My Favorite Holiday Gifts

My favorite Bolga basket shape!

Each year when my family comes together for Christmas we enjoy a cool tradition of creating baskets of items filled with our favorite things from the past year.  The goal is to create a smattering of gifts which do not exceed $100-150 (It's like Oprah's favorite things on a budget). 

Examples of items range from books, mixed cd's, coffee beans, hand made crafts, water bottles, and kitchen gadgets...whatever new favorite we have discovered during the year.  The criteria is simple, anything that has made you say, "I love this...and I want to share it with everyone!"

Each family's basket rests under the tree.  After dinner we draw numbers and take turns picking baskets.  We trade and share...it is really fascinating to see how this promotes connection among everyone, as they share their stories behind each item.  I love the way we feel closer after sharing a part of ourselves with each other.

For the next several weeks I will be blogging about some of the items that will be in my family's holiday basket this year starting with my...basket of course!

Not just any basket, but a handmade African Bolga basket.  I love these so much I have given them to most of my friends.  This love affair began eight years ago when my friend Deb waltzed into my house with her well worn Bolga, filled to the brim with everything a person would need to compete on Let's Make A Deal.  (Remember when Monty Hall would offer cash to the person who had a random item like toothpaste, safety pins, or a stick of gum)

Bolga's come in many beautiful colors and styles!

It was love at first sight...and lucky for me we have a store in my little town with the best selection of Bolga baskets I have ever seen...and here is the kicker they have the best prices, too!!!  You can purchase them at this random store on the corner of Broad and Pine Streets called Asylum Down, which is a far cry from Heidi Says Shoes on Fillmore Street... but you will learn I am an eclectic person, whether in my personal style, or spiritual choices, who can't be pegged to one way of being.

These baskets are great as a purse, diaper bag, book bag (my library card is even attached to the handle by a string), grocery bag, farmers' market bag, and general catch-all bag.  They are sturdy, easy to hold, and really cute when worn with a pair of jeans.  I have been stopped so many times on the streets of San Francisco and asked about my Bolga bag (sounds fancy, too) it is laughable.  I mean at 29 bucks it is the best deal in town.

Over the next few weeks with each blog I will add more items to my basket, and my goal is that by Christmas there will be a gift for everyone on my list and maybe yours, too.

Happy shopping...and do your best this holiday to shop locally...it matters!