Like Diane, I feel a bit torn about doing a holiday theme this week. But it isn’t really too early to think about holiday gift-giving. Or about snagging a Christmas anthology for oneself for that matter. 🙂
My goal every year is to lower stress, increase joy.
One way my family has de-stressed Christmas is by making a mutual agreement NOT to exchange presents with extended family members. When we get together Christmas morning at my parents’ house, these are the rules. Every adult gets something from his or her spouse; every child from his/her parents; the grandparents can do what they want for grandchildren (they would anyway).
It’s easy on time and budget and best of all, a radical strike against the nauseating commercialism imposed on our culture during the holidays under a false guise of increasing family closeness.
Still… there are some things I want for Christmas, of which I’ve duly informed my personal Santa (he happens to be Jewish but does a great job in the role anyway).
This year, I’d love a copy of the 10th anniversary limited edition DVD of Pride & Prejudice, with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. As an alternate (I always have to give Santa choices) I would happily take a DVD of Persuasion, with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds.
The Research Nerd in me would like Life in Wellington’s Army, by Antony Brett-James and/or Wellington’s Rifles, by Mark Urban, among others. Sharpe videos are always a good idea, though Santa always wonders why I find them so intriguing. Santa does not share my passion for . . . um, history.
I’ve also informed Santa of the gaps in my collections of Laura Kinsale, Loretta Chase and Judith Ivory. I’m giving a copy of Julia Ross’s latest release, Clandestine, to my best friend and asking for one myself (will pick it up after Christmas if need be). I’d also like to try something by Anne Stuart. I have met her at conferences and enjoyed her warmth and humor and it’s positively a sin that I haven’t read one of her books yet.
Gourmet coffee, chocolate, candles, and artsy earrings always work for me, too.
Now for my dream wish list item: a Pause Button to make everything stop for a while so I can catch up. On manuscripts, house projects, my TBR list. Maybe I’d even take some time to paint my toenails…
So, for another chance at one of those 3 autographed copies of MISTLETOE KISSES, let us know any or all of the following:
What is your holiday shopping strategy? Any tips for stress reduction? What’s on your wish list? What’s your dream gift?
Elena
LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE, RT Reviewers’ Choice, Best Regency Romance of 2005
www.elenagreene.com
Wow,to be first! I usually end up way after the fact.
We always pick a ‘theme’ for holiday gifts, at least for the kids on our list. Simple, creative. One of the most popular was the year we filled a school box with office supplies: small stapler, roll of tape, various pens, pencils, sticky note tablets. Anything you can think of for an office. The kids loved it. . . and it was much cheaper than whatever was popular that year.
My favorite gift? My husband usually arranges for a weekend away for me. . . either by taking the kids away and leaving me the house or buying me a weekend at a local hotel. (He watches for organizations that have silent auctions with hotel donations and the proceeds going to a good cause. His work used to participate but for various reasons don’t anymore so he’s had to be more creative.) I can take a bath with no one at the door, read or write as long as I want, order room service.
I also love books, book certificates, and office supplies (see note above).
Stress reducing tips? I try to go creative rather than latest (and avoid the big stores and crowds that way), and enlist lots of help from family. We also have a rule in our house that Christmas doesn’t start until after Thanksgiving and I think that helps us not be as crazy, with the holiday more limited in time. (I do pick up a few presents ahead of time, if I see the perfect item.)
Stopping now — didn’t realize how long this was.
What is your holiday shopping strategy? Any tips for stress reduction? What’s on your wish list? What’s your dream gift?
I shop for a lot of presents all year long; whenever I’m in the city and see something I know or think would be suitable I buy(and especially when there are sales).
On my wish list is: books, candles, anything ‘angel’, journals, jewellery.
Sharpe videos are always a good idea, though Santa always wonders why I find them so intriguing. Santa does not share my passion for . . . um, history.
