has never crossed my mind to correct her. Even Cheryl’s parents have accepted me as one of theirs. I visit them every summer on their amazing homestead and when they make their way into town I am part of the family time, Christmas celebrations and birthday dinners.

When I was in high school there was this woman at church Monica, or Momica as we loving called her while she was our fill in mom during mission trips. Monica to this day is one of the most important non family members in my life. She successfully raised 3 fantastic boys, is so talented in the world of weaving/ textile art and always has a listening ear to offer. During my teen years, Monica was a person I could go to when I needed motherly advise and didn’t want to go to my family. If I am going to be honest at 27 years old, she is still someone I turn to. Over the years we have developed a beautiful friendship, deeply rooted in faith, love and tons of fun. From slinging mud together in Mexico to teaching me how to use a sewing machine, she is so much more to me than I think she will ever know.

Maybe the most unconventional mom figures in my life are my older sister Nora and my cousin Stephanie. Although I wouldn’t say I was raised by them, they had a huge role in making me the person I am today. As a child Steph (or Sissy as I like to call her) made sure we were dressed properly (and by properly I mean, she dressed me, my sister Tray, my cousin Mel and my cousin Val all similarly), hair pinned pack in a side pony and was the leader of the pack when all of us kids were together. She was one of my first babysitters and as we grew older, someone to look up to as she started her own beautiful family. My sister on the other hand didn’t dress me, or fix my hair. No, my sister taught me how to punch someone, introduced me to the best of 90′s R&B and paved the way as a successful career woman. She was the first in our family to graduate college, traveled the world and carved out a path for the rest of us close on her heels. She is the one I confide in, the one I go to for life advise and the fist one I call when I am excited about something. Although Nora has a tough exterior, she is the one who talks me down when I get wrapped up in a problem, shares in my joys and helps me learn from my failures. She may not be my mom, but one day she will be a great one, after all she learned from the best.

Being a mom is so much more than having a child. It takes patience, kindness, discipline but above all else, it takes love. If your “Mom” is a grandma, auntie, family friend, dad or just someone who took time to invest in you, be sure you tell them how much you appreciate them.

Don’t forget to show your “Mom” you love her not only for Mother’s Day, but every chance you get.

I attribute a lot of who I am to my mom and her guidance and love. She taught me how to rock a baby to sleep, to properly clean a bathroom (the key is bleach), and to let my hair down and have fun (though I’m still learning this one). She makes a mean chocolate chip cookie, can hit a softball out of the park and is always the first to step up when someone is in need.

When I was growing up my mom didn’t have a conventional (read: out of the home) job. She and my dad had a small side business and we cleaned a dental office on the weekends. I loved that my mom was always there for us, not hindered by a work schedule or pressing deadlines. She was the neighborhood mom (everyone came to play in our yard, eat snacks and occasionally take a much needed hot bath), she was the one all the kids ran to for a band aid or a hug. In elementary school she helped in our classrooms and volunteered with students in a special program that was helping them reach their reading goals. When classmates didn’t have grandparents or special friends show up for events, she proudly proclaimed she was there to support them.

As I grew older, and more defiant, my mom helped my through those awkward, “coming into your own” years. From advise on boys to convincing me that everyone should have 2 eyebrows (yes, I believe I got only the worst of my fathers Italian genes), she was there to guide me out of the dark and into a young woman.

I really believe that my mom is the best in the world, I know a lot of people would say that about their own, but they don’t know what they are missing out on. They say parents aren’t supposed to have a favorite child, but lets face it, I know I am hers . I am slowing becoming my mother, but is that really a bad thing? I find myself watching old black and white movies while folding the laundry, look forward to coming home to a clean house and have a strange attraction to a man dressed in a blazer & jeans.

So when she is old and gray, living in my house and loving on my kids, I will model myself after her.

To all the mom’s
and to the ones they raised.
Thanks for everything
You deserve to be praised.

For all the baked treats
and mending scraped knees,
For having a hanky,
Each time one of us sneezed.

Answering our questions,
or building forts,
Checking for monsters
and playing sports

Made sure we weren’t a mess
and always kept us fed,
Read countless stories,
Tucked us into bed.

I love you Mom.

Summer is our Featured Employee for May! She works in the Business Development Dept here at GiftTree, and has been with us since 2008. She’s usually pretty busy, but we bribed her with chocolate and she agreed to answer our questions.

1. If you had to live at GiftTree, and had friends over for dinner, which basket would you open for their enjoyment?
If I had to choose one basket for dinner, it would hands down be the Gourmet Extravagance Gift Basket. That one is PACKED with delicious goodies. Can I add a bottle of wine too?

2. What are your top 5 favorite smells?
I love the smell of fresh brewed coffee. If someone in the office makes a pot, I will be at their door with a cup in hand. Other smells I like are the ocean, flowers, fresh cut grass, and wood burning in a fireplace.

3. If you had to pick, would you rather always be hot or cold?
This is hard, but I’d rather be cold and layer up.

4. If GiftTree said they were going to send you on an all expense paid trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
For my birthday? Thanks!! I would love to go to Bali. It has amazing tropical beaches, I could definitely spend some time there!

5. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Homemade ceviche.(Not the raw kind) It’s delicious with a lot of flavor, yum.

This is why we love Summer…
Summer is a hard worker who performs a multitude of jobs here at GiftTree. She is an account manager for our Business Development Department, handling customer service, order processing for special markets, and works closely with our Design team to come up with large custom orders. She assists in managing GiftTree’s affiliate network and is also working on some very exciting projects for the future. She always has a smile for everyone she comes in to contact with, and makes us all laugh on a daily basis!

I remember when I was little, my Mom could do no wrong! She was my hero, my best friend, my everything. She cut the crusts off my PB&J’s, walked with me to the store to pick out candy, and didn’t complain when I threw slumber parties with 12 screaming pre-teens.

Moms are awesome, and we want to celebrate them! Enter our Picture Perfect Mother’s Day Contest by “Liking” us on Facebook and uploading your favorite photo of Mom to our Mother’s Day Contest page between May 1st, 2012 and May 12, 2012. The photo with the most votes will be declared the winner. Winner will be notified by announcement on our Facebook page on or around May 14, 2012.

Prizes: The winner will receive a $150 GiftTree Gift Card for them, and a California Signature Wine Gift Basket valued at $174.95 for Mom.  In the event the winner requests that the prize be shipped to a state that cannot accept shipments of wine/champagne, the winner will be given the option of a non-alcoholic gift of equal value.

Contest open to legal US residents only

I have the worst memory in the world. Let me rephrase that, I have the worst memory when it comes to things that matter. Somehow I hold onto random bits of knowledge that won’t ever help.. I mean they aren’t even the useful kind that might help me win Jeopardy, I can recall every episode of certain TV shows (ahem….Full House),  I grew up watching on TGIF and maybe most embarrassingly when it comes to DJ’s dating life….lets just say I am an expert. My sisters like to say I have made up memories because sometimes I just fill in the blanks to family stories I should know, or insert a new event in my life timeline, tho most often my “memories” are about what people wore.. Im not exactly sure where I come up with the outfits but my sisters assure me they aren’t real….. but i still think they might be…… Like I said, important memories (to the real world) are not something that come to the forefront of my mind.

When I was in 3rd grade the only Grandmother I have ever know passed away from a long battle with cancer. While I remember painful details of her illness while she lived with us, sometimes it it hard for me to remember her healthy. My older sisters and cousins can recall special camping trips up to the lake, time spent watching her put her hair in pin curls at night and even the way she smelled. The bits and pieces I can put together are slim to say the least. I remember her husky laugh, they way her hair almost looked like a halo when the sun caught it, and coloring for hours while she visited in the summers. I also remember the way she hummed, always a song in her heart that was to great to keep to herself. Perhaps my greatest memories of her include the endless hours we spent out in the back yard, under the shade of our giant maple tree. We would listen to the birds sing, pick flowers and eat butter & sugar sandwiches (something only a grandma could get away with feeding us).

Every now and then, while enjoying a summer day at my parents, I can almost feel her in the breeze, or hear her as the breeze plays a song on the Amazing Grace Engravable Wine Chimes. I hope I have made her proud of the woman I am becoming as I strive to have her strength, courage and love for those around me.

You don’t really notice it until you leave but growing up in the Great NW you see that Mother Earth has always been something in the forefront of our minds here. My parents made sure we spent time in nature, we had a garden (and played with the snakes in it), we know what it is like to hike in the old growth forest, build a fire, compost the yard clippings and of course recycle.

In school recycling was the new hot thing to do (or that’s what us kids thought). Each room was equipped with its own containers (green mesh bag for colored paper and white for white- duh) , a place for plastic and the less popular aluminum…..I don’t know about you but we didn’t bring soda in our school lunches, it was juice boxes all the way. Recycling was everywhere, we’d use recycled paper scraps to make new art projects, we learned songs about ways to save the Earth in music class, and we’d go out into the playground and surrounding park to pick up trash and recyclables to make our school that much better. So as you can see, like I said, it is in my blood to recycle (of course I think it is in every Oregonians).

When my dad was helping me move out several years ago we went out to toss some boxes in the yellow recycling bin – It is still hard for me to talk about what we saw in there – what my new roommate left in there…. In the garbage can there were fully assembled boxes with Styrofoam. As a side note – styrofoam hurts my heart, when we go down south to see family and get that lovely lovely sweet tea it ALWAYS comes in styrofoam cups and while the Oregonian in me wants to decline the cup the southerner in me needs the iced tea, but I digress) Back to what i saw IN THE GARBAGE! In a tone I can only describe as hurt and shocked my dad looked at me straight faced and said somberly “Are you sure you want to live with this girl?”

The funny thing is I wouldn’t even call myself, or family for that matter, any sort of tree hugger. There are just some simple rules everyone should live by.

