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Christmas present? HELP?

Help me with a Spanish Christmas present for my mom VERY FAST!

  • I need to get a Christmas present for my mom (I KNOW HOW LITTLE TIME THERE IS LEFT, THANK YOU!). I'd really like it to be related to our recent trip to Spain, ideally somehow either to the flamenco dancer Adrian Sanchez or to the Cortylandia display in Madrid. Any ideas welcome! My mom and I just got back from Spain and had a great time and now I have to get her Christmas present and I am way behind. My first choice present to her would be an autographed picture of Adrian Sanchez; I've used the contact form on his website but haven't heard back yet (I wrote in English so he may assume I'm spam but I don't want to harass him). Alternatively, I loved and she hated the Cortylandia display in Madrid and we had a really good time watching all of the kids gaze in awe at the bears. Since the trip, she and I have both become mildly obsessed with Cortylandia. Is there anything I can get her directly related to either of these? I'd be willing to pay a fair amount in shipping to get it here on time. I'd really prefer it be specifically related to one of these things, and not just a teddy bear I label "Cortylandia" or anything. Thank you so much for any help you can give me!

  • Answer:

    Are you open to other Spain-related gifts, or just those specific ideas? What about putting together a beautiful photo book for her (on Blurb or Shutterfly or wherever), complete with captions, in-jokes, maps and even a few recipes of foods you loved? My parents love sharing them with house guests. Alternately, what about some Spanish cookbooks? http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0761135553/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0307265528/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580089224/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ and are all good choices. Combined with some lovely bottles of Spanish wine and you would have a great gift!

Mrs. Pterodactyl at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source

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At this short notice? Maybe take the best pic of your trip together, (perhaps of the Cortylandia display) and get it professionally framed. If it's digital, you could possibly get someone clean up the photo (contrast, brightness, etc) to make it look really snazzy. For regular more mundane gift ideas, like Spanish ceramics, or a gift hamper full of Spanish goodies, I found http://www.tienda.com/ in my searching, but good luck getting it shipped on time.

Dimes

I would run to the nearest Williams Sonoma and get her a paella pan and some saffron.

fingersandtoes

Thank you for these suggestions -- I should clarify that I am really only looking for information related specifically to Adrian Sanchez or Cortylandia. If those won't work I can figure out another gift on my own.

Mrs. Pterodactyl

Is Adrian Sanchez associated with any particular flamenco song? My head went to "music this man is known for/loves to perform to".

ersatzkat

I poked around a bit on the El Corte Ingles website and as far as I can tell there is nothing actually branded with Cortylandia. There's only a passing mention of it in their Christmas catalogue. Would something El Corte Ingles branded do? I'm not even sure they do that kind of thing, but then I haven't spent a lot of time in their souvenir section. I can look if you'd like. As far as Adrian Sanchez goes, it doesn't look like he has anything for sale, no posters, no DVDs, nothing except dance classes at his studio. Which leads me to me incredibly off-the-wall gift idea: if you and your mother (or just your mother) were planning on returning to Madrid sometime soon, you could give her a gift certificate (made by you, he doesn't sell those either) for a class with him! http://www.adrianflamenco.com/escuela.php.

lollymccatburglar

...I'm a native Spaniard but not from Madrid. I think the closest thing to Cortylandia I've seen is http://youtu.be/B1p_aOHSw6U in the horror comedy "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Beast_(film)" with the Tres Reyes Magos in Preciados being mowed down with a shotgun. This movie is a Christmas movie the way "Die Hard" is: it's a dark comedy with horror moments about the Antichrist being born in Madrid during Christmas, and a nebbish Basque priest, a heavy metal fan ("Satanic... and from Carabanchel!") and a paranormal TV show host that must prevent that.

sukeban

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