A Special Gift for a Special Friend...

My dearest friend "A" has really been struggling with depression and bipolar disorder, especially since her brother died in a motorcycle accident in August, she broke up with her boyfriend, and her grandmother died.  She has experienced a great deal of loss in a short amount of time.  She's headed away with family for the holiday, so I had to get her gift ready early. I knew I wanted to do something a little more meaningful for her, so I decided to put together a basket of comforting items to remind her how much she is loved and to take care of herself.  Here's a peek at some of the items I included. 

First up, A. loves tea and coffee, so I had to find her a great mug.  I loved the sentiment on this one.  I filled it with some gum, chocolates and Bath & Body Works lip balm from . 

Next I found some yummy Timothy brand flavored teas to include in the basket.  I also added some Land O'Lakes hot cocoa mixes, (my personal favorites)(not pictured).

I had some great photos of her daughter I hadn't given her yet, so I made a mini-scrapbook.

The photos below were from when Daisy spent the night at our house late August.  She and Kyle were watching Pixar's Up, and I was blown away by how similar their expressions and gestures were while they were both absorbed in the film.

 

I tossed in some travel sized products since she's about to hit the road for 10 days.  I included some of my favorite products, including Tom's toothpaste, Dove mist, Caress body wash, wisp toothbrushes and best of all, some Burt's Bees shimmer lip balms.  

 

I included a copy of this book by Melody Beattie.  It has daily meditations that really helped me through my six weeks in Texas last summer.  I thought my friend would also find them uplifting and encouraging. 

 

The best part I saved for last.  I found this 2011 calendar called Seasons of Friendship.  

It has a separate line for each day of the year.  So at the top of each week's page, I wrote "You're my best friend because..." and then I filled in a reason for every day - all 365 of them.  She's a great friend, and I was able to think of many reasons why she is my friend.  Requiring 365 distinct and meaningful reasons she's my best friend meant I really had to dig deep and think about all the aspects of our friendship that mean the world to me.  It took several hours, but it was so much fun to do.   

Last, I added some lotions, chocolates and misc. travel sized items.  Once it was all placed inside a basket, I was pleased with how it turned out.  It was personal, meaningful, appealing and interesting.  

Hopefully she enjoyed receiving it as much as I enjoyed putting it together for her.