When a friend arrives with a small gift it always feels special. They could bring anything that made them think of you, or that they’d like you to try, or simply champagne for a dinner party. The gifts I remember most are usually small and modest. These gestures feel genuine. And they’re important.
Whether it’s a dinner host or a travel host, a client or boss, a friend, or pretty much anyone you’re scheduling a meeting, drinks, date, dinner, trip, or experience with, having something in-hand goes a long way.
A Clementina client showed up with a bar of Canadian soap that cleans whites well. She’d had a white linen suit made, so I know this worked. Italian friends arrived in New York, and managed interesting champagne for dinner hosts. A friend met me for coffee on her bicycle, equipped with a small bag of rarified pistachios she picked up at a chef-loved grocery she knew I hadn’t been to. “They just need a little toasting,” she said. In Paris, an expat arrived with two homemade truffles wrapped in a natural coffee filter to keep them at the right temperature. So lovely.
I’ll never forget the Japanese buyers who showed up to menswear market appointments with matcha flavored KitKat bars. That was years ago but they’re the only buyers I remember. All it takes is fruit from the market. A few flowers. Funny trinkets. A tiny tart from a beloved restaurant. A vintage magazine. A used paperback. Special tea. No gift is too small.
How charming to receive fresh strawberries at a morning meeting from someone who stopped by the greenmarket an hour earlier?
I usually wrap something like fresh bread, fruit, a special bar of soap, cookies from Té Company, tapered candles, Odeon granola (we’ll go into this more soon), philosophy books, even refrigerator magnets from Rome, in whatever paper or ribbon is around. I’m a big saver of ribbon—you never know when you’ll need to reuse it! Sometimes I re-wrap a gift for a friend in the same wrapping they had given me—it’s a small way of remembering.
But I don’t re-gift. My mother did this growing up—she would have me wrap holiday gifts I had given her the year before for her friends. I did not appreciate that! But re-wrapping is very sweet.
I love giving gifts and wrapping things. Nothing fancy. Wrapping anything makes it feel like a treasure, regardless of whether it’s in old newspaper, tissue paper, brown paper bags with some baker’s twine, string, ribbons, or old fabric. It’s fun to collect sugar packets while traveling and mail them with a short note—a little mischief mixed with good Parisian packaging.
Small gifts are everyday celebrations, and we always need more of these.
*I’m curious to hear the small gifts you enjoy bringing to hosts, friends, clients. Everyone has a such a thoughtful approach!
What a heartening newsletter! I love to send a book I have just read that reminded me of a friend to that friend for no particular reason, flowers always, good chocolate, a special ceramic espresso cup for everyday use…
Gift-giving is truly an art! A rolled-up copy of The World of Interiors is another good option for those interested in design/interiors.