GIFTING AGAINST THE CLOCK
It’s crunch time, fellow proscrastinators.
But if the thought of Christmas shopping this weekend leaves you looking a little like Tootsie and Twinkle here, don’t despair. A quick spin through downtown Red Bank is all it takes to start you checking names off your holiday gift lists.
redbankgreen was able to assemble this assortment of affordable gifts in less than hour; the last suggestion below didn’t even require us to step away from our keyboard. All it takes is a little hustle, an open mind, and a little bit of green.
For example, somebody you know is bound to be smitten by Tootsie and Twinkle, a pair of bowlegged holiday figurines just crying out for a good home. At the moment, they’re in the temporary care of Ray and Kelly Samm Adams, owners of K. Samm Living, which opened last spring at 29 Monmouth Street.
Among the wondrous toys and games at Mark Ginsberg’s Art of Play on Broad Street, we quickly found this see-through hand with exposed inner circuitry. Turn it on: it plays classical music as the fingers slowly move.
Perhaps it was the chill in the air, or in our hair, that drew our eye to this snappy olive green velour fedora among the hundreds of bargains to be found at the Nearly New Shop at 70 Monmouth Street. In mint condition, it promises to keep its next owner’s head stylishly warm.
Of course, anyone who’s ever been stuck with one of Red Bank’s infamous $38 parking tickets knows all about racing around downtown to beat the meter. But all that digging for change in the cupholders of your car and watching the clock while you shop or dine is unnecessary.
The beauty of the so-called Smart Card is that you only pay for the time you actually use. So stick it into any meter in town, let it gobble up the fee for the maximum time, and then re-insert the card when you return to have unused time refunded to the card. For $25, you get 50 hours of parking.
The cards are available at the borough Parking Utility office on the second floor of the Municipal Building at 90 Monmouth Street between 9a and 5p. They are also available at several downtown retailers, including Funk & Standard, Zebu Forno, Hamilton Jewelers, Jonathan Salon, Wooly Monmouth and Red Ginger Home.
Finally, dessert, and a guilt-free one at that: gelatos and sorbets from Red Bank-based Blackwell’s Organic, which bills itself as New Jersey’s “first and only certified organic, dairy-free gelato and fruit sorbetto manufacturer.”
Available in 11 flavors, these gourmet treats are also gluten free, cholesterol free, virtually fat-free, with less than 6 grams of fat in the gelatos (depending on flavor) and zero fat in the sorbettos.
You can find them in dozens of stores, but you can also now send them to family and friends in packs of 4, 6, 8 or 12 pints via GelatoByMail.com. Orders are shipped 2nd Day Air Express Mail with dry ice to ensure the safe delivery.