Good morning from the Fagan’s and our half-lit mini Christmas tree.
What a tragic sight. But the presents under the tree make up for it, right?
We’re nearly done with our Christmas shopping! Just need a few more things for some family members. I also have to stuff Ryan’s stocking, but shopping for stocking stuffers is always so much fun!
Workout
This morning’s workout was just at sweaty as last Thursday’s gym session… probably because I did the exact same cardio circuit workout. It’s no joke!
My buns were sore for two days following the circuit last week. I blame the alternating lunge hops. They’re booty burners!
Breakfast
Today’s morning meal was a typical bowl of overnight oats, made with plain Greek yogurt, Coach’s Oats, chia seeds, milk, honey and a banana.
I ate this breakfast in front of the computer while putting together an email with some writing samples to send to a local magazine.
I’ve been trying to get in with them since we moved to Ocala and all of my emails up to this point have been unanswered. Late last night I finally received an email requesting writing samples, saying that they’re in the market for a new team of freelance writers. My fingers are crossed!
White Elephant Gifts
Last night I spent some time wrapping a couple of white elephant gifts for a Christmas party Ryan and I will be attending on Saturday.
For those of you in the dark about the whole white elephant tradition (apparently it’s most popular in North America), white elephant gifts are typically inexpensive, funny and often previously-owned.
During a white elephant gift exchange, the first person participating opens a wrapped gift of their choice. The next person can then “steal” their gift or elect to open a new gift from the pile. The person whose gift is stolen may then open a new gift or “steal” someone else’s gift and so on, until the last wrapped gift is opened.
The party we’re attending on Saturday has a $5 limit on gifts and Ryan and I put together some good little presents! The “core” of our gifts actually are decent gifts that we bought, but then we threw in a little “flavah” in the form of random (unused) crap we found around our house. Priceless!
I love white elephant gift exchanges because all too often people actually fight over someone else’s junk! I remember doing a white elephant gift exchange in high school when one of my girlfriends put together a collection of her unwanted nail polishes as her gift and people were dying over that one!
My mom and dad just went to a party last weekend and were excited when they left with a collection of different kinds of beer and a big bag of peanuts.
Questions of the Morning
- Have you ever participated in a white elephant gift exchange?
- What is the best/most hilarious/most shocking gift you’ve ever seen as part of a random gift exchange?
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Oooooh, have to say, I’m not a huge fan of the White Elephant thing. One side of my family does it, and it usually results in people not speaking for months…possibly until the next Christmas. 😉 Yours does sound a little more fun though- I’d definitely go for both the nail polish and the beer/peanuts!
no way! really!? what kind of gifts do you guys give!!??
Just like you said- it’s usually other peoples’ junk. haha. Although someone usually brings a new tool set, and the guys get pretty headed. 🙂
I don’t really like it either. I have to attend an annual party where we do this and most people just buy the gimmicky junk that comes out every year, i.e. that snuggie thing. I really prefer heartfelt or practical personalized gifts so would even opt for a name draw system over anonymous gift buying/giving.
Aw! I think your tree is precious! Little or not, it’s special because it’s your first Christmas as a married couple 🙂
I’ve never heard of a White Elephant party! I think that is a pretty cool concept!
We do the same sort of thing but we call it Yankee Swap and this year you have to bring something that begins with the first letter of your first name. It’s fun to mix it up with themes each year!
what a cool idea! i’d bring christmasy jelly beans. 🙂
We do it with my dad’s side of the family eeeevery year. There are 50 of us! There are teams, a game of charades to select who gets to choose a gifts, lottery cards, tears – the whole nine yards. It’s awesome!
BTW, what exactly are coach’s oats? I’ve heard alot about them and can’t figure out what the benefits are. Thanks!
they’re delicious and are supposed to replicate steel cut oats w/o the cook time! here’s their website: http://www.coachsoats.com/
ah ha mystery solved 😉
hahahah one year someone got a tiolet brush…uhmm hope it wasn’t already used?? Like what?!?
totally a fan of white elephant, it makes a party lighthearted.
you are so much farther ahead on Christmas than I am. I am seriously in “how soon is Christmas?” denial!
