Today, my parents are finally starting their next chapter in New Hampshire. While my mom has been up at the house for the last month, my dad’s last day at work is today. While it’s bittersweet, Fatima and I are so happy for them. When they bought their new house last year, we never got them a housewarming gift. Now that they’re officially New Hampshire residents, it is the perfect time to give them their housewarming gift basket.

We didn’t know what to get them as a going away gift, so we threw them a surprise going away party. My parents are some of the hardest people to shop for. They already have everything. We want to give them a basket of things to help make this new house a home. So we thought about what they love.

Housewarming Gift Basket

Family

They love family. Especially pictures of their family. To capture the memory from their surprise party, we printed this photo of the five of us. Now, they can display this proudly in their new living room. We’ve been in dire need of an updated family photo.

Yankee Candle

What better way to warm up a new house than to give them a scented candle? This Yankee Candle, aptly titled Golden Delicious, is subtly sweet and warm. It’s a perfect aroma for the new house.

Bird House

My dad is a bird whisperer. He had so many bird feeders back at the house in Connecticut. Once they sold the house and he took down the bird feeders, we saw a lot of birds just hanging out in the yard. It was as if they were searching for the food, or at the ready to attack my dad. This bird house mirrors my childhood home. Now they can feed all the New Hampshire birds and give a new bird family a new home.

Red Pepper Flakes

While waiting in the dentist’s office over the weekend, Fatima learned that red pepper flakes deter squirrels from eating bird food. Surprisingly, birds cannot taste the spice. On all the bird feeders I mentioned above, was some sort of anti-squirrel device. Hopefully, this will be the simple trick that keeps those pesky squirrels away.

Homemade Cookies

I baked chocolate chip cookies all the time when I was in middle and high school. It was a stress reliever. I ate the cookies, but I liked the process of making them more. Once I had the dough mixed together, I would run out of motivation to bake them. However, I felt less stressed. These cookies fed my family for years. My parents love my homemade cookies. Including these cookies in the gift basket was a no-brainer.

Delivering the housewarming gift basket brought a smile to my parents’ faces.

We always kick off Memorial Day at the lake. Once we arrived at the new house, we handed over our housewarming gift basket. They loved it. Then we immediately began chowing down on my cookies.