I have this problem with my Santa, too. I keep hoping that one of his helpers will take the hint (and it’s a big hint, what with being on my Amazon wishlist at high priority). I mean, this is very important research material, after all. I have a rifleman hero in one of my manuscripts, and, you know, I might be in danger of, uh, forgetting what the uniforms look like. Yeah, yeah, that’s it. Research. All research. The sacrifices I make in the name of accuracy.
Um, where was I? My shopping strategy AND stress reduction strategy is to shop online. Much less stressful to shop at 10:00 p.m. some Tuesday night from the comfort of my living room than to go out on a rainy Saturday and brave the crowds at the mall and traffic surrounding it.
My wish list this year is heavy on books, as always. I’m trying to round out my Jennifer Crusie collection, and I’m always building my research library. And I want the Christopher Eccleston Doctor Who season on DVD–the new guy does nothing for me, and I’m still mourning that we only got one season of Eccleston.
Dream gift? A publisher buys my book! And as long as we’re dreaming, for such a big advance that I can quit my day job! And, heck, the Mariners win the World Series. And world peace. And a pony. Can’t leave out the pony.
I ideally would love a lengthy trip in the Spring to Italy. That is my dream gift. We are very selective about our gift choices and try to choose wisely.
I am pleased to see,Elena, that your efforts at avoiding the commercialism of the holiday did not shorten your Christmas List! Way to Go!!!
My sisters and I devised a way to simplify our family shopping by instituting the use of gift cards for each other and the children, now all adults. My sisters get creative, but I wimp out and give everybody VISA gift cards, my own kids too, with other little gifts to give us something to open on Christmas morning.
This year I might give my friends copies of Mistletoe Kisses!
I buy throughout the year and try to purchase items suited totally to each individual. It takes time and works out efficiently.
I hate shopping and I usually wait until the last minute or collect stuff throughout the year or get gift cards.
I try to at least keep a running list of ideas throughout the year, so I’m not stressed trying to come up with ideas at the last minute. I usually have plenty of ideas and not enough time/money to buy it all though!
Magazines seem to be big on my personal wish list this year, maybe because they requre less time/mental commitment than novels. I really want subscriptions to Bookmarks, and of course Jane Austen’s Regency World (put out by the Austen Centre in Bath).
I try to shop through the year to make it easier. No frantic last minute shopping ever. Normally it works out well.
and of course Jane Austen’s Regency World (put out by the Austen Centre in Bath)
Oh yeah, that’s a lovely magazine, isn’t it? I subscribed one year, but didn’t renew because of the cost. They do have some weird notions on occasion, but the pictures are uniformly gorgeous. (Especially the pictures of uniforms.) 🙂
Any tips for stress reduction?
My stress reduction is to remind myself that my nieces & nephews have way too much stuff already, and I’ll just get them books, whether they like it or not. 🙂 (Last year I got my 5-year-old nephew a big tub of Legos — he opened it and shouted “Oh no, not more Legos!” Guess who didn’t get a birthday present in February?)
Cara, a.k.a. Scrooge
Well, last year I asked for Orlando in my stocking and nothing happened. 🙁 Perhaps Santa will come through for me this year, and deliver Gerard to Diane and Clive to Megan while he is at it!
In the Real World, I love getting Barnes and Noble giftcards. Last year I got several and had a wonderful shopping spree after the holiday! I also like buying gift cards for my relatives, and for my very good friends I order items from the Unemployed Philosophers Guild (check out their website–they have wonderfully hilarious things!). Actually, they have a Queen Elizabeth I Little Thinker doll this year, which I have my eye on (to join the Jane Austen, Frida Kahlo, and Emily Dickinson dolls…)
I want a couple of movies, of course some books, a new pair of silver hoop earrings (I lost one in a wicked Halloween windgust!), and that’s about it.
Mostly I want time to read, write and clean my insanely messy house.
Maybe I should wish for less of a desire to surf on the web–I know I’d have more time if I spent less time doing this kind of thing. Hm. Must ponder.
