TGIF can mean a lot of things and in this case we’re talking about RE-gifting. Tell me that you’ve never re-gifted and I’ll call you a liar...or a saint...or maybe too driven! Let’s face it we’ve all received gifts whereby after our initial shock and embarrassment for the GIVER because a tacky fake crystal giraffe is NOT reflective of the type of gift one should give another...We smile a fake warm smile and say “Oh! I know EXACTLY where I’m going to put this (on my re-gift shelf in the garage). You SHOULDN’T have! (really).”

TGIF happens when you’ve forgotten to take a hostess gift or buy a wedding gift as you fly out the door to the WEDDING...we’ve all done it...fess up. “Sal should we give them the toilet roll dispenser on a stand or the gravy ladle in the shape of a swan?” Hmmm.

Wine can always be re-gifted but if it’s a really cheap wine you must immerse the bottle in warm water until the label peels away and then stick on your own label...”The Midlife Gals Ruby Doobie Red” and tell them that you make your own wine and wanted them to try it. You can add that a superior winemaker from Napa Valley actually makes the wine for you and that it recently won the Wines Society Boomer Winemaker of the Year award. And get this...their palette will shift from a Sam’s Club selection to a fancy Bordeaux with all the tannens they can bare. It’s called blind tasting and if they don’t know the difference you’ll be lauded and praised all the way to Sunday for your ‘special’ gift.

Be creative in your re-gifting. Just Google re-gifting and you’ll find a myriad of ideas...why there’s even a site called ‘Learn How to Regift.’ If there is anything else The Midlife Gals can help you with please do let us know.

Go out there and GIVE I mean RE-Give!

KK

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I’m not very good at re-gifting. I once gave my favorite sea shell to a little girl for her fourth birthday. She was insulted and dismayed. It wasn’t plastic banana yellow or meant to be visible on a computer screen. She actually threw it down as her mother lightly scolded her “Now honey that’s not very nice.” It was everything I could do to hold my tongue and not call her the baby-bitch that she was.

I wish I still had that sea shell. It was cool.

I once gave a movie costume designer a first edition Victorian dress design book for her birthday. She looked at me like I was crazy. Again I did not get the kudos I expected. Okay so it was a little frayed and I had obviously tried out a new Crayola box on some of the pages when I was two years old but… sheesh.

I guess I don’t re-gift but rather I take something that means something to me that has been around for a long time and then I gift it to some poor soul who is expecting a real present. They may think I’m being cheap but really I’m just an old softie with a closet full of knick-knacks and things I can’t throw away.

Here are some things I’m going to give away to friends for Christmas and birthdays and I hope they like them because I can’t stop doing this. It’s an obsession.

A 1999 ’12 Sexy Firemen’ calendar.

This would be good for any woman over 40. ‘April’ is worth checking out.

A ‘Guero’s’ napkin signed by Willie Nelson and his band.

An original wardrobe drawing of a teen on a horse from the movie ‘The Postman.’ It’s framed for God’s sake!

A stack of all the National Geographic magazines from 1962. (I’ll tie it with a nice bow and bring a dolly with some bungee cord that they can use to get it home)

An autographed headshot of the The Midlife Gals and a CD containing forty three of our best videos. Now who wouldn’t want that?

When is your birthday? I will bring you a really cool present.