Your favorite, kid-less, common law couple just finished renovating a fixer-upper in Silver Lake and flipped it for a cottage off Melrose with fruit trees and a yard for doggie.  They’re your Dual Income No Kids friends and they remodel for kicks, do exciting things on a whim and buy expensive, pretty things because they can. Weekend in Napa?  No problem.  Brand new Hastens mattress?  Just bought one.  Dinner at Cut?  Standing reservations.  Gifting this exceedingly picky bunch will take more than Trader Joe’s wine and a cheese basket…

The Fever For The Flavor
NoMU Spices; $15-$40 (NoMU)

Your friends’ brand-new Weber Grill is looking kinda lonely in their spiffy outdoor pavilion.  Help them throw a successful soiree with some BBQ must-haves from Monseiur Marcel.  These exotic NoMU spice tins from put the Cost Plus World Market variety to shame. With wild rubs and far-out grinders like “Smoky Peri Peri” and “Egyptian Dukkah,” every piece of (sustainable) fish and (hormone-free) chicken will be pepped with flair.

Put That In Your Pot And Smoke It, Mister
Jonathan Adler Ornaments; $28 + up (Jonathan Adler)

Put simply, anything by resident tongue-in-cheek designer Jonathan Adler is pottery perfection. And we love this season’s cutesy Ornaments, the Darjeeling Teapot, and Helix vases. Big or small, it’s all impressive, your friends will love you, and you’ll love browsing the website and store on Melrose.

Swingin’ From Vine To Vine
Paso Robles Wine Tasting; $TBD (Paso Wine)

Santa Barbara would be too obvious, now wouldn’t it?  Paso Robles, however, is quite quaint, and far less crowded than SB’s meandering wine country. Arrange for your friends to spend the afternoon tasting their way through Edna Valley’s finest wineries.  While in town, have them sign up for some wino winery mailing lists and get the VIP jump on new allocations and pre-releases.

Spendy

Dob In The Sky With Flowers
Murakami + Moca Membership; $75 (Moca)

A membership for one is good for two adults, so give the gift of MOCA (The Museum of Contemporary Art) to your hoity toity friends.  The celebrated museum has three locations of modern masterpieces with two located downtown and one in West Hollywood.  Currently, the sensory explosions of ’s Takashi Murakami are being featured at the Geffen.  The exhibition is set to remain until mid-February and is sure to satisfy all low-brow, pop culture itches and every high-concept, fine art urge.

Riedel High
Glassware By Reidel; $6.60-$380 (Riedel)

Always, and we mean always, a winner. Especially if you know your friends have been cellaring some old Burgundies.  And if they use the word “cellaring,” they’re either really serious collectors, or poseurs who will love the glasses all the same.  Available online or locally at Wally’s, Sur La Table, and area wine stores.

Brunches, Lunches, Suppers, Dinners
Panama Notebook; $58 (Smythson of Bond Street)

Smythson of Bond Street’s buttery-soft leather journal is the top choice for party planning and keeping records.  Encourage your DINK pals to mark down the details of fancy meals and elegant dinner parties so that they might one day throw a smashing gala for the little people.  Ruled and printed with handy headers, it’s easy to take notes and file memories. 

Photo by via Stewf Flickr