So, here's the deal-e-o:
I've compiled a fun box of some of my favorite things from one of my favorite places - The Target! None of these things were expensive {take that Oprah!}, and yet each one is like a little ray of sunshine to me on a cloudy day. I want to share a bit of my joy with a Dragonfly reader just in time for Christmas. Hey, if you win you could even hand it over to your sweetheart and tell him to dump it directly into your stocking on Christmas Eve since each of these items is small in scale, yet large on impact.
To be eligible to win, you need only do the following:
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me about the best gift you ever got, who gave it to you and why it meant so much.
2. Leave a way for me to contact you in your comment (email, link to your blog, etc.).
3. Comment before 5:00 EST on Tuesday, December 15th (Big C's Bday).
4. For heaven's sake, did I mention you should comment? Your chances are really good - like 1 in 20 if my record holds . . . those are outstanding odds! And this package so wants to end up on your doorstep!
Here's a little photo hint of some of the goodness that awaits you {if you aren't chicken and COMMENT!}
On Wednesday of next week, I will tell you about one of the best gifts I ever got. You're not going to want to miss it. Hope your weekend is filled with Holiday Cheer!
ps. Ooh, did you catch that? I used the word minutiae!
33 comments:
What fun! I've received lots of GREAT gifts...but one of the most memorable was a framed four generation picture of me (Lori), my mom (Karla), my grandma Collette, and her mother Hermina Cziep. I have cried over very few gifts...but that one required a big box of tissue...especially after reading the sweet message my mother wrote on the back. It is a treasured gift! LOVE IT! lorizenger@comcast.net
PS. Love the song "My Favorite Things." The grandmothers in the picture I mentioned are Austrian...so the Sound of Music runs DEEP! Here's to FAVORITE THINGS!
Hey, I'd pick reading your blog over watching Oprah any day!
My favorite gift ever came from my dad 14 years ago. My boyfriend and I had broken-up a couple weeks earlier, after having discussed the idea of getting engaged at Christmas when I went home with him to meet his parents. Well, obviously, that trip and getting engaged wasn't going to happen now. My dad saw how hard the Christmas Season was for me that year because of the heartbreak, and bought me a special gift: A Snowglobe with a Carousel Horse inside (I collected Carousel Horses for years). Nothing special, right? Well, this particular one played the song, "Somewhere Out There." I started to cry when I heard the music, and my dad came over to me, wrapped his arms around me and said, "He's a $#!&head. Don't worry, the one you belong with is thinking of you, and you'll be together some day."
Turns out he was right. That $#!%head came back to me, admitting he was wrong to let me go and how hard that Christmas was on him, too; and we've been married for 12 years now. We have 5 kids, and 3 of them are daughters. I'm saving that snow globe to give to one of them when they get their heart broken the first time.
thornytreelady@gmail.com
or thornytreelady.blogspot.com (if I ever post)
The best gift I ever received (and there have been many) was a professionally framed document of the printed out words of the homily the priest gave at our wedding mass. It proudly hangs in the entry way for all to see! I read it all the time because it holds so much meaning!
My email is: moe@umn.edu
The best Christmas present I reveived was an engagement ring! My husband (then boyfriend) asked me on Christmas Eve, and then wrapped the ring up again and I opened it in front of my family! Lots of screaming, hugs and tears.
I love this giveaway!
pascualfamily AT hotmail DOT com
Can I say that the best present that was given to me, hasn't actually happened yet? You see, I have hope that I will get it. It will be my all time favorite, spectacular gift for Christmas when my parents announce that they have quit smoking! I've been waiting since the 1st time they promised me when I was in 2nd grade. I'm 28 now!!
My favorite gift was a mother/child pendant my husband picked out and purchased for me last Christmas (it was my first Christmas as a Mother). I was so impressed he 1)picked it out himself 2)knew that it would mean so much to me 3)somehow got it, wrapped it, and hid it in my stocking without me knowing!