We do a White Elephant each year with my moms side of the family in the beginning on June. There is this terribly ugly “pointsetta” platter that my great grandmother (who is no longer with us) brought into the game probably 10-15 year ago. It became the joke of the game that very 1st year, and now whoever ends up with the plate brings it back the following year. I got stuck with it the year before last and thought about not bringing it to the swap last christmas but i just couldnt ruin the tradition!
and by beginning of June i meant beginning on January * hah
I must be living under a rock! I’ve never heard of such a thing but it sounds fun!
White Elephant is a tradition in our family! Instead of buying gifts for the adults we play white elephant and then we just buy gifts for the kids. Our rules are: 1. Each person brings three items 2. You can’t buy anything, it must be something from your home 3. You can’t leave your item at my Mom’s house no matter how hidious of a present you end up with! 🙂
I think this sounds really fun. I can see how some people don’t like the idea of a White Elephant because, if you are spending money on a gift, it might as well be something from the heart that someone would actually enjoy instead of something that just has brief comedic value. But if you take it from your house, then there’s no materialistic element and you still get the fun part which is trading the stuff around! Great idea!
never done that, but looks so fun!
I actually just came out of a White Elephant night with 3 new beers I’ve never tried!! Alas, no peanuts….
One of my fellow gifters, however, was not so lucky, and ended up with a 4 year old “Miller Chill” (Miller’s “light lime” beer) [did I mention it was a beer themed White Elephant?] that he was forced to chug right then and there. It was definitely the funniest gift I’ve seen, though probably not regiftable.
I’m always the one that gets stuck with the most ridiculous white elephant present! Like, one year, I ended up with a doll MADE OUT OF GARLIC. Actual cloves. What is that?!
oh my gosh! i hope you kept it to regift for another year!
Sounds like fun! At our Secret Santa exchange last year in the office, one guy who is notorious for his overuse of hair gel received a HUGE container of the stuff..I’m pretty sure it covered for 2011!
I’ve never heard of a white elephant gift exchange before. I like the idea though. The funniest (and most annoying because I ended up with it) gift I can think of was from a Yankee Swap with friends a few years ago. $20 limit should NOT be reason to show up with 20 cassette tapes from the $1 bin at Newbury Comics!!
tapes!? man, at least you could’ve USED CDs!
The last time I participated in a White Elephant gift exchange was for work and my gift – which I found at a local junk store – was the talk of the party. I bought a huge 3ft x 3ft carousel horse that had tons of glitter accents, tulle, and fake pearls all over it. Everyone was laughing about it, and the receiver of the gift was shell-shocked when she opened the box.
Just as I was explaining, through a fit of giggles, how I searched my town high and low for the tackiest gift I could find, another co-worker piped up, ““My sister loves unicorns. She collects those figurines!! She’ll love it!”
that is an AWESOME gift! so funny!
I actually have a white elephant gift exchange tonight with my work team. The craziest gift I’d seen was at last year’s work white elephant. Some guy packed in a pack of Extenze (spelling), which is supposed to be a sexual enhancement product. TO WORK!
We did it one year as a fam and it was awesome! Hilarious gifts.
One year at a work elephant gift party I got a quesidilla maker! It was awesome–everyone wanted it 🙂
I love white elephant gift exchanges! I’ve gotten good stuff like tea or coffee, and my worst was a flannel neon purple poncho. I kid you not, it was digusting! Haha 🙂
So funny that you mention this, we are doing one at my boyfriend’s mom’s house in New Hampshire this Christmas, its a tradition for them. And I cannot think of a single thing to bring since I haven’t met most of his family…I have a pretty twisted sense of humor aaaand i don’t know if they would “get” it! I like the beer idea a lot, actually, but i think that some kids are in on the White Elephant. My bf gives a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card (which he is now known for) and something funny every year. Hoping to get some ideas from this thread!!!
one of the most popular white elephant gifts at ryan’s mom’s christmas party a couple of years ago was $20 worth of lotto tickets and scratch-offs! people loooved that!
Ooooh that’s a really good idea!
I’m not a big fan of white elephant, but maybe bcc st time I did it, I got stuck w a used Slap Chop haha.
