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25 December 2010
Merry Christmas Bunnies!!! What did Santa bring you?
and to completely cheese up the thread, the best gift was watching the kid go insane :) She's like a meth-addicted squirrel trying to sample all her nuts right now.
Jon Stewart's "Earth"
Pearl earrings and necklace
A rice steamer
A Rottweiler calendar, a Hello Kitty Calendar
Rice Steamer
Salad Spinner
Various and Sundry Christmas ornaments
Socks (a yearly tradition)
More food than I can shake a stick at.
Jammies! Pink plaid jammies! And a mini-flashlight for my keyring, some Hidden Valley ranch dressing (yay!) and some socks. I also got some chicken poop lip balm*. It works. Well, think about it, if there's chicken poop on your lips, you're not going to lick them, are you? A friend also knitted me an awesome throw/rug, which I'll have to ship home, it won't fit in my carry-on. *contains no actual chicken poop
Oh god. I just went on Amazon and one-clicked myself into a few of the things I didn't get for Christmas. I am so ashamed. And satisfied. Oh, the gluttony and over-consumption of the holidays!
Well, I bought myself a new laptop a few weeks ago, so most of what I got was revamping my desk setup. I got a new office chair (the old was was bought circa 1994 and had kind of outworn it's use) a laptop table thingy and some other accessories (wireless mouse, some new headphones, a carrying sleeve). Also got the recent six-episode version of "Last Chance To See" with Mark Carwardine and Stephen Frye on DVD and a couple of books.
Way too much:
Two sets of jammies
Four CDs
Four DVDs
Will and Kate's Commemorative issue of Hello Magazine (shut up)
Tons of chocolate
Lots of boxes of orange TicTacs (joke between the mister and myself)
Other stuff I don't remember
From Mum I got a Visa gift card and the info that there's a Harry Potter exhibition at Seattle's Pacific Science Center! So that's what the gift card is going to be spent on next month.
A raclette grill, which we promptly used for lunch. We finally shifted over to secret santas, so just one big per person this year... I think it worked out well. I'm super excited about the grill.
A breadmaker, a paperweight, 3 books, a cameo necklace, toothbrush sanitizer, a cedar hanger for my closet, gift certificates for Sephora and the local grocery store, and some food so I don't have to cook for the next week.
Snow! I got a white Christmas in North Carolina. Rare, or so I've heard. I also got a waffle maker and a matching set of pillows/shams/comforter/duvet for my bed. My bedroom might start looking like a woman sleeps there.
My daughter (7 years old) saw Rudolph's nose and a part of Santa's sleigh! At 4:30 AM this morning! I was VERY EXCITING!
The bigger thing is what Santa did NOT bring me: the violent stomach flu that the fellow had the other day! I was SO happy.
I gave him a shaving mirror, and my mom THOUGHT it was a raclette grill. No joke.
I got:
--a bunch of my old stuff that my parents found when cleaning the basement
--lots of toffee
--socks
--a Games Magazine book of pencil puzzlers (that my mom had actually given to me once about 10 years ago :P)
--a laptop cooling pad, which I didn't even know existed
--an iPhone 4 (on the condition that I give my old iPhone to my dad, whose phone is totally cracked)
--a chocolate orange (which I gave to myself)
--a handmade gift certificate from my mom saying that she will buy me a massage at my favorite place two days before my wedding :)
I got a great warm LL Bean fleece and a basket of lotion & stuff which I don't like or want but someone will be happy to get it. My sweet hub got me a new MacBook last week and that was all I wanted.
We are doing smaller-budget Christmases this year, emphasizing the company and activities and meals aspects more - but the gifts are no less thoughtful. I got Springsteen's The PRomise, a Fantastic Mr. Fox DVD, and a Bon Appetit subscription. I am bathed in good media!
Oh by the way - if anyone is looking for a crafty idea for next year, my sister-in-law made these Martha glitter hurricane lamp candle holders and they are a huge hit - just beautiful.
- Keith Richards' autobiography
- New vinyl - Black Keys, Otis Redding and some Gram Parsons
- a food processor from my Mom - that's likely going back - I already have one I don't use!
Likely some other stuff too - but, had a great Christmas with my family, and and looking forward to heading home tomorrow :-)
We had a pretty small, silly Christmas this year, which is my favorite kind. The Fella gave me great new dishes for tapas, a Fred Burkle action figure (we exchanged action figures; I am officially a geek), and some other little things, and one biggie: THE COMPLETE SERIES OF MAD MEN ON DVD WHOOOOOOOO YIPPIE!
