(no subject)

[cblj_backup]

Mum asked me to make a Christmas wish list. It's always hard, because I already have so much stuff, I keep getting rid of stuff but the stuff keeps arriving, and it makes me nervous since I never really got over the fact that for ten years I was moving at least once a year, and often more. So much stuff. :( And it's hard to get rid of stuff people gave me. Because they gave it to me! And I like it! I just don't know where to put it!

Also, Mum makes it extra hard on herself and everyone else because she considers gift-cards to be gauche. I don't; I fucking love gift cards, but she thinks they show a lack of initiative. IDEK, she likes making life difficult.

I've become reduced to wandering around retail websites, looking at stuff and trying to get ideas from it, like grow your own oyster mushroom kits and thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles. I've asked for a lot of art prints and messenger bags because let's face it, I have a million messenger bags already but I will never have too many, and it's hard to have too many art prints, like, walls are pretty big.

She told me to ask for some "Crazy expensive stuff" because she's getting an inheritance, but the craziest thing I can think of is a sofa from Ikea and I want to pick that out myself because furniture is important and I have very specific requirements.

I mean, I guess I could get a sofa from somewhere else, but that enters a murky and unfamiliar world I'm not eager to brave.

Comments

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Might your mother be willing to give you an experience rather than a thing? Is there an experience you'd like that's in the right price range?

[frogy.livejournal.com]

Can you pick out the exact couch you want and then be very specific when you ask for it?

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

I often ask people to donate in my name (for me it's WWF, the Heifer Project, stuff like that, but I suspect you would go in a different direction). And I like nancylebov's idea of an experience, too. Or, re: the couch, if there's an Ikea near her you could pick it out together next time you're down there, so she feels involved, then order it back in Chicago. Or do it all in Chicago if she comes to visit.

[sanura.livejournal.com]

Crazy expensive stuff I asked for when a birthday list was required of me: unpiratable movies and books I really wanted.

[frenchroast.livejournal.com]

My mom is very much the same sort; no gift cards, no "experiences", so she always wants a list. Except that after I give her a list...she ignores it and buys random things I A) don't need/want, or B) already have. A partial exception to that was my most recent bday, where after pestering me for a list for a month, I produced said list, complete with links to where the things on the list could be purchased. She still ignored it, but actually got me something very nice (a family heirloom I didn't know about). She said she had been planning to give it to me for this birthday. It took everything I had to not go "THEN WHY DID YOU ASK ME FOR A LIST 20+ TIMES?"


As for a sofa, you could try Rooms to Go if IKEA doesn't work out. It's good quality, esp. compared to IKEA sofas, though more expensive--but still reasonable for most sofas. They're really good about shipping/delivery, too.

You could also go the route of replacing some things you already have (assorted kitchen tools, for example) with high quality, super nice new shiny versions of them, and donating the older (still perfectly good) items somewhere. That way your mom still gets to buy you things, but you're not stuck with more stuff.

[jonaht.livejournal.com]

Weren't you looking at portable dishwashers for a time or is that just my own wish?

[carbonel]

For normally crazy expensive stuff, I'd ask for a new motorized drum carder (around $2K) or a HansenCraft miniSpinner (around $1K). That's of limited interest, of course, but it's my obsession. The question becomes, do you have your own obsession? Other than writing? Or is there some writing tool you've yearned for? Maybe a new computer or tablet?

And for seriously crazy expensive, this round-the-world cruise is probably at the very top of the wish list. Of course, I'd have to figure out how to miss a few months' of work, but since I can't afford it anyway, the point is moot.

[missjaneregrets.livejournal.com]

If someone talking about crazy expensive is buying, I'd look for a non-ikea couch. Macy's has one nice "apartment" sized couch. Room and Board is really expensive, but has a few reasonably priced/sized couches. Both of those are all made in the US, which is nice.

Other expensive but nice things: Nice leather bag, down pillows or comforter, new mattress and or bed frame, good winter coat, a suit, nice clothes, really good shoes, rug for apartment floor, armchair, good bookshelves, curtains, new set of dishes or pots and pans, luggage, really good chefs knife, kitchen gadgets. Basically high quality durable versions of things you already have and know you'll use or things you want/need.

Of course everyone's value for crazy expensive varies....

[sesmo.livejournal.com]

I gave someone a shopping trip with me, for a suit actually. Because she desperately hated shopping, and having someone there helps. Plus, crazy expensive but she needed one.

Maybe, if you can shop with your mom, that might work for you?

[eofs.livejournal.com]

She knows you're planning to move, right?