White elephants are so much fun! Im still bitter in losing the Barbie I was DYING for (and had stolen about 3 times) in the white elephant at my gymnastics class party when I was 5 or 6.
We do a white elephant exchange every year with my co-workers. We’re a bunch of writers and graphic designers, so the gifts get pretty creative.
Last year, after a couple exchanges, I got stuck with a box of Franzia wine and a small dog snuggie. Too bad I don’t have a dog! It was hilarious, leopard print and all!
a dog snuggie!? sadie loves to burrow, so i’m sure she’d love something ridiculous like that!
I always forget to add honey to my yogurt, your post reminded me to do that! So good!
I’ve received a box of poptarts before (wasn’t complaining, they were great :)).
Last year I got a pajama set that was themed for our local NFL team and I haven’t worn it once because it’s got glitter and sequins on the booty and it’s not comfortable at all!
That sounds awesome, I had NEVER even heard of it before but I am having a christmas canape party (complete with mandatory christmas sweater dress code) and I am definitely going to get all my guests to get involved with this. Sounds like it would be fun!
you’ll love it! it is always SO much fun!
we just did a white elephant gift exchange this past weekend at a christmas party. it was so fun. there were like 40 people involved so it lasted quite awhile, but there were some hilarious gifts! we actually have another one to go to this weekend, so i need to round up a couple more gifts for us to bring.
Julie –
I read your blog all the time, but have never commented. But, I do steal some of your circuit workouts from time to time, so though I would give you an idea that I do sometimes to shake things up. Start with a 20 minute run. Then I call it the 10s. So While in a wall sit do 10 bicep curls, then 10 hammer curls, then 9 of each, then 8, etc…all the way down to 1 of each. Then do 20 jump squats and 20 push-ups. The second set is while in a lunge to 10 tricep kickbacks and 10 overhead tricep extensions, then 9 of each, etc…all the way down to 1. I alternate lunging legs. Then it is the 20 jump squats, 20 push ups. The last set is while in plie squat to 10 shoulder raises and the 10 upright rows, then 9 of each, etc…all the way to one of each. I end mine with a cool down jog. It usually leaves me sweaty and with both arms and legs of jello!
This sounds great! I am going to have to try this….:) Thanks for posting it.
Hey Julie, speaking of stocking stuffers- any tips on stocking stuffers for the hubby? I’m drawing a complete and total blank!
i always stick with random little gifts… like his favorite candies, cookies, boxers, maybe DVD i know he likes, a picture for his office, an ornament… stuff like that!
Very cute tree! And I’ve never been to white elephant gift exchange, but it always makes me think of an Office episode where they do one!
I’ve never heard of it being called “white elephant gifts” before. I think people call it a Yankee swap around here which sounds equally as ridiculous but the conept is the same.
I’d say the presents under your tree definitely make up for its small size! And I agree on the jumping lunges – they are definitely killers! Congrats on hearing from the magazine. That’s great news! As for white elephant gifts, I have participated in a few in the past, but really prefer the Secret Santa method where you know who your buying for. I like to personalize my gifts!
I call them Chinese Gift Exchanges? I think its the same thing! We did one at work this year it was a lot of fun. We also do one with my husband’s extended family with a $5 limit and a theme, this year the theme is animals so we bought some pretty “special’ ornaments for it 😉
We went to a party last Sat and I came home with a little ceramic white elephant! Adorable.
The best white elephant gift I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting (but sadly not keeping, as it was a hot item), was a Skinny Dip Clip. It was a foam floaty with a large clothes pin on it, so when you go skinny dipping you can clip your bathing suit to it, and it won’t sink/wash away! I think it was made in the 80’s, but it was hilarious and such a hit! I didn’t know that many people liked to skinny dip 😉
I love white elephant gift exchanges. Last year I had one at work and got a Santa snuggie. I actually use it all holiday season:)
That is hilarious- I would be so mad if I got something I really wanted and someone stole it lol.
