🎁 Build-Your-Own Bear Gift Basket 🧺

You know that moment when you suddenly realize Christmas is… very soon and your gift plan is basically “vibes”? Same. Xmas is next week, and if reading that made your brain just do the Windows error sound, relax. Ava’s has you covered in a way that looks intentional, generous, and suspiciously well thought-out.

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Build-Your-Own Gift Baskets are here to save your dignity. You grab the goods, we give you the basket for free (with purchase, while supplies last), and boom: you’ve created a gift that says “I am a competent adult with taste,” even if you did this on the way to your get-together with your car idling in the CVS parking lot.

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Here are a few elite-level basket ideas to get you dangerously inspired:

• 🧺 Wine & Cheese​
  A bottle of something impressive (or at least confidently European), a couple cheeses that smell important, maybe some crackers that whisper “artisanal.” This basket has host gift energy and will absolutely get opened immediately.
• 🧺 Emergency Chocolate​
  Fancy chocolate bars, truffles, cookies, maybe something dipped in something else. Ideal for sweet-toothed friends, stressed relatives, or anyone who has somehow emotionally survived 2025. (…what's their secret??)
• 🧺 Actually Breakfast​
  Jams, honey, granola, nut butters, coffee or tea, maybe a sneaky biscotti. This says “slow morning vibes” even if the recipient will absolutely eat it from a plastic baggy on Caltrain.
• 🧺 Snack Hero​
  Chips, nuts, olives, fruits, spreads, and weird little treats you didn’t know you needed until now. Just stick your arm out, then run down our snack wall to fill your basket like a contestant on a shopping sweepstakes TV show.

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The best part? These baskets look shockingly impressive for how easy they are. Like, “did you have this planned all along?” impressive. Swing by Ava’s, grab a basket, fill it with joy (and cheese), and walk out feeling like you cracked the holiday code without breaking a sweat. Or a tradition. Or your sanity.

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🍺 Drink Yourself Merry 🎄

The holidays do something mysterious to otherwise reasonable adults. Suddenly we’re stringing lights on plants that don’t want them, arguing about ornaments, and drinking beverages that only appear once a year like festive cryptids. These drinks taste great all year, but for reasons lost to sobriety history, they only show up now. Which means the only logical response is: Drink 'em while we still got 'em!​
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Here’s what’s making spirits bright (but also a little blurry):

• Winter Solstice Ale
  ​A cult favorite from Mendocino County that tastes like liquid holiday baking. Dark, malty, lightly spiced, and dangerously smooth. Bonus fun fact: people lose their minds for this every year and then act surprised when it sells out. Every. Single. Time.
• Delirium Noël​
  The pink elephant puts on a Santa hat. This Belgian strong dark ale is rich, warming, and clocks in at a sneaky high ABV, which explains why everything feels extra magical halfway through the bottle. Spices, dark fruit, and mild chaos.
• Christkindl’s Glühwein​
  Hot spiced wine season is extremely short, but extremely correct. Traditionally enjoyed warm, this is full of citrus and spice and makes your kitchen smell like your life is a Hallmark movie. Even if your actual life is closer to the ending of an A24 film.
• St. Bernardus Christmas Ale​
  Deep, complex, and basically a fireplace in beer form. Notes of caramel, dried fruit, and spice make this one a slow sipper. Ideal for pretending you’re classy while wearing sweatpants.

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And because you deserve some trivia with your tipsiness: Christmas Ales actually date back centuries. They were originally brewed stronger and spiced to celebrate winter feasts and special occasions. Brewers used whatever spices, fruits, or extra malt they had on hand, which is why no two Christmas ales are ever the same. They’re meant to be bold, comforting, and a little excessive. Much like the holidays.

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These bottles are here for a good time, but not a long time. Swing by Ava’s, grab them while they exist, and future-you can deal with January reality. Right now, it’s about warmth, spice, and making your evenings slightly more festive than strictly necessary.

🎄 Last Chance for Xmas Goodies! 🍫

This is it. Last call for international Christmas goodies before they vanish back across the ocean like festive little cultural exchange students. Panettone, chocolates, cookies, tins, boxes, wafers, creams, things wrapped in gold foil for absolutely no reason… they’re all here right now, and then suddenly it’s January and you’re staring at a protein bar wondering where joy went.

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We’ve got beloved holiday traditions from other countries, including some you may not recognize because the American education system taught us exactly three things about Europe and then moved on. Germany, for example. 🇩🇪 Very festive! Extremely into cookies! Shockingly good at chocolate! From buttery biscuits to filled wafers to things your grandma would instinctively approve of, these treats are how other cultures say “Merry Christmas” without yelling it. Grab them while you can, impress someone with your international taste, and enjoy the brief illusion that you are worldly, cultured, and not just here for the snacks.

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