Safe 11th Hour Gifts For Men, Women and People You Barely Know

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So you're bad at planning and you waited until now (the near last minute) to think about buying gifts for people you're close to but don't want anything, or people you barely know who you want to get something fun for. The trouble with this is that nobody really knows what to expect- so safely, you decide to gift something practical. But practical means boring, right? Nope. Here are some suggestions for more practical-but still-frivioulous last minute gifts.

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For men, socks, underwear (everybody need that) or a food gift basket that could be read as traditional or trendy. Think about Topman for socks as the fun socks trend continues to grow, and underwear that isn't too vulgar but is a little jazzy. Another option for socks is Nordstom Rack-they're knee-deep in Happy Socks right now. For the edible option that can be read as trend or traditional, the craziest basket of Wisconsin realness you can find is happening at Mars Cheese Castle. It's called The Pinnacle and costs $154.

For the women, buying a spa treatment is the quickest way to show you know what a girl wants. It's safe for everyone. We don't need to explain this. Recommendations from $$$ to $ are: The Spa at Waldorf Astoria and the JW Mariott; Allyu on Chicago ave or Red Door; Equinox Fitness or Mario Tricoci. Highlights include holiday packages at Equinox like a 50 minute conditioning facial for $90 and access to the amazing and very photogenic health club at The Spa at Waldorf. If even this much cash is an issue, or may seem too fance, and you want to go even safer, Lush, ~H20+, or Sephora have gift sets with pro-looking packaging for reasonable prices.

And for people you barely know, candles and personal are fantastic if don't want to commit to being too personal. Hefty show stoppers with recognizable names and super cool gift wrapping/ packaging are thus: Elements on Wells for Lafco candles that pair with Lafco soaps. Also the newly opened Diptyque in Bucktown where you can get the three-pack of holiday scents-- one identifiably frankincense, one fir and one that exudes warm resins and rare spices.

On the same token, if candles are too "eh" and you want to be even more vague about how much you care about the person you're giving the gift to, but don't want to go the way of a Starbucks gift card, a local site called Giftbar exists. You can shop gift cards from local shops through the site and send them via email or text message. That, friends is the ultimate 11th hour gift.
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