The period after Christmas is often the best time to buy gifts. A great way to save money is to buy next year's Christmas presents now. Personally, I am not that organised. But, given the recent economic crisis, the best thing for the economy right now is to spend money.

Bath spa gift baskets are convenient as they are a ready-made solution for birthdays and holiday celebrations. At Best Bath Store you can find gift baskets starting at $39.95 - the baskets range from smaller combinations of soaps and bath products, to deluxe dead sea mud packages.

Featured above is the Petite Deluxe Facial gift basket, including minerals and botanicals to care for acne prone skin. The package includes pore refining facial toner, an acne soap bar and acne treatment gel.

The site also features products for men, including shaving creams and gels, and a very cute "I am Smitten With Him" package. This features a bay lime shaving kit with aloe shea butter, vitamin e and soothing aloe vera for a closer and smoother shaving experience.

All products come attractively packaged in cute baskets and include free delivery within US and Canada for orders over $25. Perfect for that hard to buy person and the person who has everything.

According to an article in The Age, a Galaxy poll revealed some surprising results.

After questioning 1242 people aged 13 years and older in October, the survey found the following 'best' gifts:

Best presents for women - Chanel No5 perfume

I disagree. I think Poison is much better and anyway, I'd rather get a new titanium driver. Perhaps I am atypical.


Best presents for men - iPod Nano
Hmmm. I know one man in particular who would scratch his head and give me a quizzical look if I bought him an iPod Nano. The most likely response would be "how do you turn the bloody thing on?"


Best presents for girls - Barbie and Baby alive

AAARRRRGHHH!!! My mum would have had a pink fit (literally) if I had been given such gifts. Barbie dolls are sexist and promote eating disorders. Baby alive prepares one for motherhood I suppose. Fine if you're into that sort of thing...


Best presents for boys - Lego and Transformers

Now you're talking. I got quite a few lego sets as a kid and I loved them. I think they are good for the imagination and also serve the purpose of keeping kids away from the XBox for a while. Transformers? Yeah, I used to like them...before the crap movie came out.



Now for the 'worst' list:

Worst presents for women - Kitchen appliances

I understand that the giving of a kitchen appliance to a woman can often be misinterpreted (or correctly interpreted) as "you woman, go cook!!" ...or words to that effect.
On the other hand if it's a rice cooker...well, they can come in handy.

Worst presents for men - the article didn't specify so I'll have to make up my own. From what I have heard, anything tie-dyed, clothing bought by grandma/aunties eg. green socks, more socks, colourful t-shirts that say something like "Brown Ferret Sports Club" with pictures of surfboards and volleyballs on it. Sweeping period romance novels are probably out, unless the male in question is a fan, or is named Gill Sanderson (romance author!). And perhaps the worst? Pongy aftershave that only goes with a backwards cap, a 6 cylinder car and an ear-splitting doof doof stereo.


Worst presents for teenage girls - Clothes bought by parents

Ok, I hear ya. Yep, yep. That polka dot cable knit jumper will sink to the bottom of the closet, only to be wheeled out on special occasions. Unless that is, it meets an unfortunate 'accident' along the way...


Worst present for teenage boys - Books

Whaat? What about Harry Potter? Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Are we entering a new age of illiteracy? Whatever happened to The Famous 5? Boys Own? Sherlock Holmes? Nooo, it's all gadgets and gizmos now. Teenage boys probably learn how to read on Facebook.


I finished my Christmas shopping two days ago. Let's hope we all escape the 'worst' list!

technorati tags: best and worst christmas presents gift ideas shopping

You might also be interested in this offer, it seems that the guys at MyShoppingJobs.com are now paying people to go shopping and giving away a bunch of free stuff as well. The Free E-Guide "Get Your Purchases Free" is now available for download.

For the home:


I love these. It's kind of bean bag meets The Flintstones.




For the designer freak (I mean aficionado!):


I understand and believe in the quest for short run items and handmade goods. Quality rather than quantity. I also believe that there is an upper limit for what things are actually worth. A reasonably priced designer item can last for decades and provide the wearer with much happiness during this time. I just wouldn't pay $700 for a handbag. Call me weird but I really don't think any handbag is worth that much. These cute canvas bags are selling for $58 and are made by Pedido Tabique.




For the dot com mogul:


This is sooo nerdy that I had to include it. Is it an icon? Is it a usb drive?

Or perhaps you're a sushi person...

Colourful, fun and best of all silly, these usb drives are both lunch and storage. What more could you need?




For the beauty product nut:

These lip gloss sliding lip tins come in seven flavours and fit neatly in a purse or handbag.


