Brighten up your fingers.

The bad news - I've sorely neglected this blog.

The good news - I have over a year's worth of AWESOME gifts to talk about! I'm planning on recapping all of the biggest hits from this Christmas and so much more!

I'll start with Christmas. This year I was kind of at a loss for my brother in law's girlfriend. I had lots of ideas for her, but they were all pretty small things - I wanted to spend more than $5-10 on her. So instead, I wrapped up a ton of the small gifts individually and then wrapped all of them together in one big box. Her loot?

• A bag of crab chips
• A bag of mint m&m's
• A $15 iTunes gift card
• A bottle of wine
• A packet of drink mix

• And finally, the inspiration for my "grab bag" gift...glow in the dark nail polish!

This girl is obsessive with always having the brightest nails around. I knew she had all of the brightest colors at the shops around town so I turned to Amazon. Finally found something beyond the regular neon colors. Neon Glow in the Dark nail polish!
Here's the specific ones I bought for her:

If you're interested in this crazy idea (perfect for teenagers or young-at-hearts!), follow the link above.

Post contains affiliate links.

Fore!

My hubby is a big golfer. He will take any opportunity to brush up on his golf swing or get out on the golf course. He’s also extremely organized. Everything in his life has to be properly put away and in its’ place. Kind of a contrast from me – don’t get me wrong, when it comes to my work life and my school life (and gift giving) I’m rather OCD. Think I’m kidding? I had a phone interview for a new job last week and they asked how I stayed organized with tasks. I used my color-coded Christmas presents spreadsheet as an example. The HR representative laughed and told me I was borderline OCD.

Anyways, when I came across a golf organizer for your trunk, I thought that sounded like a great fit for my husband. It gave room for extra shoes, clothes, balls, etc. Anything you can think of, all stored away in one handy little place. The problem is, when I went to order it, there were horrible reviews on the quality of the product. So I kept looking. I finally came across a Nike Golf trunk organizer. It’s more expensive than the other brand I looked at, but I figured that a Nike Golf came with a certain reputation.

$72.95 at Amazon.com

Then, just for fun, I got him a pair of these Golf Ball Finder Glasses! You can get these just about anywhere, even Bed Bath & Beyond. The reviews weren’t outstanding with this either, but for the price (less than $15), you can’t expect too much. The bottom line was, people found more balls than they lost. For $15 I figure if he just finds 15 balls a year we’re probably in the clear. If nothing else, it is pretty fun to sit and watch the wildlife with those glasses!

$17.19 at Amazon (but you can get this at Bed Bath & Beyond with a coupon for cheaper!)

It's Rubbing Off...

For the first time in years, I actually had a small list of things that I wanted for Christmas. I gave my hubby two things that I wanted that he could get me (one of which I ended up taking off because I didn't realize how expensive it was). The number one thing on my list this year was a nice jewelry box.

I've been given a million jewelry boxes over the years from my parents, grandparents, friends, etc. While I loved all of them, they eventually wound up in storage or garage sales. I haven't had an actual jewelry box since I entered adulthood. Most of my jewelry was in a drawer with some necklaces hanging up on a wall thanks to giant push-pins. Very college chic.

So I told the hubs that I wanted a nice jewelry box. I gave him no direction, just that I wanted a nice jewelry box. He was happy that I gave him something tangent he could get me (first time EVER!) and I was happy because I know he has great (albeit expensive!) taste in most things.

He did good :)

It was handmade by an Amish man and is "Heirloom Quality," which, according to hubby, means that it will outlive our grandchildren's grandchildren. It's absolutely gorgeous and it is kind of exciting to think that this gift is one that can be passed down through our family for generations. I always thought about my mom and grandmother's jewelry and passing it down to a daughter or granddaughter one day - but never thought about something I would have that I could pass down!

So there you have it. A history in the making gift that will keep on giving for generations to come. Love it! :)

Keepin' it Kool.

It seems like every year I tend to get hubby one "big" gift for Christmas and a couple of smaller gifts. Sometimes they're something he's mentioned over the past year but never got around to getting (rare!). Sometimes they're something someone else mentioned and he seemed interested in. This year's "big" gift was none of the above. I don't even remember how I came across it, but I think it stemmed from when I was considering giving him this:

A remote controlled cooler! But then I decided that maybe I need to encourage getting away from the college-type gifts. At the time, we were talking about buying a house. This house had an AMAZING three-tiered back deck and we were just dreaming about all the awesome parties we would have. In anticipation of that, I bought hubby:

I got him the larger one and it was definitely a good surprise on Christmas morning. The smaller one is 57 quarts and the larger one is 87 quarts (holds 72 12oz cans with 20lbs of ice to give you a base). It's rustic, it's useful and it's much nicer to look at then the plastic ones!

I bought it on Amazon for around $150 I think but it's currently unavailable. You can find them on the world wide web though!

Theme time!

End of the semester is almost here, I promise! Then hopefully I'll be blogging along more regularly!

Next gift is one I put together for my sister-in-law. She and my brother do quite a bit of entertaining. They have a great group of friends who are always throwing theme parties and massive dinner parties. I honestly don't know how I even came across this particular item, but I did and thought it was one of the coolest things I'd seen in a long time:

$7.87 at Amazon

This nifty little contraption makes any food instant decoration. Simply use this fun little carver, place a tea light inside, and voila! Adorable ambiance and seasonal themes! Halloween? Perfect for mini pumpkins! Summertime? How about some oranges?

Now, we don't spend massive amounts of money on each other, but I mean...less than $8? I decided this was going to be a combination gift of some sort. I figured she had plenty of actual tea lights, so I got some battery operated ones:

$8.26 at Amazon

And then finally, a nice little thought-provoking book for some daily thoughts.

 $9.99 at Amazon

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...