I am wishing you a happy holiday season and a joyous new year. I truly am.

(Aside: If you know me, you get it; if you don’t know me personally you may consider commenting with the "real reason" for Christmas. Save it. I won’t lecture you if you won’t lecture me. This isn’t a touchy-feely Christmas post, it’s a greedy, commercial Christmas post.)

The problem I have is when my family asks me what I want for Christmas. I have everything I need or want. I really do. I have such an incredible family. My husband loves me, supports my blogging habit, and has a stable job. His main focus is our family and providing for us (and golf). My kids are good kids with imaginations that WOW me every day and a sense of humor to match.

My family, however, needs to know what to get for me. So I’m going to post my list here and ask you to help me think of more things to add. Why? Because it’s fun. We can always dream big even if we can’t get it. And I’m at a loss as to what to ask for other than the few things I’ll list below.

So here’s what I’d like for Christmas, family:

• A very cool, hip, and awesome iPhone case. It needs to be functional (no flaps to open). Do you have any ideas where to find such an iPhone case? Because I’m at a loss. Except for the Noel, which is SWEET. And these fabric-over-plastic cases are kind of fashionable.
• Pajamas. Not satin or silk. I prefer flannel or cotton. Fleece is OK. No nightgowns. Gah.
• Curved Triple Frame from Crate&Barrel. I need four of these. I’m going to fill them with pictures of my two kids and my two nephews.

What are you asking or hoping for? I could use some more ideas. If you know of a great iPhone case, leave a link in the comments. If you have some great ideas for a present, tell me about it (with a link if you have it). I’d appreciate it. My family is about to strangle me because I can’t come up with anything.

When my son was about five he noticed that I have pointy ears (I don’t, by the way). Since it was around Christmas I didn’t miss a beat and said, "That’s because I’m an elf." For six years my kids thought I was an actual elf that could tell what people are thinking and what they are about to do. How else could I know my daughter had to go the restroom?

This summer while we were on vacation, my daughter (who is eight) pulled me into the bathroom and sat me down on the toilet for a serious discussion. She put her hands on my shoulders and said, "Mom. Are you Santa?"

"Uhhh." I am nothing if not brilliant under pressure.

"I’m old enough to know. You’re Santa, aren’t you?"

"Did your brother say something to you? Where is this coming from? Why do you think I’m Santa?" I asked.

"No, he didn’t say anything. Why? Does he know too? I was just thinking and it seems like you might be Santa."

At this point she looked me deep in the eyes and smirked. It was clear to me she was already sure of the answer and whether I verified it or not, the jig was up. So I verified. We now live in a Santa-free zone. The Easter Bunny, Leprechauns, Great Pumpkin, and Tooth Fairy are known fakes.

How about you? Santa or no Santa? Have you told your kids or did they tell you? How did they take the news?

• Carol of the Bells. Whether it’s instrumental or sung, this is the one carol that screams Christmas time to me. I love the hectic pace of the bells and the staccato notes. Every year the downtown shopping square of the city I grew up in would hang giant candles and wreaths from the light poles. These over-sized decorations looked like they were made of huge pipecleaners. When I hear The Carol of the Bells I think of an evening when it’s lightly snowing and I’m hurrying from store to store with my packages. It is entirely possible that I’m borrowing this scene from several holiday movies I’ve seen over the years.
• The Little Drummer Boy. When I hear this song I am instantly back in the living room of our first house in the city I grew up in. Every year my mother had a nativity scene she would display on top of the softest cloud you can imagine. Once I asked her what the cloud was made of and she said it was angel’s hair. I would sit and stroke the angel’s hair while The Little Drummer Boy played in the background.
• Silent Night. This is a favorite carol of mine only because I don’t hear it very often. When I was a child we always sang it in music class and it seemed to always be around. These days I have to search for it. I love that it relaxes me.

I enjoyed learning which Christmas albums are must-haves for you. Will you tell me what your favorite carols are and why?

Oh, and because you totally deserve it: Christmas Boomwhackers.

1. Boogie Woogie Christmas
   by Brian Setzer. Every time I play this CD I have to dance. If you’re folding laundry, making dinner, or waiting in the car line, this is the CD you want to have playing. I love his version of The Nutcracker Suite. His duet Ann Margaret is about the only way I’ll listen to Baby It’s Cold Outside. He finishes up with The Amens and I love it.
2. Dig That Crazy Christmas
   by Brian Setzer. Yes. I like Rockabilly. How can you not? Wait. Don’t answer that. It will only break my heart. Setzer’s version of Angels We Have Heard On High is just right, I think. He also has the best voice for You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.
3. Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
   by Ella Fitzgerald. I only wish I’d found this years ago instead of just three weeks ago. This album is perfect as background music to anything you’re doing.
4. When My Heart Finds Christmas
   by Harry Connick, Jr. Yep, it’s the oldest of the Harry Christmas CDs, but still his finest. The others try too hard, but this one is just right. We listen to it every year as we trim the tree (er, watch the kids trim the tree).
5. A Christmas Together
   by John Denver & The Muppets. How can you not laugh at Miss Piggy and Gonzo debating Piggy/Figgy pudding? "It’s made of figs! (and bacon.)" And Beaker singing his part in The 12 Days of Christmas? It could make the baby Jesus weep.

