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Gift Experiences

I know it's only the end of July, but I am already thinking about Christmas.  It can be overwhelming to wait until the last minute, although with stores putting out holiday decorations earlier and earlier every year, there really isn't any excuse to procrastinate.  As I begin to brainstorm ideas, I thought I'd share one of my favorite kind of gifts to give family and friends: an experience.  With the fast pace of life these days, giving someone the gift of time spent together seems both thoughtful and priceless, plus, you get to share in the fun!

This past mother's day, I gave my mom a watercolor painting class at Annie Glass in Watsonville, not far from where we are building our new home.  Often these gifts of experiences end up being an extended day or evening spent as we add on lunch, dinner, and other activities.  For the watercolor class, my son, Max - freshly home from his study-abroad year in Sweden - joined us, and we turned it into a fun-filled day beginning with breakfast at Gayle's in Capitola and a stop in at the new Dig Gardens in Aptos to see how the former nursery has been transformed into a lush landscape and gift shop.  At Annie Glass, we joined about ten other women for a glass of local wine, a short tour of the factory, and an inspiring lesson on painting California poppies.

I just love having Max back home in California!


I like to find any excuse to celebrate, and our wedding anniversary is no exception!  My husband and I have fun with the Hallmark anniversary gift themes each year, sometimes going the traditional path, and sometimes taking the modern.  For someone who hates shopping, he always impresses me with the thought and creativity he puts into our anniversary gifts, and inspires me to come up with unique and meaningful ideas of my own.  For our eighth wedding anniversary this year, I found Good Life Ceramics, a make-your-own pottery studio in Santa Cruz.  They have a variety of walk-in projects that take anywhere from one to a few hours, and they do all of the glazing and firing finishing work for you.  They also offer studio memberships, classes and camps, where you can learn to use the pottery wheel!  We had so much fun using shells and stamps to give texture to our slabs of clay.  We were both pleasantly surprised with how awesome they turned out!  Of course, our "crafting date" was followed by a trip to the new house construction site and a romantic dinner at The Fish House Bar & Grill in Watsonville.

Here are our plates before they were glazed and fired...
...and all finished!  Pretty impressive, right?!


For my daughter's 19th birthday, I signed us up for a printmaking workshop at 3 Fish Studios in San Francisco's Sunset District.  For two Wednesday evenings, we learned how to design, carve, ink and pull our own prints!  After a delicious dinner of poke and fried avocado tacos across the street at Hook Fish Co., Chloe and I took in the inspiring art at 3 Fish Studios.  With four other women, we sipped wine (yes, there is a recurring theme!) and tried to overcome our perfectionist tendencies as we dug into our linoleum squares with sharp tools.  It was cathartic and satisfying to see our images take shape.

My beautiful birthday girl!


I hope this inspires you to think outside the box, plan an adventure, or try something new next time you are looking for a gift for someone special.    xo...k.

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