A holiday secret

Welcome to week one of my 25 Days of Giving! Each week I'll be sharing my favorite gift-shopping tips and posting guides for your own holiday shopping!

This week I'm going to pull together guides from some of my favorite secret weapon stores.

No matter how spread across the country your friends and family are, most of them will have, and are familiar with, all the generic "mall" stores you can find in any city in the country. Sure, these stores can be great for gift shopping if you know your recipient has a particular favorite, but you also want to keep in mind that when you buy a gift from a more common store, your recipient may have already seen, or even have, what you purchase.

This is why I love having secret weapon stores - shops that are either only in my city, or online stores that are less well-known. At these places you can purchase a more unique gift that your recipient may have never seen before! These gifts always surprise, delight, and make for conversation for years to come!