Well, it certainly is easy for me seeing how there is just MOm and sis, and I don’t work, therefore it’s just cards. 🙂 On the practical end, I have plenty of books on my Amazon wish list, I have numbers of DVDs or DVD sets in the back of my mind. . . I certainly wouldn’t mind diamonds. . . LOL But on the least practical side, a trip to the international Space Station please!! 🙂
Lois
Cara, LOL about that nephew! But I have to admit my kids embarrassed me a few times when very young. They did learn pretty quickly that the rule is to say thank you and figure out what to do with the present later if it was a duplicate or something they don’t care for. (Would you believe they don’t like Hello Kitty?)
Anyway, my brothers’ and my kids all have so much stuff I’m glad we agreed not to do all the nieces and nephews. We each know best what our kids are currently into.
Oh and I forgot to mention another fun place to browse: the Republic of Pemberley store. Loads of fun Jane Austen stuff.
It is always to be spoiled rotten with a special dinner, and treats. I love that idea. I shop early and often.
If I see something I think someone in particular will like, I tend to get it at the moment but have difficulty holding onto it until Christmas, so it ends up being a “Just because it’s Tuesday” present, which of course can never be given on a Tuesday, any day but Tuesday. If it’s just a month or two before Christmas, I can wait that long. I love shopping online.
To reduce some stress, my siblings and I rotate who we have for Christmas. With my sister having six children and me being single and three brothers with two and three children we decided it wouldn’t be fair if one person got my sister all the time. Funnily enough, everyone asks me who they’ve got each year. So that makes folks, one sibling’s family and friends. A lot easier to handle that way. I have a tendency to simply ask what people want, unless I see something I know they’ll love. And yes, cash has been, on occassion, the best possible gift.
Top of my wish list is another dog. Unfortunately, circumstances require I hold onto that wish for now. Thank you Diane and Cara for your thoughtfulness the other day. Books, movies, CDs (and yes, Sharpe is on my list as well, for the same reason! research… any excuse will do).
And I’m with Susan, the dream gift is to sell my ms. I don’t need it to sell millions, just enough to be able to get out on my own, so I can get the dog! 🙂
~~ Judy T
*waves* Hi there! I met Elena over on the NaNoWriMo forums and she sent me over here. Thanks for letting me come play!
My holiday shopping strategy is gift baskets. Harry & David, especially, ’cause they’ve got so many yummy things and it’s easy easy easy. The neices and nephews usually get gift cards, or if their folks tell me they’re in to something special that year I’ll get them that.
My biggest stress reducer during the holidays is I turn off the tv and radio – all Xmas carols all the time, except for when they’re trying to sell you something gets old really fast.
My wish list is Borders gift cards (or B&N since we just got one here). I love being able to go and pick out my books myself. It’s as relaxing to me to sit in the romance section for an hour reading the back cover and first page & then picking one (or more!) books to take home as it is to go get a massage. (Yeah, I’m weird, I know this.)
My dream gift? Hmmm… another three week trip to Hawaii. That was one of the most incredible things I ever experienced and I want to go back.
Thanks everyone for sharing your ideas!
Terry, I particularly like the one about a weekend away. I do something like that when my writing buddies and I “run away” from our families for our annual writing retreat.
In fact I love the idea of trips. Of course England is a favorite destination, but Italy, Hawaii, the Space Station–all fun!
I actually shop all year long, too, as some of you do. I usually do manage to save the gifts for an upcoming occasion though I have one aunt who gives great “because it’s Tuesday” sort of gifts.
Susan, I do hope Santa brings you that sale, because I would love to read that book!
Judy, here’s my warmest wishes for both the ms and the dog!
Hi, Mina! Great to see you over here, and believe me, none of us will think you are strange for ranking romance novel shopping up there with massages! 🙂
Elena
We also do the no extended family gifts. Works great except for the sister in-law. She’s been told every year and every year she buys for everyone. Then gets mad when no
one buys for her. My wish list for this year..more book cases. Still searching for ELMO TMX for the grand baby!!
I love Christmas and I love shopping, and since my family is small, it’s easy to find presents for them. I have only one daughter, and I have always enjoy looking for small things for her stocking, and I always participate in at least one Secret Santa exchange, sometimes more, so I love to find things for them too.
