Holiday Gifts

My husband noticed the sense of serenity oozing out of me. The price tag on those beds is over $3000. Needless to say, owning one of them - even the cheapest model - is out of the question. To buy one wouldn’t be a matter of mere extravagance, but one of financial irresponsibility. The pillows, on the other hand, wouldn’t require taking out a second mortgage on our house. So when my husband offered to buy me one as a belated birthday gift, I didn’t even hesitate.

Vanessa Williams was glowing and gorgeous Monday when she received a long overdue birthday gift in Hollywood as she was presented with her very own star on the coveted Walk of Fame. Her family, brother Chris Williams and Salma Hayek were amongst the adoring crowd of friends and fans in attendance.

Sunday March 11th is the most important day of this year, what with it being my birthday and all, and since I have about an hour to spare before a friend comes and picks me up, and since I’ve already gotten to everything on my to do list for today, I spent a little time Googling. Yes, Google saves everything you search for because someday they’re going to sell that information to advertisers, but I still use Google anyway. So, as a birthday gift to myself, I thought I’d search for my favorite subject- ME. Me me me. Capital em, capital ee. Me. And I found me.

I’ve been told I can buy myself a birthday gift, but (frankly) find I’m in the blessed position of not actually wanting a thing.

My mother loved her birthday gift and I’m really glad it got to her in time. It’s the best feeling when you know someone you care for is really happy. She’s called me three times already from her new phone and sent me two text messages.

i got it as a sort of birthday gift back in october, and i actually read it all in one day. my mother sent it to me, and after picking it up, i went to a pub here in berlin and just read and read. after 3 pints i was almost through, so i went home and finished it later in the evening.

Serving cake for special occasions has been a tradition since ancient times. Today cakes are used to celebrate weddings, birthdays, baby showers, going’aways, coming’homes and many more momentous occasions. We would love to opportunity to be a part of your special day.

One could even buy a small Harley Davidson or a miniature sports car (complete with a workable BOSE DVD/CD stereo system) for his kid to drive around in. Even for the girls, they had real working mini chrome like kitchens to bake and cook.

Scott just finished setting up my blog for me. He’s still working on the rest of the website, but all in all this is the best birthday gift I’ve ever gotten.

One of the days I dread the most is my father’s birthday - (my father turned 77 last Saturday). My father is the hardest person to buy for, ever. If he wants something he will just go out and buy it. I hate it when he does this the week before his birthday!

Two very good friends of mine fixed up one of their cars and gave it to me as a birthday and Christmas gift. It rides nicely and outside of a couple of body panel adjustments needed, it is a solid car. It replaced another car (the red one) that I had since 2000 and it, too, was given to me by a good friend from back home.

Did you think I was done saving the dollars at the last shopping venue? Well you are incorrect, because at Borders I used my birthday gift cards paid MAYBE $15 for all of those goodies after my gift cards and coupons and my Rewards card.

My wonderful girlfriend purchased our trip to Vegas as a birthday gift to me. Possibly the greatest gift I’ve ever received. For me, this was the first trip to LV with a "significant other". She went out of her way to let me go and play poker and do the things that I normally would do in Vegas. She knows that I’m not a drinker so she didn’t have to worry about me doing anything stupid while off by myself. However, we did spend a lot of time together and she showed me a part of Vegas that I never saw before.

At the request of some friends and family members I’ve begun to think about appropriate gifts for the upcoming anniversary of my birth. I figure that we’re all allowed three types of birthday wishes: the ginormous-realistic wishes; the smaller-reasonable-more-realistic wishes; and the extremely-unlikely-because-pigs-haven’t-yet-grown-wings wishes.

You see yesterday, one of my Dad’s friends hand-delivered my belated birthday gift all the way from Hawaii: a Sonicare toothbrush.

I gave Amazing G her birthday gift a few days before that: I named a star in the Pisces constellation after her. Naming a star would be pointless if you had nothing to look at the star with… so I bought her a telescope too! So we spent her birthday evening trying to assemble the telescope, and then trying to figure out how it works. We weren’t very successful. Apparently, it has to be calibrated in the day time first. Hmmm.

