Holiday Gift Ideas for Your 20-Something Niece

Do you want something besides the boring gift card to give your 20-something niece this Christmas? The 20's are a transitional age for girls. College and career choices are an important and defining step a young woman takes. She may even decide to be married and start a family. Either way, it's an age of transition into adulthood with more focus and less play. Here's a list of ideas for your niece that show your love for her, the care you took to consider her gift, and your respect for her emergence into full-force adulthood.

Franklin Covey Planner: Franklin Covey offers the best in personal planners. They have so many stylish options from which to choose, so that anyone's taste can be met. This gift shows your acknowledgement of her adulthood, but the variety of page styles allow her to keep it fun, if she chooses. The planners are timeless, and I don't think I could remember to walk with mine! The best way to go is with a binder/planning pages package. The prices start at around $75. There are many different binder choices, depending on the price level most comfortable to you. Look them up on the internet or at a local mall near you.

The Tackiest Thing You Can Find: Strange suggestion for a gift, but I like to do this instead of giving a gift card. It shows your sense of humor (and hopefully hers). If you give a gift card, she'll have to go to the store and spend it. If you give a present that she hates (with the receipt) she can return it to the store, laughing as she trades it in for something she really wants. I like to give Velvet Elvis pictures in lieu of a gift card, whenever possible.

Netflix Subscription: Online movie rental is becoming more and more popular as our lives are so busy, we now have to have our movies sent to us or download them online! Netflix is a great service, convenient, and cyber-oriented, as your niece no doubt is, as well. Plans start at $4.99 a month and go up from there. Look them up at Netflix.com.

Custom-Tailored Career Suit: If your niece is at the beginning of her professional career, nothing says "classic" like a tailored suit from a specialty company. The Tom James Company has been clothing professionals in made-to-order suits for decades. They have representatives across the country who will come to your niece and fit her for a unique, professional looking suit. The impressiveness of the price may be a hindrance, but if money is no object, buy her two! Prices start at around $500.

Pride and Prejudice

Framed Picture: art.com has an unfathomable amount of artwork. Whatever you niece's style is, you can just type in a keyword and get a plethora of results to match her tastes. The artworks come framed and unframed. The prices start at dollar and keep traveling upward! If she has a new apartment or a new house, she'll appreciate something for her walls.

Bose Headphones: If you choose this gift, let it be known, I'm up for adoption as a niece! Noise cancelling headphones are great to have on planes or when you live in an apartment with thin walls. But the best feature, in my opinion, is the superior sound the headphones provide. Music is the ultimate relaxation or energizing tool. This is a great gift, and when she uses these with her ipod, she'll never go back! Prices start at $100 and go up to $350. You can find them at bose.com or a Bose store, if your local mall has one.

Book Gift Basket: If your niece is a reader, a few selections from the fiction and non-fiction bestseller lists will be a great gift. Whenever I give books to an avid reader, I try to include "book plates". These are little stickers to place at the front of each book for the owner's name. In case they lend books to friends, it will always be a friendly reminder that the book belongs to someone else...so give it back! Barnesandnoble.com is a great book source, and it is probably located somewhere near you. The price is whatever you choose to spend.

Wine Tasting Kit: If your niece is over 21, a wine tasting kit is a sophisticated gift to give. If she's career-oriented, as she moves up the ladder, no doubt she'll be exposed to many occasions where wine is served. It's always best to be educated. At nextag.com, you'll find several kits from which to choose. The prices range from $5 to $40.

Guest Registration Book: This sounds kind of hotel-like, but if your niece is a young bride, or is newly living on her own, she'll appreciate the timeless quality of a guest signature book. I look over mine on occasion, and it always brings back good memories and laughs as I read the comments from friends and acquaintances. Crane & Co has several very stylish guest books ranging from $30 to $90.

on DVD: Even for the girl who isn't currently a Jane Austen fan, she will be after this movie! It is a six hour long DVD set originally shown by the A & E network. This is NOT the Kiera Knightly version, but the 1996 version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. It is the ultimate in chick flicks and a classic. Even my brother-in-law watched it with me! It is at Amazon.com for $19.99.