Presents! We have presents!: A very special Festivus post

christmas-badgeI could write an introduction, but who would read it?

No one. Because…..

THIS IS THE PRESENTS POST! Goodies for all! Remember that Ashley and I invite you to write your own Festivus-inspired post on your blog. You can drop hints on who you gifted, muse over who gave you your gift, or air your grievances about anything! Just let me know if you write a post so I can link to it on my Facebook page*.

*And what the what? You haven’t “liked” The Waiting on Facebook yet? Get with it, homes.

Secret Santas will be unveiled right here on Friday, December 21.

Now, let’s get right down to it.

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1. Gift for & Squatch Makes Three:

Season tickets for the SF Giants and a proper brick pizza oven so Squatch can sample the exquisiteness of his father’s deep-dish pies as they were meant to be.

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2. Gift for 1 Point Perspective:

For my giftee who recently tweeted “I’m closing in on 24 hrs w/o internet porn or TV! My phones running outta gas n I have 2 drink my scotch with no ice!” I have selected VERMONT WHISKEY STONES, ingenious faux ice cubes made of Vermont-milled soapstone and enclosed in an elegant little drawstring bag. Put these stones in the freezer for a few hours and behold, you have cubes that will keep your Scotch cold but won’t dilute it. Brilliant! You just have to remember not to crunch them. Merry Christmas, dude!

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3. Gift for 25 to Fly

My gift to 25toFly is a beautiful ballerina music box. The ballerina is wearing men’s long johns and a hard hat. She’s also holding her degree, while she dances alongside two children.

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4. Gift for A Clown on Fire

After seeing his recent Movember video, I thought his outfit could really use an upgrade. Inspired by the Gay Parade, I believe this outfit really “brings out” his magnificence™.

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5. Gift for A Flock of Crows:

I would get the ambitious writer, D. L. Aiden, a typewriter. A really cool, old style typewriter. A great writer deserves great writing tools. She could really feel like a professional and a hipster at the same time. Any publishing company would drool over something written from a typewriter. She’ll be published in no time! Happy Festivus!

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6. Gift for A Gripping Life:

Dear Lisa,

My gift to you is this music video.  I hope it brings a smile to your lovely face.

One day, when you are a part of a great adventure with someone who loves and cares deeply for you and for your feelings, I  know it will bring a mighty laugh to that same lovely face.

*****

 7. Gift for Ambling and Rambling:

A HUGE closet specially crafted to hold all her shoes, and already filled with even more shoes than she could imagine, from escarpins to boots (and a bunch of sexy naughty shoes, of course).

A cell phone that allows her to take snapshots of her colleague’s around the clock texts, so that she can share with her readers. All of this is packed into rainbow colored paper with a sweet purple knot on the top.

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8. Gift for A Rich Full Life:

This gift is equal to peace on earth, and is about living a rich life. First, I’m talking about your mental and physical health, and by that I mean access to a lifetime of spa treatments, including but not limited to, therapeutic massage, hot stone therapy, salt glows, body wraps, and foot reflexology. Or, how about a European facial? Don’t worry about child care, because that’s completely covered. If you like, you can have these treatments in the privacy of your own home. After a relaxing massage, you may like to read a book. That’s why this package includes the latest Kindle, downloaded with the books from all your favorite bloggers. Plus, you may download additional authors as you fancy. This is a lifetime guarantee. So, sit back, relax, enjoy!

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9. Gift for Becoming Cliché:

My festivus gift for Becoming Cliché is the greatest gift of all: A celebrity babysitter for her kids, for a year. The babysitter would be the funniest character ever, and would teach her kids a new language and how to make a great meal out of beef gravy. And! If all goes well, this celebrity babysitter would be ok to trade his kids for hers.

Now that is a MERRY SECULAR CHRISTMAS all right.

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10. Gift for Ben’s Opinion:

I actually bought him an awesome present. I went ahead and got him a Volkswagen Jetta!!! I know, it’s such a generous gift, but I figured he’s a young and fun guy who would really enjoy this car — so why the heck not?!! I’m pretty sure he’ll like it. It’s fully loaded.

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11. Gift for Broken Condoms:

It’s amazing to see how Lilah’s mom grew over the course of a year. I really enjoyed catching up on her post. So, what do you get an atypical Mommy Blogger that still dreams of Happy Hour, but it just so happens she would rather stay at home with the whole fam damily? You bring the booze to her. I’ve decided that since this is an “internet gift”, I have no problem offering up this one in particular. She may not need it, but I think she’ll enjoy it, and that’s what it’s all about. There are plenty of other people out there ready to get her what she needs. The gift – Membership to the Wine of the Month Club. One red and one white, for 12 Months.

