<p>I have an old friend who went a bit overboard on gifts for our kids this year. Gift cards and books from Amazon arrived in the mail for them and I have NOTHING for her. She told me not to worry about getting her anything, but I’d really like to get her SOMEthing.</p>
<p>Any ideas for some useful last-minute gifts that can be ordered online?</p>
<p>She is single, divorced, no kids, mid-60’s, no close family left, and lives in a retirement community in CA. Somewhat overweight, so I don’t really want to send a bunch of sweets. Not a drinker either. Loves animals – occasionally fosters rescue dogs, though rheumatoid arthritis limits her ability to keep very active or young ones. Already a member of Defenders of Wildlife and NRDC.</p>
<p>Gave her a subscription to The New Yorker (magazine) one year, but she didn’t care for it all that much . She has a pretty active social life, so food she could use for entertaining would be a possibility. She’s probably already read any book that I would pick out for her. My budget is around $50.</p>
<p>Maybe this could be a thread for ANYone looking for last minute ideas–
the more the merrier…</p>
<p>How about a nice amaryliss? Whiteflowerfarm.com has super high quality single bulbs in pots, and have spectacular blooms. We’ve received these as gifts and now really enjoy giving and receiving them.</p>
<p>If you know the timing of her groups - there are places that do fruit “arrangements” like flowers - really pretty bite-sized stuff on skewers so you serve yourselr.<br>
A pretty flower arrangement from a plac3e like Proflowers.com? A big spray of orchid blossoms will last for weeks and is in the $30 range.</p>
<p>Thank you - will check these out. There’s always someone I end up scrambling for at the last minute! Just picked up an amaryllis for MIL at a local shop – the very last one they had.</p>
<p>What if you made a donation to Defenders of Wildlife or NRDC in her honor? She might really appreciate that. And she doesn’t have to know how much you spent… they usually leave out the amount when they send out notification. I’m sure it can be done online.</p>
<p>Costco.com has the Harry and David “classic tower” for $28.95 including delivery ($11 off Harry and David pricing). Pears, apples, nuts, truffles, chocolate covered cherries – kind of a mix of healthful and not-so-much. It’s very well reviewed and the price is great. </p>
<p>If you decide to order something from proflowers try doing a google search first and accessing the site through a link – it sometimes offers a better deal (such as $10 off some flower options).</p>
<p>My other suggestion is in an earlier post. Order something for $50 from bluenile.com and pay with paypal. You’ll get a $20 credit to your paypal account. Bluenile is a great source for silver and freshwater pearl jewelry. Shipping is free and fast, packaging is very upscale-jewelry-store, quality is excellent, customer reviews offer helpful and honest feedback, and customer service is great. Here’s the link for the paypal offer: [Exclusive</a> Blue Nile Offer for PayPal Members](<a href=“http://www.bluenile.com/china?land=PAYPAL]Exclusive”>http://www.bluenile.com/china?land=PAYPAL) We gave the $50 “Double Strand Freshwater Cultured Pearl Bracelet with Sterling Silver Heart Clasp” to my mother-in-law and she loved it. I gave my daughter and her best friend the domed sterling silver cuff bracelets as graduation presents last June – it’s a lovely bracelet, too.</p>
<p>I don’t know if you could find it through a zip code search, but all of our local spas have on-line gift certificates that she could print out herself…maybe a pedicure?</p>
<p>Thank you all - our cable went out last night, so I just checked back.
Some of you must have ESP-- year before last I gave a donation to Defenders of Wildlife in her name, and last year it was a balsam centerpiece and gift from LL Bean.
We are not Costco or BJ’s members anymore, but a few years ago got a good deal on some very nice gift baskets there.
The gifts.com website had a link to something called SpaFinder, and there some places near her home (Banning) and also nearby, and have $50 certificates available. Don’t know what $50 gets you because I’ve never been to a spa, but it sounds like something she might like.<br>
Would love to give her books (Audacity of Hope, Tom Friedman’s Hot, Flat & Crowded), but don’t know if she’s read them yet. She loves the NY Times editorials. Hmm…
Thanks, though - and hope others get some good ideas here too.</p>
<p>I have given amaryllis to friends in family, but have never had one myself-- there are a lot of beautiful varieties out there. How long does the blooming stage last?</p>
<p>Starbucks has some neat stuff now at 20% off. With my gift cards that I bought at Costco for 20% off, I am only paying 60% of original price. Sweet.</p>
<p>A friend of mine bought stocking stuffer sponsorships for exotic animals via an auction, but I think the preserve would be thrilled to put together a sponsorship for any one who contacts them:</p>
<p>Crate and Barrel has good gift ideas, and sometimes with free shipping. It may also let you track gifts from one year to next, but I may be confusing it with Williams Sonoma. Also good.</p>
. She has a pretty active social life, so food she could use for entertaining would be a possibility. She’s probably already read any book that I would pick out for her. My budget is around $50.</p>