Kate wants to know what I want for Christmas. World peace, Kate. And for my tulip bulbs NOT to be eaten by voles this year. Also:
A Few of the Girls, by Maeve Binchy. This is a pre-order, and I LOVE to get pre-ordered books for birthday/Christmas: Amazon then ships it so that it arrives the very first day the book is available, and by then I’ve lost track of when it will arrive so it’s a happy surprise. I have low hopes for this book, since it’s YET ANOTHER book published after Maeve Binchy’s death, and so I’m wondering if they’re just sort of scraping together some half-formed notes and calling it a book, but whatever, I want it.
Catastrophic Happiness, by Catherine Newman. Another pre-order. Her first book, Waiting for Birdy, is the kind I happy-cry all the way through. Strongly recommended for pregnant women, if you have any on your shopping list.
Marmar Modern Daisy Earrings. I am slowly acquiring quite a collection of Marmar and Marmar Modern earrings. I love them so much, and the French hooks don’t bother my skin the way some do (I don’t know if I have a weird neck angle or a weird earlobe angle or what, but the ends of French hooks often brush lightly and itchily against my neck, so that I keep scratching and leaving big pink marks).
Stud earrings. We are not forbidden from wearing dangling earrings at work, but we are strongly discouraged. “Accidents happen,” my trainer said darkly. But I don’t usually wear stud earrings, so I have the ones I got my ears pierced with and that’s about it.
Scrub tops. This is a good moment to mention the winner of my gradually-increasing scrub top collection: the Scrubstar Premium Flexible. They have big stretchy black panels on the sides. I wish they came in alllllll the colors and patterns. Only hot pink and turquoise are available online at the moment, but when I went to the store the other day they had it in red and grey as well. I look silly in red, but I now own all three other colors. The pants, too, are superior: big wide stretchy waistband, so comfy. I plan to wear these as pajamas when I no longer need them for work.
Kiva gift cards. Paul gets me a $25 gift card every birthday and Christmas now, and the more of them I acquire, the more often I get to re-lend. I love this.
See’s Candies. So expensive, so yummy.
Traverse Bay chocolate-covered dried cherries. These would be on my list except that they went down in price and I pounced. Previously, the best price I’d seen them at was $7/pound, or $28 per 4-pound box. When they went down to $23 for 4 pounds, or ONE-FOURTH the price per pound of See’s chocolates, I SPRANG.
Jewel: Let it Snow. Jewel’s Joy: A Holiday Collection (which is only $3.99 now, probably because of the new album) is one of my favorites to listen to while wrapping presents (I cry every time she hits the high note on O Holy Night, though I skip past her jouncy version of Rudolph), so I’m half-excited, half-nervous about hearing the new one.
Kikkerland Retro Pens. My sister-in-law and I both have these and we both love them, and we both want MORE.
Animal Box postcards. I really really really really don’t need any more postcards. I have, like, an 18-gallon bin FULL of them. But. Animal cards are a very common request on Postcrossing, and it’s fun to have the very animal someone is collecting.