What To Get a 32-Year-Old For Their Birthday
Hint hint, wink wink…!!!
Shitters!!! We are rapidly approaching birthday season for me, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and apparently Rumi Carter according to FamousBirthdays.com? (Wouldn’t it also be Sir’s birthday?? Where is he on the list?!). Whatever, at least I’m in good company!
As is tradition, I’ve taken it upon myself to compile a list of 32 ideas for anyone who might find themselves in need of a gift for a certain 30-something in the near future…! Whether you’re browsing for someone discerning in your own life, shopping for me (a girl can dream!), or just want to treat yourself, the following ideas—some a tad more realistic than others—are guaranteed to surprise and delight!
This Ginori teacup and the matching saucer. I know—I’ve talked a lot of shit about Ginori’s Oriente pattern over the years, BUT this sweet little pistachio colored teacup for my matcha…? I take it all back!!!!
A go-to travel agent. Can I roll up my sleeves and make an itinerary? I’d venture to say pretty well, actually. But is that something I want to do? HELL no. To me, there’s nothing worse than being the person saddled with the details while everyone else gets to be blissfully unaware of the plan, asking incessant questions about what we’re doing and where we’re eating and what time is the reservation and actually can we do something else entirely even though this has been the plan for weeks and you could’ve just SAID SOMETHING WHEN I ASKED??? (I think I just described being a mom?) A collaborative itinerary booked by a pro is the truest kind of vacation—one for your BRAIN—and it’s probably not just me who thinks so! If you’re traveling in Africa, Indalo Travel is an expert on the ground, but you have someone you like working with for other spots, drop them in the comments!
Speaking of vacations, I will make it to Ett Hemm before I turn 33 if it’s the last thing I do!!!!
A jar of Ella Henry’s Matcha Kokoro. Best matcha I’ve ever tried!
Am I a true, long-suffering Knicks fan who deserves tickets to the NBA Finals? Absolutely not. But as far as bandwagon fans go, I never pretend to be an OG and I always bring a good vibe, so I feel like I can get a pass??? If this is a touch beyond the realm of possibility (fair), I will also accept a 7th Street cheeseburger and an XL Landry Shamet t-shirt.
A leather Memoire notebook. The single most beautiful notebook to ever exist (even better if you address it to the single most beautiful writer to ever exist!!). Criminally expensive for what it is, but I’m sorry, who wants to be practical on their birthday?!
Cool girl flowers always.
A vintage Tankissime (shoutout to my friend Madison Snider Podpirka for the inspiration!). I will always have a soft spot for vintage Cartier, and this one is such a unique style. It’s almost closer to jewelry than it is a traditional timepiece, which is what I love about the Bagnoire too. This is a bit closer to a push present than your run of the mill birthday gift, but I am getting a cat (!!), so I will in fact be a new mom!!
A little lounge outfit. I will never not love lounging around in something cute and cozy! On my eye at the moment: These in organic cotton, this henley + pants set (how good is Cloud??), and the perfect light blue nightgown!
A trainer. By now we all know that strength training is important for women as we age—bone density, building muscle, looking better naked, etc. (ok, the first two are objectively important, but the last one is important to me!)—but I think it’s time to bring in the big guns. I’ve been on the fence for a while, wondering if 1-on-1 attention is worth it for something I pretty much do on my own already. BUT trusting the process is considerably easier to do when the process is tailored to your actual body by someone who knows what they’re doing, rather than a generic plan, class, or video. I read this by Dr. Jenna Lagana recently and I think I’m drinking the Kool Aid.
A massive, mesmerizing painting that is WAY too big for my current apartment, but I’m playing the long game! I unfortunately must gatekeep for now—they sell at auction and are already wildly expensive, but if I secure the one of my dreams, you will be the first to know!
This insane Jessica McCormack chain that has lived rent free in my brain since I started getting served this ad on Instagram. Obsessed. I started wearing a longer chain like this earlier this year and I LOVE the way they look—so effortless, and so cool.
