Gift Guide

Moms, Part I

Tell me what kind of mom you have and I’ll tell you what to get her

By Laura Cassidy April 29, 2010

The laptop tote by Kirkland’s Plaid Doctrine, because mama’s gotta go.

Moms: Where would we be without them? To help you celebrate the ones nearest and dearest to you, I’ve identified ten maternal archetypes and paired each with perfect gifting ideas.

In Part I, we fete laptop-toting frequently flying moms, brand new mommies, English or otherwise Anglophilic mums, best-dressed mamas, and earth mothers. Don’t see yours here? Come back tomorrow for five more.

1. The World-Class Business-Class Regular If she could be two places at once, one of her would totally be here all the time, sure. Of course. But given that impossibility, she’s off to seal the deal in Dubai and sign the dotted lines in Dallas. Check out the classic, new-world travel bags at Plaid Doctrine. Conceived on the Eastside by Suzanne Park, these laptop-storing totables are made with recycled fabrics (did you know a recycled bottle could become baby blue houndstooth?) and prime grade vegetable-tanned leather. In true designed-in-the-Northwest style, the bags are fabricated in the USA using materials sourced, for the most part, domestically. And check this out: Park is offering Where What When readers a 15% discount if you order before Mother’s Day. Enter “seattlemet15” in the promo code prompt. Park notes, “We do free ground shipping only—within the greater Seattle area that is usually 2 days.” Plan accordingly. This kind of mom can’t be kept waiting.

2. The Newbie Does it get easier, or does it just get easier to deal with how challenging it is? She wouldn’t trade mamahood for nothing but she sure could use a massage. Our Feel Great Now feature lines up a dozen or so of the city’s best ways to destress, unwind, relax, and feel totally and completely taken care of. Get her a treatment-specific gift certificate if she’s too tired to be bothered with choosing her own, or go with a dollar amount and let her design her own day. A couple tips: Make sure she gets an hour or so padding time around the appointment. Tea and a relaxing walk before, and plenty of no-rush luxuriating in the spa’s steamy saunas and fluffy robes spas after. Have the day’s next meal ready to go when she gets home. And do the dishes. And the laundry. And make the bed. You don’t want her re-tensing immediately upon re-entry.

3. Tea? Totally In a city known for its coffee, there sure are a lot of tea-drinking types, and c’mon, there’s something so old-fashioned and sweet about tea time. Visit the Crumpet Shop and make up your own crumpets-and-jasmine picnic; take her for a proper Japanese tea ceremony or a Brits-in-Bothell cucumber-and-cream-cheese-with-pinkies-out afternoon; or package up some loose leaf from Miro Tea, Teavana, or one of the other dozen or so tea spots threatening to overtake the coffee shops.

4. The Clothes Horse I’m sure it has something to do with her being a mom, but Kay Smith-Blum at Butch Blum has gone a little mad with her Mother’s Day promotions. First, there’s the Style Boost. Have you heard of these? The BB team is gonna pull a mama from Palamino’s on May 4 (be there, with her, with your I heart Mom pin on) for that week’s boost — speaking of boost, the winner will also get a hair extension treatment from Marco AND $50 gift certificate to the Capitol Grille. Wait! There’s more! If you don’t score the style boost, get to Butch Blum /info:357/ early on Sunday May 7; the first two shopping madres will also get the $50 Capitol Grille card.

5. She With Her Arms Around the World The earth mama will love whatever comes her way, that’s just her way. At Nube Green you can choose from a crazy-wide assortment of goods (reworked fine jewelry, tomato-plants-in-a-bag, salvaged wood furniture) all linked by a common yet fairly uncommon bond: They’ve all been made in the USA. The shop’s raison d’etre is to offer beautiful, mindful objects that have never flown over an ocean. The earth-lover in her will love that.

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