Sushi please!

My husband and I are sushi junkies. We have one restaurant in our small town that serves sushi and the workers and owners of the establishment know us by name, by face, by phone number and by our dogs (who usually ride along and hang out in the back of the Pathfinder).

"I'd like to place an order to go please."
"Can I get your phone number?"
"704-..."
"Ahhh, Topper! What would you like?"

We literally go in at least once per week, sometimes twice. Needless to say, we rack up pretty quickly on the soy sauce and chopsticks.

My husband likes having his own things in life. That's why I thought I'd died to heaven when I found Everything Chopsticks. Pretty chopsticks, beginner chopsticks, personalized chopsticks and glass chopsticks. And beyond.

After browsing the enormous selection, I settled on a pair of travel chopsticks:

These weren't the cheapest chopsticks on the website (nor were they the most expensive, by a long shot!) but they are simple, appear to be sturdy and come in a nifty little travel case for easy transportation!

They screw in at the middle for easy cleaning and transporting!

Something tells me we'll be having sushi for our day after Christmas dinner :)

Old Skool.

If you remember, last year I came across this Atari set to give my brother for Christmas. It was a huge hit. He is an early 80's baby so he's getting to that age where it's fun for him to go back to his childhood sometimes.

I had actually planned to go completely practical this year, but c'mon. It's Christmas. We all buy practical gifts for ourselves. I kind of enjoy being that person with a reputation when it comes to getting gifts - I keep people on their toes since they never know what's coming.

Anyhoo, this year I searched and searched. I knew I wouldn't top last year, but I was going to try to at least be in the same ballpark.

While perusing through the crazy collection of stuff at Think Geek, I found this gift that is perfect for that playful person who grew up in the 80's:

DONKEY KONG JENGA!
$24.99 at Think Geek



My brother, his wife and their friends all love playing games. I'm pretty sure they don't have Jenga, but even if they did - now there's this extra step of trying to get Mario to the top without getting hit by the barrels!

Kind of hoping he wants to break it out right then and there when we celebrate Christmas...

Cutest things ever.

It's no secret that I love my dogs. We treat them as if they were our actual children (often making us wonder if we will ever treat our future children as well as we treat our dogs!). Last year I really wanted to get ornaments for them - since it was their first Christmas with us.

Well, I never found any that worked. Since they're mutts, it's much harder. There is absolutely no breed that looks even remotely similar to either of our dogs. I didn't want to do a photo ornament and I didn't want to get just a generic one with their names painted on them. I found one place on Etsy that would create custom ornaments but they were $40 each. I love my dogs, but $80 for two ornaments? Sorry, girls. At least you made the Christmas card that year.

So after Christmas I just kept searching. I figured at some point I'd find someone who makes ornaments cheaper. Finally, I found someone on Etsy who would make them for about $16 each. Still a little expensive, but much more reasonable than $40. Plus, her stuff looked so adorable and she seemed so confident that she could capture our two pups. I sent her some pictures, told her I wanted to make sure the ornaments showed Chloe's gigantic ears and Roxy's brindle.

A reference picture:

And the actual ornaments:

I love them! You can find them at Sally's Bits of Clay. You can choose ornament colors and whether or not you want the hats. Total customization.

Warm and Cozy

I know this looks like a totally ridiculous gift, but it's not a prank gift. It's 100% genuine and I am fully confident that it's recipient will use it often.

Amazon/PajamaCity, $45

My brother-in-law's girlfriend is truly still a kid at heart. I got her a pair of rain boots for her birthday in March and let me just tell you - those things get USED!

These pajamas are footed, fleece and even have the drop seat in the back so bathroom use is easily accessible! I also saw some that had hoods with them. There's solid colors, cartoon characters, "sexy" (as sexy as a fully covered set of pajamas could be haha).

But I guarantee that she'll have them on, showcasing them for everyone by the end of the day. No doubt!

Apologies.

School has been absolutely overwhelming lately, but rest assured. My Christmas shopping is nearly complete and I have really out-done myself with some of these gifts this year. I'll be adding new updates as soon as possible. Gifts to look forward to:

- Sushi lovers
- Moped lovers
- 80's lovers
- Garden lovers
- Kids at heart

And gifts that keep on giving...for the recipient AND the donor!