$30 to McNally Jackson to pick up a new thriller. A staple on the list every single year, and truly the perfect gift!
A jeweler who will suffer through my detailed/semi-deranged CAD notes to make the perfect The Devil Wears Prada necklace dupe (or $10,000 cash in a brown bag on my doorstep to buy the real thing—either works).
One single Tracy Anderson class where I get to be on aux.
Ferrane Bakery princess cake! I’m sorry, the Sant Ambroeus Princess Cake SUCKS and more people need to say it. Ferrane’s is the best I’ve tried, and if I were having a birthday party, this would 100% be served!
This perfect dress to come back in stock so I can wear it to the wedding that’s on my birthday and look cool and take a good birthday Instagram and feel buoyed by the validation of your likes (too real?).
A diamond pinky stack. Do I even need to explain this one?
Alex Eagle Studio Mosaic Glasses… for my iced matchas! I swear I have not made liking matcha my entire personality, despite much of this list implying otherwise…
Last matcha-adjacent thing, I swear. These little glass straws fall into the category of cute but annoying to buy for yourself but also relatively inexpensive, which IMO is the sweet spot for a good gift. More in this category: Westman’s Hydrobalm (PRIYANKA15), Crown Affair’s hair mask (PRIYANKA15), and a good old hole-in-the-wall NYC foot massage.
Unfortunately I need the FreeCity sweatshorts with every fiber of my being, but they seem a bit impossible to get your hands on at the moment. I would also happily accept a fresh pair of the full length ones—they’re fun and colorful and make me feel like a Malibu mom about to hop in a G Wagon to pick up alfalfa.
A table at Theodora (as you know, I am firmly Team Table, but I’ll even settle for bar seats at this point). I’m making abysmal progress on my restaurant shortlist so far this year, and I can use all the help I can get. Also on the list: Ha’s, Or’esh, The Snail, and Lucali, in case you know a guy who knows a guy!
Frosted Strawberry Cookies. My friend Margaret mentioned these in a voice note weeks ago and I have been salivating ever since!
Speaking of girlfriends, in lieu of a gift I will HAPPILY accept a 15+ minute voice note with hot goss, a crazy story, shit talk about someone we dislike (or better yet, a person I have never liked and am coming to learn you’ve never liked either), or some combination of the above. How is this #24 on the list, it really should be #1.
The PERFECT teal satin Bottega clutch that I will have almost certainly bought myself off of TRR by the time this list is published (Ed note: Had to.)
By now we know I will never say a nice candle is a bad gift. I mostly work from home, and lighting one in the evening feels like shifting the mood from work mode to something more relaxing. A few on my list this summer: Milan in bloom by Flamingo Estate, summer special edition Diptyque, and Le Prunier’s plum, almond, and sweet fig combo (SIBAL15).
Chanel Baume Essentiel in Sculpting. One time I tried to ask if they had this at a duty free in Paris… never a great idea to say “baume” in an airport.
I am once again asking for your psychic, reiki, woo woo people!!!! Heal me!!!!!
Horseback riding lessons?! 32 feels as good a time as any to go full horse girl, plus I need an excuse to wear this baby in the wild.
A looooong afternoon at a Moroccan hammam. I’m spending the week before my birthday in Morocco (shoutout Indalo Travel!!), and this is at the top of my personal to-do list. (Once again, I have revealed my future location on the internet—I would ask you to be chill, but if you go all the way to Morocco to try and kidnap me, I think I’d be flattered?). At home I’ll never turn down a trip to The Hotel Chelsea Spa, and I’ve been meaning to get to Spencers one of these days too!
A rainy Saturday afternoon trying a million and one wines in the Roscioli cellar. FYI, they are GENEROUS with those pours. 10/10, perfect weekend activity.
A sunny Sunday afternoon playing Uno with friends at Drift Inn! Heaven!
You deserve this ALL!!