One of my all-time favorite gifts was a special cookbook my grandma gave to me my first year in college. It was full of handwritten favorite family recipes, when they made them, why they loved them, memories, priceless photographs (of my dad's first birthday and more), etc. I know it had to have been a labor of love to fill the whole thing out and it will always be a treasure to me. I know my cousins all got photocopies but I was lucky enough to have the original. I use it very often and it always reminds me of my sweet grandma, who has since passed away.
P.S. I know you have my email address already. :)
Oh, so hard to pick just one gift. Any time my kids surprise me with something they made, especially if it has their handprints or footprints, is my favorite! To this day, one of my most memorable gifts will always be the one I ended up returning. It was our first xmas together and my husband and I had been in our new condo for 6 months. On Xmas day he surprised me with a beautiful diamond necklace. I loved it, but at that time, I just didn't think we should have been spending that kind of money. After much thought we took it back together. Thats me, always the sensible one.
My favorite gift ever was the night I got engaged (not because of the ring), but because it meant that I would be with my best friend forever! My second favorite gift was for my birthday last year, my husband gave me a popcorn dispenser (I LOVE popcorn). It was both very creative and I absolutely loved it!
Ooops! My email address is:
nefmaciliel_007@hotmail.com or my blog is www.chrisnessatime.blogspot.com
My best gift ever. My water baby doll my Mom and "Dad' got me for Christmas when I was 12. I cherished it so. It meant so much to me and I find it funny because it wasn't something expensive or big it was just my first gift from my "Dad" for our first Christmas together. My blog is www.Carribear0620.blogspot.com
The best gift I ever got..right up there would be my surprise birthday party given to me by my daughters and a daughter finding me.
I guess the best gift ever would be the gift of repentance and atonment from Jesus. I use it often.
My most remembered and loved gift was Robbie the Robot who was black and red and ran on batteries. It was in the 50's that he came out and I dearly wanted him for Christmas. My parents got him for me but on Christmas morning he would not work. My father and uncle had played so much with him on Christmas Eve that the battery was dead. I still have that robot sitting in my bedroom.
My most memorable Christmas present was a paisley swatch watch in the 1980's. Now my favorite present is the gift of time. Going to get mani-pedi's or shopping with girlfriends.
In the stuff gift category, I treasure the hospital bracelet my mother saved all these years and the cookbook/ memoir my mom put together.
The best stuff gifts are sentimental.
You had me at stocking stuffer!
My favorite gift was a homemade diaper bag stuffed with real baby food for my new doll(I was 10). I can still taste those teething biscuits! That same year our parents took us to Disneyland on Christmas day, but I could care less -- All I needed was my diaper bag and baby doll and I was one happy mommy...and I am still one today!
madesomethinggood.blogspot.com
When I was 19 my Mom gave me my first set of luggage. Inside the luggage was $150.00 cash. She said it was so I could take my first vacation. It was the biggest suprise and one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever gotten.
I have a short list of my favorite gifts that I have given. My favorite by far was last year when I wrapped ornaments up in beautiful boxes to tell my parents, in-laws and the hubby that I was pregnant. No, I didn't wait until christmas to tell the hubby! The best gift I ever got was giving that little box and the reaction I got when they were opened.
jenngwheeler@yahoo.com
So my gift was actually a heartfelt note from my Dad that was left on my bed during a particular stressful and overwhelming time during college. (I'm not sure it counts?) He just gave words of encouragement and that he loved me and knew I could make it through. It was so thoughtful because at that time I knew my Dad was also going through stressful times with his business which in comparison with my little college stresses were nothing. Anyways, I still have the note and pull it out every time I start to get stressed out and it always makes me shed a tear and calms me down...which to me is the best gift ever.
my email: sunnymyres@gmail.com
When I got engaged someone gave me the sweetest white china tea set. I bet you can guess who gave it to me :-).
Carmen (Aseron) Lynch
carmen.lynch@verizon.net
Who'd know you're sleep deprived with all this excitement?!
The best gift, eh? A couple years ago Ryan surprised me with a B&B getaway the weekend before Christmas. I totally cried with relief and joy! He'd lined up friends to watch our boys at their house so all I had to do was pack a bag for myself and then one for the boys. The B&B was in Middleburg and he'd lined up massages, dinner by a fire, and a day of shopping with just him. That was the best way to enter Christmas week totally relaxed and in love with my hubby!
