Everything I bought my friends for the holidays (part one)

A gifty guide for ladies you love

Fun reminder. A bunch of you have been asking how you can get signed and personalized copies of Sicilian Inheritance and Everyone is Lying to You for the holidays. I’ve got you covered. Thunder Road Books is going to fulfill all our holiday personalizations. Just get the orders in by Dec. 3! Here is the link to order. I’ll write anything to anyone in these books! Even something filthy (it’s what I am best at)! If you want signed copies of any of my other books including Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, If Nuns Ruled the World or Celebrity Inc., shoot me an email (jo@influentialmedia.biz) or DM and I can make that happen too.

Gifting is my love language. I don’t just do it during the holidays, I do it all year around. If I see something I think you’ll love, I will buy it for you on the spot. I am a present-buying machine and I am hyper specific about what I get for friends, colleagues and teachers.

Here’s what I’ve gotten so far.

For my friend who is constantly rearranging her furniture and can never find her measuring tape I got this darling Rifle Paper measuring tape. It’s so chic and little. For my friend who still rips recipes out of magazines and prints them out from blogs I got this Rifle recipe binder. Then I also stocked up on these Rifle mugs for teacher gifts. I like to put cash money in them.

For my friend who constantly travels for work and takes her laptop everywhere I got this shiny rose gold laptop case. I also got her a lip gloss oil that matches the case because matching a lap top case to your lips is very her.

For my friends who don’t want to leave their houses in the winter I got them cozy house things like my favorite sweatpants jeans, these Mongolian cashmere pants from Quince and this Lola blanket that I am completely obsessed with that everyone in my house keeps stealing from the couch to put on their beds. Also my favorite heirloom tomato candle and this striped tablecloth that makes you feel like you’re in Sicily without leaving Philadelphia.

For my foodie friends I got these Bloody Mary cashews which I like to serve with actual Bloody Marys (they’re stupidly expensive for nuts but I had a gift card…I’m not an animal) and this Misen kitchen tool stocking stuffer set. I’m the kind of person who is totally cool putting knives in stockings and I love Misen’s knives so much. I consistently gift East Fork mugs and bowls to everyone in my life because they are so pretty and they last forever. I also got this cake stand for my mom. It is slightly ridiculous and I love it.

Now that half of my friends have bought the Anthropologie gold skirt that I wore almost every day in Paris, I am also turning them onto (and gifting some of them) these Freda Salvador smoking slippers which really make the skirt sing. I’m also obsessed with these socks from Freda. They are one of my favorite brands. I met the founders during the company’s early days when I lived in San Francisco and the company’s products and values are top notch. They also make my favorite rain boots.

For my LEGO and puzzly friends I got this LEGO van Gogh Sunflowers, which is very on brand for Parisian Heist. AND Dan Pelosi’s Big Italian Sandwich puzzle. We also just ordered a bunch of copies of Dan’s book Let’s Party for our bookstore.

We’re nearing the email length limit. More to come tomorrow. And more Paris later this week.

Also send me your London recs. I leave Friday.