What to get the person who has everything

No, I haven’t finished my holiday shopping yet either. I tend to hide under the bed during Black Fridays and midnight madness.
What I must do is give my children a make-up-your-mind deadline. This year I’m shooting for midnight on Dec. 15. As the clock chimes, they will be required to hand over their lists, written in ink and winnowed down to a single page with no more changes, nothing more than $50 and no substitutions.
Still, I know there are those of you out there who have already whipped through two-thirds of your list and are standing poised and frustrated, trying to find that one-of-a-kind gift for that ultimate challenge who just seems to have everything. If you live in North County, look no further. This may be the year to forego the bubble baths and bad ties that only address the outer self. In this northern portion of our fair county, we tend to eschew the gathering of tawdry possessions. Here we focus on feeding the inner self, and the inner self is in for a heck of a holiday.
Consider these few suggestions that can be had right in our neighborhood and, I suspect, absolutely nowhere else in the U.S. east of Mission Valley. Some of these will be hard to wrap, but I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t find a duplicate under the tree.
If that someone on your list has to shop or drive much around here, they certainly are feeling frazzled, burned out, befuddled or just plain cranky. No Chia pet or box of chocolates is going to set that right. They need something to soothe the savage beast and knock out that road rage. Well, somewhere in Encinitas, you can order up a gong bath, perhaps followed by a massage. They’ll align their chakra from brain to toes. If that doesn’t work, you could try a session with singing crystal bowls in Solana Beach. Both specialties suggest you will soon be awash in cleansing, healing sound waves that will take what you shouldn’t have and give you what you haven’t got. It beats having to argue with your HMO.
Another idea, growing more popular every year, is a most worthy alternative gift market out of Solana Beach Presbyterian Church that offers the chance to make the world a better place. You can gift your friends with global outreach via meals for local Marine Corps families, toys and clothing for foster kids, with items from $5 for nails to build homes in Tijuana to a $3,500 college scholarship. Once you have donated in someone else’s name, you have given twice.
For just $145, you can send your sweetie to a special seminar that promises to show you how to gather your resources and get your life back on track. While it sounds just lovely, if I had $145 to spend on a single present, I would already have resources and would consider my life nicely on track.
For others of you who subscribe to the F.A.O. Schwartz catalog and tend to consider buying the his and hers, gold-embossed, jewel-encrusted foot warmers, you might consider the discovery, beauty and spiritual nourishment promised by an “off-the-beaten-path” trip to France. It offers quality time in small, mountain villages and close interaction with French natives. If they will cook for me, I’m in.
You could sign a friend up for a class to turn a squash into art, or perhaps give the gift of a breathing mudra in a yoga class. The recipient may not really like it, but I bet she’ll be too relaxed to complain.