Oh Hot D@#&, This is My (Christmas) Jam

I am loving the song on this cute video. It shall be my Christmas Jam for 2008. (I have a new one each year.) A Google search on the lyrics brings up a singer named Lenka.

The sweet printable calendars and cards showcased in the video are a great way to give a nice, pretty gift for not a lot of moolah. And not to take away from this seller, but I just came across a link to download this 2009 calendar for free. You have to sign up for their newsletter, but you could a) always unsubscribe, or b) use your "junk" email account (if you don't have one, I highly recommend it). I'm going to print it out!

Advent Calendar

Check out this modern, mirrored advent calendar from Target! Do I fill each drawer with candy? I could keep this out every month and uh, have candy every day up until the 25th.

Should I get it? I really need to put up my tree and other Christmas decorations before buying anything else. I'm pretty excited to do this; all of my Christmas stuff remained in storage last Christmas since I was a nomad.

Christmas Cards

Some Christmas card goodness:

from Manta Ray Designs

from letterpress

from Sycamore Street Press



from Chick Print



from Darling Shoppe



from Nastee Notes



from a favorite design

Not a card, but super cute:

from The Craft Pantry

This year I plan to do a photo card for the first time with a photo from the wedding. (I figure this is the last time we'll do this until we have a kid, and then we'll probably be like everyone else and only produce cards exhibiting how cute our offspring are.) I was too lazy to order when there were some sweet deals going on (of course) and I'll be running out of time soon, so one of my goals tomorrow is to pick out the picture and order them. MIL is dead-set on one, although I don't think it's the one I want to use since it's of us and the church and you would barely be able to see us when it's printed on a small card. She also suggested doing a collage, but I think that would be huge overkill - I already feel a little weird sending out a card with a picture of us. Maybe I'll post my choices tomorrow if I need help.

Wii and Wii Fit Giveaway at La Petite Chic

I probably shouldn't be sharing since you're going to reduce my chances, but La Petite Chic is hosting a giveaway for a Wii AND a Wii Fit! How sweet would that be to win?

I Want to Dance All Over the World

I want to go on a trip!

Oh, Consumerism

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death - In the crush to get their stupid electronic crap, they run over a human being.

“When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, ‘I’ve been on line since yesterday morning,’ ” Ms. Cribbs told The Associated Press. “They kept shopping.”

Perusing the paper today, I saw this full-page De Beers ad:

FEWER, BETTER THINGS.

Our lives are full of things. Disposable distractions,
stuff you buy but do not cherish, own yet never love.
Thrown away in weeks rather than passed down for generations.

Perhaps things will be different now. Wiser choices made with greater care.
After all, if the fewer things you own always excite you, would you
really miss the many that never could?


A DIAMOND IS FOREVER

I really dislike the marketing in the diamond industry, and I had forgotten how much we get inundated with jewelry ads once the holiday season rolls around. (I'm a huge hypocrite, as I looked through the Black Friday ads and noticed that without fail, someone is always offering diamond studs at like half price - what's the true markup here, people? - and thought to myself that someday I'd like to upgrade mine.) However, those De Beers ad guys are pretty clever in playing to my desire to get stop acquiring of all of the Things in Life that are quickly Forgotten, to focus on only the Things that I Love and Cherish. Of course, their diamonds are what fit the bill! I am simultaneously annoyed and impressed with this ad. (Here's another commentary on this ad.)

I now have 8 nieces and nephews, which is going to be a lot to buy for this year. Ask them what they want for Christmas, and you will probably hear some plastic, non-inexpensive toys that they will quickly forget about amongst everything else. I remember all that I got as a child, and it was all just too much. I'm trying to think instead of some experience gifts for them. Last year for the youngest niece's birthday, we took her and her sisters to Disney on Ice - I think they enjoyed it, and it gave us (another) reason to all do something together. Any ideas for other things we could do?

