These 3 "rules" help me gift & shop better, wiser, sustainable-r

Let me help you stay sane (and gently deinfluenced-- or at least more thoughtful) during this week of shopping and gifting mania.

Hello, it’s great to see you again! I’ve been quietly working on a few holiday “packages” and pretending this is my mini magazine— which it is, of course. I hope you enjoy reading even close to as much as I am enjoying writing these letters through the end of the year. (I also hope you enjoy the holiday decorations! If I’m decorating my home, why not my newsletter?)

For better or for worse, I am someone who takes pride in giving gifts, and in how I shop in general. This is not to say I shop brilliantly— I am far too thirsty for sales to always make great decision, I have certainly often fallen prey to thrifting an item that is never going to fit me, no matter how brilliant the tailor— but more so that I deeply care about exercising both discretion and restraint when I make purchase decisions for myself or others.

This means: no dull, cookie cutter gifts! Banishment to all those silly little gift guides we’re inundated with that tell you to gift the man in your life a flask or something …