<p>So I got my room assignment last Thursday and have been talking with the girl on Facebook ever since. She seems REALLY nice and I think that we're going to get along great this year. Today the UPS man rang my doorbell and handed a small box to me, and it was addressed from my roommate. Inside was a beautiful bracelet that had a star shaped charm on it which read:
-Insert School's Name-<br>
Roomies
'09-'10
She also included a letter that stated that her dad, who owns a jewelry store, made one for her and one for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the gift. It's really pretty and I do intend to wear it. Now here is where you all come in. I definitely want to send her something in return, but what the heck am I supposed to give her??? The bracelet does not at all look cheap, so I'm thinking that I want to spend anywhere from $75 to $100. On her Facebook, she has the following interests listed: "running..tennis..wii..going to the movies..bowling..reading" and "eating candy." She also goes on to list her favorite TV shows and movies. Any ideas? And when I decide on a gift, should I mail it to her, or just give it to her when I see her in 3 weeks? Also, am I supposed to get her father something for making the bracelet for me?</p>
<p>Again, please don't interpret this as me complaining about the gift. I need some ideas on what to send her as a 'thank you' gift.</p>
<p>Since she didn’t pay anything for yours you shouldn’t feel the need to price match her. The gift she gave you was entirely sentimental and it looks like she wants to be really close to her roommate, so keep that in mind when you get her something. You could get a nice picture frame that holds two pictures and put one of each of you in it, with "roomies '09-‘10’ on it or something along those lines.</p>
<p>If you give her something right away, she will feel like you’re paying her back or something. Also, you really don’t need to spend that much on a gift since she probably didn’t spend very much if at all on it. </p>
<p>I would wait a little while and then give her something later when you see her. Something cute and maybe sentimental like she gave you…but it doesn’t have to cost a lot at all.</p>
<p>I like Chuy’s idea of the picture frame thing. Also, I agree with the people who said that if it didn’t cost her anything, then you don’t necessarily need to match the price. </p>
<p>Since you’re seeing her in three weeks, a thank you card might be appropriate, especially for her dad.</p>
<p>Yeah, you don’t have to price match. I feel like her gift was more sentimental than anything (sweet too!). You can make her something, like the picture frame, or even a mix CD of your favorite bands/songs, if you guys like the same genre of music. You can make cookies, or get her a DVD of a movie/show you think she’ll like (you can find pretty cheap DVDs). There are a lot of ways to show your appreciation without going broke before you actually step foot onto campus.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your input. After talking to her more, it sounds like she is really into tennis. Somebody mentioned cookies, so i looked on a cookie delivery website and found a really cute tennis themed cookie bouquet</p>
<p>I would probably change where it says “Tennis Anyone?” to something different. And I would probably wait until next week to send it. So, what do you think? Would you appreciate this as a gift? And I would also send a thank you card to her father.</p>
<p>ooh! do you know who’s her favourite player? like if she’s a nadal or federer fan? or murray or roddick etc. then, you could design the bears to dress like them!</p>
<p>Wow, that was really nice of her! If you want to go with something sentimental, maybe you should even wait a few weeks after move-in to get a better sense of her likes/dislikes.
The picture idea is always a winner. Or if you reallllyy want to wait, maybe put together an album at the end of the year with more pictures.
Definitely send a thank you card soon though.</p>
<p>That was really sweet of her. You don’t have to buy anything expensive, I’m sure a simple token of appreciation will suffice – get her a thank you card or bake cupcakes.</p>
<p>When I worked at Disney World, when everyone first moved into the apartments there, this girl Georgia made this huge pot of sweet tea – and being from the north(-ish), I never had “real” sweet tea before (just the stuff in the can or whatever it is McDonald’s is churning it out.)
It was small, but the gesture is what really made it cool.</p>
<p>That’s very sweet but I’d just send a pretty thank you note to her for now. When you move in, bring a box full of things she likes and things you can do together as roommates: packs of candy, tennis balls (so you guys can play together), paperbacks that she may like, cute room decor, etc.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who thinks the gift is a little weird? Or maybe I’m the only cynical ***** here, I don’t know. :)</p>
<p>But to the question at hand, I would address a thank you card to both her and her father and tell her that you’ll think of her every time you look at your wrist. No, sorry, kidding. No, just write a letter thanking her dad for taking the time to make it and tell her how excited you are to be her roommate. Get her a gift later, when you get to know her more than just from Facebook.</p>
<p>DON’T SEND A GIFT IN RETURN! I’d be offended if I sent someone something sentimental like that and they sent something back. I was going to say what someone said earlier–just be a good roommate to her. Go places with her, do things together, etc. It’s really good that she took the initiative to send you something to show that she wants to be friends. :D</p>
<p>I also would feel weird immediately getting a gift back, as that wasn’t my intention in giving the gift in the first place.</p>
<p>I say you bake her something - cookies, brownies, anything - that the two of you could share the first day. Seriously, how big of a cute bonding moment would that be?</p>
<p>I like the picture frame idea. I also agree with not reciprocating immediately. Here’s a possibility. What if you picked out a nice picture frame that holds one picture? When you meet up on your first day, have someone take a photo of the two of you together and then give her the photo in the frame. It will always remind her of the first day of what will hopefully be a wonderful and long friendship. That seems to be what her intention was by giving you the bracelet.</p>
No, just write a letter thanking her dad for taking the time to make it and tell her how excited you are to be her roommate. Get her a gift later, when you get to know her more than just from Facebook.</p>
