Tis the season for gift giving and receiving. While I can easily admit that I like being on the receiving end (anyone wanna buy me a mac charger that actually works? or maybe a spice rack?) there is nothing I enjoy more than finding or creating special gifts for special people.

Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, I spent many hours curled up on my parents couch creating a book for my Grandma. I wanted to send her a collection of some of my favorite blog posts and poems, since she hasn’t read any of my work since a “novel” I wrote back when I was eight. My Grandma has an incredible knack for writing, and has always supported my own creative endeavors. 

I used Blurb Book Smart, since I read you could import posts directly from WordPress and other hosts. I gave myself about three seconds to try and figure out how to use this feature, and then just decided to create the layout on my own. I designed the front and back cover, table of contents, and figured out what I wanted to fill the pages with. I included stories I knew she’d want to read, like my marathon recap, one-year anniversary with Greatist, and upcoming Costa Rica trip. I also added fun stories about laundry and cheese pilgrimages, camping adventures and the famous John Carlos. I sprinkled in some of my favorite poems, too.

With so much of the world digitized (is that really a word? sounds like a Pokemon) I often miss what once was only tangible: text, photos, music, etc. Sometimes I don’t trust computers and am afraid I’ll lose everything I store in gmail drafts and miscellaneous folders.

 It was weird holding my writing in my hands and seeing in on paper, but it also felt permanent. It felt real. And I can’t wait to get it in the hands of someone who I know will appreciate it most.