This guy at the Ulysse Nardin Forum left his office early to get himself an IWC Portugieser as a birthday gift.. and as you probably already guessed.. he failed doing so and bought an Ulysse Nardin Perpetual Ludwig instead. Lucky bastard!!

In what might be the geekiest birthday gift ever, here’s part of your birthday gift this year. Your very own blog. Now you can be like me, Kevo and all the other cool kids.

However, by using my Palm z22 to list my contacts (and their birthdays) I can now receive a warning 7 days in advance, enough time to organise a card. For special occasions, like wedding anniversaries, I can set this to several weeks notice, allowing plenty of time to book a table at our favourite restaurant.

For my birthday, I received numerous thoughtful and fabulous gifts. And even more kind wishes for the coming year. But the best gift I received wasn’t something anyone could buy or wrap up in a neat package with a pretty bow. No, the best gift I received was when I woke up the next morning and looked at the person lying beside me. And I got my real birthday gift. Love. And for a cynical and sassy single gal like me, nothing could have been sweeter. That is, until moments later when Mr. XY looked deep into my eyes and said those three fabulous little words before I even had the chance. That was sweeter still.

I got an early birthday gift in the mail today, just in time for my trip this weekend - a digital camera! My BFF (And her boyfriend) are great people. I love them.

In Greece, it seems any occasion is worthy of a gift and there are a lot of occasions. My dwindling bank account is evidence of that fact. They give housewarming gifts, name day gifts, birthday gifts, easter gifts, baptism gifts, wedding gifts, and Christmas gifts. Even if you've lived in your house for 20 years, if it's the first time your guest has visited you, they're going to bring you some sort of gift...either sweets, flowers or wine.

Back home M continued drawing a detailed robot picture using some new watercolour pencils he got as a birthday gift. They are lovely and he spent ages drawing with them and blending the colours with a brush. He doesn’t choose to draw that often, but really enjoyed it today.

Orhan Pamuk is one of my favorite authors. I had never heard of Turkey’s most famous novelist until a few years ago, when I got My Name is Red as a surprise birthday gift.

LOL, yep. We went to a waterpark today for Matthew and my birthday. Yep. We’re one year older ^.^ It was really fun. We brought a couple of our other friends. The waterpark had a wave pool (though it kinda sucked) a lazy river that we floated down in tubes, and a waterslide where you went down on a tube. Matt and my other friend Jack were together on the slide, (you have to use double tubes) and they flipped over. Luckily neither of them was injured. Me and Matthew are getting laptops soon. Our parents ordered them for us a couple days ago. We’re each paying $300. Matt might also pay the first year of domain name (m-unit.org) for this site as a birthday gift. YAY!

The Babur missile is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads and has a range of 500km (310 miles), a military spokesman said. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the launch was a birthday gift to President Pervez Musharraf.

My car coming was filled to the gills… again… What is it with leaving here and coming back with more stuff… I have to admit, it is fun.. New bathroom furniture… Wine for me, new printer….The girls got an early Birthday gift from Mom, she got them a DVD player for the car… it is pink.. Hey Girls Rule in this house.. So the return was very quiet. Mom basically slept almost the whole way there.. thanks mom for the very great company. ha ha ha and the girls watch a movie and I drove.

It's not like his presents to me were ever that glamorous... there have been stuffed animals, the Jewel Cd (he burnt a copy of it for me and wrote my name on it... my cousin still owns it to this day), used VHS movies from blockbuster, mini body sprays (valued at $4.50/bottle), and Magic cards--that I never wanted, but he just kept for himself. It was all really immature of him, but now, for some reason, I still get him the nicest gifts for his birthday when he doesn't get me anything. I feel pressured to spend tons of money on him getting him the nicest present every year for Christmas or his birthday. For graduation, he bought me a stuffed animal (not like I expected any graduation presents anyway) but then, when my little cousin graduated, she got an iPod from my brother... WTF?!?!

