Gifts For Gleeks

20120904-223209.jpgI’m a Gleek. I’m 37 years old and I can’t wait to find out what happens to Rachel and Finn, how New York (the city I love and live in) will be written into the show, and I nearly died when I stumbled onto this post on Vulture giving some juicy insights into the next season. Yep, I’m a Gleek and proud of it.

My dream episode would be an entire hour dedicated to the genius that is Stephen Sondheim and I think these kids nail handle it (are you listening Ryan Murphy?). Just picture it… Kurt singing “Not A Day Goes By,” Blaine singing “Being Alive,” Mr. Shoe singing “Children Will Listen” and of course Rachel singing “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.” I would pre-order that baby on iTunes right now.

With only nine days before the season premiere, I thought it would be appropriate to come up with fun Glee-themed gifts for the Gleek in your life (I have a few also). Happy listening!

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Back to School Deals

20120901-182644.jpgI’m a sucker for a deal. As a mom, there are a few shopping tent poles that hit me the hardest: Holiday (Christmas and Chanukah), summer shopping and back to school — the latter being probably the biggest in our house because it’s replacing pretty much everything: supplies, clothes, shoes and accessories. Because it’s such a huge shopping extravaganza I look for as many sales as I possibly can find, so I thought I would share the love and let you in on the deals I found. Hope some help you out, and note there are some time sensitivities noted — deals listed in order of expiration.

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Bad Hair Day Gifts: 10 Amazing Headbands For Any Budget

20120827-204549.jpgI’m in desperate need of a haircut. Truly. It’s out of control. Now if you looked at me you’d think I was delusional because my hair isn’t more than 2.5 – 3 inches long root to top, but that’s LONG for me and it gets sooooo thick. See I haven’t had hair over my ears since I was 16, having favored the pixie for the last 20+ years, and my hairstylist is on vacation for the next week so I am desperate for the bad hair day fix: headbands (that’s me in one in the picture above). Of course, when I wear headbands my daughter starts wanting to pillage my stash too– she has long, gorgeous red hair. That inspired this list of Splurges and Urges, high and low options to fit any budget and style.

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25 Moon and Space Themed Gifts

20120826-201220.jpgNeil Armstrong was one of those luminaries I didn’t think about every day–he didn’t trend on twitter, didn’t have a reality show or make the Yahoo homepage until the other day (pathetic that this is the barometer, but that’s another post). But when I heard of his passing I, like many others, was very sad. Here’s one possible reason why (I think): one of his most notable achievements debunked an impossible dream. Entire generations had grown up believing that a lunar landing, let alone a walk was a pipe dream, a fantasy, and then all of a sudden it wasn’t anymore. Anything was possible, even walking on the moon. Now, of course it wasn’t “all of a sudden.” There was hard work and training and time that went into the Moon Landing, but what that event represented and what that taught us all was that you (we/me) can do anything.
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Gifts for Fashionistas

With NY Fashion Week approaching it felt appropriate to start dreaming up gifts inspired by and that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to give to my Louboutin wearing Birkin toting friends (both of them). But regardless of who you hang with, I have always felt fashion epitomizes fun, fantasy, reinvention and escapism and if one interpretation doesn’t do it for you, there’s always another collection or another season right behind. So enjoy…or hang tight, there will be more to come soon enough or even better, chime in with a spin of your own.

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Gifts for Back to School II: Tech Gear

In my day I begged my mother for a Trapper Keeper…anyone else remember those? Mine had kittens on them — similar to the image below with the puppies but with, well kittens) — and I LOVED it. Today middle schoolers at my daughters school are encouraged to have laptops, that’s right laptops and both my kids are connected with phones, tablets and computers and we are in constant connection with them from the moment they leave the house until the moment we come home from work. So the real question was what cases should they get this year?

Trapper Keeper circa early ’80s
mine had kitties

As I was browsing the web in search of picks to surprise my own mini technophiles with, I made note of some of my faves to share with you…(yes, I know, some could work even for me).

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Giving Back: Gift Shopping for Good

20120804-205603.jpgI hate to admit it but a hefty shopping trip is often times my cardio for the day–hey, don’t judge lest you be judged. I do live in the city so walking 40 blocks with 4-5 bags in tow is no easy feat, so I can get an elevated heart rate and break a sweat especially in the August heat but recently I’ve been hit with a wave of gratitude that has me looking for more ways to give back and it’s so much more fun to do so when it involves something you enjoy. For me, it’s shopping and gift-giving.

Here are some ways to do both while also giving to others in need.

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Gifts for Cool Aunts

20120803-020852.jpgRecently I reconnected with a cousin from my Dad’s side. As we were catching up on family, jobs and kids I mentioned my Aunt D on my Mom’s side. Without skipping a beat she said me: “Oh my God I always thought she was so cool! I loved her leather pants. You were so lucky to have her for an aunt.”

I couldn’t agree more. As a little girl she was the coolest… I used to think “when I grow up I want to: wear leather pants, straighten my hair, wear cowboy boots, look cool in just about everything, be sassy and saucy just like her.”

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What I Bought With My Gift Cards & Other Presents

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What’s fabulous about a birthday? Gift cards! This year I got a few and thought it would be fun to summarize what I bought with them. Psst… There’s a money saving offer below too.

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6 Really Cool Stationery Sites

20120719-232119.jpgWhen I was a little girl, I was given a set of Crane’s stationery for my First Communion from someone I don’t now remember. Because of the simple and clean look of the stationery, that gift really came in handy at that time because I used them to send thank-you notes. However, stationery has come a long way, and the web has given shoppers and gift givers options like never before from variety to customization and crowd sourcing. Here are some options on my list to give AND get (remember, even if you get stationery, you’re going to be giving it to people over time).

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