Presents that we either cherish or leave to the dust

Presents are one of the hardest things to choose. You can either make the person absolutely adore you or really dislike you with what you choose to wrap in a shiny paper. With my birthday only one month and a half away this is more than an appropriate topic for me to write about. It might sound weird but I'm quiet obsessed with surprises. I think my family is pretty sick of it, because I insist on not seeing any of my presents before Christmas or my birthday or even telling them what I wish for. I mean of course I eventually have to spill it out because they usually don't get my hints throughout the year (surprise, surprise), but I always ask if they can add something that I didn't wish for. On the other hand, I'm mostly not very happy with gifts from my other relatives as they don't know me that well and in consequence I end up with multiple board games, books about history and shower gels. The hardest part is definitely smiling and faking the excitement while ripping off the wrapping paper with them standing right next to you waiting for your reaction. I guess making a wish list really does make sense now that I think about it...

It was much easier when I was younger. Firstly,  I would write a letter to Santa Claus and secondly,  I was being pretty obvious about my wishes, usually some toys or DVDs or something like that. I would also get new clothes as well but nowadays my fashion taste couldn't be more different than my mum's so there's no point in her buying me new clothes. Getting clothes that you don't like from your parents is a nightmare, trust me. You actually have to wear them in public and not just occasionally on birthdays and holidays, because you see your parents every single day unlike your aunties and uncles. Eventually they'll say something like: ''Honey, did you forget about the lovely fuzzy sweater that I got you for Christmas? I really thought that you like it.''  Now you can either wear that fuzzy sweater in a horrible bright pink colour the exact same day or hear about how ungrateful you are until you do something worse than disliking your Christmas present so they forget about the whole thing*. On the positive side,  they won't try to buy you anymore clothes. To be honest, my parents would probably love to just give me money, so I can buy whatever I want, but they know how much I would hate it. I just think it makes a difference when someone really makes an effort in choosing a present that is the most suitable for you.

I really don't know how to explain my love for surprises, but I love the excitement and warm feeling that I get when I don't know what I'm going to get as a present or what will happen next in a book or  in the next episode. Maybe my ''obsession'' started in the fourth grade when we were on holidays in Florida. We flew to Miami and all I knew was that we were going to Walt Disney World. While we were driving towards Orlando we passed a cruise terminal with Disney Cruise Line ships. Being huge Disney fans me and my brother were really excited to even drive pass them, because we had this idea in our minds that cruises with Disney chips are really expensive and practically only possible for us in our dreams. So when we drove to the terminal's parking lot we had no idea what was going on. When our mum told us that we're going on a cruise with Disney Wonder to the Bahamas there were probably fireworks exploding in my mind. Just imagine a nine-year-old girl finding out that she'll spend next four days on a cruise ship with Mickey and all his friends. No wonder I'm such a huge fan of surprises now, though it would be really hard to surprise me more than that. Dear parents, friends, future boyfriend you have a challenge now. I drifted away from my main topic again, didn't I?

There is one thing even better than receiving gifts though, at least in my opinion. Don't you just love the feeling when you give a gift to someone that they didn't expect at all but were secretly wishing to get?  The happy and excited face that they get just makes my heart melt with happiness. Well, sadly it doesn't happen that often, because like I've said before, it's really hard to pick out a gift for somebody that you don't know very well. I almost always get something great for my best friend because I know her so well, but it's much harder with everyone else. I hope I am not the only that asks birthday girl/boy's friends for some hints before hitting the shopping centre. Although you can't really completely fail when it comes to girls. You can always get her a new lipstick, earrings or any other accessory, of course according to her style.  But when it comes to buying gifts for boys, phew, that's hard. I think  the easiest way is to find out which  computer/PlayStation game they want (if it is not too expensive) or what sport they practice, so you can get them like a new soccer ball or something. iTunes gift cards are a good idea for girls and boys as well, just make sure that they own any of the apple devices (basically everyone nowadays).

I think that's about all about presents that is on my mind right now. I hope that you got some useful ideas for gifting your friends and family or that you at least enjoyed this post. What is your ''safe'' present choice?
                                                               xoxo


*Please keep in mind that I'm exaggerating a bit and that my parents would never do something like that, but than again they refuse to buy me any more clothes on their own anyways. Probably because something like that happened. I'm just not good with disappointing people.