Holiday Gift Guide 2015: Last Minute
Ideas for presents that offer stress-free, super-fast shipping
Waiting until the last minute is easy to dobetween work, office parties, planning holiday celebrations, time to actually shop for gifts is slim. So unless you’re one of those people whose holiday buying begins in September, with all the presents wrapped and hidden away before Halloween, this is the guide for you. All the goodies in our
Last Minute Gift Guide have a fast-track shipping option, so you don’t inadvertently become this year’s Grinch.
Swimming Pool Notebook
Inspired by LA in the 1960s, Poketo’s useful Swimming Pool notebook ($16) contains 128 blank, white pages for you to scribble, doodle and write to your heart’s content. Designed exclusively for the store by the brand’s Poketo Studio, the notebook measures 5.75″ by 8.25″ and is made for anybody with an imagination.
St Louis Sunglasses
KREWE du Optic makes specs and sunglasses generally inspired by founder Stirling Barrett’s passion for his hometown of New Orleans. Our pick from the brand for this winter happens to cite another city, however. The St Louis style shades ($215) come in an appropriately icy colorway called White Linen. Handmade with Italian acetate, premium hinges and superior lenses to protect your peepers, these sunnies should last a long timethanks to top-notch materials and style.
Mask Duo Set
Two face mask concoctionsone to detoxify and one to nourishare included in Glossier’s Mask Duo Set ($38). With the invigorating Mega Greens Galaxy Pack your skin is delivered a refresher with bitter orange peel, avocado oil and more. In turn, the Moisturizing Moon Mask offers a soothing and relaxing makeover with shea butter, honey and aloe to nourish and moisturize. Each pack comes with six single-use pods of each mask and a super-soft headband.
Folding Bike Lock
Different than your typical U-Lock or chain, the Foldylock ($96) opens up when in use and, when you’re riding, folds into a compact package that you can easily mount on your bike-frame or toss into a backpack. The lock is easy to transport, but doesn’t sacrifice security: six hardened steel links (coated in plastic to avoid scratches to the frame) stand up to bolt cutters, hack saws and more. Note that it’s a hefty 3.3 pounds.
Sonos Play:5
The new flagship from SonosPlay:5features six drivers, each with their own amp to provide big, rich and well-balanced sound. Like all Sonos speakers, the Play:5 ($499) streams music from any of your favorite sources and is controlled from a simple app on your phone or tablet. You can even pair two to create dedicated left and right channels.
Bonjour Paris City Map Guide
Documenting his travels through delightful doodles, writer and filmmaker Marin Montagut offers “Bonjour Paris,” ($10) a map and information guide mash-up that uncovers the most charming Parisian establishments. Part of his “Bonjour” series (which also includes New York, London and Paris by night), the guide is made from waterproof, tear-resistant paper and will shepherd you to the best the City of Light has to offer.
“Expanding Universe: Photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope”
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hubble Telescope’s launch into low-Earth orbit, “Expanding Universe” ($56), published by Taschen, is 255 pages of super high-resolution images taken from the telescope. The mesmerizing colors, shapes and textures within only add to our already palpable fascination with outer-space, and makes for a beautiful dose of perspective on days you need it most.
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Baked with love by Anna Gordon in Brooklyn, these super-rich and fudgy delicacies ($10) are made with peppermint oil andfor a festive bonussprinkled with crushed-up candy cane. A tasty treat to bring to a holiday party or stuff into a stocking, these refreshing but intense cookies won’t last long.
Band 2
In the second reiteration of its fitness tracker ($250), Microsoft swaps out the flat display for a curved one (now protected with Gorilla Glass 3), creating a more refined look and fit. Underneath the hood are 11 sensors (including built-in GPS) that track heart-rate, calories burned, sleep quality and more. It also keeps you notified of emails, texts and remindersand can even alert you of high levels of UV, if you wishbut activity and sports tracking is where the Microsoft Band 2 will shine. It also plays friendly regardless of whether you’re an iOS, Android or Windows Phone user.
Luft Throw
Made from the softest, most revered fibers of Peruvian baby alpaca, this Luft Throw ($395) from Fells / ndesa new San Francisco-based brand championing “warm minimalism”is an indulgent way to stay warm at home. The cyan color whispers across the material in a delicate gradient for a quiet burst of bright blue.
Images courtesy of respective brands, hero also courtesy of Taschen/NASA
