Drive-Buy Christmas Shopping

Even though anything’s possible (for a $$$ price) Christmas Eve is too late to start your catalogue shopping for Christmas. If you’re housebound with a broken leg, stuck in a blizzard in Paris, or simply forgot to look at your calendar and are willing to throw money at the problem, many of the catalogue sites listed in 60 Gifts in 60 Days can ship your gift to arrive Christmas Day with a big fat bow, and they’ll never be the wiser.

But if you just need to pick up a few more gifts, and like Moi, will do anything to avoid the dreaded mall and crowded department stores filled with last minute-shoppers,

Moi has a few tips that will tell them you’ve been shopping for weeks:

• visit your neighborhood liquor store. Moi is a fan of Veuve Clicqout, and loves their gift sets, but I have a few other fave spirit houses
  • Landy Cognac XO :  I’ve been friends with Alexandre Gabriel, CEO and owner of Cognac Ferrand, for years and am always thrilled to introduce this oak barrel aged cognac. His premium label, Cognac Pierre Ferrand, is a bit pricier, and will guarantee someone a very Merry Christmas
  • Citadelle Gin, also produced in France by Gabriel, is described by Luxist as “one of the best”, and sure to please the connoiseur
  • liquor-filled chocolates. I know these have a bad rap, but I don’t know why! When we lived in Denmark we became tremendous fans of the local brand, Anthon Berg, and I promise you: these are the best! In fact, Anthon Berg has the distinction of being “Purveyors to the Queen.” Surely someone on your list deserves this treat…but hide it from the Little Bits!
• Stop buy Walgreens, CVS, 7-11, or any of the neighborhood drug or convenience stores and pick up a deck of gift cards. Yes, you waited until the last minute, but prove you put some thought into these gift cards:
  • to an iTunes card attach a pair of glitzy crystal studded earphones for the way-cool teen on your list
  • make a smart pairing: gift an AMC movie theatre card with a Starbucks card, and you’ve given your babysitter a nite out
  • give your handy brother-in-law a  Home Depot gift card and tie it to a hammer
  • print out the NYTimes best-seller list and wrap it around a Borders card for the book lover
• go to your local florist or gourmet grocery store and have the florist put together an extravagant bouquet
• if you’re truly desperate you can try a trick my son used one year, and buy a fistful of lottery tickets, and promise NOT to lay claim to any winners

Hope some of these ideas get you out of the mess you got yourself in! Next year, plan ahead: start your gift drawer now!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night