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12. Gift for Brother Jon:

To Brother Jon I gift a modest yet fully functional creamery. With this creamery he will have a never ending supply of delicious cheese not only for himself but so that he can give the gift of cheesy goodness to family and friends all year round. He can choose to make small specialized batches of cheese in a variety of flavors – think mozzarella for a mousey quiet gal, or a sharp cheddar to a sharp tongued Aunt, or perhaps for that passion filled go getter a nice white cheddar with flakes of red pepper.  The only limitation is that his cheese not be used to make mac and cheese, let’s leave that to the experts at Kraft.  I have an ulterior motive for this gift for I would very much like to be supplied with fabulous cheeses with which I will concoct amazing grilled cheese sandwiches, my most favorite of foods.

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13. Gift for Chez Casa:

My Festivus gift for my new pal ChezCasa would be a trip to NYC’s fashion district. A fun-filled excursion with VIP tours to some of the swankiest design houses in the world, including lots of champagne lunches, long afternoons  poring over sketches and pithy, inspiring chats with her favorite fashion dudes and divas. Of course, this trip wouldn’t be complete without a trip to MOOD Fabrics, to build a heaping stash for future quilts and fashionable creations.  She has all afternoon, an unlimited budget, and shopping pal Tim Gunn to help her “Make it work.”  Her vacation ends with an appearance on Project Runway as a guest judge.  Damn I give good gifts.  I’m so jealous. Did I mention you have to take me along?

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14. Gift for Clip Snark:

Snark ZombieThis is a one-of-a-kind update of Clip Snark’s mascot, Snarky, hand-made with love to reflect the conflict in the coming zombie apocalypse. Happy Festivus!

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15. Gift for SJ at Book Snobbery:

My first few times visiting and reading SJ’s blog, I had no idea what I would gift her. I am used to just giving everyone underwear and being done with it. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know me yet and giving her underwear outright may not give the right impression. Eventually, I found something perfect for this avid reader and mother of four. I read your post about being a bit down for the Christmas season. I am hoping one of my favorite books will cheer you up. A Cajun Night Before Christmas  is a southern version (dialect and all) of this classic Christmas story. Now, I know you may have trouble reading this to your little ones in the proper accent, so here is an aid that you can play while turning the pages. I hope you like it sha!

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16. Gift for Creative Liar:

My gift for Ericka is a penguin named Dave. A live penguin. Dave for Dave Coulier, of course. A penguin because I don’t know if they’re actually as calming as I think they are, but well, everyone can use something to help keep them relaxed and calm! So ta da – a live penguin named Dave. Who doesn’t want a penguin???

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17. Gift for Disorderly Chickadee:

 LL Bean Leather messenger bag for thee

Look inside and you will see

It is tightly organized
And properly sized

for you to fight off your daily worries
Anxiety and pestering flurries

zombie survival guide
Medicine for a year supplied

all packed
Nicely stacked

no worries no tales
no fails

no phone
and ringing tone

All Aboard!
2 tickets Great American Rail Journeys

For you and your man
16 days of vacation

National Parks, hiking, writing photography
And plenty of alone time with the hubs

Sit back, feet up
And chillax J

*****

18. Gift For Dork Daddy:

I have selected an heirloom for Dork Daddy for this year’s Festivus celebration. This is a rare giant Pez dispenser. It is a Lost In Space B-9 Robot dispenser that is over a foot tall! It has lights, sound and can say, “Danger Will Robinson!” This hard to find classic includes Giant Pez to dispense!

This is the perfect gift for a father who is a dork, loves old school robots and is also a dentist so he can clean his own teeth after eating pure sugar from a piece of plastic.
And if he doesn’t like it, he can bring it up in the Airing of the Grievances.

*****

 19. Gift for El Guapo:

If I had the means, I would set my friend, El Guapo, up with Doc Brown’s time machine so he could explore the rich musical history of our world and see all the greats in action for real.

But that’s not possible, so here’s a Sonic Screwdriver Programmable TV Remote, because my bud is a classy sci-fi fan like me.

*****

20. Gift for Excitement on the Side:

 A trip to Hawaii for the family along with an adventure package to go mountain tubing with Kauai backcountry adventures and then go sailing around the islands on Captain Andy’s boat.

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21. Gift for Fear No Weebles:

I just got back from Colorado last night. I have always wanted to tour some old mining, ghost towns out there. I was racking my brain on what to give Madame Weebles. Considering the Weebs is a self-proclaimed history buff, I am virtually giving her Phillip Varney’s book, “Ghost Towns of Colorado (Pictorial Discover Guides).

