2006

The Christmas Gift Shopping is officially done. But I’m still craving some non-kid window shopping. I’d like to make a date with Ben where I can leisurely walk through Anthropologie and study the windows at Bergdorfs.

There are at least 5 stores where I need to return items because I’m ridiculously indecisive, but those errands are going to have to wait till next week.

Friday and Saturday will be grocery shopping for the Recital and our annual Christmas Eve Smorgasbord. We are buying most of our desserts for the Recital from Plaza Sweets (turtle bars, cheesecake, chocolate cake and cranberry-orange sweet bread), but we’ll get the sugar cookies from Lulu’s.

I know it’s December 21st, but it hardly seems like Christmas — it’s just too warm here. Is New York the only part of country sans snowstorm?

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My oldest, Ralph, has grown up a little too much over the last few weeks.

First, he’s home from school with a cold this morning, and he took advantage of that fact to have a reality-of-Santa Claus-discussion. He’s now officially in the know. To welcome him to the club, we offered to let him eat Santa’s cookies and the reindeer veggies.

Second, 2 weeks ago on the way to Cub Scouts, he asked Ben about a scene from The Christmas Story movie. He wanted to know what the bad word is that Ralphie says when he’s helping his Dad change the tire. So Ben told him straight up what it was. Ben asked if he’d ever heard it before and Ralph said no. Then Ben told him that if Ralph ever hears it spoken, the speaker is behaving poorly and Ralph should be unimpressed. And, made it clear that Dad knows all the ugly words and is unintimidated by them.

I was delighted with how Ben handled it and delighted Ralph would come to Ben with the question. But still felt my heart constrict at the thought of the word getting rolled around in my son’s head. The picture above was taken on the very day I started this blog — only a few months ago — when he didn’t know the f-word and still believed in Santa. Sigh.

How have you handled the outing of Santa? Or the swear word lo-down?

And speaking of innocence, I love these pictures my mom posted of my Dad & Santa in 1946 and 1949 at age 4 and 7:

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The winner of The Body Shop Giveaway is: Lindsey who commented, “Winning this would make my day.” at 3:10pm.
Congratulations, Lindsey! Please send me your shipping info by using the link at the top of my blog.

Thank you to everyone who participated over the last month! I had so much fun.

Look for more Giveaways soon. (Very soon.)

Merry Christmas! I’m off to wrap Christmas Eve pajamas. . .

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So my cool friend, Josh has a cool sister, Beccy who opened a cool shop, Mode Boutique.

Their wares are the hard-to-find, hip to the core sort of stuff you love to find in small shops. One of my fave items is the one-off custom tee option. You pick one of a bazillion graphics, and they hotpress it on an American Apparel or Fairline tee. This is no printed-at-home-iron-on thing. We’re talking high-quality, high heat transfer.

Easy last minute gift idea that will win you huge points — the lucky recipient will think it took weeks of forethought and searching.

Want to order your own? Just contact the store. They’ll place your order immediately.

THIS JUST IN: mention DESIGN MOM BLOG and get 20% OFF ANY ITEM IN THE STORE!!!

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Find the winner for yesterday’s Giveaway at the bottom of this post.
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What? The final day of this Month-of-Giveaways is here already? I can hardly believe it. But let’s go out with a bang.

Oh man, I’ve been walking around in some very cute but very high heels for the past few hours and any kind of spa-like product is sounding so appealing. Mother’s Day in May? December is the month the ladies need the most pampering. And today’s prize fits the bill perfectly. Because the winner will receive a VITAMIN E GIFT BOX FROM THE BODY SHOP!!!

The exclusive Vitamin E Gift Box is loaded with great-for-your skin goodies. Contents include one full-size Vitamin E Cream Cleanser, Vitamin E Hydrating Toner, Vitamin E Moisture Cream, and Vitamin E Cream Exfoliator. My skin is glowing just talking about it. What is it about getting and trying new products that is so darn appealing?

In addition to the lovely stuff in the giftset, I’m also totally desiring:


Invent Your Scent Collection Pack. Love the idea and love the spectrum of colors. Very cool gift.

Brazil Nut Moisture Mask for hair — I’ve got to keep those curls soft.

Mango Body Scrub to brighten my winter dry skin.

Something for Benjamin.

Make plans for your own little beauty session. Because life is easier when you feel pretty. And The Body Shop gives you the tools to feel pretty and all eco-cool at the same time: cruelty free, in support of community trade, protecting the planet. . . Sounds good to me.

Thank you, Janna @ the Body Shop!
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Giveaway Reminders:
-You have until midnight EST today to enter this giveaway.
-Just make a comment on this post to enter — any comment.
-Anonymous comments will be ignored/removed.
-One entry per person.
-Winner will be randomly picked and announced Monday morning.
-What’s Giveaway-A-Day? Read here.
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The winner of the 12/14 Stüsh Giveaway is:
Amy N who commented: “I love the idea of reusables: so much paper in the form of cards and whatnot gets wasted around the holidays. Let’s start a new tradition!” (at 12:23pm EST).
Congratulations Amy N! Please email me your shipping address by using the email link on my blog.

