image courtesy of Luigi Diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
My post today isn’t going to be a gift list or guide. Sorry in advance, although it IS slightly gifting related.
Before you continue reading any further, make sure there are only adults present–no children (or inner children) peeking behind you or reading over your shoulder. There are some “holiday spoilers” in this post, if you catch my drift. Alright, now that you’ve done that, I can share the rest of this with you.
If you’re anything like me, you start holiday shopping in October so get ready for tomorrow…because it is ON. As luck would have it and as I do at the end of every month, I’m rounding up the the top toys — by popularity and rating as tracked by Amazon.com — across a number of categories and I’ve already earmarked a few ideas for my Christmas and Chanukah shopping lists. Featured below are selections from: action & toy figures, dolls and doll accessories, construction & blocks, arts & craft, outdoor gym & swing sets, learning & educational toys, play vehicles and games. Bear in mind, the prices listed are “List Prices” however, on Amazon you can often find items deeply discounted (many of these featured items are), so make sure to check.
PS – Stay tuned for special Halloween posts coming soon too. Happy Fall!
We often say things like “it’s only a job” but try saying that to someone who just scored a new one or is the recent recipient of a well-deserved promotion. So before that pink cloud dissipates, here are some ideas to show your upwardly-mobile recipient just how proud you are.
The Voice and X-Factors debuted their season this week and presumably Idol will soon follow. Other than the singing, what do they all have in common? Former pop star queens making up part of the the judging panels (did anyone notice Britney get announced AFTER Simon last night as the “headliner” and X-F clearly became the Britney Show)–and as a fan I’m hoping they deliver and rule the roost. I’m speaking of course of all of them: Christina Aguilera, Demi Lovato, Britney Spears and Mariah Carey (and perhaps one more TBD). Now full disclosure, a couple years back my husband got this thirtysomething tickets to see Ms. Spears in concert during her Circus Tour so I never lost and all of my teeny-booper mojo– I also feel her Blackout album may be her most brilliant one. Ever. And Ms. Mariah…don’t even get me started. Love her. So I am not a pop hater. Not at all. This list is in reverence and hopefully useful for you and your pop loving recipients.
This is really more of a sidebar, but if you can get your hands on David Cook’s cover of Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” you’ll be glad you did. Trust.
9/11 in New York is always a little different. Even the hustle and bustle of midtown seems a bit slower, people come to work a little later as they shuffle in from memorials and by work the pace picks up a bit more but the tone is still somber. We are acutely reminded of our promise to never forget in a way that is more palpable than during the rest of the year. As a New Yorker, you only have to look at the skyline or walk past a firehouse to remember…for many of us this is a common, even daily occurrence. I recall the sky being so clear, the day having so much promise and holding my 10-month-old daughter getting ready to take her to playground and begin our day as usual. And then the world changed and I loved my city all the more.
Please consider checking out the 9/11 Memorial items, and the rest are iconic NYC items that I think you will also enjoy.
The beginning of fall always makes me want to break out big beautiful gemstones like topaz, citrines, emeralds and sapphires. I love mixing, layering and finding gemstones that are meaningful either because of a birthstone or anniversary month…or just because a color speaks to me. I was browsing on one of my favorite sites to go to when looking at jewelry–my grandmother, aunt and mother are all Ross-Simons alum and turned me on at an early age–and came across these rocks (the lead image is a ruby ring I am currently lusting after) and had to share these pretty colorful finds since they are all so diverse and can be used for an engagement, right hand ring, anniversary, or just because you are fabulous. Oh and you know what else…most of them are under $1,000.
My daughter is obsessed with mustaches. Yep, those handlebar, thick mustaches that we used to use to play disguise. Who knew they would become a fashion statement, but here it is 2012 and it is. Yesterday, she went to a birthday party and as I was picking up gifts for that event, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw so many cute mustache items all over the Upper West Side–I had pulled together a little mustache giftie to surprise my girlie just because (and socked a few away for another day for good measure)!
When she returned from her party last night she said: Mom, you should do a post on mustache themed gifts… And right she was, so here it is.
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.
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).
My husbands favorite commercial is that Staples Back to school spot where the Dad is dancing in the aisle to the holiday tune “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year” and the kids look miserable drudging behind him. Every year he waits for that commercial to begin airing again because it makes him laugh out loud and it does mean school is almost back in session and normalcy can return to our home. But even will I miss the lazy days of letting them sleep late (so I get to sleep a bit late too), a later routine so dinner isn’t at 5:30 which means, as a working mom, I get a shot at eating with my family and the promise of a sun-kissed weekend.
I don’t believe in buying comfort or joy, but I think it’s always nice to kick off back to school with a thematic gift that the kids can use during the year. Oh, and for your viewing pleasure, that Staples commercial is at the bottom of all my picks… enjoy 🙂
The Gifting Whisperer 
