holiday gift guide à la lindsay (part one)

As the holidays near, I thought I would share some unique, and not so unique, Christmas gift ideas I stumbled upon. You might want to grab some of these items as back-ups. You're bound to be on someone's nice list. And said someone is going to show up on your door step with a gift in hand. You'll start sweating and wondering what piece of decor, or bottle of stashed wine you're willing to part with so you can give them something in return. You could [tactfully] say, "I'm sorry. I didn't expect a gift from you, so I didn't get you anything." and then kindly make it up to them by purchasing something special for their next milestone, whatever that may be. Or you can be armed with a cheap, funny, or useful gift in your entry closet for said someone and put a smile on their face. It's the thought that counts, right? Then who cares if they don't like it. You made an effort. Give yourself a pat on the back. Now for those of us who are productive and would like something different than a pair of socks, knitted by granny, or the usual soap and lotion pack for our friends and loved ones, take a look at the list below. Ponder it. Purchase it. Wrap it. Give it. Watch them smile.

Remember Sock Monkey dolls from the "old" days? Just a precious, harmless toy loved by all the kids. One better, he now wraps wine for that special drunk loved one. For the wine-o in your family or a friend, grab their favorite bottle from your local grocer or liquor store and slip on a Sock Monkey from PatinaStores.com for only $10.95! Think your co-worker is a monkey, or better yet, your boss? Give it to 'em. It will be the most wanted gift at your office's Dirty Santa. Beats last year's Squirrel Underpants because wine is involved. You could also opt to use a favorite liquor instead of wine. Just a suggestion for those who like their stiff drinks.

The kiddos in your family are probably playing Angry Birds on your phone while you read this. I'll admit, this game is addicting and I'm an adult. (Well, at least my age says so. Others might say I'm childish sometimes but I think that's because I have fun!) And your kids will have fun playing with the new Angry Birds Plush Toys! They are only $14.99 and every bird and pig is available. If you haven't slinged these birds into buildings, TNT, and pigs yet, I suggest you do. Otherwise, you now think I'm crazy because you have no idea what I'm talking about. Purchase the iPhone app. Play it. You'll understand.
Disclaimer and fine print: I am not suggesting that children use these soft, plush to launch across your living room and destroy your home, but these birds are angry. Although I don't think they can do much damage, I wouldn't know because I don't own many expensive breakables or have kids, for that matter.

Calling all modern scrabble players and crossword-ers...or those giving gifts to old timey scrabble players crossword-ers. Let's bring those board game and pencial-using players into the 21st century by wrapping up some bananagrams and putting them under the tree with their name on it. Target carries Bananagrams for $14.99. This little banana bag filled with scrabble-like letters is also perfect for travel. Seeing that is compact, you can shove in your suitcase or carry-on. Give it as a gift. Take it on your Christmas trip with family for some added fun. Another perk: as you play, you'll learn new words to file in your personal vocab file. In other words, you'll be smarter!

Does the work-a-holic in your life have the luxury of a door, or better yet, a window? Chances are, no! They spend so much time at their office cubicle, why not help them spruce up the place? Bouquets in a can are the perfect gift for them. All they need to do is...more work. But it's simple--pop the top, add water and let it grow. With four flowers to choose from, Dahlias, geraniums, impatiens or pansies, at only $11 each, you can give these to your office mates and work-a-holics for Christmas. Flowers in a can are available at FredFlare.com. This site has other fun and funky gifts at budget friendly prices. If you're a Tulsa resident or visiting Tulsa before the holidays, I suggest you visit The Snow Goose for your fun and funky gifts.

Waffles again? DOH! I'm sure the donut-lover in your life would really appreciate this Sunbeam donut-maker. Found on Amazon for $29.99 (on sale from $39.99), this kitchen gadget will make 5 deletecable donuts in minutes. For the cabinet-space-challenged, it's designed to stand up right when stored. Receipe is simple. Combine 1.5 cups flour, .5 cups superfine sugar and 1.5 teaspoons baking powder. Make a whole in the middle of dry ingredients and whisk in .5 cups butter (melted, obviously), .75 cups milk and 1 egg (lightly beaten, not so obvious). The batter should be smooth. Pour into the maker's heated rings (it's suggested that you use a jug for this, but some mixing bowls have pour-ers on them, so do what make you happy). Close the lid. Wait about 6 minutes. Check it. Look golden brown? Remove them and repeat the pouring until all donuts are cooked. While the donuts are kind of hot, I would add your favorite toppings and enjoy! Yummy.

