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Last week, I was invited to a holiday party at the Godiva shop in Rockefeller Center. It’s one of those invites that you get and think— uhhhh…free chocolate covered strawberries and truffles?? Is there champagne involved??? I’m in! I even brought Mike because I know he appreciates the opportunity to gorge himself on fine chocolates just as much as I do.

The party was right before the big Rockefeller tree lighting ceremony and Godiva was kind enough to give Mike and me tickets to that event too. We’ve both lived in New York all our lives and this was our first time watching in person! There is seriously nothing that makes me happier than a blogger event that can legitimately turn into a date night.

At the event, Godiva had everyone put together their very own box of chocolates. You got to stand at the counter and select each Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Oyster and Salted Caramel Truffle. I actually had to force myself to pick things other than hazelnut chocolates (my favorite) because too many of the same variety does not make for the best photo. This was all quite a time consuming task for me, since I am the kind of person who when presented with a box of chocolates, will mull over the chocolate glossary for a full thirty minutes to make sure I am making the absolute best choice. I am also the kind of person who will take a bite and if the chocolate is not to my satisfaction, put it back and bite another until I find something I deem worthy. Since I had to eat quite a few Godiva chocolates for VERY IMPORTANT BLOG POST RESEARCH, I now know I will swipe the Praline Crescent faster than anyone can blink the next time a box of Godiva is opened anywhere within my general vicinity. I also came to terms with the fact that, although I would like to be a very sophisticated dark chocolate lover, really, I am a milk chocolate lover at heart. I’ve been lying to myself for quite some time.

But I digress.

The box Godiva gave us at the event was a special box created specifically for the evening, called “The Box that Keeps Giving.” In the box were two sides— chocolates “To Keep” and chocolates “To Give.”

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Admittedly, I had a hard time grasping the concept because I kept thinking one side was for me to eat and one side was for me to gift, when really the idea is that I would gift the whole box and then the person who receives it would keep one half and give the other half away.

And then that recipient would open their box and find a box to keep and a box to give as well.

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And then that person would open their box and find a box to keep and a box to gift too.

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And then that person— I’m kidding. I think it ends there.

In all seriousness, I think the concept of “a box that keeps giving” is lovely and I wish Godiva would make this box available for everybody. I also wish there were toys that employed a similar concept so that it would be easier to teach the spirit of giving to children. There are some kids, I’m not saying who (*cough, cough* Mazzy and Harlow) who could really use a lesson in generosity. I want them to understand that the joy of both giving and receiving is really what the holidays are all about.

We actually try to teach them about giving on their birthdays, which both fall right around the holidays. Before their respective big days, I ask them to make room for new toys and presents by putting together all the things they no longer want as a donation to the Salvation Army. Then after they receive all their presents, I ask them to set aside a few new items to donate to Toys for Tots too. It’s not always the easiest exercise, but I hope as they get older, they learn to appreciate the meaning behind it.

Sometimes I think, for kids, it makes more of an impact to actually see the person receiving their gift.

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For instance, one thing the girls have been very generous with lately is their homemade baked goods and birthday cakes. It’s a small thing but whenever we bake or have a birthday celebration, there is always way more cake than our family of four will eat. The girls have gotten into the habit of making a plate at the end of the day, taking the elevator downstairs in their pajamas and giving a big slice to our night doorman. He always puts on a big show of how thankful he is and the girls love it.

Since my goal is to continue to impress upon my girls the importance of giving, I’m going to give the box of Godiva Chocolates to them, to see how they react to the “box to give” inside. Maybe they’ll give it to Grammy. Maybe they’ll give it to Ruth. Maybe they’ll give it the night doorman.

Or maybe, if I’m really lucky— they’ll give it back to me!

I’m kidding. I think.

Actually, I have come to realize that I need to work on my spirit of generosity too. For this post, I decided to take some photos at one of the pop-up Christmas tree shops that appear all over the city this time of year. In case you were curious, these vendors are where most Manhattanites buy their trees. Since we are Jewish, we don’t buy a tree but I still love when our city sidewalks are converted to little Christmas tree farms. The guy running the shop was so nice about us taking photos there that before we left, I gave him a limited edition Godiva holiday box to say thank you.

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It was honestly not a planned part of the post but he got so excited and immediately yelled over to his co-workers, “WE GOT CHOCOLATES!!!!!” And then his co-workers lifted their arms in the air and screamed back, “Woohoooo!!!!!”

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I guess you don’t really need “to keep” and “to gift” prompts. A box of Godiva is something you naturally share.

Which is great, because that means if you give someone a box, it’s highly likely you’ll get to eat a few pieces too!

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This post was sponsored by Godiva, but my ability to inhale an entire box of their chocolates is purely my own.