Just as a little holiday yardstick, I have so far received none holiday cards. Just as another little holiday yardstick, I have so far sent none holiday cards. At least one of those things changes TODAY, when I send the Christmas card to my old college roommate who lives in Canada. I know that card needs to be mailed early; I’ve known for TWENTY-FIVE CONSECUTIVE CHRISTMASES that it needs to be mailed early; and yet I pretty frequently forget to mail it early.
I am still enjoying the decision-making process of choosing a gift for the workplace Yankee Swap. One category of things I am considering: Warm Rock for Cold Lizard. This is a category I have personally become well-acquainted with: ever since entering perimenopause, I am ALWAYS THE WRONG TEMPERATURE. All my adult life I have run WARM, but now I am sometimes Much Too Hot and sometimes Much Too Cold, and the cold is new and unpleasant. I didn’t used to own or wear sweaters AT ALL, and now I own and wear a dozen.
Anyway, this is not a problem for me at work, because I am in an active job—and as soon as I am moving around, I switch right over to Much Too Hot. However, numerous of my co-workers are in jobs where they sit at a desk, and we work in a drafty old building with iffy heating, so they nearly freeze to death. This office-chair warming cushion is out of my intended price range, but Paul bought it for me for my birthday and it has CHANGED MY LIFE:
(image from Amazon.com)
I can’t testify to its durability, because it has been sitting in a box since my birthday and I only just set it up and started using it as part of a frazzled pre-Christmas tidying of the living room. I CAN say that there is a bit of an issue with the cord: the seat pad plugs in and, because most office chairs have wheels, I kept running over the cord and getting it around the wheels, which is Not Good. I have run it through the arm of the chair and wedged it down in the upholstery to hold it in place, and that seems to be helping, but we’ll see.
Another option, but within the price range, is a Lava Buns:
(image from Amazon.com)
This is marketed as something you bring with you to sit on in a chilly stadium, but I use it at home: I mostly put it between my back and the back of a chair. It requires microwaving, and we do have a microwave at work, but unfortunately it’s in a remote part of the building; still, someone could bring the pad with them when they went on break, and then come back with it all toasty. And there’s no cord issue.
I am also considering the category of Whimsical Things I Would Love To Have an Excuse To Buy. These are RISKY, because not everyone loves a rainbow glitter lava lamp the way I do.
(image from Amazon.com)
I have one of these and it is so much prettier than in the photo: the glitter sparkles like colored Christmas lights.
Or I’ve been coveting a feather-shaded lamp I keep seeing at HomeGoods. If I bought it for this event…and if everyone else thought it was a funny, funny joke…then maybe I’d get to go home with it!! I would get the one at HomeGoods because it’s prettier than this one (more of a sphere of feathers) and also I imagine the shipping would squash it—but here’s a reference photo of something similar in case you are saying “you’re coveting a WHAT”:
Or there’s a purse shaped like an apple. Again: if everyone else thinks it’s a joke, it could be MINE.
(image from Amazon.com)
Or the Ennui Duck the internet keeps showing me as if it knows my heart:
(image from Amazon.com)
It would be a little risky, but when I saw this mug in my recommended products I laughed and laughed and coughed and laughed, and then ordered MYSELF one, so maybe?
(image from Amazon.com)
I’d pair it with some other things. Maybe a pair of swear socks such as these:
(image from Amazon.com)
or these:
(image from Amazon.com)
and then like chocolate or hot cocoa or freeze-dried Skittles or something, just to balance it out.
This was just covered on Cup of Jo today! https://cupofjo.com/2022/12/05/best-white-elephant-gift-ideas/ My favorite idea from that article is the houseplant — I would seriously be thrilled to get a pothos or snake plant or some other easy-to-maintain, $15 price range plant and maybe a cute pot. If I get invited to a white elephant party in the future, that is what I’ll be bringing!! Could even be a nice thing for your coworker to keep at their desk. That said, I also think the “something to keep warm at work” idea is excellent!
THE DUCK LAMP.
Honestly, these are all amazing. I was also thinking of the twinkle lights trees you recommended recently — I bought a pair and LOVE THEM (although they have stopped lighting… I should probably see if they need new batteries). I wonder if one of those would be a hit, or if too big a part of the reason they were so appealing is because you posted about them so appealingly?
To add to your informal survey (that you did not ask for): I have received two holiday cards and have hand-delivered two. HOWEVER, I spent a big part of today putting them bulk of my cards together (notes, stamps, addresses) and I have a few more left and then I need to go through with the return address stamper and then I can put them in the mail. Will that take a day or several more weeks, hard to say.