Man, I hate white elephant gifts. I feel like there’s always someone who brings something way too nice and then you, the rule-follower, who brought your junk feel like a lameo. Actually, I really hate gift exchanges in general (like ones where you buy a present for an unspecified person, not ones where everyone has a specific person). I had a really upsetting (and obviously scarring) experience in third grade (so…about 13 years ago now haha) where I brought a gift to a gift exchange and no one else in the group took it, because one of the people who was supposed to come couldn’t but had someone bring a gift for her anyway so there was one extra gift. That night ended with me in tears in my dad’s car. It was really, really awful, and ever since then I’ve felt way too much pressure and have had a seriously strong aversion to any sort of gift exchange.
/endrant
We call it a yankee swap! Everyone always wants the gift cards the most!
Are you kidding me? Our Christmas tree ( 8ft tall) is not lighting up on the top few branches either. It drives me nuts! Also, so funny! I have a white elephant/ gag gift exchange to day! My youth grup is having our annual christmas party. I will be bringing in a pretty box with batteries in it that has the nte ” toy not included” HAHA. My sis is putting fake money and chocolate coins in a jar. Should be fun. Oh and other ideas from my group. We have a box that when opened, releases a ton of ballons. And once, a girl brought in an unopened can of soda, with no soda inside, She took a needle and poked a tiny hole in the bottom to drain it.
and someone took a photo of our youth pastor and blew it up huge! So funny! Oh, and dont 4get the toilet seat!
Sorry for the long comment!
We do a White Elephant exchange every year with the adults in my step mom’s family. It is so fun. Usually there is loads of booze and lottery tickets that get fought over. The one gift that was supposed to be banned but somehow finds its way into the mix every year is a “fart alarm”. It looks like a smoke detector but supposedly it can detect farts and when it does it yells out “I smell a fart” and makes beeping noises. lol.
I love the white elephant exchanges, so fun! We always did them for Xmas parties with my old office and we would usually do 2 gifts per couple and they were always gag gifts (and sometimes stuff laying around the house) last years gifts included: a GIANT twilight poster, penis shaped macaroni, a gigantic remote (that actually worked… that one ended up being fought over ha) and a really creepy santa clause figurine, among others things.
We call it Dirty Santa gifts. Last year I attended 18 of these parties. Whew!! This year I’ve got 15!! The most memorable gift out of all of those parties was one that my husband and I “won”….an autographed wedding picture of another couple. Hilarious and VERY fitting for that couple to give that gift. We put it on our mantle anytime we know they are coming over! haha!
I LoVE white elephant gift exchanges! I definitely know what you wrapped in that red package since I got the SAME thing last year…except they wrapped it in a box. I’m going to a white elephant party on Saturday too! When I set it up, I basically said “think infomercials.”. The highly traded item last year was the shake weight.
We participated in a white elephant gift exchange last year. It was tons of fun, though I expected it contain more funny gifts. it was mostly gift cards, LAME! 🙂
Oh my gosh, I found an “I am TPain” mic that auto tunes your voice, so I organized a white elephant exchange at our Christmas party specifically so I could bring it. I then stole it back!
I’m very stoked about giving my white elephant gift this weekend! Over the past year, I’ve collected the toys that come with kid’s meals and gifting those with some scratch off lottery tickets. 🙂
We are having our annual Christmas party this Saturday, and we always play dirty santa (white elephant style). The gifts are horrendous and hilarious at the same time! One year, someone’s gift was an ornament of two polar bears “engaging” with one another. Another year there was a pair of fuzzy dice that you would hang from your rearview mirror, but instead of dice, they were boobs! I cried I was laughing so hard! I can’t wait to see what people bring this year!
I’ll say a prayer for you and this new opportunity! Good luck!
I’ve only checked one person off my Christmas buying list and I’m so stressed out about it! Where is the time going?
If you could add at least 5 more hours to the day so I can get things done, that would be great. Or, if you want to come back to Orlando and be my personal assistant for a weekend, that would work too.
Many years ago, in a similar gift exchange I wound up with a life sized poster of my boyfriend (this was about 5 years before we even started dating). This poster is much funnier now that we are a couple and live together.
I got an arrangement of condoms in happy face wrappers. This is what you get when you’re an actor/singer and half of your friends are gay men.
It’s all good, because one of them ended up with “what to expect when you’re expecting”.