© New Line Cinema It happens to the best of us. All right, maybe not the “best.” The holiday-shopping and gift-giving elites have all their lists crossed off and presents tucked away by early December. But it happens to us average people: those of us who kept putting things off or never came to terms with just how close Christmas was. Maybe you let it slip, or maybe you had a great gift but procrastinated until the last minute, and now it’s sold out. And it’s zero hour. Amazon Prime can’t save you. So if you’re looking for a gift for a boyfriend, have less than 48 hours, and have nowhere to turn, fret not.These aren’t the best gift ideas in the world. But these are gift ideas that won’t make it look like you totally spaced.
1. Grab him tickets to see a band or team he loves. If he’s into music or sports, this is the perfect standby. The internet is always open, and you can just print out the confirmation and put it in an envelope for him to open. If you really want to make it look like you totally didn’t forget at all, cut it out and mount it to some construction paper and make it look fancy. Then it looks like there was some actual preparation involved. The thing to keep in mind that the further out the event itself is, the more he has to like said event. So if it’s not until six months out, it should be something that’s still worth the wait.
2. Pay off his Netflix/Hulu/Amazon/Spotify account for the next year. Who doesn’t love streaming services? Re-up his favorites on his behalf and look like a total savior when all you really did was take five minutes to put your credit card information online. Again, another instance where you can look thoughtful and still do this in the bathroom on Christmas Day while you pretend to poop.
3. Sign him up for a monthly delivery service. If you haven’t caught on yet, the internet is your best friend right now. There are tons of options here, ranging from services that will ship him meals and recipes, to razors, to monthly boxes of gadgets, or foreign candy and snacks, books, and records. You’re bound to find something he can enjoy.
4. Dinner at his favorite restaurant. If you still have time to confirm dinner reservations, you can take him to a nice steak dinner (or whatever his favorite food is … guys like steak, right?) and pamper him with drinks. Or if they have something like this in your area, book a dinner cruise or a beer tasting at a local brewery. Lots of these locations will be open pretty regularly around the holidays, so you should be able to get a date as long as you didn’t wait until the complete last minute.
5. A nice bottle of whiskey. If you can still get to a liquor store, buy a really nice bottle of whiskey (and if you’re in a decent store, they might have glasses and stones too). If he hates whiskey, get some expensive bottles of craft beer and pint glasses, or some nice wine. Depending on where you live, some grocery or liquor stores will still be open on Christmas Day, so this one of the most last-minute physical gifts you can do. Is it the most personal gift in the world? No. Is it hard to be mad about receiving quality booze? Yes, very.
6. If he’s a hobbyist, your job is easy. It’s obviously impossible to make a blanket statement about every boyfriend, but lots of guys are fairly easygoing when it comes to gifts. It doesn’t have to be well thought-out and sentimental (although he’ll appreciate that). But grabbing him a video game, or a few records, or some Criterion Collection movies can totally work, assuming it’s stuff he loves. So if you still have time and actual stores are still open, don’t think that a gift like this is somehow below you. Picking up something yourself still feels way more personal than getting him a gift certificate.
7. Say screw it, and take him on vacation. Throw caution (and all your savings) to the wind and book a romantic getaway. This is far and away the most expensive option on this list, but also the one that looks the most considerate. In all seriousness, this isn’t very practical, but if your situation allows for it (or you were saving up for a trip, anyway), then go right ahead. Plus, you can always book a weekend getaway somewhere local as opposed to a major trip across the world.
8. Book him some time at a local track with his dream car. This isn’t available everywhere, and it can also get pretty pricy, but lots of local tracks will let you test drive high-end sports cars for an hour. If he loves cars, this is an easy one (and again, you can book everything online). Alternatively, maybe even book him for a skydiving trip if he’s a daredevil.
9. Buy him an insane amount of his favorite food or candy. All right, if we’re truly talking last-ditch here (like nothing is open except for gas stations and you absolutely do not want to see him empty-handed) try and buy him a few boxes of his favorite candy bar or soda. It has to be a lot for you to even possibly play this one off. It could work, maybe.
10. Lie your ass off. Order something, and then tell him there was a major problem and everything got delayed and you’re so sorry but his present will be here soon. He’ll be upset (Who wouldn’t be?), but it’s better than him hearing all about how you slacked off. Just note that you can really only ever use this excuse one time. Learn your lesson, and be better about it next year.
What do you think? What gift would you buy?
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Mindfulness Living 