2020 Holiday Gift Guide: Friend Edition

Every year it seems like we're scrounging to find last minute gift ideas yet immediately after the holidays we are struck with a million different great ideas that we promise to remember for next year...we of course never do.

Have no fear for this year because here is the perfect gift guide for the 2020 holiday season. Your friends will love their gifts so much you'll be a shoe in on the nice list for the next holiday season!

Hannah Candle

Courtesy of hannahcandle.com

With a candle designed to represent the beauty of humanity, this will make the perfect piece of décor on any bookshelf, side table, or desk. Based in Brooklyn, each candle is made with 100% soy and bees wax. Their website guarantees 8 hours of burning and they come in seven different colors! These candles are so pretty your friends won't even want to light them!

Price: $80.00

Bon Bon Bon

Courtesy of Facebook/ Bon Bon Bon

For the friends that love something sweet, get them a customized box of chocolate bon-bons! Choose from over 20 flavors ranging from strawberry balsamic, bour-bon-bon-bon, coffee and donuts, sticky bon, lemon bar, fudge brownie, and more! Not only do they taste delicious but they come in adorable pink packaging!

Price: $3.5/ bon-bon

UGG Slippers

Courtesy of ugg.com

I know, I know, UGGs are a trend meant to be left in 2014 and never would I have expected to recommend their purchase for any other reason than a joke, but this is serious. UGG has released some of the coziest, slide-on slippers on the market. Not only are they wearable outdoors and come in 13 different colors, but these slippers are so unbelievably comfortable that your friends won't be able to take them off—much less want to—once they're on!

Price: $100

Trade Coffee Subscription

Courtesy of drinktrade.com

A test of true friendship is knowing each other's coffee order. Put your knowledge to the test and take a quiz on how your friend prefers their coffee and Trade Coffee will curate a subscription box perfect for your best friends caffeine needs! With a seemingly never ending list of roasters, this gift is sure to please. You even get 30% off your first bag order!

Price: Starting at $13

Satin Robe

Courtesy of kohls.com

Nothing says luxury like a robe! Treat your friends to a spa day every day when they get their hands on their very own silk robe. Perfect for lounging around the house in, your friends will feel at ease, all the while expensive in one of these! You can even go the extra step and get them personalized!

Price: $23

Featured image source: Unsplash.com

5 Must-Try Desserts in NYC This Holiday Season

If you don't have a sweet tooth, there's nothing like the pressure of the holidays to give you one! Whether you're escaping the family drama, stress-eating, or just enjoy a bit of a sugar rush, you've come to the right place. Here are the top 5 best desserts to taste in NYC this holiday season, from yours truly, a sugar addict.

1. Chimney Cake, The Stackery, Midtown

Facebook/ The Stackery

This decadent treat is one you cannot miss! Offering the option of sweet or savory—in this case most definitely sweet—this unique chimney cake originates from Eastern Europe. Bite into this soft pastry perfectly spun into a spiraled chimney shape meant to be filled with delicious toppings not limited to: Nutella, strawberries, marshmallows, caramel, hot fudge, ice cream, you name it!

Where: 42 W 42nd St, New York

2. Chocolate Babka, Breads Bakery, Union Square

Facebook/ Breads Bakery

As the saying goes, second may really be the best. This babka is undeniably New York's best kept secret. With rich chocolate oozing out of every bite, the flaky crust is just chewy enough to finish the entire loaf alone. Best right out of the oven, make sure to get to this bakery early because these babies sell out quick!

Where: 8 E 16th St, New York

3. Cronut, Dominque Ansel Bakery, Soho

Facebook/ Dominique Ansel Bakery

Unless you're not into pastries...or you live under a rock, you might have heard of the infamous Cronut, the child of a croissant and donut, actually first originated at this very bakery. Each month a new cronut flavor is released for a limited-time and no flavors ever repeat. Not only should this incentivize you to try each new flavor each month, but once you have your first bite there's no going back. Your taste buds will force your monthly return.

Where: 189 Spring St, New York

4. Coquito Ice Cream, Tipsy Scoop, Gramercy

Facebook/ Time Out New York

For those needing something more than just sugar to cope, how about a little alcohol? This ice cream shop, famous for their boozy creations, is an alcoholic ice cream lover's dream! This year they released their holiday flavor: Coquito. Stop by or order your DIY kit online packed with Blue Chair Bay Rum, gummy cherrys, sprinkles, decorative straws, and more! You can use the promo code Get1Tipsy for 10% your online order today!

Where: 217 E 26th St, New York

5. Sweet Potato S'mores Cookie, Chip New York City, West Village

Facebook/ Chip New York City

This cookie might be the newest addition to your Thanksgiving day spread! With a sweet potato and graham cracker base, stacked with toasted marshmallows and drizzled in a brown sugar sauce, you'll forget pumpkin pie ever existed. Be on the lookout for new flavors to come as the New Year approaches. You can expect a return of their incredible chocolate peppermint crinkle cut cookie.

Where: 298 Bleecker St, New York

Here's a map to help guide you on your sweet escape:

Featured Image: Facebook/ Dominique Ansel Bakery

Paintings are Permanent, but You Weren't

I still think about you

all the time.

To be honest it makes me feel

weak.

Knowing you did me wrong

and still wanting you

so bad.

You didn't wish me happy birthday

how childish of me to care about something as silly as a birthday wish but then again I care for you and you're no more than a child

You didn't even tell me you were in town,

my town.

One you made your mark on, painting your name across cement and the tongues of those in my home as if to never let me forget you

Paintings are permanent but you weren't.

I grew sick of hearing your name

and hearing it not from your lips

How could you not tell me?

How could you say all you said to me

to only say nothing

You invalidated me like the coward you pretend not to be.

and why go through all of that

to only go silent on me?

I felt so much for you

fast and all at once,

I couldn't believe I finally felt that way about someone, for once.

Maybe it wasn't a relationship to you,

but it sure was to me

And if it wasn't for you

then what the fuck was it?

What were you getting out of it

I never even touched you

I used to dream about touching you

and sometimes, I still do.

Fuck you.

You were my longest and shortest relationship,

my best and my worst,

maybe that speaks to my experience,

to my heart, or my hope

But I find myself questioning

What did I think about before you?

featured image: Unsplash.com