season of giving

My favorite part of the holiday season is spending time with friends and loved ones-in cozy coffees shops, or drinking wine in a warm restaurant, or best of all in our living room with hot chocolate and Friends reruns.

As I’ve gotten older, the items on my Christmas gifts have progressively grown smaller in size, but higher in price…what’s the old adage? Good things come in small packages.

But what I’ve come to realize is really my favorite part of the holiday season is picking gifts for friends. And once the gifts are purchased-which I do fairly far in advance so that I can have them wrapped in time to be mailed, or fit in my suitcase, or ready for friendsmas which always precedes the real big day by quite a bit, I spend the most time and effort in wrapping the gifts. I love to hand calligraphy name tags, write cards, and spend the time putting everything into boxes so that I can wrap the box with wrapping paper.

So, even if the gift is a little trinket from Target that’s $3, if it’s placed in a box with tissue paper and wrapped up with wrapping paper, a ribbon, and a handpainted tag, the gift (in my opinion) is exponentially greater because of the care that went into it. Because ultimately it’s really not about what’s inside, it’s about intentionally picking a gift for a loved one, and spending the time with them when you give it to them.

Here are a few pictures of gifts from Christmas’ past or present taken by my dear friend Nelli.