• Recycle everything you can.
• Compost – not only yard debris but also food scraps
• Don’t litter, no matter how small the gum wrapper folds up its still gonna end up somewhere.
• If you have an oil leak in your vehicle fix it!
• Dispose of appliances properly – you might even get a cash incentive.
• Don’t dump anything down the sewer drains (they lead to the ocean…and who wants to eat tainted Salmon?!)
• Cut up all plastic things that hold soda/ juice can’s together. No joke, you will save a dolphin, or a bird, or an otter.

I encourage you not only today, but everyday make choices that will help us keep our home beautiful and help educate the next generation so they will have the opportunity to sit in the shade of an oak tree, swim in the clear waters of our lakes and feel the grass between their toes…. and in the words of a man I love dearly – Jack Johnson  “Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle”.

It is a well known fact that I have been to more baby showers than anyone else I know. Either I am way behind because none of them have been for me or I just really love a lot of people, I choose to think it is the latter. I have to admit, I don’t always look forward to them… Who wants to play the same games over and over, watch the one we are showering open the same pink blanket set 5 times or guess just how big mama’s belly really is with a piece of yarn, all while eating finger sandwichs and drinking “punch” made with sherbert (can’t a group of girls get together and have burgers and soda… I digress). Don’t get me wrong, I love gathering to honor my friends and their ever expanding families, to see the pure joy on the faces of the expectant mothers, and to celebrate the new life that will soon be with us, but for the most part many of the showers that I have attended lack imagination to put it nicely.
Although I myself haven’t had a child, I’ve helped raise enough of other peoples to know; the newborn clothes they registered for will not be worn before the baby grows out of them, that the all wood toys are great in theory but lets be real.. kids like bling just as much as grownups do, and that as set in your ways that you are before the child is born….those ways are blown out of the water when you are actually caring for a new baby.    I’ve learned that kitchen sinks work better than any plastic baby tub and you can never, NEVER have enough receiving blankets or onesies.

That being said, I often break Miss Manners etiquette rules and stray from the registry.  Let’s face it, I know what a new mama needs more than she does, so instead of getting that 7th pack of binkies that she registered for check out one of my Top 5 Baby gifts from the site.  It will be more personal and memorable… because honestly – mothers out there – do you know who gave you outfit #4 that your darling child never wore because they grow faster than weeds?!?!

Mommy and Baby — Cute as Can Bee

Fresh Baked Cookie to Celebrate Baby

Guess How Much I Love You Gift Set

Little Froggy Bath Tote

Sleep Sheep

Ah, Spring. How I love this time of year. It stays lighter outside longer, the flowers start blooming, and the birds start chirping. It’s definitely my favorite season! Typically around April, I like to tinker around in the yard when it’s nice, pulling weeds, planting flowers, getting rid of any signs of winter. I also always look forward to our spring time gifts here at GiftTree because I know there will be something I want! This year is no exception. This Handcrafted Birdhouse is so super cute! It was a featured gift on the 2011 Oprah’s “O List” and is environmentally friendly. The attention to detail on the birdhouse is so amazing, from the roof down to the flower box on the side of the house. I have the perfect spot to hang it on my front porch, and I can’t wait to get some little visitors.

There are many types of bubbles: soap bubbles, fun bubbles, gum bubbles, even spit bubbles.  Have you ever tried to blow a bubble and frown at the same time? Its pretty hard and you want to know why – Bubbles are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. that’s right, I said it!

Some of my favorite memories working with kids include blowing bubbles (all sorts) to the point of getting light headed. I always had them packed away in my Nanny bag and made sure to have a few extra bottles of solution in the trunk of my car just in case. The thing about bubbles, whether it be with soap or gum, is that no matter how old you are they are fun. It might be weird, but I remember significant points in my life revolving around blowing bubbles;  At Church after Sunday School the teacher would let us pick a piece of gum from her stash, she had every kind under the sun.  As kids we’d spend hours on the porch with our friends trying to make bubbles big enough to stand in,  and in high school when we’d go on mission trips to Mexico – I’d ALWAYS take a big bag, or 4, of Double Bubble to hand out to all the kids down there, I’d teach them how to blow bubbles, we’d become friends – neither of us speaking each others language.  Maybe the most important to me, teaching Sydney (my greatest treasure who is now 9 years old) to blow her own bubbles. These moments, silly, to say the least, are significant moments in my life, but I cherish these as much as I cherish the big life changing events.

To me, bubbles are nothing short of magic. Do yourself a favor and blow your troubles away with this pewter wand. The kid in you will thank me later.

So one year I decided to play the ultimate April Fools joke on my friend here, Jen Crego. She had been harassing me and harassing me about having a baby so I had the brilliant idea to tell her I was pregnant! I marched into her office and announced the news. I’m pregnant! She was so excited that she welled up for a second. Then I blurted out APRIL FOOLS! Well, I guess the joke was on me… I was pregnant, but I didn’t even know it. Oh Brother, I’m never going to live that one down! My first born received the Baby MD Three-Peice Layette Set from my lovely co-workers. And my second actually wore it too!

Moral of the story: Be careful what you say on April Fools, I may just come back to bite you! LOL