What about the TV-junkie in your life? Have they purchased a plethora of TV show series and movies from iTunes? Or are they a Netflix subscriber?  How about the photo lover, video watcher or music listener? Buy them the improved Apple TV and you can watch, display, and listen to just about anything streamed wirelessly from your iTunes account (no need for syncing to your iTunes Library). For only $99.00, you'll get instant movie rentals (starting at $2.99) from Apple, a la carte TV show rentals (only $0.99) and Netflix movie rentals (prices vary). You can also display photos from Flickr, videos from YouTube, and also your own photo and video libraries. Don't foget that you'll need a HDTV and a HDMI cable for this to work in your home. Oh and wireless internet for connection, duh! Sit back, grab the popcorn and enjoy the movies, or whatever else you choose to display from your friend's new Apple TV. Go ahead. Invite yourself over, you bought it for them!

If you're lucky enough to have a planner or list lover in your life, like myself, you must purchase these next few gifts for those special people. They are probably frantically searching for their new calendars and notebooks as you read this. Set them at ease this season. Give them the gift of organization they crave. The MomAgenda brand has come out with other products besides the agenda for, whatelse, moms. One of their popular products is the MyAgenda. It has a week-at-a-view format which is stress releiving for those who have a lot going on in their life, or lack their of. It also features a monthly view. These calendars are set up to coincide with school starting in August and going all the way until the next December. For example, right now you can buy the August 2010 through December 2011 for only $36.00. MomAgenda is also offering a 20% discount sitewide. So grab them while they are cheap. It comes in cool metallic colors so staying in style isn't a question. And for those who like personalization, you can have these embossed (with letters only).

Their newest product is the MyPlan specialized for those in school. Starting in August 2010 and moving through August 2011, the young ones can learn how to organize their lives effectively for only $19.94. Perfect for kids on the go and it comes in cool color combinations too. Personalization available here too, but in script or printed letters only.

The traditional choice here is the Moleskine that retails for $17.95. This soft-back product is perfect for lists or journal writing. I'm not much of a journal writer, but I love lists of any kind.

And please don't forget a new writing utensil from the best writing utensil company in the world. Sharpie has come out with a new pencil, a liquid pencil. There isn't a need to worry about breaking led or carrying your extra led case because it doesn't use led. Staples sells them in a 2-pack for only $5.29. So these might be more like a stocking stuffer, but either way, it will be appreciated greatly by organized, list-making freaks, like me.

Looking for more traditional items, like the newest sweaters, scarves, kitchen items and much more, check back soon. To be continued...

Utica Utopia

This part of the year is filled with holidays, family and friend gatherings, traditions and, well, shopping. I have to admit that the shopping is the most fun and most frustrating part of the season. Attempting to find something one wants/needs and isn't too expensive is always an adventure. However, this year I started early so as not to break the bank when it gets down to the wire. Yes, that's right. I made a budget and I have already planned out about 5 or 6 of my Christmas gifts this year. Others are still processing and in due time will find their way to my "secret" hiding place.

Common Thanksgiving traditions include, but aren't limited too, turkey, stuffing, jellied cranberry sauce, bread rolls and pie. Some families may throw back bottle (or two) of wine, break the wishbone, watch football and fall into deep tryptophan naps, however, Tulsa has yet another tradition for Thanksgiving night. We fill our bellies and scurry down to Utica Square for "Light's On". All the trees are embellished with over 700,000 twinkling lights and Santa is in town for caroling and the countdown. The 40-year "Light's On" tradition has been on my tradition list for over 10 years! Nothing beats walking around Utica with the lights on and a cup of coffee.

Utica Square is closer to my home and I don't know if that is dangerous or harmless. I guess we will find out this very busy shopping season. It's hard to pass up a walk-by of the ever-changing Miss Jackson's windows and, again, the cup of coffee and outdoor shopping.

Even with these attractive, tempting windows, I must always keep in mind, 'tis the season for giving and not buying for oneself's closet. I should probably go to therapy or something, but the only therapy I know of is "retail therapy" and that doesn't seem to be a long term fix for anything.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I'm getting extremely anxious for Christmas because that means friends and family gatherings, homemade Christmas Eve pizza and presents. Wishing everyone a joyous holiday season with family and friends. And may all your nights be filled with cheer (or cheers)!

turkey trot

While discussing holiday plans with a friend one day, we decided to look into any runs (races) that would be happening when she was in town for Thanksgiving. We landed on the Turkey Trot 5K starting at 9 a.m. on Black Friday. Seeing that I have proactively planned out many gifts in advance, I don't know that fighting the crowds on Black Friday in hopes of finding that perfectly cheap(er) gift for someone on my nice list is ideal. (Yes, I have a naughty list too and let's just hope you didn't land on it this year. Only time will tell.)

On top of this run/race being a distraction from the shopping, it helped worked off a couple hundred of the gazillion calories I consumed on Thanksgiving.

The Turkey Trot is also the kickoff for the BOK Center WinterFest which is a month long event that includes ice skating, concessions, a holiday mart and carnival rides. I have never attended the BOK Center WinterFest until now. I would like to return for some ice skating before the month is up.

Brooke and I would like to thank our wonderful moms for their support in our running efforts. They drove us there and stood out in the 30 degree weather from start to finish. They also attempted to catch some photos of us in action-- hard task to accomplish when we are flying by at lightening speeds!

