Gift giving is one of my love languages. It makes me so happy to make others smile. Especially giving gifts to people who don’t expect gifts from me. The term love language refers to the way that a person prefers to express love to—and receive it from—a partner.

Every year, I put together little gifts for the baristas at my local Starbucks. So, they do expect a little something, since I do it every year. But I try to change it up each year so that it is something new. This year, the youngest and I went a little overboard. But we had so much fun.

Every employee got a little self-care gift. There are 25 employees and we didn’t want a single one of them to feel left out. We included tea, eye masks, chapstick, and a few other goodies. This year we also included some bigger things for the ones we interact with the most. We know some of them well enough that we were able to get them things that personalized for them. A couple got earrings, one got beer glasses, one got a succulent, and there were a few other personalized ones.

Drop off day was today. The smiles were well worth the work we put into them. It truly makes my heart expand to know that they are getting just a little something extra to their lives.

What is your love language? What makes you feel happy and fulfilled?