The Official "What did you give?" thread.

[hawing]

It's the season of giving, too, so why not talk about the 'flip side' of Christmas gifting?

 

I warned my family that for gifts from us, it would be more of a Brewers Christmas than usual. I got a playoff program for the older nephew, a new Brewers cap for the youngest nephew, and playoff t-shirts for both. (Thanks, Kohl's and clubhouse sale!) My mom now has a Kapler t-shirt, since Gabe the Babe emerged as her favorite over the course of the 2008 season; and also a Kevin Mench signed ball (thanks, mlccrispy!). Kevin was her favorite in 2007. My mother has a lifelong habit of rooting for the underdog.

 

The nieces' interests lie elsewhere (for now), and I don't want to dress them as Brewer cheerleaders, so their gifts were more in the ballet/fairy princess realm.

 

The S.O. also has a new Brewers shirt, courtesy of me:

 

http://mlb.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pMLB2-4875936dt.jpghttp://mlb.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pMLB2-4875936_alternate1_dt.jpg

This is a "ticket history" shirt which on the back has images of past "special" tickets (1975 All-Star Game, 1981 playoffs, 1982 WS, and the 2002 all-star sham).

The S.O. is also now the happy owner of a massage pillow, and the first season DVD of WKRP in Cincinnati. He can watch his Turkeys Away anytime he wants now. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[splitterpfj]

Diamond earrings for my wife, nearly every DVD ever produced, and a stack of gift cards for the boys.

[burniebrewer]

Every year we get my Mom a new photo taken of all the grandkids (6) which she absolutely loves. Not always easy to get everyone's schedule to work to take the picture, but well worth the effort. We also got her a digital photo frame for her desk at work. It was my understanding that she had about 50 framed photos taking up desk space, so now she can have 1000s of pics in one frame.

 

For my Dad, we got home a brand new Nesco roaster which became a necessity after his 30-something year old Nesco took a crap at Thanksgiving. He also got the basic Dad gifts: a grill cover, bar accessories, etc. (and I got him plastic reindeer that poops candy as a gag).

[mattsr0625]

every year my wife and i buy one person a big gift. well this year we picked my mother. so we bought her a dyson vacuum. i could not wait to give it to her. i just knew that she would love it since she is always borrowing ours. well a week before xmas she goes and buys one. i got the wife a ton of clothes and the kids made out like bandits.

[Paul77]

The kids made out well. My oldest son got some baseball memorabilia (like father, like son), and Ipod, some Xbox games and other stuff. The youngest one got clothes and cars. The nephews got video games and Playstation. The in-laws got a GPS system for their van.

 

I gave my brother my favorite gift, I wanted to keep it myself. It was a limited edition, autographed, matted & framed Warren Spahn portrait. I thought it was terrific and for the price, I had to get it. He reads this site so I can't say what I paid for it, but it was well less than the $200 list price.

 

The lady friend got a couple of ipod radios for the bathroom & bedroom, some small furniture for the living room and bathroom and various personal gifts.

[ttsather]

I gave my s/o a pendant necklace, a custom brewers jersey (for those curious, she has not yet picked who she wants), and my personal fave: two books on cake/dessert making that I'm going to read, cover to cover. She is a very talented cake decorator, but is not as fond of baking. She's prefer just to decorate. So, I'm going to become the baking "expert" to complement her decorating skillz.

 

Dad got the Pop-Up Book of Phobias, Mom got homemade chocolates (confection studying already at work), sis got a Michael Kors belt.

 

I love shopping for gifts. I really enjoy putting a lot of thought into it.

[tristarscoop]

Hawing, that's a great shirt - where did you find that?

 

The bf got a Braun jersey - he's been dying for a pinstripe with the double numbers and name on the back in blue and gold. He also got a Brewers ornament, Brewers freezable pilsners, Brewers ball and hat wine cork set and an Octoberfest TShirt.

He also got 2 UWM fleeces, a Columbia 1/4 zip shirt and an iPod alarm clock.

 

The bro and I bought my mom a plane ticket to visit a cousin she hasn't seen in years.

 

The bro got the aforementioned pilsners and cork set, a full-zip Columbia, and because he lives in Memphis, a playoff program and the DVD giveaway as well as a Packers book I bought at last season's On Deck event.