And just to add a little icing on the cake, there may be some pictures of dead, hot, mining men in there too!

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22. Gift for Harper Faulkner:

First my gift is two fold (just because I kinda feel sorry for his lovely wife)

Since Harp (as I call him) does not like to iron, I got this dapper suit from my friend Herb Tarlek for him,,,I think he will look super hot!

And because he’s a great big baby, I am sending along my special Rum Hot Toddy recipe,,,,the best part is for his wife. This will knock him right off his a**,,,so make sure he’s in bed, and I give my blessing for you wifey pooh, to have the rest of the said rum,,have it with Coke, Diet Pepsi, or straight if he’s been a really big baby.

Merry Christmas!!!

*****

23. Gift for Healthy Takeover:

cute ratSo, my Secret Santa blogger just wrote the cutest story about rescuing a little mouse and making a home for it. It fled back into the wild, so I wanted to make this little memorial picture for her. If this were the real world, I would frame it. Or blow it up to like 6 feet by 8 feet or something. I put the little mouse’s name (Virgil Algernon Bailey) on the bottom!

*****

24. Gift for Hello, Greece!:

Jill’s blog reminded me at times of how I felt at her age – having fun, but also a bit lost and not knowing what to do about some things in my life. Like me, I think she hopes someone will come along with all the answers. Jill loves Greece and spent some time there. My gift for her would a day with the goddess Athena. The best message Athena could give her would be to accept and be who you are. It’s funny how your problems sort themselves out once you stop trying to please other people or be something you’re not. You learn to trust your own feelings. Armed with this knowledge and her great sense of humour Jill could take over the world!”

*****

25. Gift for I’d Rather Be In Iceland:

My gift for Eva changed a few times. Thanks to a recent post she did I have decided to give her a time machine. This time machine can be used for her to travel back to 1970 to see Led Zeppelin perform in Iceland. Along with this time machine are backstage passes to meet the band. The backstage passes also act as a taser incase Robert Plant decides to get a little unnecessarily sexually aggressive and Eva chooses not to participate. Personally, I would. How often do you get a rockstar in his prime to feel you up? This was much better than my original idea, Subway gift cards since food is very expensive in Iceland.

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26. Gift for I Fkkn Rokk:

Several months ago, I ran across a tweet and immediately re-tweeted it. It read, “Some people are so poor that all they have is money.” The original author was Patrick Meagher, and the blogger who’d retweeted it none other than Daan.  So what do you get a man who doesn’t care about things, and already has an entire wall of clay vaginas as well as a beautiful wife and son? Mistletoe?  Whirled peas?  A clay penis to go with the clay vaginas?  Finally after much thinking, I realized there are only a few things people need.  One of those things is absolution.  It doesn’t have to be religious in nature; just letting go, and recognizing you did the best you could.  Absolution.  Happy Festivus, Daan!

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27. Gift for I’ll Sleep When They’re Grown:

I would give Jell Jell a case of Ferrero Pocket Coffee Espressos, imported from Italy. These small yet decadent pralines that contain a shot of liquid espresso with a yummy chocolate shell will keep her energy levels up while she tries to keep pace with her two young daughters. Happy Christmas, Jell Jell!

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hanging daybed28. Gift for I Thought This Would Be Easier:

Jamie gets sh*t done. She ferments kombucha and makes stock. She cooks with lots of garlic. And she makes soap. She needs to relax, y’all. It’s hot in Texas. She needs to kick back. In a bed. In the out of doors.  My gift for Jamie is a hanging daybed.  Who wants a hammock when they can hang a BED on their porch? (If youare lacking in a porch, hell, I will throw one in!) I’d like to throw a case of beer in with my gift and not afancy trying-to-impress-you beer but an it’s-Texas-hot-out-here-so-let’s-pound-some-brews-and-try-out-my-new-bedcase of beer.

nursetop

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29. Gift For Jiltaroo:

The gift I chose for Jiltaroo is a beautiful blue nurse’s scrub top with minnie mouse on the front.  I chose it because it is cute and different, much like Jilteroo herself.

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30. Gift for Just Another Canadian Gurl:

She will receive an all expenses paid trip for 4, on a tour of some of her bucket list destinations: London, Ireland, and Scotland (Coronation Street stop included, of course). She will have at her disposal, a private jet for travels, accommodations at the swankiest hotels, a limo stocked with boxed wine and Molson in case she craves some comforts of home, and a driver who will take her anywhere she and her guests wish to go. If she chooses to go over the Christmas break, I’m throwing in tickets to see Les Miserables at Queen’s Theatre.