I hope these ideas are a starting point to get you inspired for the coming season of giving!

technorati tags: eyes lips face sushi usb mini folder usb pedido tabique livingstones lounge

What do you get for the blogger who has everything? I know:

Just imagine the reaction from people you speak to everyday.
"Is she really? Did I say anything stupid? Incriminating? Oh sh!t, I mentioned the election!! Whatever will she write?"

What they don't realise is that I will be thinking "relax, I'm not blogging about you. Not unless you do anything that is spectacularly amusing or ridiculously silly. In fact, you are usually safe if you're not a customer service representative from any shopping outlet and you're not likely to be incredibly unhelpful or rude. You can relax now."




This is possibly the nerdiest t-shirt I have ever seen. With the exception of a select few, perhaps. But I love it. Because I am a nerd.





80s movie tees are back apparently.
I remember when anything 80s was so... well... 80s.
Wargames - the classic unbelievable nerd film. Like a computer with a 16k RAM card has the power to take over nuclear facilities and interact in an artificial intelligence capacity. "Would you like to play a game?" Yes, it's called "spot the plot hole".




Did I mention the nerdiest t-shirt of all time? I was wrong. P.S. if you get this, you are a nerd. If you laugh at it, you are also a geek.





And my favourite game of all time: Lemmings! Yaaaay! Such a simple concept - save a mass of suicidal lemmings using creative means like bridge building, hole digging, bashing and blocking.

If you miss this game (as I do!), you can play Lemmings right here, right now on your PC using this link: Play Lemmings in Your Browser

Ah, the nostalgia, the green hair... the bit where you kill all of them by blowing them up because you made a mistake... the guilt, the joys, the triumph...


The t-shirts can be found at teenormous.com / thinkgeek.com /mrcloud.com

technorati tags: I'm blogging this t-shirt wargames
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lemmings
80s movies retro games

It's coming up to that time of year when we think of shopping around for fathers day gifts. In fact, there are only a few days to go! It's pretty accepted that Dad's often like beer. It's not being stereotypical, they just seem to like it. How many of your Dads drink spritzers or cosmopolitans? Hmm? Not many, I bet. I found a Beer of the month club which sounds rather exciting. Did I say it was for me or for a present? Oops. There you have it. I have a confession to make. Yes, I like beer as well. This monthly beer club offers memberships ranging from 1 month to 12 months or ongoing. You can pay by the month ($21.95) or in full, providing you with a 12-pack of 4 distinctly different beers to try. The selection of beer is screened by a panel of beer tasters to make sure you get the best tasting beer. The various types of beer sound intriguing, too. Included in the selection have weird and wonderful names like Snake River's Lager and Devil's Elbow. If you purchase a 12 month membership you will receive a $25 bonus to use for further membership or merchandise.


Mmmm. Beer. The gift that keeps on giving!






















This post brought to you by GreatClubs.com

It can be almost impossible to buy presents for some people. Perhaps they have everything. Perhaps they don't want another pair of socks (although if you ask me, you can never have too many socks, as long as they are black - but I digress). So perhaps you are looking for something really special. FreemanX has a whole range of gifts for all sorts of people. You can book in for skydiving, hot air ballooning, and various extreme activities. I liked the look of "Venice on the Yarra" - you get a gondola, champagne, cheeses, and the trip follows the Yarra through a scenic tour of Melbourne from the water. You can find activities throughout VIC, NSW and other states - from dinner cruises to rock climbing to day spas, you should find something for everyone.

This post was brought to you by FreemanX.

I'm pretty sure everyone remembers the Seinfeld episode where Elaine has the brilliant idea to send personalised Christmas cards instead of the usual boring generic card. Just make sure there are no untoward parts of your body showing when you get the photo taken and you won't suffer the same fate as Elaine. Personalised Christmas cards can be a special gift for family members and friends and this particular approach is popular with politicians as well. So it seems to work as a networking tool as well. You can create custom holiday cards using a photo of your choice - just upload the photo or collage, customise from a template or your own design and create your own personal touch to your cards this season.

If you are frantically creating and destroying Christmas shopping lists (I may be speaking from experience here!) then here are some new ideas for gifts for those adventurous souls who enjoy high powered torches, night vision goggles and rifle sights.
Hmm, just make sure they are not nutty first before checking out the Gift Guide. You can find discounts and bargains on flashlights, microscopes, binoculars and astronomy gadgets. There is even a personal planetarium / GPS sky guide for identifying celestial objects.












Myself, I can identify celestial objects just by drinking too many beers and looking up. My accuracy may be a bit off, though. Perhaps one of these gadgets could help. And a sky map. I don't think "that big squiggly bit there" really counts as identifying celestial objects.

