Thoughtful gifts don’t always require a lot of thought
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode Transcript
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to save time and energy by having
a go to gift. In the course of normal human interactions,
we wind up giving and receiving all sorts of gifts.
(00:26):
If you know someone well, it can be fun to
shop for that person's specific tastes, but we give other
gifts to people we don't know so well. You're invited
to a colleague's child's wedding. You know your colleague, but
you don't really know the brighter groom. A new neighbor
has a housewarming party and you need to bring something.
A child's classmate that you've never met. Invites your child
(00:48):
to a birthday party. In all these cases, you can
save time and effort while fulfilling your social duties by
having a go to gift. I began doing this about
twelve years ago. When I had my first child. One
of my husband's colleagues sent us a giant cookie bouquet
from Cookies by Design. This array of sugar cookies came
(01:10):
fistooned with my son's name and birthdate. The cookies proved
quite tasty. When I was up at two am feeding
the kid, I shared some of the cookies with folks
who came to visit my newborn as well. I realized
that pretty much everyone with a new baby would enjoy
receiving a giant cookie bouquet, and even if the new
parents didn't eat cookies, they could pass them out to grandparents, friends,
(01:35):
and other well wishers with a sweet tooth. So my
husband and I began sending those cookie bouquets to the
vast majority of people who sent us birth announcements. This
go to gift is simple and straightforward. We pop in
any details about the baby from the announcement, name, birthdate,
it's a bowyer, it's a girl. Wait, if it's included
(01:58):
on the cookie bouquet webs site. We feel happy knowing
we've sent a gift that will probably be well received.
Of course, there are lots of other go to gifts
that might work in these circumstances. Maybe you always send
a certain baby blanket or a favorite set of children's
books for kid birthday parties. You could stock up after
the holidays on toys that appeal to your children's age groups.
(02:23):
If you have a seven year old For instance, you
should anticipate that you will be invited to at least
half a dozen eight year old birthday parties over the
next year. So take a few minutes to accumulate a
collection of art supplies or legos or a favorite book series.
Get a few rolls of wrapping paper, and you will
not need to race to the store or think about
(02:44):
this much. Again, to be sure, some element of personalization
is lost with a go to gift, but I think
the best go to gifts are actually personalized just around
the giver. This is still a way of honoring the
recipient because as people love gifts with stories. So rather
than bring a generic bottle of wine from the supermarket,
(03:06):
show up at a dinner party with a bottle from
the winery you visited on your honeymoon. You can tell
the host why it's special and suggest a trip to
that winery as a future vacation. Go to holiday parties
with ornaments purchased from a nonprofit that works in a
village where you spent your first year after college volunteering.
(03:27):
Include a note explaining the story. Because the gift is
special to you, the gift will be special to the recipient.
It's thoughtful without requiring a whole lot of thought, and
that is really a win win situation. What are your
go to gifts? You can let me know at Before
Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In the meantime,
(03:50):
this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making
the most of our time. M hm. Hey everybody, I'd
love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E
(04:14):
the number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can
also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at
i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled
out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look
forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
(04:36):
of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Before Breakfast News
Host
Laura Vanderkam
Show Links
AboutPopular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.