My wish list: mostly romance books, a lot of them :o)
My dream wish would be a trip to any of the places I dream of visiting. And a house with a library like the one in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast :o)
Julia
Theresa and Juliet, Agree totally on the bookcases and the Beauty and the Beast library! We have another theme going. 🙂
I have started shopping. I have decided that I am not going to worry and stress over finding the perfect gift for each person. I am going to get a list of things that everyone wants and pick something.
I want a new computer, a digital camera and some dvds.
My ultimate present would be a new wedding band. I broke mine and lost a diamond.
Your kids don’t like Hello Kitty??? Heresy, Elena! 🙂
We draw names for my side of the family. My boys always end with at least one girl cousin, since they are 40% of the boys. Two years ago, we filled out slips with ideas and that helped. We draw a year in advance, at Thanksgiving, so we can be looking all year long. I have several of our family names done already.
I should have added that my husband arranges at least three weekends for me each year. . . my birthday, Christmas time, and Mother’s Day. The Mother’s Day always bothers people because I go to church alone that day. I remind them I’m a mother 365 days a year. One day (or two) without the kids is fine.
We draw names for my side of the family. My boys always end with at least one girl cousin, since they are 40% of the boys. Two years ago, we filled out slips with ideas and that helped. We draw a year in advance, at Thanksgiving, so we can be looking all year long. I have several of our family names done already.
I should have added that my husband arranges at least three weekends for me each year. . . my birthday, Christmas time, and Mother’s Day. The Mother’s Day always bothers people because I go to church alone that day. I remind them I’m a mother 365 days a year. One day (or two) without the kids is fine.
Ooh! What a fabulous blog topic! nauseating commercialism? Um, no, not at all. I, cough-cough, love new things. There! I’ve outed myself. Now, let’s get on to gifts and wish lists.
Since I have a well-known music list that’s as long as my arm and a well-known book list that’s twice my height, I’m going to dream here about other things.
A weekend by myself in a cottage by the ocean with a basket of books and warm sun.
Elena, if you do ever get your dream gift (a Pause Button to make everything stop for a while so I can catch up), do-do-do-do send me e-mail about it.
A tangential gift idea is a Rewind Button that allows you to re-do things you’re not satisfied with.
Diane, if Gerard does indeed show up in your stocking this year, be sure to send him my address, so he can show up in mine next year (minus the accident-causing suspenders, of course).
Holiday shopping stress reducing tips: shop online, plan to finish shopping and take holiday pics before Thanksgiving, mail everything during the long weekend of Thanksgiving and in the week after, and play my relaxation tapes every night before bed.
On a sober note: health would be the best gift I could ever get. EVER!
Sorry, joining the party late. In one way, I’m easy to buy for. What I like best are: books! It doesn’t too much matter what’s in them, because I’m interested in all kinds of things, and I like lots of kinds of fiction. You know the kind of miscellaneous stuff they have in the bargain books section at Barnes and Noble? I am their target audience. Well, at least for some of it. (“Wow, a history of Jewish-Irish street-sweepers in 19th century Philadelphia! And so reasonably priced!”)
But what I’d really like is good ideas for presents to buy for other people: presents that don’t take up room or duplicate something they already have and that they’d actually like, but not feel are too expensive, but not too cheap either, and suited to them rather than one-size-fits-all, but not necessarily just copied off of some list of Things They Want, so there is an element of surprise, but a pleasant surprise, without at the same time seeming overly intimate, or overly aloof. And without having to think too hard about it. Any suggestions?
Todd-who-would-really-like-to-know
Todd, for the readers on your list, how about a slanket?
http://www.theslanket.com/product.php
Keira wrote:
Todd, for the readers on your list, how about a slanket?
Oooh, very clever! And it matches over half of my requirements, which are (I freely concede) completely inconsistent with each other!
Todd-who-now-needs-a-waterproof-version-for-reading-in-the-bathtub