Gift Guide: For That Sexy (And Nerdy) Guy You Married

1. Soul Socks Sock-of-the-Month Club, $12 per month or $132 per year

This is what I got Mike for Christmas last year.  He opened it and was all, “Cool, Babe” than later made fun of me “I can’t believe you got me SOCKS for Christmas”.  But then the socks started arriving.  And?  They’re awesome.   Pretty soon Mike would come home from work and ask, “Did my new socks come in yet?”  He’s already started dropping hints for this year….wait and see, Mike D.  Wait And See.

2. Vince Leather Moto Jacket, $995

Mike got a leather jacket last year and it completely changed his style game.  He wears it on date nights, he wears it to soccer games, he even wears it to work (looks great with a tie).  We liked the Vince jacket the best (now sold out), but this year’s Vince leather jacket looks just as good (buttery soft leather, great tailoring) or try the Cafe Racer from Schott NYC.

3. J.Crew The Un-Sweatpant Sweatpant, $85

What guy spends $85 on sweatpants?  None of them. Which is why this is a gift.  But I freaking love these sweatpants.  Mike looks so adorably sexy with his glasses and bedhead and cool-guy sweatpants that they are worth every penny.  (Of course, Mike’s sweats are sold out, but J.Crew’s classic slim are similar, or try American Apparel’s Ottoman Jogger.

4. Shinola The Runwell Chrono Leather Strap Watch, $750

Shinola watches are made in Detroit (holla), and even if we didn’t hail from MI, we’d be all over these seriously cool watches.  We both love the vintage faces with such modern styling.  Namely, the watch is big.  Be sure to check out pictures of the watch on the model’s hand to get an idea of scale.  So freaking cool.

5. Nohow Braid Leather Bracelet, 15 euros

Mike found this bracelet on Instagram, tagged me, then also has mentioned it a few times since then.  He’s right:  it’s a pretty sweet man-bracelet.

6. Jawbone UP24, $100

Jawbone is the contender to the Fitbit.  I can’t remember the long booooring story of why Mike went with Jawbone over Fitbit, but there was some rationale.  (He now claims they are ‘pretty equivalent’.)  In any case, if your guy is a techie geek or data nerd I suspect he will LOVE (like seriously, obsessively love with a passion I cannot understand) counting his steps and hours of sleep.  The Jawbone UP24 does a pretty impressive job of figuring out waking vs. sleep vs. REM sleep.  And I’ll admit that the first thing I thought of when Mike was showing me was, “do they make these for babies????”  I mean really.  It would’ve explained SO MUCH.

7.Bose SoundTrue In-Ear Headphones, $99

I asked my friend Greg what his best Christmas present was and he mentioned these headphones.  And then Mike wanted to try them and then it was like a thing.  They were both really, honestly excited about these headphones.  I, on the other hand, was looking for a fork to stick in my eye or something.  I wonder if that’s how Mike feels when I wander into Sephora.

8.  Math Glasses, $38

I bought these for Mike a while ago and they make him happy every single time he uses them.  Every. Single. Time.  Math is beauty, baby.

9. ViewSonic PJD5134 SVGA DLP Projector, $549 (currently on sale for $329) and Camp Chef 120-Inch Portable Outdoor Movie Theater Screen, $293 (currently on sale for $186)

Ok – so this one is seriously cool.  Mike had been talking about projectors and screens for months, and then right before Halloween he pulled the trigger.  Know how we ended our Halloween night?  We dragged out blankets and sleeping bags, made popcorn, and the neighborhood kids curled up under the stars (tucked into cozy blankets) and watched movies while the adults stood around a bonfire with drinks.  Best. Halloween. Ever.  And I can’t freaking wait until next summer.  The fun has just begun.

NOTE:  To get the movies connected, you can hook the projector up to an Apple TV, Chromecast, or Amazon’s Fire TV Stick – they all will work.  Mike also says that you’ll need a speaker.  We used the Beats Pill (#11 on this gift guide) and it worked really well.

10. Automatic Smart Driving Assistant, $99

So Mike installs this thing into our car.  Naturally, it comes with an app.  (As does everything Mike buys.)  The “Smart Driving Assistant” monitors gas mileage, calls the authorities in the case of an accident, and, my favorite, diagnoses and clears your check engine lights.  Awesome, right?  Well.  That’s not all it does.  Mike comes home from work one day, “Hey Babe.  Anything happen today you want to tell me about?”

Hunh?

I’m all nooooo…and then he says, “According to Automatic, you hit the break really hard on the corner of 36th and Vine and a few minutes later you had an unsafe acceleration–”

Cut to me running and screaming out of the room.

So buy at your own risk.  (But a total game-changer if you have kids who can drive, right?  Not only will our little guys drive with one of these things installed, but Mike wants to add video cameras inside the car.  These poor Dads, haunted by their past misdeeds.)

11. Beats Pill Portable Speaker, $195

If your whole house is professionally wired for sound and you have one universal remote that controls everything including the lights  (a la Phil Dunphey)…this probably isn’t for you.  But this cute little speaker has been a workhorse for us.  Raines knows how to bluetooth connect his iPod to it, and has spent a ton of hours on Spotify (of all things) playing DJ.  We take it with us when we travel, we take it outside if we need tunes, and now we’re using it for the projector.  It’s shocking how much we’ve used this thing.  And unlike big….subwoofers (is that a real thing or did I make that word up?)  I don’t mind having it in my living room.

Happy, happy, happy Friday.  (And more gift guides coming soon!)

xo,

S