Christmas Gift Ideas from Paso Robles

I’m probably late to the game with this info but I have a couple of theories…1) better late than never and 2) Christmas doesn’t only have to be on December 25, it can be everyday!

So the below Christmas gift ideas are all Paso related or based which is completely intentional since I live in Paso Robles, I love Paso Robles, and I think we should support Paso Robles through our purchases.

Christmas Gift Ideas

~ Our friend Lisa Pretty recently came out with her second cookbook, pairing PR wines with food, and I think it’s really good. Here is a link to the Amazon page for it but you can probably get it in a ton of local shops in downtown Paso Robles. We have both of her cookbooks and I really think she killed it in this second one, not that the first wasn’t good…the second is just better.

~Broken Earth Winery has a few really cool gift bags they put together that you can purchase in their tasting room or in their café. To see them you can check out their Facebook page (they have a photo album called “Christmas Gift Bags 2013”) or just pop over to the tasting room. If you go this Friday, Saturday, or Sunday starting at 5:30pm you can also check out their Christmas light display…HUGE! (Disclaimer: I do the social media for Broken Earth Winery).

~The Winepress Magazine had some great gift ideas of their own so rather than repeat some of them I will just share this link directly from them. Really cool ideas in here and their gifts that work any time of year really so be sure to check them out.

~The General Store in downtown Paso Robles has some terrific local products that would make great gifts! In fact, I’m pretty sure they’d happily put together a gift basket for you, so check all that out.

~The Brown Butter Cookie Company has the best cookies in almost the whole world, so if you have anybody on your list that has a sweet tooth, this is the spot for you to shop!

~Another possible gift is to donate your time or money to must! charities. They are a local, North County of San Luis Obispo, charity focused on making our community better. We have donated to them and I help them with their Twitter account voluntarily as that is something I can do to help support the cause.

~Buy someone a bottle of their favorite Paso Robles wine. Better yet, share the bottle with them and reminisce about the crazy life you’ve lived.

~Buy someone a gift card to a downtown restaurant. Better yet, take them out to a downtown restaurant and enjoy time together.

~Don’t buy anything…instead send everyone on your gift list a hand written note expressing what they mean to you.

~Take someone out for coffee downtown and see what you can do to help them in their personal life or their career…otherwise known as being a mentor.

As you can tell I could probably go on and on. The first handful of choices above, are awesome and I personally hope you do one of them…or all of them. The last few choices are more about life and less about stuff. Annie and I do not exchange gifts, we write each other a letter. That may sound like less fun than the newest tablet or a bigger TV but when we “need” things or whatever…we just go get them as that need arises. If I buy Annie a ring and she buys me a 60 inch TV what are we really showing each other?

In my mind nothing other than we know how to spend money on something that the other person might like. So, if you are going to spend money buy something that will support Paso Robles. I know that’s a biased answer because I live in Paso but I’m just being honest. Check out Monday’s blog post which was about why I love our downtown, I’m not exactly hiding my feelings.

All that said…what are you going to do for gifts? Do you buy presents for everyone, no one, or do you have some other tradition?