For my family members and I agreeing not to go overboard on each other, I was surprised this year. So far (still gotta meet up with a couple buddies of mine):
-A nice fleece long-sleeved shirt
-Cash
-Iron Man DVD
-8 piece cookingware set for camping (pots, skillet, etc)
-Propane lantern
-Socks and boxers (one can never have too many)
-Awesome looking fleece-lined thick sweatshirt
-Thermal shirts/leggings
-$45 AmEx gift card
-Tickets to go see one of my favorite bands, Devildriver, and 3 games off Steam (Evil Genius, Indigo Prophecy, and X-Com: UFO Defense Force (technically don't count, since I bought them, but I used the money I was given).
I was particularly stoked about the gift exchange with the girlfriend. We've been dating eight months, and we both managed to get each other awesome gifts.
I got her:
-A shirt with a blue-footed boobie that reads, "Screw mammalian courtship: I wanna do funny dances!" (she's an integrative biology major)
-"How to Read a French Fry," a cookbook about the science of cooking (with some good recipes). Also, she is passionately addicted to french fries.
-A promise that I will cook her any two meals that she so desires, paying for anything necessary for them. Or, after a joke from my mom, I amended it to include restaurant meals (she's been wanting to go to the Red Robin's endless french fries dinner).
-Ghostbusters 1 & 2 on DVD (she has NEVER seen these movies. I intend to fix that.)
She got me:
-A GiantMicrobes stuffed brain cell (
I have named him Snappy)
-Kung Fu Panda DVD
-A sandwich cutter that will cut any sandwich into the shape of two brontosauruses.
-The complete "Cosmos" series by Carl Sagan, and the collector's edition to boot. I was ECSTATIC, but wasn't able to fully enjoy it until she assured me she'd gotten a killer deal on it, because it normally sells for like $80+...
Only reason I was able to buy her gifts was because I had secretly been hiding little bits of money throughout the year.
