Inviting ideas
Perfect gifts for your summer getaway host
Whether it’s for the Fourth of July holiday or just a week or weekend getaway in the summer, one thing you never want to do when you stay at a friend’s or family member’s house is show up empty-handed. I’m talking about those lovely people who say, “Come on by, we’ve rented a cottage!”
(You’ve gotta love those people.)
They deserve something thoughtful, unique and possibly even useful.
Something like a basket of scrumptious cheeses put together by the experts at local, independently owned spots like The Concord Cheese Shop (concordcheeseshop.com) or Wasik’s Cheese Shop (wasiks.com) in Wellesley. They’ll ask you about your host/ess and his or her flavor preferences, likes and dislikes, and care
fully curate a selection of bries, parms, cheers and the like, as well as accoutrements such as sesame-poppy crackers, quince paste to top the cheese with, Marcona almonds from Spain and the like. Or, if your host/ess is a cheese-chooser extraordinaire, let them do the selecting and instead give them a cool set of cheese knives like the Helms Gold 3 Cheese Knives ($19.95 on cb2.com) — a trio of glam, with a slicer, fork and knife.
Or instead of hand-picked, go for handmade. Made of 100% recycled glass, these beautiful blue artisanal vases ($46-$88 at garnethill.com) are just the thing to brighten up any room of the house. And because they’re handmade, each one is slightly different from the next, right down to the small air bubbles in the glass.
Art is such a personal thing, but sometimes you happen upon a design that will complement almost any space. The collection at Serena and Lily from original artists has plenty along those lines, from big splurges like “Large At Anchor” by Carol Saxe ($650 at serenaandlily.com) to smaller abstract pieces like “Sails” by Rob Delamater ($250 at serenaandlily.com).
Bring the fun as soon as you arrive by offering a game to play and a beautiful collector’s item in one: the Leblon Beach Bat Set ($310 on frescobolcarioca.com). They’re individually handcrafted in Brazil with multiple layers of wood and covered with a resin coating to make them sea and sand-resistant. The set comes with bats and balls so you get the gang to start playing, and then after all the guests leave, the set is pretty enough to display around the home.
And then there’s always one of the key ingredients to any summer getaway: libations. Show up with a set of six DuraClear® Tritan Wine Glasses ($62.36 on williamssonoma.com) — all in multicolored, whimsical hues that will get the party started and keep it going long after.