Category / eyewear

by Kelly Mattei

Holiday Gifts 2023: Travel Gifts

Travel gifts.

I love travel gifts. Why? Well, because I love to travel. I don’t have to go all around the world, but I do love just getting out of town. Therefore, I have some great ideas for the travelers on your holiday shopping list:

  • Samsonite Freeform Carry-On Spinner. Named “Best Overall Carry-On 2023” by Travel & Leisure Magazine, you won’t get one faster than I do, because I’m ordering one for me and one for my daughter as soon as I finish typing this. It’s hard-sided. It’s expandable. It’s durable. It has great wheels. It comes in great colors. And it’s less than $200! Merry Christmas to me! If you have a traveler on your list, this could be the perfect gift. I’m getting us a lilac one and a powder blue. I like to get colors you don’t see out there often. Get them at Amazon here.
  • Travel Bag with Trolley Sleeve. To go with the spinner above, you could get a travel bag with a trolley sleeve that sits atop the luggage and doesn’t fall…thanks to the sleeve. You can get one for your favorite traveler at Amazon for under $30. It comes in multiple colors and gets great reviews. See it here.
  • Destinations of a Lifetime. A hardcover book published by National Geographic, this lists 225 of the world’s most spectacular places. If you have someone on your list who enjoys travel, this could be a great gift. Priced at just $$23.25, it’s an inexpensive but useful gift. The traveler will love it. The person who dreams of travel will love it too. My mother, in her later years, when she could no longer travel, loved seeing great destinations in print or on TV. See it here.

  • Portable Blender. If you have a traveler on your list who loves their protein shakes as much as my husband does, you need to get them this Ninja portable blender. My husband packs one in his suitcase no matter where we go. It’s not heavy or bulky. At $59.99, it’s a bargain, and it gets the job done! Get it at Amazon here.
  • Apple AirPods. I mentioned these in another list, but I’m adding them here, because they are essential for long flights…or even long car rides with family. My college-age daughter has had some for years, but I was reluctant to get them, thinking I would never use them. I use them. Because I wasn’t sure if I would use them, I didn’t get the latest model, but the ones I have (2nd generation) are great, and they’re just $99. Teenagers might care, but if you’re buying for someone over 30, they probably don’t care that they’re not the latest. Get them here.
  • Airplane Window Frame. Have a traveler on your list who loves to take photos while traveling? An airplane window photo frame could be the perfect gift! I’d love one myself! Get it here for just $19.90.
  • Anti-Theft Backpack for Women. Y’all, before I traveled to Panama in October, I purchased an anti-theft backpack to take with me. I hate backpacks that have easy access from the outside; I think they are made for pickpockets. Any female traveler on your list could use an anti-theft backpack for exploring cities. See the one I purchased for under $30 here. It’s lightweight, roomy, and I love mine. It comes in several colors.

  • Travel Hairdryer. Yes, hotels have hairdryers. However, how many times have you been in a hotel and wondered why you trusted them to provide a good dryer? The best travel dryer I have found is the T3 Afar Lightweight Travel Dryer. It’s not cheap at $179, but it’s a great dryer that folds in half, so it takes up less room in luggage. Any traveler on your list would appreciate this. See it here.
  • Baseball Hat Carrier. Someone on your list love his/her baseball hats when traveling? You can be the hero of the holidays with this gift! I had no idea this even existed until a friend told me about it! It holds and protects up to six baseball caps. They can carry it as their carry-on or pack it in a bigger bag. I know several people who could use this! Get it here.

  • Portable Neck Fan. For those travelers on your list who can’t sleep on a plane without a fan, here’s the perfect gift! This is the big daddy of neck fans with lots of power, and its rechargeable. It comes in a variety of colors. Get it here.

  • Sleep Headphones/Eye Mask. My cousin travels with these, and after a trip with her, I see the genius behind this product. Block out all the noise and light with these. If someone on your list prefers to fall asleep listening to music or a story…or even white noise from a phone, this is a great gift. I’ll be asking for this myself. Get it here.

  • Buffalo Leather Hanging Dopp Kit/Toiletry Bag. Travelers need extra room in hotel bathrooms. The KomalC Buffalo Leather Hanging Toiletry Bag provides that extra space. Travelers don’t have to run out of room on the vanity if they have this. It will be a welcome gift. Get it here.
  • Hey Dudes. Folks love their Hey Dudes shoes. Another product my cousin introduced me to, these slip-on shoes are all the rage, especially with travelers. Anyone who has had to take off their shoes while passing through TSA checkpoints knows the drama. Make it easy for the traveler on your list with Hey Dudes. Seriously, even if you have TSA Precheck, you can be pulled out of line for a random check…and have to take off your shoes. Hey Dudes are inexpensive, and apparently, they are awesome! The traveler on your list will be grateful. See the entire Hey Dudes line at Amazon here.