Black Friday

I'm not a Black Friday shopper (too many crazies), and especially not this year, as I'd love to have a non-stressful, gift-free Christmas where the holiday can actually be celebrated for what it is. (Plus, cash flow is tight, y'all.) However, I've been keeping an eye out for deals on a new TV (I curse you, broken 3 year-old $$$ Samsung TV), so I scoured all of the Black Friday ads today. I can definitely see the benefit of scooping up some merchandise provided that it's something you know you need or want to get for someone, but for the most part, I can see how people get caught up in the frenzy and buy unnecessarily. I found a couple of things that could be good gifts for some of the people I know I need to buy for, but I don't think I'm going to buy anything this weekend. (Hopefully I won't be kicking myself later when I end up deciding to get something that was on special earlier.)


My friend Megan came over to watch the first half of the Texas game tonight and we got to talking about how we are avoiding those J. Crew, et al, email sales in our inboxes. I usually used to go check it out and see if there's anything I had to have (and almost all of the time, it didn't result in a purchase), but lately I've just been deleting them - why be tempted? It's a delicate balance of not buying things you don't truly need and getting a fantastic deal on something you don't truly need (you do, after all, have lots of clothes in your closet already) but would definitely use. Megan had just bought a jacket at Ann Taylor Loft, and it's now on sale and they're having an additional 30% off as well (Megan, I don't see 40%), so she's going tomorrow to get a price adjustment (good girl). Tempted, I went online to check it out.

This corduroy skirt would be $14 after the 30% off
I have actually been wanting a khaki skirt like this ever since I constantly borrowed a sorority sister's Gap khaki skirt back during senior year. Since this was 4 years ago, I think it's safe to say that this would be no impulse buy. Luckily, they don't have my size (although invariably I'd probably buy the wrong size anyway), and corduroy's not my first choice.

This satin clutch would be $14 after the discount as well. I already have a few holiday-festive clutches, so this is definitely not a keeper, but I just wanted to post the pretty picture of it. I'm really liking this shade of pink with a cute LBD.

This embossed croco handheld is now $21 down from $49. Don't need it at all, but I think it's cute.

By the way, I didn't figure anything out on the TV front. I have enough trouble as it is choosing between features and such, and TVs are an enigma to me. We'll see -- I have a feeling prices can only get better in this economy. Let me know if you see something great on an LCD, maybe 40-42", reputable brand/model, 720 over 1080p is fine blah blah blah.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The original Thanksgiving post I put together yesterday ended up being rather lengthy, as well as somewhat sappy and depressing, so I decided to delete it and just leave it at this:

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving, filled with loved ones and good food.

photo from Sarah's Fab Day

Big Purse Stops Bullet from Hitting Woman

Man: Why do you need to carry around such a huge bag? You look like a carpetbagger.

Woman: It could save my life.

Lady Who Lunches

Since my 401k balance is tragic and I'm caught up in the economic doom and gloom, I've started bringing my lunch to work. (Although I'm 0 for 2 this week. Need to revise plan.) I have been bringing it in an ugly plastic bag that I then throw away, so I need cute lunch tote. What do you think about this one?

Cosmopolitan Lunch Tote at Wrapables, $11

Here's hoping I continue to have a job to bring my lunch to.

More Monograms

If I actually owned all of this monogrammed stuff, you'd think I love the letter K a little too much.

Monogram Crystal Stemware, $135 a stem
Seriously, what will they think of next?

Pottery Barn, $19
You see, this is my cocktail shaker. It has my initial on it. It must mean this drink is just for moi.

Hmm, $603,000 or $1?

Deal or No Deal: Biggest Bonehead Move @ Yahoo! Video

This guy had 3 cases left: one $1, and 2 $1,000,000 cases. He had a 1 in 3 chance in getting $1 by not taking the $603,000 offer. I'm telling you, there is NO WAY I would turn down $600k for the *chance* of a million. Greed or stupidity?

I Still Want One

If you live in the Columbus, OH, I command you to bid on this. Bidding is currently at $10.50! You'll thank me later.

Someone, please post one of these for sale in Texas. Thanks.

Or actually, don't. This looks extremely heavy. Much heavier than the dining room table top we lugged up the stairs today.

Owner of the next house we buy, please have one of these. I'll work out a deal with you.

