A Different Kind of Holiday Gift (One They Really Want)

Thank you PayPal for sponsoring this post. Visit PayPal to give the gift people really want this season: money!

Ahhh, the holidays. When I think of this time of year, my mind is filled with two distinct types of thoughts. One is full of positivity and wonderful stereotypes: freshly baked sugar cookies, crackling fires, Christmas music and movies enjoyed under blankets with loved ones, and luxuriously excessive levels of cozy. The other is slightly more realistic and infinitely less fun: stressful last minute running around, expectations that can't be met, and a general feeling of being overwhelmed. And when I get more specific and start thinking about holiday shopping and holiday gifts, my mind once again is split in two. One half is all about an ethereal vision of smiling people walking through busy, snow-covered city streets holding piles of beautifully wrapped packages, and the other is about the unavoidable anxiety that comes with trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on my list. Holiday gifting can be hard, man.

Lucky for me (and all of us, really), I just discovered a super easy but genuinely heartfelt way to give friends and family gifts they will actually use, with none of the stress. But more on that in a minute. First I have a story.

Years ago, my sister Morgan (aka my bestie forever) and I lived in the same city. We would do everything together during the holidays - from shopping to holiday coffee dates with manicures to seeing holiday movies together to cookie baking marathons and more. The holiday fun was endless, guys. These days, we live in different states, and even though I do get to see her on Christmas Eve and Day, the holiday season leading up to that can be rough. We talk, text, and FaceTime consistently during the holidays, but it's just not the same.

A couple of weeks ago, I was putting together my holiday shopping list, and when I got to my sister, I started to feel a little sad. I miss her so much, and I felt like this year, I really wanted to get her a different kind of holiday gift - something that would represent all of the wonderful things we used to do together in the days leading up to Christmas. And then I got an email about something called PayPal P2P. Boom. I had my sister's gift, and it was perfect.

Using PayPal P2P, I'm sending my sister a surprise money gift - along with one of PayPal P2P's super cute digital holiday greetings (co-created in partnership with bad ass babe Leandra Medine, founder of Man Repeller!) - so she can treat herself to a holiday manicure and coffee date, just like we used to do together. Awwww! Seriously though, I can't wait to hear her reaction. I feel like this will be such an incredible way for her to celebrate the season just like we did when we lived close to each other, and to also give her a gift that she will actually use and appreciate. And it alleviates stress off me as well, because it's so much more convenient than trying to shop for a gift she may not even want, but still has a really special personal touch. As you can see in the image below, the greetings can be personalized exactly how you want them so they're genuinely heartfelt. And there are so many fun designs to choose from!

With PayPal P2P, you can securely send and receive money with family and friends using just a phone number or email address between PayPal accounts. Be it food for Friendsgiving, the taxi to a holiday party, or that group gift for Mom and Dad, there are many reasons to use PayPal P2P payments this holiday season. You can send a PayPal P2P digital greeting by simply logging into your account on PayPal.com, select Send Money, enter the recipient's contact information, designate the amount, click the gift box, select your favorite greeting, personalize with a message, and send. The funds go right into their PayPal account; if they don’t have an account, they can quickly open one for free. Pretty great, right? To learn more about PayPal’s holiday offerings, go to: http://clvr.li/2hwucFV.

I'll be sure to try to capture my sister's reaction via FaceTime and embarrass her by sharing on my Instagram Stories. Anybody else have a holiday partner in crime for all of your December activities? Who else is using PayPal P2P for holiday gifting this year?

Thank you for supporting the brands that help make Bubby and Bean possible. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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