Holiday Gift Guide 2022

Occupation: Choreographer, dancer

Favorite local places to shop: Feather’s Edge, Clementine, Atomic Vintage Bazaar, Nature’s Bling, Cosmic Depot

What’s on her wish list: Turntable: (Where to get it locally: Smith Rock Records, Stereo Planet)

What she’s wearing: Bracelet from Nature’s Bling and Jumpsuit from Banana Republic.

Where she goes for a white elephant/gag gift: Pretty Pussycat, Cosmic Depot

Best gift she ever received:

“When I was visiting my family for Thanksgiving in St. Louis, Missouri 13 years ago, my niece was insistent that I look in the barn with her. She showed me a little grey kitten. A feral cat had given birth to a litter of kittens and she was the only one left. When I asked what happened to the rest of them she told me they were picked off by owls and other predators! Knowing that, there was no way I was gonna let anything happen to this little gray kitten so I put her in my front bib pocket of my overalls and brought her inside the house. My cousin’s husband was allergic to cats so I kept her in my front pocket and tried hiding her from him the entire time I was there.

“Eventually everyone caught on that I had this little gray kitten with me. Over Thanksgiving dinner my family asked me what I was going to do with the kitty since we were flying home to Oregon in a couple days, I told them I wanted to bring her home with us. We looked up the fees and what we needed to do to take her home with us and shared it with the family. Later that evening while we were eating dessert, one by one each family member gave my husband and I money to cover the cost of flying the kitty home with us as our Christmas present! We bought a carrier, bought her a ticket, brought her home and named her Zoo!”

Gift she always wanted but never got: The brand-new car with the bow on it, sitting in the driveway on Christmas Day.

Non-material item she’s giving this year: “Since I am a dancer, some of my friends will get dance lessons for free. They’ll join my classes and all of a sudden, I tell them it’s free. Also since I do mediumship and psychic readings, I’ll read my friends and do that for free.”

Occupation: Graphic Designer

Favorite local places to shop: Feather’s Edge, High Desert Museum, The Workhouse, Patagonia, OutsideIn

What she’s buying for loved ones: An electric bike is on most kids’ lists this year, but also a downhill bike for my kiddo. Of course, he also wants a phone and a puppy.

What she’s wearing: Essential Denim Coveralls from Portland-based Wildfang; bracelet from Lark Mountain Modern

Where she goes for a white elephant/gag gift: Newport Market, Market of Choice. A powered helicopter was a hot item at the last white elephant she went to, but the best gift she got at a white elephant was a glass terrarium.

Best gift she ever received: “When I was growing up in Korea, my grandma got me a red corduroy dress that made me feel really special, because it was something that was not readily available at the time. It looked great with my black hair. It made me realize that I enjoy style. She was really focused on making us feel that we didn’t have lack, because a lot of the country was poor at the time.”

Gift she always wanted but never got: “I remember being 16 in suburban D.C. and all the other kids got cool cars, and I didn’t get one. I never got one until graduate school!”

Non-material item she’s giving this year: “Our nuclear family likes to give gifts of experience – like a trip to Tahoe, or a bike trip to Whistler, B.C.”

Occupation: Family snuggle bug.

Favorite local places to shop: Bend Pet Express.

What’s on her wish list: More balls for fetching.

What she’s wearing: Birthday suit, can’t stand any clothing.

Where she goes for a white elephant/gag gift: Ace Hardware

Best gift she ever received: Chuckit! Ball Launcher.

Gift she always wanted but never got: Sibling.

Non-material item she’s giving this year: Lots of doggie licks and slobber.

Santa’s recommended items for Gracie: Automatic ball launcher.

Occupation: Owner, Somewhere That’s Green plant store

Favorite local places to shop: “Definitely any of the markets that happen. We [Somewhere That’s Green] have four of them that we’re putting on; they’re a great one-stop shop. If it’s clothing, I always go to Revolvr or Vanilla. And of course, the candy store downtown, Cravin’s Candy Emporium, they are great for stocking stuffers.”

What’s on his wish list: A vacation; gift certificates to soaking tubs. (Where to get it: Book a night at McMenamins Old St. Francis School.)

What he’s buying for others: Experiences with my friends, Wanderlust Tours’ snowshoeing adventures; fly-fishing excursion from Fly & Field Outfitters

What he’s wearing: Wolf + Moon Mesh 5 Panel Hat from Midnight Grim, earrings and necklace from Nature’s Bling, hoodie from Somewhere That’s Green, shirt from Vanilla.

Where he goes for a white elephant/gag gift: Newport Market, Nature’s Bling, Cosmic Depot, Pretty Pussycat. “I was just in there [Pretty Pussycat] and they had a mini-hand set—lobster claw hands, little pirate hands… this whole set of just hands.”

Best gift he ever received: “The one as a kid was this Einstein science doctor kit. It was at the time the gender-male version of like the Easy Bake Oven, but it was like a science kit. You got to make brains and stuff, and that’s all I ever wanted. It was the best. As an adult, it was a Broadway musical. “Waitress,” the Musical.”

Gift he always wanted but never got: “I didn’t get what I thought I wanted, but whatever I got was good enough.”

Non-material item he’s giving this year: “Probably the best gift I gave last year… shows in Portland. Those are always a fun thing for my parents to do. It gets you out of town and it breaks up the monotony, you know?”

Occupation: Meteorologist, KTVZ

Favorite local places to shop: “My wife has a couple shops downtown that she really likes… Clementine or Lulu’s Boutique.”

What’s on his wish list: “My kids gave me a gift certificate to get a new cowboy hat. I have to order mine from Stetson custom-made because I have this large melon!”

What he’s buying for loved ones: “My wife’s wedding ring is wearing out. As of April we have been married 50 years, and so we’re going to get that diamond reset. So I’ll be down to my friends at Saxon’s [Fine Jewelers].”

What he’s wearing: Merrell low hiking shoes from REI, tie from Robert’s on Wall (no longer in business).

Where he goes for a white elephant/gag gift: “A lot of my friends are like big kids, so I’d probably go to Leapin’ Lizards. They have a wooden train set that you kind of puzzle the pieces together—the track together—and I remember as a kid loving that.”

Best gift he ever received: “At 8 or 10 years old I came out Christmas morning and my new bike was sitting by the tree. It was a Schwinn and it had beach-cruiser handlebars and a tank like a motorcycle. I rode that bike for years.”

Non-material item he’s giving this year: “For smaller gifts we’ll do a Dutch Bros. Or maybe a Starbucks gift card.”

Favorite Christmas memory: The year he moved into his new house and no longer had to share a room with his sister (also the same year he got the Schwinn bike!) Also, “I did a one-man show of Truman Capote’s ‘A Christmas Memory.’ I did it in a small theater for a few performances, but the one that I remember the most was the night I did it at the Tower Theatre. It was just about a full house.”

Occupation: Middle school student .

Favorite local places to shop: Most of the shops in the Old Mill District .

What’s on her wish list: A new phone case (Where to get it locally: iPhone Professor).

What she’s getting for someone else: Something that meant something to them, like a picture (Where to get it: High Desert Frameworks).

What she’s wearing: Plaid Green Weaton Jacket and White Crab Garb Beanie.

Where she goes for a white elephant/gag gift: “I don’t know where you’d get it, but maybe a sign for your parents’ bathroom that says “Please use the spray!”

Best gift she ever received: Phone, Gracie the dog.

Gift she always wanted but never got: “I always really wanted a llama.”