The Only Gift Guide You Actually Need (Dreams Included)

The Gift Guide Paradox

When I worked in media, we regarded “gift guide season” with dread. It started in the summer, involved mountains of hideous products, required the ego-stroking of certain PR and product reps, and above all, it was boring. There are only so many superlatives you can use about candles (there were always so many candles), only so many ways you can swear the latest tech gadget will solve your health, wealth or relationship problems. But there was never any question that we had to do them, because readers LOVED them.

Now that I have the opportunity to think about gift guides more from the reader’s side, I kind of love them, too. Not because the guides are honest or authentic. (There’s always SOME honesty and authenticity in every gift guide, but it’s tough when the entire enterprise was designed as an advertiser sop.) But because I love having a few moments to flip through them and imagine that I might one day give or receive a $4,000 toiletry bag (Gynweth has the BEST gift guides every year; she knows EXACTLY what she’s doing) or finally find the exact right gift for the men in my life who don’t need anything. (The only right gift for these men is socks.) 

The gift guide is an excuse to dream, which is why they’re so popular with readers. 

They’re also really meaningful for the businesses that are on those lists, which is why I wanted to share a brief one of my own.

In classic Gynweth style, I’ve done the gifts for normies in one section and the gifts you can dream (or laugh) about in the second section. Books are in the third section, because someone in your life needs a book and that’s how we do things around here.

All of these are from small Bay Area businesses and nothing is sponsored. If you’re here, you probably live in the Bay Area, and you probably already know that small local businesses have had a crap 2025. So please shop local this holiday!

South Bay

• For $13, you won’t find a better gifting treat than this black sesame brittle from Sweet Dragon bakery in San Jose.

• For such a big and historically important city San Jose has always suffered from a cool deficit so I was geeked to discover Cukui, an art and streetwear brand based in Japantown. This Chrysanthemum long-sleeved tee would impress your cooler-than-thou nephew. ($35)

East Bay

• The warm and lovely folks who run Oaktown Spice Company are local heroes and their gift boxes are always on point. This year’s Tacos al Gusto box will make Taco Tuesday the highlight of your week. ($31)

San Francisco

• The Golden Gate Bakery Company is a tourist classic. And because they make custom fortune cookies, it occurred to me that, with the right recipient, you have the makings of a super funny, super sweet gift. I mean: 50 fortune cookies saying “Oh my God we made it through 2025!” feel like 50 opportunities to build an inside joke. ($25, pick-up only)

• A little bit of a cheat because SF Muni is not exactly a small business but their holiday collection is a great way to show public transit pride. This T-shirt rendition of the warning behind every driver is a great conversation starter. ($25)

North Bay 

• No one is drinking anymore, so the next big thing out of the Wine Country will be the Rancho Gordo Bean Region. Get started on the best beans you’ll ever eat with their holiday sampler. ($34)

South Bay

• Speaking of wine, if you want to experience what tasting was like back when the wineries weren’t Disneyland, book a private library tasting at Ridge Monte Bello. ($90/pp)

East Bay

• Got a history buff in your life? Take them on the East Bay Yesterday boat tour! These sell out quick, so be ready to pounce when Liam announces the 2026 dates. Find out more and follow him on social media (or email him- he’s good at responding) for the 2026 dates. (Generally around $75/pp)

• Your Local Economy launched this year as a way to provide a third space for people in Oakland who want to talk about something other than AI or crypto. They have cool events and cool merch and you can get or gift a membership for $20, $50 or $100/month, a small price to get your spirit back. 

San Francisco

• Mezcal is one of Mexico’s many tremendous gifts to the world and Tahoma Mercado is the place to get it. Their quarterly mezcal tasting club would be an amazing gift for any aficionado/a. ($200/quarter)

North Bay

• There is nothing Lauren of Harwell Godfrey has designed that I haven’t wanted with all of my heart and there are MANY women who feel the same way. For most of us, her amazing jewelry will remain a dream but anything in her Marin County Mart store would delight the few who can afford it. I’m currently lusting after these hoops. ($2,250)

2025 gifting goodness. As always, buy these at your local bookstore. Jeff Bezos doesn’t need another yacht.

• Matriarch by Tina Knowles

I went into this with low expectations, but Mama Tina overdelivered! A moving mediation on motherhood and mothering genius, on the American South and what it gives as well as what it takes, with just enough wild tales from the fashion and music business to keep you turning the pages. A great gift for any mother figure in your life.

• Good Things by Samin Nosrat 

It’s Samin, FFS. Bonus: Order a signed version from Omnivore Books!

• Are You Happy? By Lori Ostlund

Lori is one of our great champions of the short story form and these stories, about the weirdness, claustrophobia, comfort and violence to be found in American small towns (especially for LGBTQ+ folks) are little literary jewels.  

Happy holidays!

Caille