Gift Guide For The Unorganised

If you, like me, are completely unorganised for Christmas and are yet to buy ANY presents, panic not.

I’m going to blame mercury retrograde and the full moon for my complete and utter lack of competence this year in the run up to Christmas.

As of yesterday, I did not have a single present bought; but due to the fact I was scheduled to write this weeks Christmas blog it encouraged (forced) me to get my backside into gear.

Yesterday, I managed to get presents for my partner, mother and grandmother; and after a walk and several flat whites I also figured out what to get remaining family members (other than a signed picture of myself).

Take a walk down Strand Street with me as I set upon the quest of completing my 2024 Christmas present panic buy:

Unorganised

Christmas is now less than a week away and we are now allowed to start to panic shop – if you’re a real risk taker you can do the walk of shame down the street on Christmas Eve – I may join you yet.

I started my quest of being unorganised by wandering down Crellin’s Hill with little excitement, but thanks to the gift guides I’ve been writing for the past few weeks – LOADS of ideas.

My task was simple. Buy presents in Manx shops. I can now confidently say, that is more than doable.

My first stop was The Book Company. In here I was greeted by the friendliest of faces and a fair bit of TT merchandise, which popped quite the smile on my face that May will hopefully fly round and Christmas will soon be next year’s problem.

I was delighted to find some Manx jigsaws and was instantly thrown back in time to last Christmas when we had a 1000 piece jigsaw on the kitchen table which provided to be quite the family bonding exercise.

This seemed the perfect gift for Grandma and her pals at Grove Mount Residential Home; I also bought a 2025 calendar in the hope that it may stop her asking me what day it is every time I visit.

With the boss of the family ticked off the list, next was second in command – Mum.

Gifts For Mum

Now, I’ve been fairly canny with presents for Mum and like to get her random gifts all year round in the hope that I have extra brownies points in the run up to Christmas.

The night before last I took her and my auntie for dinner at Pizza Pasta and then to the cinema to watch Moana 2 (if you haven’t gone, you should).

I also bought her a print of her three favourite children (the dogs) which is now taking pride of place in the kitchen – you could get one too from Morrisons and I’m sure you’ll end up nearly being the favourite child.

Anyhow I digress, back to wrap-able presents. I took a stroll into Curphey’s and was caught hook, line and sinker by the Woodwick candles on display, plus the lovely staff who were so incredibly attentive and gave me tips on how to make the candles last longer (thanks guys!).

If you’ve read my gift guides you’ll know how much I love a Woodwick, and now hopefully my Mum will love them too (Mum if you’re reading this please pretend you didn’t).

The Rest of Them

With Mum’s list nearly completed (the rest I shall leave to Christmas Eve) that only left Dad, partner, brother and best friend.

Father – what to get the man who hates Christmas?! Coal? Logs? Fuel? See the issue with Dad is, he would actually prefer these presents to anything I could buy in a shop.

With that in mind, I made a note to go to Bobby Sadler aka the ultimate Dad cave. A voucher from Bobby would make Dad almost a happy man on the day he hates the most.

Next – partner. Now this was difficult, I’ve had a lengthy list built up for him, but in true me style I’ve been utterly useless and not bought any of them for the poor bloke.

Now he loves cooking and coffee, so where better than Butler’s Choice. He has been eying up my mum’s Le Creuset sets for quite some time – so it only seemed fitting I get him some of his own.

As a coffee connoisseur he needs a good mug to drink said coffee (normally Noas house blend) out of. As of Christmas Day, he will be the proud owner of an espresso cup and what I would call a ‘proper’ mug – all thanks to Butler’s Choice.

Brother – his phone is ALWAYS running out of battery, so a quick pop into Sure a contactless charger was bought for him – a bit jealous of that one actually, as its something I want too – but Christmas is for giving not just for buying myself gifts.

The Best Friend, Jack. Now Jack and I are very frugal with one another, he would say he provides me with ‘hours of free therapy’, but my actual therapist would certainly disagree.

Jack isn’t the easiest person to buy a present for as if he wants something he normally just goes and buys it for himself.

A walk down Strand Street, or any street for the matter, wasn’t going to please him.

This was creating quite the challenge in my brain. But then, as I was driving back north, it came to me.

A Cáfe Rosa – this, or a Steam Packet voucher (got him one for his birthday), was the only thing that would make it up to Jack for the hours of ‘valuable’ therapy he gives me through the years.

So for Jack, I will be purchasing him the takeaways of all takeaways – a Cáfe Rosa.

Mission Accomplished

With almost all Christmas presents bought I feel I can put my feet up for a few days before getting last minute presents on Christmas Eve.

Don’t be ordering online last minute, get yourself into your local street and I promise you’ll be able to tick that list off.

The magic of in-person shopping brings the joy of human connection that you do not get through a laptop screen.

Not only do you get to bump into old friends and have personalised advice, you can feel confident in your Christmas purchases by shopping locally—you can see, touch, and even taste before you buy!

So before rushing off to buy your presents online in haste (and hoping they arrive), make sure you stroll down your local high street and see what is on offer.

Credit: Article was written by Charlie Morrey, Manx.news.