Friday, December 17, 2010

Extrapetite's 2010 Gift Guide...for Guys

This is a guest post written by Nick, boyfriend of PAG.
 
Hello again, readers of Extrapetite. If you've come across this post on your own, chances are you're not a guy. And if you are, might I suggest a more gender-appropriate website—ESPN, maybe? 

In the interest of helping you petite gals shop for the men in your lives (and in my own interest of dropping a few blatant hints) I've assembled this list of last-minute gifts that most dudes may appreciate. 

1. Socks and Underwear
An underrated gift. They're useful long-term, but they also provide short-term value by delaying laundry during a holiday season full of more important activities such as watching college football games and pretending to like egg nog.

With socks, go for anything but white because we have plenty of those. Try black or gray ankle socks, and if you live somewhere cold, something from Smartwool or the J.Crew camp socks. For underwear, anything brand name to spruce up our existing collection of threadbare Fruit of the Loom.

2. That Thing We Love But You Can't Stand
Maybe it's our high school backpack, a pair of old Vans, or an ill-fitting thrift store plaid shirt. Whatever it is, we should've tossed it long ago, but part of the reason we love it is because you hate it. Well, now's your chance to upgrade for us. As long as the new thing is equally functional, we'll probably be cool with it. A few good conversions:
 
Replace: Ski jacket with cinched waist, neon accents and 10 years of accumulated lift tickets
With: Wanaka Down Jacket by Patagonia

Replace: Cracked and peeling jersey of a player who’s been traded to another team
With:
Vintage NFL t-shirt from Junk Food Clothing

Replace: Shirt that used to be my dad’s and smells like moth balls
With: Sunwashed flannel shirt from J.Crew (look for these on sale in-store)
 
3. Video Games
This gift comes with a caveat—you must let us actually PLAY the game, without reprimand, at least four days a week for the first month, and then twice a week every week thereafter. Also, keep in mind we have more video games than you know about, so do a little snooping to see what we’ve already got. NBA 2k11, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Red Dead Redemption are solid options available for both PS3 and XBOX 360, ranging in price from $40 to $60.

4. Craft Beer Sampler
Do you know a guy who loves beer? And I don't mean that like, "he really loves Bud Light." If he's ever spent over half an hour wandering the beer aisle just to pick a six-pack, he'll appreciate a nice sampling of craft brews. Follow this easy mix-and-match guide:

Match any of these brands:
Stone, Rogue, Sierra Nevada, Harpoon, Avery, Allagash, Anderson Valley, Brooklyn, Great Divide, Founders, Dogfish Head, Rogue, Victory, Troegs, Surly, AleSmith, Lagunitas...basically if you haven't heard of it, that's probably a good thing.

With any of these words:
India Pale Ale (IPA), Brown Ale, Ale, Porter, Stout, Belgian, Winter, Seasonal, Limited, Hops

5. Non-Douchey V-Neck T-Shirts
Until last year, I’d never worn a v-neck t-shirt for two reasons: 1) I don't have a waxed, tattooed chest that I want to show to the world; 2) I refuse to buy a plain t-shirt if it costs more than the $5-for-10 pack of Hanes. But last Christmas my mom got me these Premium Pima Cotton V-Necks from Banana Republic. At 3 for $44 (combine-able w/ sales and coupons), I'd never buy them for myself, but if I had more I'd wear them every day. They only dip a little more than a crew neck, and they’re fitted without being tight.

6. Handmade Gifts
These are wonderful and we will tell you how much we love them and how we will cherish them forever. What we won't tell you is that we'd love it even more if you knew how to hand-make an iPad. Which brings me to our last gift...

7. iPad
I don’t need or even really want an iPad. But let me put it this way, if I found one under the tree on Christmas morning, there would be no need for a gift receipt.

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