There are some great options for the travelers on your list. I will have more ideas for travelers soon, so feel free to check back!

Happy Shopping!

***If you’d like to purchase the airplane Christmas ornament in the featured photo, you can get it at Amazon here.***

by Kelly Mattei

My not-so-superpower

There was a time I had excellent vision. I could see anything up close, far away…I almost thought of it as my superpower. And then I turned 40.

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The decline in my eyesight was the first clue that I really was, in fact, growing older. I realized I am not the Bionic Woman (her superpower was her hearing). I realized I am going to age just like the rest of the population. I have no superpower. Well, maybe I do, but it’s not my eyesight. (We’ll get to my superpower on another day.)

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I still see things far away really well, but I started needing “readers,” or eyeglasses for reading things up close, in my early 40s. I would purchase the cute little drugstore readers and get them out of my handbag any time I needed them. But then, I realized I could never find them when I needed them, so I started walking around with them pushed down on the bridge of my nose.

That changed when my daughter said, “Mom, you look like a grandma.” There’s nothing wrong with being a grandma, if you ARE a grandma, but I’m not. And I certainly wasn’t a grandma in my early 40s. I had a small child, for goodness sake!

I’ve seen lots of people who wear their readers pushed up high on their noses, but I don’t know how they walk around! I do not need to be looking through a magnifying glass for distance vision.

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I found a website a few years ago that, at the time, I thought had the perfect readers for me. Bifocal readers…clear on top with magnification in the bifocal lens on bottom. Turns out, they were cheaply made, and they were always breaking or the cheap lenses were scratching.

A few months ago, I was visiting my mother and broke the only pair of cheap bifocal readers I had with me. There is a Walgreen’s near her house, so I went to “the corner of happy and healthy” in search of some new readers.

I was in luck. They had some glasses on sale…buy one get one 50% off, and the original price was only $34.95/pair. These particular glasses were on a Foster Grant end cap. They were advertised as computer glasses. I had no idea what that meant, but the discount  lured me in. I was going to investigate.

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What I read was that they were multi-focus glasses, meaning the bottom part of the lens is for reading, the middle for computer work, and the top for interacting. There is a blue blocker in the lens, so it reduces the strain on your eyes from computer work. Here is where I need to add the fine print: “ready-to-wear non-prescription glasses are not intended to replace prescribed corrective lenses or examiniations by an eye care professional. Continous eye check-ups are necessary to determine your eye health status and vision needs.”

Since there was a “buy one get one 50% off” deal, I purchased two. The frames on both are bigger than I usually like, but I needed some glasses immediately!

My friend, Angela, and I had dinner plans that night, so I went back to Mother’s, where I changed clothes, and drove to pick up Angela. We have been friends for more than 30 years…since college. I once had a boyfriend who hated being in the same room with the two of us, because he said, “Y’all talk without talking. It’s weird…like you can read each other’s minds.” Of course, we thought that was hilarious, and we have laughed about it ever since. Our friendship lasted, but that boyfriend is ancient history.

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Turns out he might have been right! When I arrived at Angela’s, she met me at the door. We hugged, and then she backed up and said, “We have the same glasses!” Indeed, we did! Serendipity? Extrasensory perception? When we got in the car, we took a selfie, and I posted it on Instagram, and then we laughed and laughed again at that old boyfriend and what he had said. Maybe we have the superpower of ESP! The fact that she had the same pair made me like the glasses more; I guess I think she’s a Cool Kid, so the glasses must be OK.

“Who’s that behind those Foster Grants?” Some of you will remember that ad campaign from the 60s and 70s. The funny thing about these Foster Grants is that I purchased them in a BOGO deal, and I get compliments all…the…time! A few nights ago, I was at dinner with my teenage daughter, and we ran into some friends. One of them said she and another friend had been talking about my great glasses! What?! My Foster Grants? My daughter said, “You get compliments on those glasses ALL THE TIME!” It’s true!

I know…I keep talking about how they look. Well, they work well too. First, the construction seems to be good quality, and the lenses definitely don’t scratch as easily as the others I used. Also, I’ve noticed a big difference in eye strain when using the computer, so I guess they actually do what they’re designed to do!

So, I’m giving y’all the scoop. Want some great multi-focus glasses? These are awesome. You can purchase them directly from Foster Grant here, or you can purchase them on Amazon here. They offer lots of different styles, but for me, the style that receives the most compliments is called the Conan, and it  appears (today) to be sold out on the Foster Grant site, but it’s still available on Amazon. It’s a bigger frame than I usually buy, but I love them. Angela likes hers too. I had to wear them for a day before I became accustomed to the “multi-focus” lens, but that’s all it took.

So yes, they are my new favorite glasses. As for my superpower…I could tell you, but I’m saving that for another post.

What’s YOUR superpower?

Kelly