I'm going to stop talking now.

This post brought to you by OpticsPlanet.com

I saw a girl wearing the best T-shirt today...It will be mine....












Oh yeah! The Empire Strikes Back. I'd probably rather have a "Star Wars - A New Hope" T-shirt because otherwise people might think I'm evil.

Speaking of evil empires...now I'm going all Empire Strikes Back mad on Ebay.













Stormtrooper Figurine. I had heaps of these. Don't know what happened to them. I know that I lost one or two on a beach in Santa Monica when Mum took me and my brother on holiday. It was probably my fault because I was playing at burying them in the sand and pretending the beach was the ice planet Hoth. I had the supreme confidence that I would remember where I buried them but it turned out that all of the beach looked the same and Han Solo in antarctic gear and Luke Skywalker with his lightsaber were gone forever.









Comics. What more need I say? Brilliant. Oh, dang, I said something.













I love these 'books of the movie' type things. At the moment there aren't enough of these around. Maybe they will make a comeback. When the "Return of the Jedi" books and tape sets came out, I listened to them so many times I can recite the bulk of the entire movie. Oh my God. I just wrote that down. I am such a geek. I might as well accept that and be comfortable with it.

(say the first line while holding your nose)
DEATH STAR CONTROLLER: "The security deflector shield will be deactivated when we have confirmation of your code transmission. Stand by... You are clear to proceed."

SHUTTLE CAPTAIN: "We're starting our approach."

OFFICER: "Inform the commander that Lord Vader's shuttle has arrived"

OPERATOR: "Yes sir"

MOFF JERJERROD: "Lord Vader, this is an unexpected pleasure, we are honoured by your presence..."

VADER: "You may dispense with the pleasantries, Commander, I'm here to put you back on schedule..."

That's it. I'm getting a trenchcoat and growing a beard. Hang on, I'm not a guy. Um....
20GB hard drive? 1GB ram? Maybe I'm already on my way to using my powers. I must.... complete.... my training......

Technorati Tags:
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I always find this a difficult one - what do you get your partner / love of your life / penguin
for Valentine's day?

It is a day of ridiculously high expectations fraught with danger and innuendo.

I mean for example, if you get the person a nice bunch of flowers, there are all these
bizarre rules.

Don't get them yellow roses because that means "I like you, but not in THAT way"

And forget pink camellias because that is deemed to mean "I am longing for a man"
and you don't want to appear desperate.

Striped carnations mean "rejection" and "sorry I can't be with you"
(where do you even get striped carnations anyway?)

Thankfully, red roses mean "I Love You"

But what happens when the roses start to wither? People get awfully superstitious
about such things and a nice gift can turn into a weird bouquet like those flowers
in "Supernatural" in the bit where the zombie is making the ground unholy.

There I go on the unholy ground rave again. I am trying to write about Valentine's Day.
That's what you get for being born a Scorpio.

So forget flowers. Then you have the gift section. Teddy bears. I don't know.
What does a grown woman / man do with a teddy bear? And if you get one every
year it turns into "Summer of the Seventeenth Doll" and people get freaked out.
That was the problem with that play, the guy should never have bought her dolls
in the first place. Dolls are in Stephen King novels, in Chucky movies, but I'm steering
clear of them for Valentine's Day. Did I mention dolls really creep me out?

I can't imagine why.



No dolls.

Seriously.

Okay, what have we got left? Oh yeah, all those weird tacky presents like the
elephant underpants and shiny silk boxers with little hearts on them.
You know what?
You might want to give these a miss. They could backfire on you and make you look
like a weird pervert. I mean those edible undergarments are just hideous. If you want
your partner to think you are weird, cheap, pervy and tacky, then go right ahead.

Hmmm. I'm running out of options. There are those "Romantic Adventures for Two"
things on those corporate entertainment (isn't that an oxymoron?) websites. So if you
really wanted to, you could risk both your life and the life of your loved one in a tandem
jump coordinated by a man who takes far too many steroids. It's totally up to you.

So then there are the romantic getaways in Balinese-style huts that look incredible until
you realise you can't smoke in the huts OR on the grounds, you can't light tealight candles
or any other sort of candle so the atmosphere is severely lacking, you are surrounded by
other stressed-out couples trying desperately to relax while dealing with nicotine
withdrawal and rampant boredom. There are only so many times you can sigh and say
"isn't this nice" before you want to kill somebody.

So what can you do? Lock yourself away in a room with all the windows boarded up until
the daylight rises over February 15th? Perhaps. Or you could get a nice card, write a
message that actually means something, buy some choccies, get a nice bottle of wine and
go out to dinner.

xxxoxox