7.03.2009

Help Wanted

I hope everyone will have an enjoyable and safe 4th of July weekend! My office is closed today, so I'm trying to take some time off relaxing before fitting in some work in between the festivities throughout the weekend. I haven't fleshed out my weekend plans yet, but just getting caught up with sleep would be fine by me.

I'll be travelling overseas for a wedding in November. It'll be my first real (i.e. lasting longer than a couple of days) vacation in about 5-6 years, and it'll be the first time I'll see some family members in roughly 20 years. I'm definitely excited about that, but the planning has to start now. Since I expect to be very busy for work in the next couple of months, I'm going to have to do a lot of planning, etc. and spread out the vacation-prep labor over time.

One of my biggest concerns is getting souvenirs, gifts, etc. to my many family members. Obviously, I'll need to get a wedding gift for the bride and groom, and then gifts for aunts, uncles, and cousins. What kind of quintessentially All-American, practical, and compact gifts do you recommend for $20 or under?

7 comments:

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com said...

Wow.. this one will take some thought. I always just bring maple syrup and stuff from Canada because we're known for maples and ice wine.

Maybe something like.. special food things in jars from your area? Or a mini replica of the Statue of Liberty?

LOL I have no clue. Personally, I'd like a practical gift that I could EAT so that i don't have to display any clutter.... but that's just me

Sales Rack Raider said...

Thanks for the ideas, FB! Food is definitely practical, and if it's a local specialty, I think people will love it. Now I'll just have to figure out which ones could be considered local specialties...much harder for LA because it's such a diverse city.

yulanda said...

See's Candies? I know they're headquartered in SF, but at least it's the same state? People always bring us those when they're visiting from CA.

Where exactly are you going?

Sales Rack Raider said...

Yulanda--I'm heading to HK. That's what makes it hard...they've got everything there.

Swathi Sambhani aka Chimera said...

'am assuming HK is HongKong.
anywayz i sometimes think it is not about the place, but just the gifts ppl look fwd to.
You must take Hershey's chocolates (which are indegenious to US).
I think a digital photo frame for the couple would make a good gift (I picked one for my sister last month when I visited her in UK..)
For kids , you can get Nintendo games in clearance for 15 bucks.For young adult gurls - a manicure set, makeup sets, clothes.
for my trips to India these are some of the gifts I take. Also small perfume bottles of good brands are found at Walmart for 10-12 bucks.

yulanda said...

Hmm, yeah, they do, including See's.

For food gifts from Canada, I usually bring smoked salmon..

Sales Rack Raider said...

Chimera--Thanks for the suggestions! Makeup is definitely something my mom and I talked about. Chocolate is a great idea--I can probably do little gift bundles with various knicknacks.

Yulanda--I guess I'll have to look for California's equivalent of smoked salmon. ;-)