<p>I was supposed to get together with a friend of mine when I was in Charlotte for a business trip. It never happened – was supposed to but both of our schedules went nuts that day and I was only in town for 1 day. I got an email from her when I got home saying how sad she was that she didn’t get to see me (I’m only in town about 1x/yr) and also suggesting that work was a nightmare and will be that way for months. She isn’t the type who ever shows that she’s upset, so I can tell that she’s down. I’d like to be able to do something nice for her in the next few weeks – just to make her smile. Any thoughts on what to do for someone long distance? She has a husband and 2 toddler sons, but I’d love for this to be something for her – not the family necessarily; I’m even ok with a discrete gift being delivered to her office.</p>
<p>Flowers? Is there any place that’ll deliver a plate of cookies? What would you like someone to do for you? (I’d like to stay away from restaurant gift cards; as much as I’m sure they could use a date night, I’m not from that area so I don’t know where they normally eat and I’d be picking randomly off the internet.)</p>
<p>They’re a dual/high income family in their late 30s/early 40s. There’s nothing that they need. Nor do I want to do something to extravagant as I know it makes her uncomfortable anyone (including her husband) spends money when she can’t reciprocate – i.e. Christmas is different because she will also pick out of a gift, but I’ve seen her get uncomfortable getting gifts that are for “congratulations” or “just because” purposes.</p>
<p>She has toddlers, a boss and a husband. Sounds to me like she was really looking forward to a conversation with a good friend. Send a box of cookies and a box of tea or gourmet coffee along with a new time and date for a skype coffee date. </p>
<p>I’ve put together a “spa” bag many times for friends who are down or just coming out of a bad situation. I fill a small gift bag with all sorts of odds and ends - things I use myself, such as face and body lotions, lip balm, hair or skin treatments, sleep socks, candles, etc. - from Sephora or a similar store. They seem to have fun going through the bag and it introduces them to new products. You could put everything in a pretty box or a basket to ship. </p>
<p>Stick to smaller or travel sized for some of the items and it won’t look too opulent (although you can really spend quite a bit if you care to).</p>
<p>Your personal time, attention, and emotional connection are better than a bought gift.
Your reluctance to invest those things in your relationship with her sent the message that she is not important to you.
Totally understand that your job responsibilities came first on that trip, no hate.</p>
<p>I love the idea of a skype date. I suggest you send flowers right away, and put the invitation for a skype date on the card that is delivered with the flowers. Once you have the date set with her for your skype session, then you can send her cookies/tea/coffee in the mail.</p>
<p>Keep the suggestions coming – this is great! I wouldn’t even have thought about a Skype date. I was planning on giving her a call in the next week or two. I almost picked up the phone when she emailed me, but then I didn’t because I wasn’t sure if it was a good time – I’d rather talk for 30 min when she actually has time to talk rather than talking for 5 min in an “I gotta run to the next meeting” fashion. And to the poster above – believe me I was looking forward to seeing her as much as she was wanting to see me – we’re in an industry where schedules are never our own and it often happens that you go from “I’m wide open all day, just let me know when you get into town” to “it’s a complete fire drill all day long I don’t even have time to eat, let alone talk to anyone for 5 min.” Just so happened that both of us had a fire drill kind of day.</p>
<p>She is a BIG coffee person, and I know she likes dark chocolate and cupcakes as well. So maybe I send a small coffee/dessert type of gift which incidentally goes well with a call/Skype chat.</p>
<p>Anyone ever received any decent coffee delivery before? From where?</p>
<p>Love the time ideas, whether it’s actually Skype or a call. Wholelattelove and seattlecoffeegear are both places I Purchase coffee from. Maybe picking a pound of some micro-roaster would be fun. </p>
<p>I am with all above who instantly thought Skype Date! A phone call is nice but there is nothing quite like getting to see each other’s expressions as you chat about various things going on on your lives. Love the chocolate covered coffee bean idea, too. </p>