Christmas Gifts 2009

What are you guys getting your sweetheart for christmas this year? Your mom, kids? Share gift ideas before it's too late.

Assuming people won't read this thread and find out what you're getting them.

Girlfriend: a full or half case of Syrah/Shiraz wines from around the world, and an engagement ring.

Mom: a book on Christian apologetics (she loves this shit), no idea what else...

Dad: that football related book The Blind Side, and the BBC Planet Earth series on DVD.

Sister: the first 3 seasons of Aqua Teen (her request), a handful of CDs (The-Dream, Fever Ray, YYYs), the R. Crumb illustrated Book of Genesis, and maybe another book.

Daughter (7 years old): a big play kitchen set with dishes, food, apron, etc., Zhu Zhu hamsters (can't believe I ran into these in person, they are actually really awesome), a stuffed carrot with three stuffed bunnies inside, a couple board/card games, and maybe something else... still brainstorming.

engagement ring, That's exciting!!

I'm getting my girlfriend a vintage Hermes scarf.
My mom is getting new phones for her house. She still has a rotary phone.
My Niece is getting baby Uggs.

That's all I have for now.

Sweetheart: an ipod nano, a house (not really a Christmas gift, but we close tomorrow)
Dad: Christmas ornament of a guy snorkeling (based on his retirement plans)
Kid: Electric guitar, several Nerf Dart Guns, so many dvds I can't remember, a Corey O'Brien Tech Decks fingerboard

http://skateandannoy.com/features/ebay/2007/ebay055/images-big/obrien838.jpg

Those ipod nano have cameras now, which is neat. My mom bought my cousin one. I have the job of filling it with music he will like.

girlfriend

luxury woollen throw & bathrobe
loads of books
few dvd's
spa day
handmade soap/bathroom hamper

there was a few other stocking fillers, we tend to get a lot of smaller stuff.

brothers:

brother 1: pocket camcorder thing

brother 2: my old digital camera, speakers for his laptop

brother 3: some vintage books and an engineering tome he needed for college

Being an only child makes Christmas cheaper...

Mother: vintage BBC Radio series on CD
Father: golf themed puzzle

As part of the family's Unilateral Present Reduction Treaty, there's a limit on how much we all spend on immediate family members, and we all just send everyone else cards. This might seem a bit mean, but who really wants a load of plastic shite that they're going to stuff in a drawer and forget about come Boxing Day?

Decided to go with the full case of wine for my girlfriend. Hey, why not?

mrs v: perfume, an watch, viennese truffles
joel: dj hero
han: miley cyrus tix and a "how to draw pokemon" book which is apparently the thing she wants most in the world

i made my friends some custom microbeats. four bars each with their name cut up over the top (from a text-to-speech thing i found online).

I gave/am giving:

BFF: Star Wars Monopoly
other good friend(s): homemade cranberry-orange vodka
dad: TicketMaster gift card
stepmom: hand lotion, soap, etc.

I received, from:

grandmother: Derrick May's "Innovator", E-Dancer's "Heavenly", The Urban Vegan cookbook, and Vegan with a Vengeance
dad: Miles' "On the Corner", both Velvet Underground "Live 1969" volumes, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman Vol. 1 DVD (!!!!!!), awesome skeleton gloves
mom: a wonderful mom-and-son shopping trip (nice shirt, cardigan, money for another shopping trip)

TO
Mom: B&N GC
Sister #1: Chipotle GC
Sister #2: three Ray Barretto CDs + Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco, Celia & Johnny (all Fania reissues)
Niece #1, age 4: U.S. map puzzle (55 pieces) + Antoinette Portis, Not a Box + Kazuno Kohara, Here Comes Jack Frost + The Five Chinese Brothers
Niece #2, age 2 weeks: Target GC for basic needs etc.
Girlfriend: four vampire novels + one witch novel + donation to Kiva.org
Girlfriend's parents: Conversations with Frank Gehry

FROM
Mom: Bob Gibson & Reggie Jackson, 60 Feet, Six Inches + Bruce Weber, As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires + Morris Dickstein, Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression + Robin D.G. Kelley, Monk
Sister #1: Joe Posnanski, The Machine: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds + Matias Aguayo, Are You Really Lost
Sister #2: Farber on Film + The Knife, Silent Shout
Girlfriend: Robert Altman: The Oral Biography + Lil Wayne, Tha Carter II + Boredoms, Vision Creation Newsun + pajamas
Girlfriend's parents: Taylor Branch, The Clinton Tapes

Mom accidentally got me the Farber as well so I traded it on Amazon for a bunch of used paperbacks I'll need for a research project. I had a GREAT Christmas with my girlfriend and her family, and will be visiting my own in mid-January for Sister #2's birthday. Hope you all had great holidays too.