But the very best thing was watching The Fella unwrap the videotape of an out-of-print, never-released-on-DVD movie for which he's been quietly pining for years, and an out-of-print book he already owns but which he has read to shreds. I thought they'd be good gifts; they turned out to be GREAT gifts, so I'm really happy!
Wine, candy, steakhouse gift card, Southern Living magazine subscription, beautiful handcrafted sterling and amethyst bookmark, J Crew gift card, sterling silver peace necklace, the two latest Barefoot Contessa cookbooks, Keurig coffee maker, a myriad of bath brushes, a green chenille throw, organic lemon hand lotion, and a novel (Asylum by Patrick McGrath).
Oh by the way - if anyone is looking for a crafty idea for next year, my sister-in-law made these Martha glitter hurricane lamp candle holders and they are a huge hit - just beautiful. These are beautiful. Thanks, Miko. I think I might actually try this next year. I made Martha's glittered pumpkins a few years ago and they hold up very well.
I got some thoughtful gifts from the husband, but the overzealous Santa of the family, who demands lists, which I am uncomfortable with, got me the three items from my Amazon Wish List.
And most items from two or more other Rain L. Babys' Amazon wish lists, along with a bunch of other random stuff that doesn't fit or isn't my taste, etc.
The waste makes me weep, and next year we are all going to try to impose limits on either her spending or number of gifts per person. Everyone is uncomfortable with how excessive she is, even the kids, who are older now, HS and beyond.
Strangely one of the other Rain L. Babys wears my shoe size and colors her hair the same and does some of the same exercises, so not everything was a waste. I got some Wellies for the SNOW! White Christmas - unusual.
After many years of waste and weirdness, my mom finally went along with the Amazon wishlists last year. (I have five of them.)
This year, however, she seemed to need a refresher on exactly what they were. Literally, we sat at the table and she said, "Now, do you have one of those wishlist things? How do those work?"
Happily, we did pretty well for each other this year. Nothing painted with shoes; no terrifying gigantic $200 angels that look like Lady Elaine Fairchild.
Some lovely scarves and a casual handbag from Kuwait, where mr. init has been traveling on business recently.
Soap, candles, socks. My usual three-part Christmas request.
A beautiful sea glass necklace and earrings.
A Best of the Electric Company four-disc set, and two books from my book list: Memory Wall by Anthony Doerr, and The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, by Sam Kean.
I bought this print, Tree Ascension #1, some time ago and asked mr. init to frame it for me for Christmas. The result was quite spectacular (no photos as of yet).
- dishtowels and discloths
- Coco avant Chanel DVD that my sister somehow knew I really, really wanted to see without my ever mentioning it
- "Inspirational" wall calendar
- Old Spice deodorant
- hand lotion
- earrings
- several packages of chocolate
- package of Santa gift tags for next year
- 2 CDs (Holly Cole Trio and Chris Isaak)
- two cake pans, one square, one round
- two more decor items for the "12 Days of Christmas" decoration collection: nine ladies dancing (photo of a nine-woman chorus line) and ten drummers drumming (centrepiece of nine drummer nutcracker dolls around a candle)
- one of those stocking holders you put on the mantlepiece, shaped like a snowflake
- a Russian olive wood vase that my dad made me
- two hook rails and a shelf that my dad made me at my request and to my specifications
- a picture of my little grand-niece, Cauliflower Swan
- a digital camera, complete with a little leather bag, memory card, and cable.
Well, Hannukah was a while ago but I want in on this thread!
I got:
New Yorker subscription
terrarium
fancy wireless headphones that I haven't figured out how to use yet
tiny bunny figurine that now lives on my computer screen at work
a cleaning service to come to my apt
gray scarf
chocolates
gold necklace (not quite my style, my mom is checking to see if it is returnable)
reddish handbag
amber earrings
a visit from my sister (this was the best one)
The only people with whom I exchange gifts are my good friends up in Seattle, the ones who cooked the Ye Olde Roast Beef dinner, and whose best gift to me was a new kitchen faucet, a duplicate of their own new one, after which I have been lusting.
My gift to myself was a brand-new elliptical machine; my really really special gift to myself was getting to spend the afternoon assembling my brand-new elliptical machine, with a brutal hangover. (*clutching head, moaning softly*)
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