 

The niece and best friend got Chorizo slippers I got crazy cheap at the Big League Blast Store at the end of last season.

[brewerjamie15]

I built a birdhouse for my mom and her fiance. The thing is pretty big. It is just over 2'x2'x about 3' tall.

I bought my a few books by Michael Connelly (Lincoln Lawyer and Brass Verdict)

Godiva Chocolates

a whole ton of stuff for our daughter

the wife got quite a haul as well- some tea and a tea maker, a Pink Floyd biography, a Brewers hat, coffee mug, other stuff I can't think of.

[AmyintheSouth]

My best friend got a NY Giants player tee with "Rest of Team" as the player on the back. It's been a long standing inside joke that Rest of Team is our favorite player.

 

My sister got a gift card to a gourmet food/cooking store that also does classes and a first edition Thomas Hardy book (sadly, not mint condition).

 

I had no idea what to get my brother so rather than attempt something, I gave him a pretend gift card redeemable for a shopping trip with me since he likes spending other people's money. We ended up ordering him a pair of Wallabees online. (On sale at DSW with free shipping if y'all are interested!)

 

For our parents, my brother and sister and I went in on a 3 course dinner at what is supposed to be an excellent restaurant but something they'd never actually treat themselves to. The restaurant will just charge my card after the meal and so Mom and Dad don't have to worry about going over a gift card amount.

 

My boyfriend posed the most trouble... I have no idea when he'll actually be in town again but when he is, he's getting a book about the town and gown architecture of Chapel Hill since he's into architecture and that's where I went to school. And he will also get three flavors of North Carolina peanuts.

[hawing]

Hawing, that's a great shirt - where did you find that?

I sent you the link to the long-sleeved shirt via PM, but I see a short sleeve version is also available on Amazon. (though not at the deeply discounted prices of other Majestic items)

[theavrock]

Fun thread. My bro and his wife got a Wii from me as a combo wedding and xmas gift. My little bro got a Kohls wedding gift cert despite the fact that he is not getting married or even has a gf. My sister got the Dark Knight. My mom got a some cd's she has been craving but wont but for herself. She never buys them for herself for whatever reason. My dad is a big cooker and he got a Suntoku knife he has been wanting. My gf is a musical theater nerd so I surprised her with tickets to Wicked in Chicago and a sweet mixed cd. My aunt who now lives in San Diego got a gift package of Alterra coffee, one of the things she misses most about Wisconsin. I am horrible at giving gifts but I thought this year went pretty well.

[LouisEly]

While at a bookstore in Portland I saw a refrigerator magnet set of words - you know, the ones with a boatload of words that you can use to create your own sentences (I had always wondered where people got those). They all have a theme, and I knew I had to get this one for my sister and brother-in-law when I saw that it was centered around... "The F-word". Yes, that is what it was called - "The F-word". "Cluster" was one of the words in the set. And the inside included a couple of pictures of a certain digit being extended. My sister and brother-in-law couldn't stop giggling the whole day, and I don't think they've stopped giggling yet. Good thing I didn't find it any earlier, or my brother-in-law might have been fired from his old job before he resigned.

 

In return, they got me a book of postcards entitled, "Grandma's Dead: Breaking Bad News With Pictures of Baby Animals". Yes, postcards with cute pictures of baby animals but with captions that say, "Grandma's Dead", "Your (Behind) Looks Fat In Those Pants", and "You're Not The Father", amongst others.

 

That's what Christmas gifts should be about - inappropriate gifts that give you hours of giggling entertainment.

[Patrick425]

One of the gifts I got for my son was a cheap digital camera from K-Mart. I did not realize that not all digital camera's are rechargeable. I think he went through 8 AA batteries on Christmas. I took it back the other day, paid a little more, and got a rechargeable camera.

[hammytime]

I gave my husband a pair of Miller Lite lounge pants. We gave my mom and sister the wireless set-up for their house. We also gave my mom a wind-up squirrel (she hates squirrels, because they steal all the seed from the bird feeders), and my sister received a variety of alphabet stickers for scrapbooking.

[JimH5]

I gave myself and my family a Slingbox, so we can enjoy our home TV programming while overseas this next year.

 

Baseball Tonight, the MLB Network, Brewer broadcasts. . .technology is a wonderful thing!