Holiday Gift Guide 2015

[trip style = any]

Ever since Trip Styler debuted in 2009, we've assembled a holiday gift guide. 'Tis the season once again! In past years it skewed gadgety or aspirational, whereas this year it's international—how à propos—with Italian, Japanese and Mexican finds to bundle you up, cool you down and transport you afar. 

{Clockwise from top left}

1/ Expandable Beach Bag :: Sourced on the palm- and juice bar-studded shores of Tulum, Mexico, enter the ultimate beach bag for those who like to pack smart. Featured in the Trip Styler Store, our totes sport leather straps and woven mesh that packs flat and compact, and then expands as you add your beach or pool essentials. 
Find our boho totes in yellow, brown, white, blue and pink in the Trip Styler Store

2/ The Kinfolk of Travel Magazines :: Flipping through the pages of this bi-annual magazine about travel and style is a journey until itself. Everything about the magazine is chic from the thick white-matte pages to the whitewashed photos from afar. 
Find it in select boutiques and online

3/ Modern Kimono :: Half blazer, half kimono, we spotted this tailored hybrid while in Japan, brought a few home for the Trip Styler Store, and wear ours almost once a week. It's chic, it's worldly and it's pulled together.
Find our mod kimonos in black and subdued black prints in the Trip Styler Store

4/ DIY Aperol Spritz Kit :: This summer in Italy we jumped on the Aperol train, and we never got off. It's a trip in a tumbler. Every time we drink Italy's libation of choice, we're transported to a cobblestone street in Capri. Gifting it to a cocktail-obsessed loved one is smart because it's easy to put together—all you need is Aperol, prosecco and soda—and it will make it seem like you have your finger on the pulse of what people are sipping worldwide.
Find the recipe and ingredients in our That Travel Meal series

5/ Espresso Maker :: Another beverage {of the non-alcoholic variety} that became a regular for us in Italia was espresso, which we made in a Moka Express, an iconic, 1930s-developed espresso maker. So into the brewing technique and taste, we brought one home with us from Italy. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, you don't have to go to the Boot to buy one.
Find it on Amazon {and watch this quick tutorial we put together} 

6/ Blanket Scarf :: Here at the TS HQ we've been wearing blanket scarves for ions because they keep us warm in cold climates and when the temperature dips at 35,000 ft.
Find them + a tutorial on how to wear these travel warm-ups in our latest Jetset Style dispatch

7/ Donation :: If you know the person who has everything or doesn't want things, consider making a donation in their name to an organization or cause they care about. {Not shown above}

Related
Holiday Gift Guide 2014
Holiday Gift Guide 2013

[graphic assembled by @tripstyler]

Jetset Style :: Blanket Scarves

Cozy has evolved from function to fashion. First came the Snuggie—a sleeved infomercial blanket—then the Poler Napsack—a personal #campvibes sleeping bag—and now the blanket scarf: the oversized scarf trend that, thankfully, won't die.

If you're in the dark about the blanket scarf, it's an oversized, square{ish}, thick, scarf that not only gives you permission to wear a throw blanket-sized accessory outside the house, but also doubles as an actual blanket whenever you need one. Picnic blanket? Check. Plane blanket? Check. On a recent fight from Amsterdam, I gave my airline blanket to my seat mate, who was travelling home from Africa. She was freezing after a month of heat, and I was toasty, covered by my Aritzia blanket scarf.

A few favorites

- Zara soft geometric scarf {$40 / 51 x 55" / 100% acrylic}
- Aritzia gloomy days blanket scarf {$85 / 51 x 63" / 100% wool}
- Oak & Fort blanket scarf {$48 / 62 x 62" / 100% acrylic}
- asos oversized square scarf {$40 / 59 x 59" / 100% acrylic}

A little outfit inspiration

A scarf-tying tutorial

Can't see the video? Click here.

