Ideas for fun or luxury gift delivery for best friend in NYC
July 12, 2011 5:15 AM
I'm looking for suggestions for a gift to be delivered to my friend in New York City. I'm out of the loop: what neat thing do all the cool kids in NY want these days? For example, I think Kiehl's was all the rage a couple of years ago, and Philosophy body washes before that. She is 30, single, lives in Brooklyn, enjoys good food and drink, likes fun personal care products, is very busy at work, is very hip, elegant and quite intelligent. I know she reads things like DailyCandy and Flavorpill (I had a look there but nothing caught my eye).
Other possibly relevant things:
* It has to be a delivery of some sort, even if it's an email delivery of a gift certificate, because I cannot mail her anything.
* I'm looking to spend between $50 and $150 USD.
* I don't want to force her to use her (very limited) personal non-work time to make this happen. It has to be something that is either delivered to her and already useful (like lotion/soap or a food hamper) or a gift certificate for a place she could visit quickly - i.e. a certificate to a neat grocery store or accessories shop but not a full day treatment at a day spa.
* She has very good taste but is not into labels and would appreciate a super funky something over a very expensive brand name something.
* Her bar is so well stocked that I hesitate to buy liquor or accessories because I would fear she already has it.
Thanks for your help!
Other possibly relevant things:
* It has to be a delivery of some sort, even if it's an email delivery of a gift certificate, because I cannot mail her anything.
* I'm looking to spend between $50 and $150 USD.
* I don't want to force her to use her (very limited) personal non-work time to make this happen. It has to be something that is either delivered to her and already useful (like lotion/soap or a food hamper) or a gift certificate for a place she could visit quickly - i.e. a certificate to a neat grocery store or accessories shop but not a full day treatment at a day spa.
* She has very good taste but is not into labels and would appreciate a super funky something over a very expensive brand name something.
* Her bar is so well stocked that I hesitate to buy liquor or accessories because I would fear she already has it.
Thanks for your help!
Flirt is one of my favorite Park Slope, Brooklyn boutiques. They have pretty, funky clothes (including custom-made shirts) made by local designers for not too much money, plus some household goods, plus sewing classes if she felt like pursuing something crafty in her limited time. You can get blouses-dresses for $50-$150. I'd bet they would email a gift cert if you called and asked.
posted by Ollie at 5:36 AM on July 12, 2011
posted by Ollie at 5:36 AM on July 12, 2011
Bierkraft, also in Park Slope, has specialty beers, foods, meats, cheeses, and sweets. Very tasty stuff. Also prob would email a gc or a food basket.
posted by Ollie at 5:38 AM on July 12, 2011
posted by Ollie at 5:38 AM on July 12, 2011
What part of Brooklyn is your friend in? A lot of the best places will only have limited delivery ranges, so it would help to know a little more precisely where she's located.
Barring that, I would second Bierkraft. Also Blue Apron Foods, along similar lines.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 6:03 AM on July 12, 2011
Barring that, I would second Bierkraft. Also Blue Apron Foods, along similar lines.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 6:03 AM on July 12, 2011
Brooklyn Larder is another gift card/food basket option for super delicious overpriced artisan preciousness.
posted by mizrachi at 6:04 AM on July 12, 2011
posted by mizrachi at 6:04 AM on July 12, 2011
Seconding Bierkraft. For more kitcheny objects as well as a good food selection, Brooklyn Kitchen is also a possibility.
posted by mlle valentine at 6:36 AM on July 12, 2011
posted by mlle valentine at 6:36 AM on July 12, 2011
Basically, we want air conditioning round the clock at antarctic temperatures.
Otherwise, gift boxes from Murray's Cheese are always awesome.
posted by elizardbits at 7:55 AM on July 12, 2011
Otherwise, gift boxes from Murray's Cheese are always awesome.
posted by elizardbits at 7:55 AM on July 12, 2011
Zabar's, a fancy grocery store has nice food gift baskets.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 8:42 AM on July 12, 2011
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 8:42 AM on July 12, 2011
I live in NYC and don't really keep up with what is cool for people my age (I'm 29), but I learned about this local bath product company at the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn last month: Love Nature NYC
I got their coffee body scrub, and it is AMAZING. It is the most effective and moisturizing scrub I've ever used. Also, the packaging was all very nice and it has a "high quality" vibe about it. I was very impressed with their booth, although I personally have only tried the coffee scrub as well as a tiny soap sample.
posted by wondermouse at 10:57 AM on July 12, 2011
I got their coffee body scrub, and it is AMAZING. It is the most effective and moisturizing scrub I've ever used. Also, the packaging was all very nice and it has a "high quality" vibe about it. I was very impressed with their booth, although I personally have only tried the coffee scrub as well as a tiny soap sample.
posted by wondermouse at 10:57 AM on July 12, 2011
You guys are awesome. These are all great suggestions, thank you. Now I just have to choose!
posted by mosessis at 4:53 PM on July 12, 2011
posted by mosessis at 4:53 PM on July 12, 2011
Fab.com & AHAlife.com have nice design-y trendy-but-not-too-trendy gift options.
posted by judith at 5:17 PM on July 12, 2011
posted by judith at 5:17 PM on July 12, 2011
CB I Hate Perfume have a store in Brooklyn, and do interesting niche scents. You can get the blends mailed out anywhere but I think for the single notes you need to go down to the store.
posted by mippy at 8:22 AM on July 14, 2011
posted by mippy at 8:22 AM on July 14, 2011
I ended up going with a basket from Love Nature NYC and a gift certificate to Blue Apron Foods. The guys at Love Nature were awesome and very helpful and let me put together my own gift basket full of the things I wanted to choose. The packaging was indeed awesome and they included a handwritten card with my message on it. The folks at Blue Apron were just as accommodating and mailed out a gift certificate for me - didn't even charge me for the stamp!
I'm going to keep this thread around for future gift occasions though because there were some awesome suggestions in here that should keep me going for a year or so. I also got another suggestion via mefimail that I want to include here in case anyone else is looking for something similar, because it did indeed sound very cool:
Your friend may enjoy Birchbox, which sends monthly boxes of deluxe beauty samples. The boxes come gift-wrapped, and gift subscriptions are between $30-$110. I'm an employee, so I didn't want to post in the thread, but it sounds like it'd be right up her alley!
Thanks again for all your suggestions; they were all super helpful and I have a happy friend!
posted by mosessis at 5:24 AM on August 1, 2011
I'm going to keep this thread around for future gift occasions though because there were some awesome suggestions in here that should keep me going for a year or so. I also got another suggestion via mefimail that I want to include here in case anyone else is looking for something similar, because it did indeed sound very cool:
Your friend may enjoy Birchbox, which sends monthly boxes of deluxe beauty samples. The boxes come gift-wrapped, and gift subscriptions are between $30-$110. I'm an employee, so I didn't want to post in the thread, but it sounds like it'd be right up her alley!
Thanks again for all your suggestions; they were all super helpful and I have a happy friend!
posted by mosessis at 5:24 AM on August 1, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mauvest at 5:29 AM on July 12, 2011