Whatever you do, stay far, far, FAR away from Aretha’s new Christmas album. Terrible. I’ve tried several times to enjoy it and I just don’t. She pulls out every gimmick in the book (answering the phone and pretending to have a conversation, having her son sing, changing the words to traditional songs to reflect herself as a hot mama) and I just couldn’t take it.

What are your favorite Christmas albums?

It’s an online shopping mall for realz. Except without the traipsing around, finding what you want, putting it on hold, shopping other stores to make sure there isn’t something better, realizing your first choice at the first store was truly the best deal, and heading back to the other end of the mall and upstairs to buy it.

Shop.com allows you type in what you’re looking for, then it presents you with a list of the stores (with pictures of your item!) that have it. I typed in "low heel boot" and had results from J Crew, Neiman Marcus, Ann Taylor, Shoebuy, Zappos and a plethora (don’t you love that word? It’s so apropos here.) of other stores. The results were listed so that I could easily tell which store had the best bargain and which store had the type of boot I was looking for. Sweet.

I’m sure you can see how this could really make your holiday shopping a bit easier. Shop.com covers everything from toys to clothes to beauty supplies to electronics. What are you waiting for? Head over to Shop.com right now!

Each piece has a part of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.

AND! They were on sale! Each dinner plate was $4.49! Each salad plate was $4.49! (These are available at Dillard’s, btw.)

And the serving pieces!

To die for right? Except you might not know that they really could be. To die for, that is. Because? They are made in China. So now I have to go by a lead detection kit.

UPDATE: I did NOT find any lead in the dishes. Whoopee!

You’d do that for me, wouldn’t you? I thought so.

Air kiss. Love ya. Mean it.

Thanks to EmilyStyle for coming up with such an awesome ensemble. Too bad I didn’t get my invite to the White House Christmas party. Must’ve been lost in the mail or something. I’m pretty hard to find.

I encourage you to download the image and place it in your post
next week and also place it in your sidebar to spread the word! If you
need help doing that, visit Blogging Basics 101–I have a tutorial that will walk you through adding a button to your sidebar!

Or, if you just need the code, you can use this:

<a
href="http://www.donttryit.com/2007/11/christmas-shopp/"><img
src="http://www.donttryit.com/christmascarnivalSMLL2.jpg"></a>

IMPORTANT NOTES!

1. I am a carni idiot.
2. You can use either banner. If you’ve already gone to the trouble of
   posting the button or banner on your site you don’t need to change it
   unless you want to. I appreciate that you put it on your site.
3. You do not actually have to use either of the buttons to participate. However, if you do put them up, it will help spread the word and thus the participation. The more participants, the more traffic for all of us.
4. This is a Holiday Shopping carnival, not a Christmas Wish-List carnival. You can see the overview in this post.

Thanks! I can’t wait to see what your special gifts your list has on
it! Thanks for sticking with me people. I’m not making any more changes. I swear. See you on Monday, November 12 for the The Holiday Shopping Carnival!

I have several people on my list that I always stump me. You have to understand that I consider myself an excellent gift giver. I try to really think about what someone would like and then provide that for them. Unfortunately, I’m still unsure of what to give to some people. Every year I hear of something after I’ve driven myself crazy and bought something mediocre. This year I’ve had an idea. You all are excellent sources of information and ideas. Let’s harness that energy and help each other!

I propose that on Monday, November 12 we all list at least five items that may be a little different than the run-of-the-mill socks and underwear we usually give. It would be optimal if those gifts came with a link where we could buy them. For instance, one of the items I’ll be suggesting is a hand-made pendant from Lisa Leonard. I’ve had many compliments on my necklace and many requests to know where I got it. I think it would make a great gift.

Your list can include pre-made items (like the jewelry from Lisa Leonard) or items to make (linked to tutorials). It would be great, though, if no one would link to the outrageously priced items in Neiman Marcus or the diamond-studded bra at Victoria’s Secret. I think we’re agreed that we aren’t going to buy them and I’d like our carnival to be as useful as possible. Thanks. Air kiss. Love ya. Mean it.

Once you have your blog post written and your list of links ready, come back here on November 12 and sign up on Mr. Linky. My hope is that this will generate traffic for all of us and we’ll find some excellent gift ideas in the process!