May Gifts


May is a busy month for everyone. This month, it’s Mother’s day, my birthday, my sister’s graduation, and I’m moving twice. Move #1 went well, by the way, and I’m in a nice new place with Beth for about two weeks before I leave for the summer. Anyway, with mother’s day and graduation, I grabbed a couple of gifts.  For those of you are unaware, I'm still in the blog closet. The heaping majority of my friends and family don't know about this place. Because the famjam doesn't read this, they will still be surprised.

Graduation

My sister is graduating from nursing school. We’re all excited. It’s something that she’s been working on for a long time and I’m really happy for her. She really likes Laura Secord chocolates. I think that might be an exclusively Canadian brand, but it’s quite good, and it’s high-quality without being too pricey. All their chocolates are made in Quebec and shipped which is nice too. What with all the recalls and weird news coming out of Asia, it’s nice to support Canadian-made products. I got her a graduation cookie. I do not think it will be delicious, but it was cute, and she likes that sort of thing.



I also got her a 16-pack of Parfait Chocolate Desserts. The salesgirl gave me one of these in the store to try, and it was marvellous. It’s creamy layers of chocolate in different flavours. I’m sure she’ll love it. The box I got her is hazelnut praline with four toppings: dark chocolate, nuts, coffee beans, and some more nuts. Some of them are also dark chocolate and others are white.




Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is a little trickier. I usually buy my mom some cosmetics because she never knows what to get, and I feel like my knowledge base is just a lot wider than hers is. I stopped by the Sephora, and picked up the Baby It’s Bold Outside gift set from Tarte. Mum likes Tarte, so I figured I would play it safe and get her a few things to flesh out her collection. In this little guy, there’s a LipSurgence lip lustre in Pouty, which is one of those chubby lip pencil things. I’ve used it in the past, and it’s a good product. It also stains on a little bit, which is practical for her to wear to the office. There’s also an Amazonian Clay gel liner, with a liner brush. The brush was what really sold me. It’s soft and the perfect shape for the gel liner. I’ve also heard that this liner is good for getting the hang of using gels. Finally, it has a mini mascara. I honestly don’t feel like high end mascara is worth it, but I know that it’s a common toss-in item on gift sets, and I know that she’ll use it.



I also got her some Browset from MAC in Beguile which is her favourite brow gel. Her local MAC counter doesn’t stock it, whereas I have a whole MAC store here. I am concerned about the lack of retail opportunities in that city.




I tossed in a L’Occitane Dry Skin Shea Butter Hand Cream. It’s a favourite of mine and keeping one popped in your purse does wonders for your skin. It also comes in a cute little tube.



 Finally, when I went to Sephora, they gave me my birthday freebie, which was Benefit They’re Real mascara and Watts Up highlighter, both travel size. I already have the highlighter in full size, which I use regularly, but it does take a long time to work through it. I thought then that I would give her the mini one that I got. She might get some use out of it.



Hopefully they like their things. Ma flies in on the 12th, and then we’re doing birthday things (for me), then I am going to an advance press screening of Star Trek Into Darkness, then graduation, then I fly out. It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks.

Best of luck to everyone still running up to finals, here’s hoping that your school year ends on a high note.

Are you getting your mother something for Mother’s Day?