If it can be personalized, I must love it

On sale at Pottery Barn, $9-$25

Playing Doctor with My Husband

No, not like that...Student Doctor Hubby had a "patient focus exam" today and needed to practice on me last night. First, let me say that I am the absolute worst fake patient in that I make up strange maladies and ask lots of inane questions, both of which distract him from the task at hand, which is to get through all of the history and examination objectives in 14 minutes. He got off to a slow start in initially greeting me: "Hello, Ms. G---I mean Mrs. K, how are you today?" My own husband forgets that I'm his Mrs!

(In his defense, he often calls me a shortened version of my maiden name, and I've been unsuccessful at getting him to call me by our newly shared last name. Must train DH to use proper name.)

Working on my apres-ski attire

How great would I look skiing in this?

I love the doxie!

Both found here

Where were these when we were registering?

From West Elm

At only $24 each for the decanter and ice bucket, with an additional $6 for the personalization, these are great! I'd have to see them in person to see how heavy they felt though.

We already received a very nice ice bucket and a decanter as wedding presents, but I'm really wanting these! I'm such a sucker for monogramming.

Almost as good as having one!

I was doing a lot of scanning of petfinder.com last month looking at potential puppies. And I found a really, really, really (really!) cute King Charles Spaniel mix puppies. There were 7 of them, so they were each named after one of the Seven Dwarves, and let me tell you, I fell in love with Sleepy. (Or was it Sneezy? They were both cute.)

I also realized that we're probably not ready to handle a puppy right now. But I've got the next best thing - a Puppy Cam! These guys are seriously adorable. I have it open in another window right now, and I just heard some puppy whining, so I clicked over to see one trying to burrow beneath some of the others. Sure, I can't cuddle with them, but I also don't have to take them out!

In Search of the Great Handbag

It was a while ago that I told myself I could buy The Bag. I didn't know which Bag I wanted, but I knew it would be expensive. I told myself that since I'm such a good Saver, I would let myself get something if I fell in love with it, since it would be something timeless that I would (hopefully) carry forever. I still haven't found The Bag that I'd want above all others, and even if I did, I most likely wouldn't be buying it since it's a frivoulous purchase compared to other things I should and need to do with the money. (Obviously, I also argue with myself that's it's a frivolous purchase no matter what. At lunch today we were talking about LV's, and a guy asked if it holds your things better than a regular-priced bag. Of course not. Must...fight...rampant...consumerism.)


Anyway, I saw this at an ideeli final sale today. While not The Bag, look at this Gryson Laura Saddle. Originally $725, it was on sale for $180. AND it has a metal "Laura" hangtag. How perfect would that have been (for me)? Lucky for my wallet, it was sold out, because I may would have bought that baby.

Check out this Ostich Embossed Clutch from Jalda for a mere $25, marked down from $235! I need another cute clutch like I need my car to be rear-ended again (oh wait, did I not tell you that the other week I got hit for the 3rd time in a year? I'm quite the lucky gal.), but these would make great Christmas presents. "Oh, I know I shouldn't have splurged on such a luxurious item for you, but you're sooo worth it!"

Expert Italian craftsman, stop taunting me. The hunt continues...

If you'd like an invite to ideeli, Gilt Groupe, or The Top Secret, let me know!

Sucker for all things Italian

I saw this Prosciutto tee in an Outblush email and thought it was so cute I had to email it to the hubs. I mean, we totally fell in love with Prosciutto e Melone when we went to Italy 3 years ago. (Picture us, sitting all romantic at an Italian restautant and feeding it to each other. Okay, just kidding, don't picture it. We didn't actually do that.)

But is it too Jessica Simpson?

A shirt I do regret not buying when we were there was the ubiquitous "Ciao Bella" tee. I bought one for my sister from a vendor on the Rialto in Venice for around 5 euro. (I still remember the vendor making some comment in Italian about getting a smaller size so it would fit tight...oh, Italian men.) I did not buy one for myself, probably because I had already gotten something for me, and I didn't think I *needed* it. Of course, as soon as I was home I really wanted one. And 3 years later, I've got one! My friend Jacque brought me back one from her recent trip to Italy, and I can't wait to see it!

I also just started reading Eat, Pray, Love. She's currently on the Italy leg of her year's journey, and I'm loving the book so far.