Brooke and I both obtained awful side stiches while we were running. If you look closely, my fingers in digging into my side in attempt to subside pain as I cross the finish line. I blame the cold weather and, of course, quick feet. We both finished in under 30 minutes.

And we are done. Mom, thanks again for being there. You're the best! After the complaining of stiches and cold lungs, we walked to the car with our heads held high...we were proud!

We plan on doing this again next year (I think. Right, Brooke?) and we hope many more will join us. Thanks again Brooke for doing this with me!

glitterrr!!!!

The holidays are the perfect time to deck your home out in sparkly decorations. Since I didn't move into my house until December last year, I opted to not get a tree and just use some garland around the fireplace. In other words, my decorations were sparse. This year, I'm preparing for a tree and all the trimmings. One problem...I don't have the ornament collection I would like to have, nor the money to drop on ornaments to fill the tree. While I can't guarantee my tree will be filled this first year, I'm making ample effort to fully decorate...on a budget! I purchased some ornaments at TJ Maxx--I never walk out of this store empty handed. One day I was browsing through a Ballard Designs catalog and found these oranments and knew I wanted them.

With a $15.00 price tag + shipping and tax, they would set me back about $25.00...for ONLY THREE!! What?! These pinecones fall off my neighbor's tree and I can pick them up for free. For those who think I stole them, I didn't. They were rightfully in my yard and on my driveway, therefore, making them mine.

Receipe Ingredients:
Pinecones, picked up in my yard while raking leaves and my neighbor's pine needles = FREE!
Glitter = $5.00
Fake Snow (not in the can) = $2.50
Craft Glue, I used Modge Podge I already had at home, but it's about $3.50
Foam Paint Brush, I already had these too, but you can get a single brush for cheap = $1.00.
String, or some form of thread, I bought a sliver thread = $2.00

After tearing a paper sack and spreading it across the table, I gathered two bowls and a plate to put all my ingredients on. Here is my spread.

Start by unwinding string. You need enough to in and around the top layer of the pinecone and tie a knot, then tie a knot at the top so you can hang from your tree.

Next, brush the craft glue on the "scales" of the pinecone. Naturally, pinecones hang down, but you can paint whatever side of the scales you want depending on the look you're going for.

After the scales are good and covered with glue, hold the pinecone over the bowl of glitter and spoon on generously. The snow is optional, again depending on the look you're going for. I did some with glitter and some without. The sole reason I saved the snow until the last step is because I didn't want it to be more snow than glitter. 

When you have the coverage you like...mine look like this:

Place on another torn up paper sack and let dry overnight.

When your Christmas tree gets placed properly in your home, hang from branches with the string and watch them sparkle and shine.

I made 10 pinecone ornaments for about $14.00 and I have left over ingredients to make more when I find more pinecones on my property. Enjoy!

movie date night

Blake and I treated ourselves to dinner and a movie last night. It was wonderful. We haven't been on a dinner and movie date night in a long time it seems. As a matter of fact, I don't even recall the last movie I watched in the theaters. Our date went a little something like this:

Dinner.
We landed on Zio's Italian Kitchen. I also can't recall the last time I ate at Zio's either, but it was just as I remembered. We each got an appetizer and shared a main course. It was romantic--just like Lady and the Tramp. We slurpped on spaghetti until we kissed while eating the same noodle.

Okay. I lied. It was nothing like that because we didn't get spaghetti, meatballs or rudely slurp our noodles. But it was nice to just sit, be served (by a nice waiter--those are hard to come by nowadays) and enjoy dinner conversations and laughs with Blake. Being the gentleman Blake is, he paid for dinner and we were on our way to the movies.

Movie.
The evening feature we attened? Due Date. With a couple good reviews from family and friends and no real chick flicks to drag Blake in, we "agreed" on Due Date.

Don't read any further if you don't want details revealed, although I'm not a very good movie spoiler, I would hate to upset anyone.

The movie was downright hilarious! I don't remember one part of last night where I wasn't laughing. Looking back, it's very similar to the Hangover. Men Boys on a quest to get home in one piece for a life changing event. Where as Hangover was for a wedding, Due Date was for a first-born birth. No explanation needed really. Peter (Robert Downey Jr.) is tormented on a cross-country drive from Atlanta to L.A. Hollywood with an uncanny Ethan (Zach Galifianakis). These two characters managed to make a lifetime of memories on the highways and at the pit stops. While realizing dreams (or nightmares) really do come true, they promise to call e-mail and keep in touch. Sunny, the dog, is a constant laugh throughout as well. If you have a furry companion, there is good probability that one of their weird habits is played out by Sunny. I suggest everyone see this movie, even if you wait until it comes out on DVD, it's a must see. At least in my opinion.

Blake-
Thank you for a wonderful date night. Only next time, it will be chick flick and you will enjoy it.
Love,
Me