Adulthood can be tricky. There are so many different ways to be a grown-up and it takes everyone a different amount of time to reach certain levels of grown-upness. When one of your friends has done it, when they’re on their way to peak adulthood, you should celebrate them. Because being an adult isn’t about the big things: the car, the house, the job. It’s the little things that let you know someone really has their shit together. Here are some gifts that will show your friends you accept them and their newfound glory, but also know they don’t have it down pat quite yet.
Water Purifier Refills
Sure they have the pitcher with the filter, who doesn’t. But when’s the last time they changed it? Aren’t they basically just keeping tap water in the refrigerator at this point? Find out if they have a Brita, Pur, or some other brand and grab them a few refills because they definitely need them.
Pur Water Filter Replacements
Brita Water Filter Replacements
Iron + Ironing Board
There are people that iron and there are people that don’t iron. But let me tell you, we should all have the option. Instead of that ten dollar iron they’ve had since college and use every two months in emergencies, get them a nice iron with steam settings and a cord longer than 8 inches. And while you’re at it, grab them an ironing board so they can stop laying a towel down on hard surfaces and hoping they don’t burn whatever’s underneath.
T-Leg Ironing Board
Countertop Ironing Board
Singer Expert Finish Steam Iron
Maytag Speed Heat Iron and Steamer
Fountain Pen
They’ve probably already got a desk at home. It might not be for working but perhaps bill paying or reading or internetting. You know what will make that desk look 200% more adult? An unnecessarily fancy pen. When you have a fancy pen, everything you write becomes fancy and they’ve earned that life.
Pen and Pencil Desk Set
Margiela Goose Pen
LAMY Broad Fountain Pen
Wireless Speakers
Sure sure sure they can play full albums on their vintage record player but sometimes they need something practical. Sometimes they wanna throw on some smooth jazz for their guests via a smartphone. Sometimes they wanna go on a picnic and let everyone know they’re in charge because they brought the speakers and thus control the music.
Bose Bluetooth Speaker
Beats by Dre Pill
TouchTone Wireless Speaker
Driving Gloves
Someone looks across at them at a red light and they wave with a gloved hand. But it’s not knit or some other menial cloth. It’s leather. Nothing says they’re at the top of their game better than having the energy to care about how their hands feel while inside of a car.
Pratt and Hart Deerskin Driving Gloves
Bionic Driving Gloves
Fratelli Orsini Everyday Leather Driving Gloves
Wine Opener
People will bring wine to their home because that’s just what adults do. They will open it quickly and without any issues. It will require very little manual labor which is important because they’re wearing an expensive seasonal sweater that they’d prefer not to sweat through.
Corkscrew Opener with Pewter and Walnut Stand
Houdini Electric Corkscrew
Brookstone Compact Wine Opener
Duster
They’ll dust the bookshelf that smells of rich mahogany. They’ll dust the entertainment center because they have lots of electronics. They’ll dust because sometimes they’ve been so busy that things meant for leisure didn’t get touched for weeks and a thin film of gray has collected on everything.
Microfiber Duster
Feather Duster
Extendable Duster
A Coffee Table Book about Their Neighborhood
They’ve discovered all the secrets of their neighborhood and could even give a tour of the historic locations in the immediate vicinity. They know the history of the parks and everything that used to be before gentrification. They’ll offer to take you on a walk sometime and point out things they assume you didn’t know but you definitely did.
Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles
Boston’s French Secrets: Guided Walks That Reveal Boston’s French Heritage
Secret Stairs, East Bay: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Berkeley and Oakland
More than 2-Ply Toilet Tissue
They’ll probably have some sort of holiday party and people will come over and ask to use the restroom and when they get their hands on that tissue, guests will say things like, “Wow. [So and so] must be doing welllll.” And, “If that’s how they treat their butt, imagine how they’ll treat a lady!” 4-ply toilet tissue is straight up extravagant and a blatant display of wealth that I can get behind.
Quilted Northern Ultra Plush 3-Ply
Regina Softis 4-Ply Toilet Tissue
I asked for and was given a (not too fancy) fountain pen last Christmas, does this mean I am an adult? Or do I need to receive a duster and some loo roll in order to truly level up to adulthood? Important questions.
I’m considering actually getting my license now just so I’ll have an excuse for a pair of driving gloves.
You can totally wear driving gloves and ride a bike. Bonus points if your bar tape is the same leather as your gloves. Looks classy with cork too.
I refuse to get my adult friends adult gifts I am going to pull them down to my level haHA
Naw I’m actually making everyone flavored salt. Adulthood?
just combine that gift with cheap tequila and a shot glass. perfect combo!
This is brilliant
I HATE MULTI-PLY TOILET PAPER. My bottom will only accept that rough, thin, diner napkin-like single ply. If that makes me not-an-adult, so be it! This is important, ya’ll. If anyone buys me 2-ply+ TP, we are no longer friends. #deadtome #singleplyforever
what WHAT
DO YOU HATE YOUR DOWNSTAIRS BUSINESS?
WAIT is this like how I like scratchy towels because they feel like they work better?
Omg i bet this is exactly why
^^ Exactly. I can not feel clean with fluffy toilet paper. I just can’t. It is not right.
(Also, I grew up with single ply and it just feels right to me.)