I picked it up on the showroom floor on my sixteenth birthday. I had no idea what it meant to get a car when I turned sixteen, both in terms of the privilege I was being accorded by my parents (now I was the one with the burden of responsibility; at least if me and my friends were killed, I was the one doing the killing), and the economic privilege of receiving a new car as a birthday gift (a painful lesson I would learn years later, when all I could afford was a used "value vehicle" at CarMax because it already had 70,000 miles on its tires).

Robin took her to build-a-bear for a birthday gift. She seems to like making those custom teddy bears.

However... I am now in possession of the BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVERRRRRR!
Lisa MADE me a T-shirt!
It says Queen of the Rocket Elves.
Nearly ten years of wishing have reached their culmination in a sweet blue t-shirt, hand-designed and 100% original. Lisa RULES.

Kids also love DVD’s so movies are a simple gift idea, some of our top tips are look out for these film distributors:

Disney who produced Micky Mouse & friends, Winnie the pooh

Disney Pixar who produced Finding Nemo, Brother Bear & The incredibles

Dreamworks who produced Shrek

Commissioned paintings are lifetime keepsakes that can be passed down for generations. If you have a photo that you cherish and would like to see immoralized in oil, just contact me for a consultation. Once you send me a photo either through email or regular mail I will evaluate it's potential and work with you on creating something that will be very special. Here is an example of a recent commissioned work, a sweet sixteen year old girl and her horse, commissioned as a Birthday gift for her mother. I was told she loved it so much she cried. A well done oil painting takes time and there is a limit to availablity. If you want it for a special occasion, be sure to put in a request as early as possible.

Greg got us a Tivo...a late birthday gift for me, and just an all-around gift for us. I'm pretty dang excited at the prospect of not missing my shows, TIVOing movies, AND watching said shows/movies without commercials AND on my OWN TIME! If I want to watch a certain show at the end of the night before bedtime (which is most often my one hour of TV-time a day), I can do that without having to putz around with the VCR. Half the time, I miss really good shows just because I forget to set the VCR timer, or just forget (in general) about the shows! So...

I remember… one day I had not enough money for a date. I never told you what was in my mind but you offered me money before I asked. I remember… I was dismissed from Uni. And it was you who took all the troubles to put me back in line. Today, I have graduated with flying colors. I remember… the day I demanded Playstation as my birthday gift (erk.. spoil brat), and you gave me Playstation. I remember… I needed money to visit a steady girlfriend in Australia and you gave me your VISA (what a spoil brat I am). I remember… so many deeds la...

I'm laptop shopping - wheeee! I think this will be a combo Mother's Day/birthday gift for me. I can't wait to make a decision and actually buy one. I really think that having a laptop that I can put ALL of my files on, and keep them in one place, will really help me keep up with writing. And being able to work anywhere, anytime, will also make it much easier for me to write, period.

I took a trip to Denver with my little sis (the Cougar) to see the Broncos kick the heck out of the Texans. My sister has been a Broncos fan since she can remember, so it was kind of a birthday gift to her. It turned out Denver is a pretty cool city. I hope to get back there to explore a little further. Pictures coming…..

JB gave me a belated birthday gift which moved my heart to tears. A piece of art she made herself, including a hand written copy of prose by "Judy Chicago" with a beautiful heart image in the center. So stunningly beautiful, especially in the clarity of her view of me it displays. She also gave me $40 to go towards my robes fund. I am looking for lay robes to wear when I am at the center.

It’s brand new. I got it as a birthday gift about five years go and I never used it since I had a jewellry box already. It still plays music too. So go bid. Thanks.

I brought The Shrine in to be framed this weekend. This is actually the first time that I am picking out my own framing. In the past my dad took care of it for me as a birthday gift or an xmas gift. The good part is that it meant I didn't have to pay for it... but the bad part was that it was all to his taste and not to mine.

