Giftings - Best of 2008

Next week is Thanksgiving (ahhhhh!) and the start of my holiday shopping season. This will be the second year for a polyanna for my family. This year, we'll be including my husband in place of my mom (since she can't stick to the rules!) in our Christmas gift swap. The rules of our polyanna are simple: You buy every other person 1 gift under $20, and then your polyanna person you buy one gift under $50.

The reasons we've decided to do this are three-fold: First, none of us have gobs of money to spend and we were in a competitive spending pattern every year on each person; Second, we want Christmas to become less about the gifts than about the birth of Jesus again; Lastly, we're all old enough to buy our own things so we don't really need anything we can't buy ourselves.

Mentioning #3, here are my favorite gifts I bought for myself this year that give me joy almost every day:

1. Our Wedding Rings- because every time I look at my hand I'm still floored that a) I'm married and b) that I have that much bling on my hand!! ($Priceless)

2. My Leather Wallet from Italy - because its sleek and fabulous and from my honeymoon ($125)




3. My Kiva reusable bag- because its been handy more times that I could imagine, and its environmentally friendly ($5)


4. Sony Under-The-Cabinet Radio / CD Player with IPOD hookup - because now I dance in my kitchen more often than before and it gives me some company while I learn how to cook. ($90)

5. White High Heels- I bought these for my wedding of course, but since they aren't made of bridal satin or anything, they have been able to go many places with me this year: my bachelorette party, my wedding, a friend's 21st birthday and work. They are some of the sexiest yet simplest shoes I own and I love them.