Daily Gift Grab Bag

Holy cow, tomorrow is Christmas Eve! If you haven't done all of your shopping, here are my final suggestions, thrown at you all at once:

Knit like the wind! Socks and hats are good for anyone with feet and a head. Blankets are good for anyone with any arrangement of body parts.

Save time with trivia. Buy just one fabulously wrapped gift, and then invite all your friends to a game night. Instead of giving everyone a thoughtful gift, just hand out your one present as a prize to the winner of your Apples to Apples/Trivial Pursuit/Candyland marathon. The present will seem much better than it is because it was earned (this psychological principle is why hazing makes people think fraternities are cool), and you only have to buy one gift for the whole crowd. It's the lottery scheme of gift-giving.

Write a promise in a card. Scribble down a pledge to do something of value--babysit for a whole evening, take a grocery list to the store and do all the shopping, perform a sexual favor, bake your friend's wedding cake, work a whole shift at your friend's business for free--whatever! You'll worry about it after Christmas.

Give upgrade leftovers. Mr. Waxx bought a new PDA and gave his old one to Mr. G. My dad bought a new car and bestowed his old one upon us. Best material gifts EVER! They're worth a lot of $$, but you bought them a long time ago, and now you're getting a new one anyway, so it's not a hardship to part with them now.

DO NOT GIVE: Potato guns. Jesus H. Christ, the next person who gives my husband a potato gun is going to get a drum set when they have their first kid. Bah humbug!

And now I am off to DRINK! I just found out that the Post Office can't mail a square shaped card for the price of a regular first class stamp, so all my Christmas cards are being returned to me. Dammit, and I usually don't even send them...

Well, let's all toast to this seasonal madness being ALMOST OVER so we can finally relax into the warmth and chaos and mess of the family celebrations.

Merry Christmas! Now get off the computer and eat some cookies!

Daily Gift: Christmas Morning Breakfast

Here's a way to be REALLY generous this Christmas: Wake up extra early and cook your lover's/kid's/roommate's/whoever-wakes-up-in-your-house's favorite breakfast.


Rouse the household with delicious smells and the sound of the coffee maker percolating or the espresso machine steaming.


If you're going to be this domestic, you have every right to leave the wrapping paper cleanup until later that night... or the next day... or at the end of the weekend. Whatever, it's Christmas. Eat, drink, and be merry!

In case you're wondering, Mr. G's favorite breakfast would be... espresso with eggnog, a high gravity beer, fried hippie hash with four kinds of potatoes and green peppers and eggs and hot spices, and perhaps some fresh fruit. Mine might be French toast (especially grilled on the woodstove... mmm...) and extra crispy bacon with a triple latte and one of my mother-in-law's famous cognac truffles.

Happy feasting!

Daily Gift: Customized Vintage Winter Coat

I stick to a clothing/accessories/fashion budget of about $150 per season. But a good winter coat costs AT LEAST $300. I get around this in two ways: First, I invest in outerwear that will last a long time. I bought a $300 red wool coat from the Victoria's Secret catalogue when I was in high school, and I still have it in excellent condition. It's become a signature piece of mine. Second, I buy most of my coats and jackets at the thrift store. It is unbelievable what great vintage coats you can find for under $20!

I have one that looks very much like this illustration. The only flaw is that the liner seam along the bottom edge of the coat is torn. I have a feeling my friend Mrs. Waxx can help me remedy this little problem.

If you buy a coat this cheap, you can easily afford to have it repaired, dry cleaned, and even customized in fun ways (adding or switching out a belt, changing the buttons, altering the length) to suit yourself or a friend. Everyone needs a winter coat! And every woman should have one or two cute, dressy coats to top her holiday party attire. You don't need to spend big bucks for a warm, high quality, fashionable, and one-of-a-kind piece.

Happy bundling up!

Daily Gift: Custom Recycled Wrapping Paper

If you're giving a gift that needs wrapping, skip the store-bought paper and make your gift into a work of pop art with pages from old magazines, catalogs, and newspapers. If you don't receive a magazine subscription, check your junk mail, especially at this time of year, for bright and shiny images.

I usually wrap my gifts this way. I think I have only bought a roll of wrapping paper once in my life. Wrapping with magazines is more time-consuming, but it's basically free, and it's more creative and artistic. Sadly, I have no pictures of the wondrous (yet oh so temporary) wrap jobs I've done over the years, but this website has many good ideas for magazine gift wrapping.

Happy wrapping!

Daily Gift: Hippopotted Bonsai

Mr. and Mrs. Waxx just stopped by with this gift for Mr. G:


As a sculptor, Mrs. Waxx has plenty of slip-cast vessels and knickknacks sitting around. (But such items are also easy to find at thrift shops and your grandma's basement.) They added a handful of potting soil and a cutting from one of their potted trees. Ta-dah! It's a decorative hippopotted bonsai tree.

I just saw bonsai kits for sale at World Market, which cost a lot more and were not nearly as cute and original. Not that I don't love World Market, because I do, especially when they have ridiculously printed draperies on sale. But a bonsai is something you can do better yourself.

Happy hippopotting!

Daily Gift: Workout Partnership

What's better than a month-long trial gym membership? A month-long workout partnership! Having a buddy committed to keeping a workout schedule with you is the next best thing to having a personal trainer.


Camaraderie makes working out fun, not a chore. Pick something you and your friend can both enjoy, whether that's snowshoeing, running, skating, pilates, yoga, strip aerobics (I'm looking at you, Esperanzita) or belly dance.

If your choice of physical activity is highly skill-based, such as dance or martial arts, sign up for a class together--or, if you already have the beginner concepts down, pop in an instructional DVD and get moving in your living room. Pledge to stick with a regular workout schedule for the entire month of January (at least) to burn off all the holiday goodies that I hope you are not denying yourself this month.

Happy sweating!

Daily Gift: Adult Snow Day

Look, Ma, it snowed! Why don't grownups get as excited about a fluffy blanket of snow as kids do? Oh yeah, it's because we don't get a day off, and we have to shovel driveways and scrape windshields and pay the heat bill.


This year, renew an adult friend's snow day excitement by offering a day of winter fun. Ask when your friend has free time, and take that day off work yourself. Foot the bill for a day of...


...holiday sight-seeing at the zoo...


...ice skating...


...sledding, tobogganing, or cross-country skiing...


...plus hot cocoa at your place or in the park lodge.

Happy snow day!