I love my dad. But I hate shopping for him. He’s a fabulous man, but has picky tastes and isn’t exactly interested in the typical manly activities. If your dad is like my dad, he doesn’t play sports, nor does he watch them. You won’t find him on the golf course. He doesn’t spend a whole lotta time fishing. And he isn’t going to be caught dead playing any sort of video games.

Every time I look at a Father’s Day gift guide, I’m inundated with presents I know my dad wouldn’t be interested in. Sometimes I’m at a total loss for what to get this most important man in my life. If you’re in the same boat as me, take a look at my list of gifts every dad can enjoy, no matter what his hobbies might be:

1) Of-the-Month Clubs: These are my favorite go-to gifts for dad. Why? Because there is something for everyone. My dad’s a big foodie and when I got him the cheese of the month club, he went wild. He’s also a grill master so the year I got him the rub of the month club (yes, as in spice rubs for meats), he was more than happy. And beer of the month club? You just can’t go wrong with that (unless your dad doesn’t drink, and then, I do not recommend it).

Other of-the-month clubs that could make your dad love you forever (um, not that he wouldn’t anyway) include bacon of the month club, cookie of the month club, and ice cream of the month club. Of-the-month clubs are great for us gifters on a budget because they offer lots of options. You can usually get a membership to the club for anywhere from 3 months to the whole year. Read More »

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or some other holiday that not many people know about, you have undoubtedly received a gift that made you cringe, bite your lip to keep your mouth from saying something rude, or eyes water from the sheer ugliness factor.

While awesome presents are fun to receive, crappy presents are fun to talk about. So here, in no particular order, are three of the stupidest things I have received in recent memory.

* Box of Sparkly Body Spray – When I was 12, I freakin’ loved sparkly things. I would have killed for something like this in my teenybopper phase. However, once I turned, oh, say 22, I had pretty much left my gaudy taste behind. Too bad a long lost relative didn’t get the memo. When I opened this present—a set of three different kinds of pink, sparkly, heavily scented body sprays with Barbie heads as bottle stoppers—I was immediately mortified for everyone in the room. Either this relative was so out of touch with reality she thought Barbie was still something I enjoyed, or she had just totally and obviously re-gifted. Read More »

Everyone knows you really, reaally, reeeeeally want that big black Chanel bag.

Your mother knows. Your boyfriend knows. Your best friend knows. Hell, your fourth grade piano teacher knows. And yes you’ve been nice (enough), Santa knows.

The holiday season is the best time to scratch our heads and think reeeeal hard about which designer bag we would absolutely adore to see under the tree. Sure there’s jewelry and clothes, gadgets and perfume, but nothing says “I Love You” like P-R-A-D-A.

Of course, when shopping or asking it’s imperative to keep an eye out for schemes and rip-offs. A little good-hearted holiday spirit is the easiest thing for scammers to cheat. So how do you know if your bag’s a fake? Check out this video, and then read these fake bag tip-offs.

Memorize if you must! Read More »

As you already know, this Sunday is Mother’s Day. I know, I know. Just when you’ve spent your last five-dollars on a glass of overpriced beer at the bar, it’s time to come up with a gift. This is a big one too. I know all mothers say that it’s not a big deal if you forget, but it totally is. Don’t screw this up. I just got my mom an autographed copy of the new Chuck Palahniuk book.

Yeah it’s kind of inappropriate, but so is my mother. This is the lady who gives me such words of advice as, “Mary, if you’re going to get a tattoo, get it someplace where it is easy to cover up….in case you marry well. You go to Dartmouth.” Ah Mom, what would I do without you…besides scare away preppy boys by having too much ink.

So if you don’t have a gift for that special lady, don’t you fret. Here are a few gifts you can charge to the old credit card (consider it a write-off) and ship home in time to get yourself some much needed brownie points. Read More »