Bush received the iPod as a birthday gift last July from his daughters. His songs are downloaded by personal aide Blake Gottesman, who purchases them from the iTunes online music store."

Her birthday gift this year was a Plasma Car. If you haven't seen one of these before, check it out. I think it's almost better than the Green Machines of my younger days. :)

The husband brought me two dozen gorgeous tulips this afternoon and gave me $400 in gift certificates for the new gourmet restaurant supply store. The kids gave me all manner of kisses, hugs, homemade cards and some fab Nigella Lawson measuring cups and spoons.

The trip was Thursday to Sunday and was a 50th birthday gift to my dad.

We recently got new cordless phones for the home, thanks to my best friend, Mark. It was a belated birthday gift. Now, we have a main unit with an answering machine (and call waiting!) plus two additional cordless units. The system works really great, so we love our newest technology addition to the family. Thanks, Mark!

Just last week, she decided to give me 15 balls of her GGH Scarlett in Chocolate and Blue! She claims it was a belated birthday gift/Christmas gift, etc., but it's a really generous gift and I could only accept it by either giving her some money for it or making her something. So, I'm making her some Estonian mittens. Yes, THOSE mittens. A fair trade, no?

In case anyone is interested in doing the same, I got the picture printed and cardboarded (is that a verb?) by PicPong, it's a Israeli company that dos custom printing jobs, you can just go to their site, upload any picture you want, choose the size, paper type (you can even print on the type of cloths painter use!) frame (I ordered a picture of my mother with a dedication as a birthday gift, and it appears to be good) and...

Looking for just the right birthday gift for yours truly?

It being my birthday, or rather the day after my birthday now, I’m taking the day off. We celebrate Christmas for 12 days, why not my birthday? Speaking of which, if you are in a giving mood, any of the following would make a great birthday present; something for every budget…

* Smile… :-) Better yet, make somebody else smile… :-) :-) :-)
* Do something good for our future, and send a donation to the ACLU or EFF.
* Rescue a cat or dog from the pound — if you love cats and dogs.

Oh enough already of this selfless stuff. How about…

* a copy of Cinema 4D Studio Bundle — for the love of 3D.
* a Fujitsu T4010 or Toshiba m200 Tablet PC, or a 15” PowerBook — I don’t discriminate, and I actually do need to use both.
* a 30” Apple Cinema display — bigger is better. * a 30” Apple Cinema display — bigger is better.
* a Porsche Carrera GT, Seal Grey please — boys and their toys
* a Gulfstream G550, with lifetime maintenance, fuel, and crew — hey, you never know; Bill Gates might be a big fan of this blog. Besides, I hate public transportation.

See, I promised you something for every budget.

The electronics retailer's new Vex Robotics Design Systems is actually more than just a neato $299 robotics kit for hobbyists. It's intended to fill a gap seen at Segway Inventor Dean Kamen's hugely popular FIRST national high-school science competition. For the uninitiated, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a now 16-year-old program that not only encourages high-school students to learn about science, technology, engineering, and robotics but engages them in regional, national, and even international robotics competitions that resemble major sporting events more closely than science fairs.

The only problem with Nyko's decision to release an iPod accessory called the Universal Car Mount ($29.99) is the natural disbelief it inspires: it can't really be universal, right? It probably doesn't work with some iPod, or with some car? Thankfully, we were pleasantly surprised with the answers to both questions: it's a highly compatible and well-built iPod mounting accessory.

This one guy in the Lindy Hop scene that I know is a nationally renowned and universally respected DJ. He's also got a hell of a cool core set of friends, who helped make a 'surprise Web site' for his 30th birthday:

http://www.jesseis30.com/

While I'm sure many of you reading this blog don't know who Jesse is, I just thought might find the concept of a Web-site-as-gift to be as amusing and fascinating as I do.

A company called bun-J offers some fabulous mobile phone holders - such as these "classical bags" (left) which include pockets for credit cards. mobile blog.it spotted th