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

Related
Crop it like it's Hot
Comfort Class
How to Dress like a Parisian

[collages by @heatherlovesit, outfit inspiration photos via #myaritzia, nymag and lovely-pepa.com]

Lights, Lights Baby: Christmas in Vancouver

[trip style = food + wine + urban + active]

This year, Baby Styler's obsession with all things bright has me "kid excited" for Christmas, harkening back to a time when I was so smitten with the season, I'd watch the clock, minute-by-minute, waiting for the 25th. 

Armed with a little more patience in my adulthood, I've realized Christmas isn't just one day, but rather ALL of advent from the parties that happen every year, to the family traditions I still hold dear, to the festive events all over the City of Glass. 

If you're in need an extra dose of Christmas cheer, cozy up to these heart-warming Vancouver holiday traditions.

Haute Christmas Vacation-Style Sipping
To me, the Four Seasons Vancouver is the ultimate Noël hotel. Hosting the 28th annual Festival of Trees benefitting the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, the lower and upper lobbies transform into a festive forest decorated in bobbles and garlands galore. Couple this with its perfect location in the center of holiday shopping-ville, as well as YEW Bar's merry band of sippers, including an organic nog and vanilla-, all spice-, and cinnamon-spiced bourbon bev that comes in a Christmas Vacation moose mug, and visiting the posh address is a holiday must.   

Bright Nights Christmas Train 
Before you could pre-buy your train tickets in ultra-efficient half-hour time slots, my family used to lineup every year bundled up in what seemed like 100 layers to ride the Stanley Park Christmas Train. At the time, it was one of the highlights of my holidays, second only to Christmas morning. Thirty some-odd years later the 50-year-old miniature train is still magical, still whimsical and still retro {I swear, I recognized some of the same decorations}! I just took Baby Styler, and based on his jolly reaction, I think he was hoping we'd take him every night. On until January 2nd, 2016. 

Walking in a Winter Wonderland
If you can't shake the song "Walking in a winter wonderland" head to the frosted Peak of Christmas at Grouse Mountain where you'll find a holiday scene akin to a just-shaken a snow globe. Blanketed in the white stuff, warmed by a crackling fire and adorned in trees lit up with holiday lights, Grouse is Vancouver's version of the North Pole complete with an Elf Headquarters, where kids can create their own Rudolf or write a letter to Santa; an 8,000-square-foot outdoor skating pond; and Light Walk, the mountain's newest addition with holiday light installations strung between the fir and spruce trees.

[photos, in order of appearance, via Seattle Mag, Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, and Trip Styler]

That Travel Meal: Jugo Verde

[trip style = food + wine]

In many ways, I feel like this body-cleansing bev should the first thing we talk about in 2016. But, why wait? Between the copious amounts of cheese and Champagne the holiday season brings, this is the PERFECT time to whip up one of Mexico's most delicious and healthy elixirs: Jugo Verde {green juice}.

It's a mystery to me that I've been to Mexico mucho times and never sampled this heavenly juice-smoothie hybrid. Honestly, my body feels jipped. So, when I was in the Riviera Maya and Puerto Vallarta a few weeks ago, I made up for my nutritional loss by consuming four cups per day: two at breakfast, straight up, and two in the afternoon with vodka {my versions of a kinda-healthy happy hour drink}.

If you'd like to taste the wonders of Mexico's tropical tonic, do a daily detox between the rum balls and brie cheese, and get a head start on your 2016 resolutions, I implore you to imbibe Jugo Verde for now and evermore. Amen.  

Bonus, it's seasonally on-trend with its Christmassy hue.

Jugo Verde {makes 2 cups}
1 cup of water
2 oranges, squeezed {or 1/2 a cup of pure OJ}
10 one-inch cubes of pineapple
1.5 stalks of celery, chopped
1 heaping handful of spinach
1 small handful of parsley

Instructions
Blend and serve. To make it more hearty {read: smoothie-like} add less water, to make it more juice-like, add more water.

Related
That Travel Meal: T-H-E Italian Cocktail
That Travel Meal: Pok Pok Som Thai Basil Gin Rickey
That Travel Meal: Best-in-Show Burrata at Ava Gene's
That Travel Meal: Chevre-Prosciutto-Pear-Arugula Pizza