Although the holidays are upon us yet again with shocking alacrity, I’m choosing to welcome the seasonal splendor. National and global disappointments aside, I’m opting to focus on what’s nearest and dearest. If I haven’t made it clear in the past two years as this publication’s editor: I love the East Bay. It is my home and my community, and where my heart resides.
And yes, this issue is essentially a gift guide. We focus on all manner of giving—locally, as is our wont. It’s easy to find anything your heart desires here, from the strange and creatively minded to the ordinary and inoffensive. Hey, time and place, right? Plus, we believe that spending our gift-giving dollars at neighboring businesses is not only our civic duty but an investment in our own prosperity.
In “Town Love,” we receive expert recommendations from two female entrepreneurs who developed a gift box featuring locally curated goods made in Oakland. In “Low-Tech, No-Tech,” we thankfully take a break from all things digital to focus on gifts that are handcrafted, planted and/or to be experienced. In “Gifts That Give,” we offer ideas for supporting local nonprofits with donations, gift subscriptions and memberships. And in “Body Love,” we explore gifts to honor, protect and satisfy certain, if not all, parts.
As a break from all that fantastic gifting, we partake in more sensual pleasures at Sun Moon Studio, where we see stars in the artistic culinary creations of chefs Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu. We join a tiki crawl in search of the best Mai Tais. And we relax to the soulful grooves of social justice-minded jazz pianist Samora Pinderhughes of Berkeley.
May you find peace and joy in these pages, community and home this season.
