Social media means I have many friends in many different places than every before. This makes it a bit trickier to find the appropriate Birthday greeting and celebration for your friends. If we lived in the ame town, we could easily get together for lunch or for an evening out; I could cook them dinner, and it would be more of that “sharing time” celebration than about stuff, or donations to someone’s favorite charity in their name.
That said, after searching high and low for appropriate geeky gifts for my closest and geekiest of friends, I thought I’d take a moment and share a few ideas on the “Stuff” side of things,since the holidays are coming up anyway, and I always need a new source of inspiration myself. And for those of you wondering- none of this is sponsored, affiliate or otherwis anything other than my own favorite Geek Home Shopping sites.
1. Survival of the Hippest: These great NYC ladies are designing Twitter name pins, necklaces, keychains,bangles and more. I just got my pin, @WhitneyHoffman, and I’ll never need another boring name tag again. Click on the finch for a discount. Tell Phoebe I said hi.
2. Think Geek– some of the best selections of cool and geeky stuff on the planet. I do half of my Christmas shopping here every year- and the kids are never disappointed. Latest acquisition- a USB monitor perfect for running twitter to the side and and “Echo Base” sweatshirt for the kiddo, that looks kind of like “Ecko” gear, but has a Star Wars AT-AT walker in the middle. Cool.
3. X-treme Geek-another great website with tons of those tech toys, tshirts and gizmos we love. The site is not as interactive and not as easy to navigate as Think Geek, and has a slightly different selection of stuff. Definitely something to keep in mind, though.
4. Scott E Vest– Travel clothes and gear for the geek set. My husband loves his workout shirt with a zippered pocket for his iphone/mp3 player, and my kids wish the stuff came in slightly smaller sizes for them. I wish there were more things for women, especially work out gear, but here’s hoping.
5. Brooklyn Superhero Supply– You can buy real Superhero supplies (I love my Bottle of Chaos and can of Omnipotence) if only for inspiration. The store supports 826 NYC, a writing/tutoring center for kids in Brooklyn, part of Dave Eggers 826 project.
6. Bas Bleu- a great catalog for unusual books.
7. Voco.com– I have a “Good Morning Madam” clock that wakes me up every morning with bird chirping and a new phrase each day by Stephen Fry, including “Good Morning Madam. The world has been very anxious to hear from you over the last several hours. Shall I inform the news agencies you are about to rise?” It’s the best way ever to wake up- makes me laugh and feel pampered all at the same time. (I did have a problem with an earlier model, but the company was very good about replacing the defective unit- I suspect all bugs are worked out at this point.)
8. Uncommon Goods– greatsite for unusual items, hand make, small production stuff.
9. Knock Knock-snarky and funny office supplies- What could be better?
10. Etsy.com– kind of like a craft show online, you’ll find one of a kind items here sure to make everyone on your list happy. But since these are one offs from artists of all types, make sure you factor that in for shipping times and more.
What are your favorite unusual sites for birthday and holiday gifts? What makes you smile and find that little something for friends, without breaking the bank?