I have always run cold. Once my toes get chilled, they stay chilled and it is miserable. When I continued working from home into the winter (you know, that year) in a drafty house with cold floors, I invested in a heated floor mat. It was about $35-40, has adjustable temperature, and is fantastic! I can turn it on/off and change the temp by tapping the button with my toe. If I forget about it, it also has an auto shutoff. I don’t know how to add a link, but it’s from Livtribe on Amazon.
Ooh, I have one of these heated floor mats under my desk too and it is wonderful! Warm feet make the whole rest of me feel so much better! Mine is also the Livtribe brand from Amazon and it was $33 when I bought it.
Those socks are amazing!! Also, in line with the lamps may I recommend a disco ball? I have one and it bring me so much joy! I’ve given one to several friends as gifts and they love them also!
I need exactly ZERO mugs in my life and could stand to get rid of some and I LOVE THAT MUG. And now might knit myself some swear socks.
They’re all fun ideas and my sometimes motto is “if I can’t make other people happy, I may as as well make myself happy” and your choices all reflect that brilliance.
My favorites from your list are all the lamps. The sparkly lava lamp! The fluffy feathery lamp! That sweet tired DUCK!!! ELEVENTY!!!!!
That mug needs to be mine! I actually laughed out loud when I saw it. I am not a morning person AT ALL and that mug accurately reflects how I feel most mornings before my coffee.
Ennui duck! I need one STAT! I have the “fuck off I’m reading socks” and I love them more than I probably should but they really capture my mood sometimes…
Mmm, as amusing as the mug and socks and such are, I wouldn’t risk it. I used to work in a library, and while some of my coworkers had a salty sense of humor, others didn’t, and it’s really hard to know, on work-acquaintance levels of interaction, who would appreciate said salty humor. I have seen socks that say on the bottom, “Go Away, I’m Reading”, so maybe something like that?
I would predict ennui duck being a fought over item.
Oh I love the apple purse or the lava lamp. Those are exactly the type of item I’d like to get in a swap. I wish this could be a poll!
Some lower cost ideas here. I know your budget is larger, but maybe it might spark some ideas? https://hip2save.com/deals/group-gift-ideas/
OMG Ennui Duck. I did not know this existed and I love it! The mug did make me snort-laugh, and you know your co-workers. I have worked in places where that would have been fine, and I have worked in places where someone would have complained.
The rainbow glitter lava lamp is pretty awesome too.
My too hot/too cold solution for this stage of life is cardigans. Sweaters frequently get too hot and itchy, but a long sleeved shirt and a cardigan is much more flexible alternative. I know that’s totally obvious but it took me a while to come up with it, so I thought I’d mention it ;)
The ennui duck I simply love! The mug also made me laugh, though you need to really know your workplace to know if that would fly. I vote duck; I might need one for myself.
I just sent out my cards; so far I have received exactly one, and it was a blog whose writer will send you one if you ask, so not a personal friend or anything (not that I wasn’t happy to see her cat-in-a-wreath photo!). I expect some will come, though, it’s still early.
My philosophy with Yankee Swap is always to buy something I want, because I want to not be disappointed (maybe even thrilled??) if I end up going home with it.
I have already received FIVE CHRISTMAS CARDS this year, starting with LAST WEEK!?!?! All mailed, 4/5 from out of state! and I just cannot pick my jaw up off of the floor about it. HOW ARE PEOPLE THIS ORGANIZED! HOW!
I would fight somebody for that ennui duck.
Hahaha, I LOVE the mug and socks! Those are amazing! (Also, I recently plugged in an XL heating pad at my desk, and I just put it on my lap like a blanket. It’s GAME CHANGING! I highly recommend that!).
The actual descriptions of the duck lamp on the website are hilarious. My favorite: “Smartphone holder: Ducks must be used in the drama party.” I have no idea what that means, but that duck is definitely invited to my next drama party
I think the “eff off I’m reading” socks are perfect for this event. I hope library staff are secretly wearing socks like this at work, haha!
I have also not sent Christmas cards but have received two (both from overseas!). I’m sending postcards this year which seems less daunting but yet I still haven’t sent them.
Love the ennui duck and the mug! And the socks!
I was thinking after your last post about a wearable blanket. I don’t know of you can find one in your price range, but might be a hit.
I’ve received two cards, strangely early. One has a new address, so I understand. The other is a surprise. I’ve mailed four so far, all going internationally. Still have 100+ to work on for domestic. I’ve never mailed the international ones early before; they are used to my cards arriving in February 😆 I feel very in top of things.