let's discuss: Christmas gifts!

I'm always on the lookout for good and unique gifts. I thought I would share some of the things we're doing this year and (to take full advantage of ICLW) I hope to hear some of the fun things you have wrapped under your tree! I have about another $40-$50 to spend on J, so if you have any great suggestions, please share!

Here are some of the goodies hangin' out under my tree:

**First, J and I decided to channel Oprah this year and do J&C's F.avorite Th.ings for 2008. As we traveled throughout the year, we chose items (including mostly edible items). Here are a couple of my favorites:

--Wine from our favorite winery ever during our trip to Napa & Sonoma Valleys. (C.line Cell.ars)

--Balsamic Vinegar and EVOO from a great little olive oil shoppe that we found, also while in the valleys.

--Champagne Truffles from T.euscher C.hocolates of Switzerland. (Oh, the bliss!!)

--Hollyhoc.k seeds from our own garden

--Our favorite reusable grocery bag

--A book we got during our favorite event of the year (for my job). It is this book:

--Taffy from S.avannah's C.andy K.itchen, another favorite vacation of the year

--There are a few other odds and ends in there, but these are the biggest items.

I am already trying to figure out next year's theme and I'm thinking it might have something to do with homemade gifts. I was reading Simply Vintagegirl's Blog and saw her series called 'A Homemade Christmas' and I think it would be a fun way to put a special touch into the gifts. I am a big fan of gifts that can be consumed (books, food, drinks, etc.) and I think that the Homemade Christmas theme would lend itself to that.

**Along the favorite things theme, one of my favorite memories from this past year with J was our camping trip. I am soooo not a nature girl (the natural curls don't do well with not showering...hence the bandana) but we have been wanting to camp for a long time and we actually had a fantastic time. So I got J a few things along the camping lines, including this table and 2 of these grilled cheese makers. I think we'll actually get some use out of them between camping, DMB concerts and PU football tailgating.

**Another thing that I got J (and me, really) was a tripod for the camera. We've begun to master the art of the self-portrait-style picture. But we've said for a long time now that we really need to get one of the tripods that we can set the camera up on and take good pictures instead of trying to balance it on the hood of the car or whatever random fence post is close by. I'm really excited for this.
**One item that I haven't gotten and probably won't, but really want to is the N.ike + iPo.d sport kit. We started running this year (did our 1st 5K and ran the whole thing...big stuff for us!) and we have fallen off of the wagon a bit. But we're both committed to getting back on the horse after the first of the year and I already have one of these (and yes, it has gone unused), so I think that if we had them together we could track all of our miles and whatnot. The only problem is that he doesn't have a nano. So I'm still contemplating this but I think it's a great gift for any runner, nonetheless!

**J is really hard to buy for. I can buy clothes for him until the end of time, but he doesn't wear them to work most of the time, so it can be a bit fruitless to spend a lot of time or money on him with clothes. Plus, he takes talls in shirts (he's 6'3" with a very long torso), so I typically have to buy online. I did find a couple sweaters for him at ON and there may be a vest that I can give him from E.ddie Bau.er.

SOOOO!!! What are the gifts beneath your tree this year? I love to hear what everyone else is doing and I would love some suggestions!