18 Shopping Days Left 'til Christmas!

Dear Santa,

I've been a very good girl this year. Actually, I'm a very good girl every year--but you haven't been paying attention for a while. So this is as good a year as any to make it up to me by being very generous (I'm talking OPRAH generous, St. Nick!), I thought I'd write up a list of stuff that would make my Christmas exceptionally merry...

It's winter in SoCal and while that's nothing like winter in Wisconsin, I have taken to sleeping with socks on. It gets that cold at night. These cute slipper socks from Gap will help keep my toes warm. Red is my favorite color and it looks Christmas-y as well. They're only $24.50, but if you wait a while, they're sure to go on sale. Everything at Gap does eventually...

And to keep my toes tapping, the CD from the movie Walk the Line starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. Maybe they don't sound exactly like Johnny Cash and June Carter, but their renditions of Ring of Fire, Folsom Prison Blues and the title track totally turned me on to the man in black's music.



Frederic Fekkai's Glossing Cream is made with olive oil and fights frizz, giving hair a glossy sheen. It's less than $20 at Sephora.


And with my new obsession for products with olive oil as an ingredient, I've been jonesing for the entire Laventine (formerly La Vitton) line of organic skincare. Especially the Olive Forte Cleansing Oil, the Botanical Facial Cleanser and the Rose Water Clarifying Toner.

Bill Watterston stopped creating the brilliant Calvin and Hobbes comic strip over ten years ago. And I still miss it. I have several paperback collections, but I would love to own the three volume, hardbound, box set of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Simply sublime!

And speaking of memorable comic strip characters, I stumbled across these Dilbert action figures (or more accurately given that this is Dilbert and Company, "INaction" figures would be a better term...). I want Wally, slacker god. And maybe the pointy-haired boss to stick pins in like a voodoo dolll..

As soon as I saw this Laila Wrap Sweater at Club Monaco, I fell in lust. It's 55% Cashmere, 45% Cotton and 100% soft and warm. It doesn't matter that I would spend 3 hours trying to get it wrapped and draped just right, I want it. Unfortunately, at almost $200, it's a bit out of my price range. Maybe those elves of yours could whip something up. Or more accurately, KNIT something up....

I took the photo of the sweater using the camera in my Motorola RAZR phone. As you can see, the quality sucks. I don't take a lot of pictures, but for when I do I'd like a digital camera that produces something that looks somewhat like the thing (or place or person) that I was attempting to photograph. Although my camera phone has managed some accurate reproductions of my thumb...

One of my favorite Christmas present EVER was the iPod Nano my boss gave me two years ago. It has changed my life. No more burning CDs and lugging a portable CD player to the gym (two of which were stolen!). Now all my playlists for my workouts are stored on my little Nano. I have 31 different variations of hour-long song lists to keep me motivated during my cardio sessions. Recently I saw a guy watching a TV episode on an iPod while pedaling away and now I want a bigger, better iPod. The iTouch with a 3.5" widescreen display and 8-16GB would a super cool upgrade from my little 2 GB Nano. I could fit my entire song library and episodes of The Office. Or you could get me an iPhone which also has a 3.5" widescreen display, 8GB AND a camera! It would like two gifts in one! (Three if you count the phone...)

Of course with all that expanded storage capability, I'll need some more tunes to fill it up. Which is where an iTunes gift card would come in handy. They come in denominations of $10, $25 and $50 -- or printable / e-mail certificates in denominations of $10-$200.

To round out my iPod obsession, a Bose sound dock would be awesome. Right now my CD player is--like the technology itself--on its last legs. I'm listening to my music in my iTunes library through my laptop. Not the most optimum sound quality...But the Bose sound dock not only has great sound quality, but it looks pretty slick as well...

And while I'm cleaning up with all this Christmas loot, how about something to really help me clean up? My little Kenmore canister vacuum is fine for sucking up the occasional spider, but it really doesn't have enough suction to get all the dust and grit out of my rug. I hear that the best are Miele-- known as the "Mercedes Benz" of vacuum cleaners. They're also very expensive. But you can't put a price tag on a clean, allergen-free, living space. Or can you? Miele vacuums run $600 and up.

Speaking of Mercedes...No, I don't want a Benz, but I could use a new car. My current vehicle is coming up on 15 years. It's a Mazda. Other than the fact that the air conditioning doesn't work, three out of four radio speakers are blown out, I have to replace one of the fuses every couples of weeks, there's a jangling sound coming from the steering column and it makes this weird clunking noise when I brake--I haven't had any major problems with it. It starts up every time I put my key in the ignition. So, instead of a Hollywood status car, I'm getting another Mazda. The Mazda 6, five door, Bluetooth enabled.

And as long as we're wishing for the moon, I'd like a quiet little guest house in Santa Monica (hey--you got a house for Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street!), a screenwriting agent, big screen plasma TV with TiVo and all cable channels, a brand new laptop, Clive Owen, a functioning pancreas and World Peace.

Thanks, Santa!

Sincerely yours,

Stella