Well I don’t agree with you but I suppose I can see your point of view re: toilet paper thickness. I gUESS.
oh my God you might have just beat me out for most unpopular opinion ever posted on this website
AVOCADOS OPINION
YES KAELYN I AM RIGHT HERE WITH YOU. #singleplyforever #team1
WHAT IS HAPPENING
YEEEEESSSSS! I am not alone!!!!!! #septicfriendlyrealness #team1
Or you could the thrifty thing and make the two ply paper one ply and double your total.
Woah. :mindblown:
Then again, that seems like a lot of work. And would I do it square-by-square or, like, take a whole roll and disassemble it… Have to think about game plan here…
My girlfriend found 3 ply toilette paper when she went shopping without me the other day. When I got home, she said she had a surprise and that was it. I love it. I will never by 2 ply (or 1 ply. My dad was a TP snob) again. I am one of those people who judges others by the type of TP they have when I use their bathrooms.
As a French lesbian and wine lover, I’m sorry to tell you that your wine opener choices are unacceptable.
This is what a wine opener should look like
http://www.vin-subtil.com/749-4197-thickbox/vacuvin-tire-bouchon-sommelier.jpg
#imawinesnob
True story : whenever somebody gets their first apartment or even moves into a new one, my dad will offer them two things : this wine opener (not brand specific) and a Peugeot peppermill (yes brand specific, my dad is also a pepper snob. Move you dad !)
I meant love not move (i promise this is an autocorrect issue and not a beer issue)
My mum has a Peugeot, and I have already informed my sister that when our parents kick it, I’m taking the pepper grinder.
Chloe! This is too true, when I moved to Paris (the first time) someone on the canal st. martin said to me — p. much fluent in (spoken) French — that the only word I really needed to learn was ‘tire bouchon.’ ‘Forget the rest!’ he said.
These are the devil: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Korkenzieher_01_KMJ.jpg
Ahah yes the bonus with the “sommelier” tire-bouchon is it folds on itself so you can cary it in your purse. Also there’s a tiny knife designed to cut open the sealer on top + a beer opener. It’s basically a swiss army knife for booze.
I’ve had other kinds of wine openers but this one never failed me.
I’ve got a cheap one with a knife from Monoprix (God bless monoprix and its indomitable sock collection)
Will await on a fancy one for Christmas.
I have this thing called the Rabbit, which sounds (and kind of looks) like a personal massager, but is, in fact, a wine opener. Is this acceptable? Or not acceptable?
I may be contradicting myself but :
yes, yes it is ! It’s a wine opener that looks like a rabbit ! What more could you want ? (One that vibrates ? Hum…)
Or you could buy this one
http://img.engadget.com/common/images/3060000000057638.JPG?0.8615131976794025
… it’s SHAPED like a personal massager AND it probably vibrates (since it’s ‘automatic’). I mean could they BE any more subtle ?!
It’s good to know my wine opener is French wine-snob approved.
YES TO THIS. Je t’adore!
Don’t need an opener when most of the win you drink is a screw top! I like my wine easily accessible – damn the wine snobs. (Although I draw my limit at goon bags).
I do have a couple of openers like that gathering dust in my second kitchen draw – I sometimes miss the ritual of the cut, peel, twist, leverage and pop.
Also, screw top is becoming more widely used by nicer wines, as it’s actually a safer bet than cork, real or synthetic! No oxygen can pass through a galvanized top, and 0% chance of cork taint. I’m all about ending the stigma of screw top=shit wine.
Yes absolutely agree. I don’t often splurge on very expensive wine, but in my $20-$30 eminently drinkable range they are nearly all screw tops now.
As a wine rep, I wholeheartedly agree!
I have that one! I didn’t know it was particularly French.
I use multiple oyl toilet paper but I dust with a compressed air can. Not fully grown up yet I guess.
Just so we’re clear, I have zero of the items on this list.
Ironing. The least understood of my lifestyle choices.
Last year for xmas I received a terrifying looking German brand corkscrew (why do you call it a wine opener guys?) which has its own stand and foil cutter. It’s kinda like the far left one in the pic but more machiney and mean and weapon looking with a spare blade/pointy curl. I haven’t yet used it as I’m terrified! I’m still using the old Bollinger logoed promo one I got when I was a bar person. Not a real adult.
Also quilted toilet paper blocks tiny Victorian British drains…I’ve had to call for the man with the scary hose truck to unblock mine every time I’ve bought it. Budget bog roll forever.
I don’t iron.
The worst adult.
What this post is telling me is that I’m an adult and that is terrifying
I know the feeling.
*currently having a mid-twenties existential crisis*
I don’t iron.
I don’t separate darks and lights when I do laundry.
I use the cheapest toilet paper I can find. (Usually angel soft. It’s soft like angels and clouds and babies, apparently, if the advertisement on the packaging is accurate.)
BUT. A steam mop was one of the best presents I’ve ever received.
I am an adult only in some regards. This Christmas I asked for a pot with a glass lid for boiling rice. I assume that falls under the adult category.
A sage piece of advice I was given many years ago: get the very best ironing board you can. Even the cheapshit ones last forever and if you get same you’ll be swearing at it forever. Spring for the good one! Oh, and I swear by my Rowenta iron, not at it.