How about saying that you'd like a sofa, but you want to wait until you know where you're moving to. That then buys you time to find the right sofa - and means you don't end up getting something the wrong scale for your new flat. (Also, means you don't have to move it from one to the other.)

[schnoogle.livejournal.com]

A replacement for something? Then throwing the original away is part of the plan.

[kukla-tko42.livejournal.com]

I ask for consumables, now.
Food, paper goods (in quantity), drinks, party goods (paper plates, plastic cups, plastic flatware)...
Stuff like that.
When I moved into my first by-myself apartment, I told everyone I wanted consumables because I had too much stuff.
I didn't have to buy toilet tissue for a year. A year.
That was extremely nice. I should also point out that a friend of mine got married that year, and I used one of the bulk packages of the stuff for her bridal shower where we used the rolls to make "wedding dresses".

So here are some luxury consumables that I personally like:
Body care products from Lush
Fragrance-free dryer sheets
Honey liqueurs
Absinthe
Sugar in the raw, or German rock sugar
High-end loose tea (Teavana comes to mind)
Ginger beer, the more exotic the better
High-end steaks
High-end fish steaks
Pink Himalayan Salt
Curry mix (the more exotic the better)
Mochi
hand-crafted soaps

Does that help?

[hungrytiger11.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of perishables... maybe does that Peapod place that deliveries groceries have a place for a "wishlist" of some sort, and/or does it allow for a "subscription" of things?

Another idea might be some sort of subscription service or food of the month club. They have subscription services for all sorts of interests.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Is "visit from Mom" a gift that would work? Or "trip with Mom"?

[maeritrae.livejournal.com]

I love many many Ikea things, but I think you might want to try some non-Ikea couches unless you have your heart set on one in particular. I've never been madly impressed with the quality.

I saw my Mum's copy of http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mary-Berrys-Complete-Cookbook-Berry/dp/1405370955/ when I was at home last time and I asked her if she could get me a copy for Christmas (because she likes to give us cookbooks every year) - but instead of me having to pack up a giant heavy hardback cookbook and lug it back here with me, get it shipped for free from Amazon and just wrap her copy and put it under the tree on Christmas Day. I know you don't want a lot of books, but it is an AMAZING book - step-by-step instructions for all of the recipes, lots of pictures, lots of general stuff like a two-page spread showing five types of pastry and explaining the differences in making each one with helpful pictures...

[mq-musings.livejournal.com]

You mentioned previously that she had sent you groceries and you got baby food instead of jam. There are a lot of monthly-shipment "clubs" out there. Couple of years ago my Dad got me a "subscription" to the Republic of Tea, and each month I got a tin of a new flavor. It was more tea than I normally go through in a month, but I was able to sample a lot of new flavors, and I made gift sets for friends out of the ones that didn't suit me. There's a company... Harry & David's, I think, that does all kinds of fruit-of-the-month and other foods, there are companies that do steaks or fish -- my ex-hubby and I got a steak shipment once/month as a gift when we were in college and it totally rocked. Or you could get a grocery shipment from whatever company sent you baby food, assuming they can work out whatever shipping problem they had.

[cynonymous.livejournal.com]

Could she hire your movers?

In the food-of-the-month vein, how about a CSA share?

Or, for a great gift that you don't have to store or move, a couple of shares of stock of a company you like?

[(Anonymous)]

What about finding a good tailor, have them tailor you a fancy suit (is bespoke the one between off the rack and made precisely for you? Or is that made to measure? The terminology, it eludes me), and arranging for your mum to pay for it? A good suit is worth the investment, and should last you years. And/or get her to send you some things from fineanddandyshop.com?
-delirieuse, onna iPad, which won't let her sign in.

[(Anonymous)]

How do you feel about watches? They're small, often expensive, and could see a lot of everyday use. Or maybe a fancy mattress?

I googled 'small expensive gifts' and have uncovered such treasures as the carbon fiber toilet seat, leather keyboard, or even the prank owl portrait (http://www.neimanmarcus.com/christmasbook/fantasy.jsp?cid=CBF12_O5408&r=cat44770736&rdesc=The%20Fantasy%20Gifts&pageName=What%20a%20Hoot&icid=CBF12_05408&ecid=NMALRje6NUbpObpQ&CS_003=5630585) that occasionally moves it's head, scaring passersby.

[kit-maxel.livejournal.com]

Late to comment, but would you be able to say, "hey mom, this is a thing I want, but I want to pick it out"? When I've wanted things like curtains or a bike or a bed frame, and my mom has been able/willing to buy them for me, we always picked them out together.