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Lovely Stephanie sent a link to Annie Wolfe where you can design your own handbag — or rather, choose your own fabric for one of their designs. You choose: style of bag, fabrics, fringes, length of straps and number of inside pockets.

Love this idea.

In addition to Stephanie, has anyone out there ordered one of these?

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Ask Design Mom Question:
Dear Design Mamacita — I adore my Mother-in-law. But unless I’ve just recently been with her, I never know what to give her for Christmas or Birthday. I’ve done sweaters, jewelry, lotions, gardening and kitchen stuff, and with each subsequent gifty time I feel like I’m just struggling to remember which category I chose last time so as not to repeat myself too close to the last time. Please help!! I know you can! Thanks so much, in advance, Laurie

Design Mom Answer:
Well, Dear Laurie, I need to ship my MIL’s gift today. And a gift for her birthday which also falls in December. So your question is too timely. And I love the categories you list above because they are just the kind of thing you give to someone you know personally but not that well. So I’m thinking, let’s just expand the list.

Remember my friend’s boutique that I posted about here? I’m mentally walking through her inventory, because it was Mother-in-Law gift heaven. Here are some ideas:

1) A super-cozy bathrobe.
Maybe in deep red because it’s Christmas. Or, if she’s more of an artsy gal, go with a printed kimono type robe. At the boutique there were some gorgeous bathrobe choices, but they all came in L/XL and we realized that no one wants to give or receive a robe that’s L/XL, so we carefully removed the part of the neck label that indicates size, making the robes seem like one size fits all.

2) Custom Stationery.
Something traditional unless you’re confident she would like something a little more funky. Everyone has to write thank you notes at some point, so you can be sure she’ll use it.

3) Go Handmade.
I saw these coasters made with wrapping paper on a recording of Martha yesterday when I was folding laundry. Totally love this project. Super easy. And you could pick wrapping paper that would go with her decorating style. Or paper with a Holiday print. Maybe a set of 8, each with a different paper. See coasters in the pic at the top.

4) Hat, Gloves & Scarf
When I think Mother-in-Law accessories, I think Chicos. They seem to cater to our parent’s generation. She may already own a set, but it’s nice to have a few options. If she’s not a hat, gloves and scarf gal, maybe a pashmina type shawl.

5) A book or a subscription.
These are my total default gifts and I know I’ve mentioned them before. Hard to go wrong here. You could choose something pretty generally liked by Mothers-in-law, like Oprah Magazine or you can even add a year to a subscription she already has and loves. For books, think coffee table. Maybe something about the part of the country she lives in.

6) An Umbrella.
I love everything Pare makes. A very cool and unexpected gift for anyone.

7) A donation in her name.
Help end world hunger by purchasing some poultry or a goat in her name for a village in a 3rd world country. Try Heifer International.

There’s a start, Laurie. But keep checking comments — I’m sure lots of Design Mom readers will add excellent ideas.

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Find the winner for yesterday’s Giveaway at the bottom of this post.
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It’s Thursday. I like Thursdays. And I’ve got a Giveaway today that only makes me like Thursdays more. Today’s winner will walk away with A GIFTSET OF MAGNETIC CARDS AND A GIFTSET OF INFRAMED CARDS FROM STÜSH LABS!!! These are some rockin’ cards. Check it out.

It’s like Choose-Your-Own-Adventure in cards. The winner will pick any mix of icons for the Magnetic cards to go in the giftset of 6. AND. The winner will will also pick any mix of designs for the Inframed cards to go in the tin-boxed giftset of 5.

The Magnetic cards have a peel off magnet that you can keep around long after the card has hit the dust. And the Inframed cards are designed to be 100% recyclable and 100% useable — even acting as their own easel.

If I were the winner, it would take me a couple of hours at least to pick which 6 images I would want for the Magnetic cards and which 5 designs I would want for the Inframed cards. A couple of hours that I would very much enjoy. Check out this sampling — that’s right, this is only a sampling — there are tons more icon/design choices:

While you’re on their site, you can also check out some of the other super-hip products from Stüsh Labs:

Loving the idea of the Mul3 (pronounced Mule Cubed). Sit on it. Store magazines in the slot. So fun to have several of these in one room to endlessly reconfigure. Totally handmade.

Stylish storage for random items in the Lump and Bump. The big one fits magazines. The small one is perfect for remotes, keys, or other miscellany. They look cool on the floor, on the table, even mounted to the wall.

I have loved discovering/being introduced to studios like Stüsh. It’s great to see what can be created when the idea doesn’t have to filtered through a committee. Great stuff. All very giftable.

Thank you, Stüsh!
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Giveaway Reminders:
-You have until midnight EST today to enter this giveaway.
-Just make a comment on this post to enter — any comment.
-Anonymous comments will be ignored/removed.
-One entry per person.
-Winner will be randomly picked and announced tomorrow morning.
-What’s Giveaway-A-Day? Read here.
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The winner of the 12/13 Happy Owl Glassworks Giveaway is:
Jannell who commented: “I’m freaaaking out about how adorable these are and have just hit the jackpot for a store where I can buy my best friend and my mom their Xmas presents!!! YAY! ” (at 10:25am EST).
Congratulations Jannell! Please email me your shipping address by using the email link on my blog.

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