One of the best gifts was given to me last year. Before my daughter went to Jerusalem for Christmas, she asked each person in the family to write down their testimony. She took those testimonies and put them in individual boxes. When she went to certain places on her trip, she would leave the 'testimony box' in the place that most reminded her of me (or the other family members). This way our family's testimonies were shared across the miles. When returning home she gave me a journal with pictures of her trip covering the front and back covers (including the picture of where she left my box and an explanation of why). It was an incredibly thoughtful treasure that I look at almost daily.
As Christmas approaches (way too quickly) I have realized that the best gift I have ever received was being able to spend it with my Grams (almost 32 years). She passed away this summer and it's hard to imagine what this year will be like without her. I am so thankful for the wonderful memories that I will carry with me forever.
The best gifts that I have given are the ones that aren't expected yet truly appreciated. I am giving a copy of "Where the Wild Things Are" to a friend based on a brief conversation held months ago where it was mentioned that it was his favorite as a child.
I have to admit that the best Christmas gift I received was given to me, last Friday, by me. Does that make sense? After 3 1/2 years of hard work and juggling 3 kids and 3 moves I finally finished my doctorate in education and was handed a diploma on Friday confirming my hard work had paid off. That is the best Christmas present I have ever received!
A friend of mine gathered recipes from both sides of our families, in their own handwriting, and put them together in a binder with pictures. Now when I'm missing them, I can look at their photos and handwriting as I make a dish that reminds me of them!
My favorite gifts are the ones that may not be expensive, but from the heart...Like the coffee mug my hubby made me at a pottery place-so out of character for him to go there!
This year, my six year old had me go to the candle store so he could "sniff" and pick one for me without me looking...I can't wait to open that-even if I don't like the smell.
P.S. I just looked at your pictures of the kids-lovely!!!
Your baby has grown so much!
I always send out Christmas cards-my hubby doesn't get it :)
So fun! I don't want you to think I'm just commenting on account of the great give away though...it's on my list of goals: stop lurking and comment on the blogs I read and love.
My favorite gift came from my sister...but not at Christmas. For my college graduation, she put together the most amazing scrapbook of my life and our family. It's incredible. Through the years, I've always looked at it when I needed a good smile/laugh.
I love this- you really make me think sometimes! The best gift I ever received was December 1998. A sweet young girl chose us to be the adoptive parents of her baby boy. He arrived in January of 1999 and made us the happiest couple on the planet. In Feb we found out we were expecting,(making us the happiest and most surprised couple on the planet), our little girl was born in Oct 1999. Christmas 1999 was incredible, we were blessed to have two little babies join our family that year, they were the best Christmas gifts ever!
jbhyde70@yahoo.com
I just have to comment again to make it an even 30. Another great gift: my hubby gave me diamonds every time a baby joined our family. Such a sweet, sparkly, WOW of a gift.
Wow, 30 comments. You go girl! Looks like some fun gifts. My favorite gifts are videos the "husbird" makes of family times. The love to see them all edited and music added to them.
I have to agree with the Queen Vee, the atonement is the best gift I have ever received. But on a more temporal note; sentimental, meaningful, handmade gifts are always the best. One of the best gifts I ever GAVE was when I made heritage scrapbooks for each of my siblings. It was a book filled with stories, pictures, memoribilia from each of their lives plus four generations back! It was awesome! It was a lot of hard work but well worth it! I have had so many great gifts from my husband, he is a great gift-giver. But one of my recent favorites was last Christmas. We are a music family, someone is always singing or playing the piano or some other instrument. So Terry made me a set of 4 Christmas songbooks with all the words to the Christmas songs we sing and then he mixed in pictures of our family on the pages. Great gift that we will use for years to come! Loved it!
The best gift I have been given is a book my husband put together, and continues to add to, that has all of our correspondences over our courtship and marriage. It is so fun to read and remember the sweet things that were said or done for each other.
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