My husband and I know everything about each other, but we still struggle with gift exchanges.
We've lived together for years now, and have amassed enough kitchen trinkets, clothes, and gadgets for a lifetime.
When we realized we were both really struggling with this year's gifting ritual, we talked about it; why not skip the exchange and just go in together on something we both want?
We've been complaining about our bed for 2 years now, but replacing it has been on the bottom of our to-do list. Buying a bed would be a better gift than anything ordered last-minute on Amazon.
Once we officially made the decision, we got so excited! We wanted supreme comfort, and that's how we found the Pod Pro by Eight Sleep.
Not only is the foam mattress engineered to be perfectly firm and supportive, it's a smart mattress with dual-zone AI-powered temperature control.
No more kicking off the covers in the middle of the night - we'd each be able to control the temperature of our side of the bed from a range of 55 degrees to 110 degrees. Once you sync up the app, Eight Sleep tracks your sleeping patterns, and figures out your ideal temperature, bed time, number of hours, and wake time for you. The Pod Pro takes into account how much you move during the night and even factors in the climate of the room.
It seemed incredible, but we didn't know anyone with a smart mattress. We thought it might be over the top, but they have thousands of reviews with person after person raving about the technology and the comfortable sleep.
There's a 100-night trial, too, if we changed our minds.
Instead of waiting for the holidays, we ordered it early. It arrived swiftly, and was easy to set up in our bedroom. Once we got our old sagging mattress out, we hooked up the app, and plopped down for a quick nap.
We both set the temperature down real low, which was amazing. One of us is always getting up in the middle of the night to turn off the A/C, but with this, we could set the mattress to warm up. No A/C needed! It would save us money, too.
The Pod Pro by Eight Sleep
Dual-Zone Cooling + Perfect Firmness
The #1 Smart Mattress
The Winter Sale Starts Tomorrow!
Our first night's sleep? Incredible. The layers of foam are really supportive, especially for my tricky lower back, and the temperature-control is something I'll never be able to live without.
We were immediate fans of their GentleRise technology. You can set your zone to wake you up by gradually increasing or decreasing the temperature, allowing your body a much gentler experience than a jangling alarm.
My husband gets up an hour earlier than me, but now I can skip the experience of waking up confused an hour before my alarm.
We both failed at not giving gifts the day of; he got me a gorgeous pillow I'd had my eye on, and I got him a six-pack he'd tasted at a local brewery a year ago.
It was perfect; we spent all our shopping energy on something we both really wanted, and totally enjoyed a much more fun and relaxing holiday season!
If you and your partner don't want to do the whole gift exchange thing, especially if you've been together a while, I can't imagine a better gift than going in on a new upscale mattress for the two of you.
