Restaurants said kids like to go to are a good option.
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@Colorado_mom Restaurants, breweries, coffee shops , bakeries, tea shops, etc. in the neighborhood they live in or work in and enjoy.
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Gift cards:
restaurants they like that are a bit more $$ than they usually spend on themselves.
Bottle shop/favorite brewery
Sporting events (for his BD, we all gave H/dad gift cards from Costco for club seats to a baseball game we could go to together). I loathe Ticketmaster, but they have verified resale tickets for our new hockey team. A GC lets them choose a game at a far lower price than face value.
#1D is getting her husband tickets for them to go see a live show of a podcast they enjoy listening to together.
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AIRBNB
TARGET
LOCAL SPA/BEAUTY SERVICES
AND ALWAYS…local restaurants!
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Thanks abasket. Just order the combo ones for my D’s college apartment.
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I do love the local restaurant gift card idea, but it can be hard to arrange that from 2000 miles away. (But if anybody has ideas near Alewife station, let me know).
Start with focusing on the kinds of food you know they like and looking up restaurants near them. Look at reviews, distance, costs, etc.
I have tried that in the past. But it’s hard to find someplace that offers gift card online that is not a chain. Perhaps I can send a check with printout indicating suggested restaurant splurge… but let them make the final choice on how to spend it.
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Sometimes it takes looking around some but there may be plenty of non chain places in their area. I just bought a son and daughter in law a gift certificate in their new neighborhood in the general area (.6 miles from them so they can walk there if they want to) where they just bought a house in DC. There were a few nice places that I thought they mIght want to try that weren’t chains. Good luck!
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I’ve given gift cards for local restaurants (far from me), by calling the restaurant direct to find out if they offer any type of gift card. Some have online options that the recipient can print after you send them a link. Other restaurants send a notice to the recipient via email. One very small restaurant simply kept the recipient’s name on file, and gave them the amount when they dined there. I had to let the recipient know in advance, but they felt very welcome when the owner knew their name. If any of these apply, you can potentially be creative, and make your own certificate explaining the process. We once did that for an “experience” gift.
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Alewife Station in Cambridge? I haven’t been there in years but Jasper White’s Summer Shack is right by Alewife and sells gift cards online. If they live in Cambridge or Arlington there should be a lot of other options.
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Ding ding… that could work 
Since we have wonderful summer memories with them on Cape Cod, it’s a fun idea.
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There’s also a Trader Joe’s within a walking distance of Alewife. There’s a Whole Foods close by too.
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Alewife is the end of a train line that gets them very easily to almost any part of Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston. I would suggest Flour bakeries - they have 9 locations across the city. My daughter loves their baked goods as well as lunch and breakfast foods. I have eaten their stuff many times. Here is their link
They have a gift card special going on for the holidays
Looks like they ship as well as doing Ecards.
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I’ve found gift cards from mom and pop restaurants online. Some will put a physical copy in the mail and some only have e-cards. I send the e-cards to myself, then print and wrap them in a box for the recipient.
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That’s what i do. I printed out a couple restaurant gift certificates for my sons from non chain restaurants in their areas. I’ll put them in a card or wrap in a small box for Christmas.
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We took a surprise part out of gifting and just ask people for idea of the gift. DS asked to buy him clothes. I also helped my mom getting him Montblanc wallet he was eyeing for a long time. I got DD’s boyfriend new kindle he wanted and DD got my grandma’s bracelet that I had redesigned to fit her.
I get my sister’s family a zoo membership, and I send them a big food gift. Popcorn tower with cookies, chocolates. I think it’s fun for the kids when it shows up. Last year I did the zoo membership and I sent them stuffed zoo animals to open, since they are little kids. I am really not feeling the shopping part of Christmas this year, so trying to just knock it out even if they are not the best, most personal gifts ever. Get it done, so I enjoy the holiday parts I enjoy!
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H and I ate at Summer Shack last week; the food was great. We had raw oysters and fried clams. Heaven!! I think this would be perfect gift for anyone who likes seafood.
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