Holiday Gifts for Guys

More fun present talk this afternoon!

But first we must cover lunch.

Today’s lunch included a Swiss cheese sandwich (it’s not constructed in the above picture because I snapped the photo this morning and the sandwich thin wasn’t thawed enough to separate 😉 ) paired with roasted Brussels sprouts and a banana.

Gotta love it when your meal smiles at you! 😀

It was a good one!

Now that we’re all good ‘n’ full, it’s time for present discussion!

Gifts for Guys

Who could be easier to shop for than your sister? Girls are easy to buy gifts for… guys, to put it simply, are not. Dads, boyfriends, husbands… they’re tricky people.

Having dated Ryan for more than six and a half years before we were married on October 30, we’ve spent our fair share of holidays and birthdays together. This means lots of presents…

Let’s do the math:

6 years = 6 Christmases + 6 Birthdays + 6 Anniversaries + 6 Valentine’s Days + Three Graduations (my undergrad + Ryan’s undergrad & graduate degrees) = 27 gift-giving occasions.

Fortunately we nipped Valentine’s Day and our anniversary in the bud and opted to instill a $15 limit for V-day coupled with a nice dinner, while our anniversary is spent at the location of our first date, coupled with a really nice card.

Even still, brainstorming creative, thoughtful gifts several times a year is difficult! Like Rachel, I always make it my mission to try to give “the best gift you never knew you always wanted.” It’s fun to give someone a gift they never asked for but completely fall in love with the moment they tear away the gift wrap.

Below I’ve detailed a list of gift ideas for guys in your life, based on the gifts I’ve given to Ryan that have yielded a high rate of “Wow, this is really great” and “You’re the best, prettiest, tannest, smartest, most amazing girl EVER” compliments. (Slight exaggeration on the second statement.)

You may notice that many of the items on this list are experiences, not materialistic gifts. Ryan is not someone who knows labels and doesn’t care much about fashion (basketball shorts are his go-to outfit), so clothes and expensive accessories are basically lost on him. This sounds great in theory, but can prove challenging when you’re fresh out of ideas and picking up a nice sweater sounds awfully appealing. 😉

• Tickets to see his favorite sports team play

This is one I’ve used a couple of times. Ryan loves sports and said he loved when I surprised him with good tickets to see the Tampa Bay Bucs, the Chicago Bulls and the Orlando Magic. The gift is even better if you treat them to ballpark food and beer and take a genuine interest in the game (or fake it ’til you make it 😉 ).

• Romantic weekend trip

Fortunately Orlando is located in Central Florida, which allows us to drive a couple of hours in any direction to hit cute, small towns. On Ryan’s birthday one year, I surprised him with a weekend away at an adorable bed and breakfast in St. Augustine (the oldest city in the U.S.). We had a great time exploring the town and doing touristy things while feeling like we were on a mini-vacation.

• Throwback DVDs

So many old movies are now available on DVD. I love filling Ryan’s Christmas stocking with movies I’ve heard him rave about that he enjoyed years ago… Like Hercules, Pumping Iron (surprisingly good) and Two Can Play that Game (awesome).

• Couples massage

I was a little nervous about giving him this one, but he really, really liked it. It helped that his masseuse was awesome and used a lot of pressure.

• Random joke gift

I always try to give Ryan something completely random that I know will make him smile. It’s something I typically know he’ll never actually use or wear, but it always gives us a good laugh.

• Tickets to see his favorite comedian

I’ve given Ryan tickets to see both Robin Williams and Ron White and we laughed our way through both performances and had a blast!

• Calendar

I know this may seem random, but one gift I’ve given Ryan every year for Christmas is a calendar. I open it up and decorate special days throughout the year and include pictures of us and Sadie to make him smile as each new month arrives. The one year I didn’t give this to him, he told me he was really disappointed, so I now know it’s something he looks forward to receiving and actually uses throughout the year.

• Boxers

Ryan has never bought himself a pair of boxers. When I realized that nearly all of his boxers were old, holey or had soccer balls on them, I started giving him quality boxers. Boxers are the perfect supplementary gift because guys seem to appreciate nice boxers and will use them regularly.

• Slim card case/wallet

In lieu of a wallet, Ryan carries this slim card case that I bought him several years ago. He is not a fan of a big, bulky wallet and doesn’t carry bazillions of coupons and gift cards with him everywhere he goes like I do, so he really enjoyed this thin wallet that is lightweight and isn’t cumbersome.

• Something electronic

Boys and their toys. Most every guy will be satisfied with some kind of techy gift, whether it be a new phone, MP3 player or a cheapy remote-control airplane. (Seriously, Ryan loved this… likely because it was great to use to mess with Sadie.) A quality electronic gift will almost always be a hit. It’s just figuring out what electronic thing they want that’s the hard part!

Now it’s time to share your knowledge…

What gift have you given a guy that received an awesome reaction?

Hopefully the comments section of this post can help us brainstorm some good gift ideas for the guys we love this holiday season!