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31. Gift for Krug the Thinker:

My lady seems like she would appreciate a haven for books and relaxation. Also, things like this make me drool.

secretsanta

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32. Gift for Laments and Lullabies:

Cupcakes doused with happy pills seemed like the finest and most appropriate art I could find for the funny gal behind Laments and Lullabies to hang on her wall, blog or otherwise.  I think both the giver and receiver would appreciate parts of this conceptual photograph of frosted over-indulgence and temptation by KnDArt.  While Sara self-proclaims that it’s hard for her to find her own happy place, it seems like art paves the path for her to find it.  And cupcakes just make everything better, if you ask someone our toddlers’ age.  I would suggest she just doesn’t hang it in the kids room or someone might give her the side-eye…at least.

happy cupcake

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33. Gift for Large Self:

 A jar of homemade orange and cranberry marmalade, a pair of knitted fingerless gloves and a bunch of lavender from my garden. The reason for my present choice is simple. I have them. Or I have the ability to make them. I like making presents for Christmas and this blogger strikes me as the kind who would appreciate the thought put into a homemade present. The lavender is also beautiful and I see flowers photographed regularly in this blogger’s posts. I am making fingerless gloves because I have yet to work out how to knit a finger all the way to the top… And the cranberry jam, I thought would be quite Christmassy. Also I love any excuse to make jam or to be in the kitchen at all!

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34. Gift for Lazy Laura Maisey

I give Laura a Kobo glo e-reader since she has had to say goodbye to her beloved Kindle, and Amazon’s the devil. And it glows, or it should. Also, she needs a more geographically correct Christmas jumper, too. Polar bears and penguins don’t live in the same hemisphere.

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35. Gift for Life in These Times:

Sara’s Festivus Gift: A Onesie! (Well, several.)

A onesie for everyone in the family: a baby elephant for Bean with large floppy ears and a trailing tail to maximise on the cuteness, and (a possibly matching) one for Sara, just light and comfortable enough for some dancing. Z gets to pick from a tiger onesie or a crow onesie. ^_^ And the pups get reindeer horns with Christmas lights attached because it’s Christmas and commercialism hasn’t yet caught on to dog onesies. ;) Ideally, the dogs will lead as the family parades down the street and shows the world the awesomeness of onesies.

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36. Gift for Lily in Canada: 

For Lily, I have created a gift basket full of noms from Chicagoland. There are Portillo’s hot dogs and cheese fries, Giordano’s deep dish pizza (You’ll probably want to eat those right away. I don’t think they keep.), Garrett’s popcorn, El Ranchero tortilla chips and Fannie May chocolates. I’ll also throw in an Affy Tapple so you’ll have some fruit. It’s a big basket.

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vinderpants37. Gift for Liquorstore Bear

I am going to be giving him (it’s a him, right?) Vinderpants as well a wine bottle opener. Vinderpants are underwear for your wine bottle! I actually saw these two years ago, and have been dying to give them to someone. Never had the perfect moment until now. It’s definitely something I would own, and is liquor-related.

Updated: 12/10/12 Okay, I switched up one thing: I bought Dapper Stache drink makers instead of the wine bottle opener. I figured LB would already own that, and the ‘stache theme reflects me a bit more. They are still also getting the Vinderpants.

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38. Gift for Meizac:

Tabula Rasa Quantum Time-Line Interface Transducer (TaRa-QTLIT) or TaRa for short – featuring the revolutionary Life Reset Button™ technology, allows you to introduce changes into your time-space continuum. It scans your brainwaves for “your thoughts and feelings about your particular situation and recent history and generates repairs to your time line to match your current needs. It is best used when things are not going to plan and the world has gotten on top of you.” Therefore, TaRa is good for repairing problematic or painful situations in life such as avoiding injuries and accidents, righting wrongdoings and fixing broken hearts.

In other words, it gives you a clean slate in life.

*****

39. Gift for Mooselicker:

For Mooselicker, I’ve arranged for Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels to run over Alex Rodriguez with his car.  I think Mooselicker will really get a special warm and tingly feeling from this.

*****

40. Gift for Never Contrary:

I got Nevercontrary her next tattoo. But not JUST a tattoo… ANY TATTOO. And not just ANY TATTOO… any tattoo by ANY ARTIST! Think of it as a gift card… for art… on her body. Whenever she decides she decides it’s time for her next tattoo, she can pick whatever artist she wants to do it and I’ll see that it happens. Big, small, one session, many sessions, I’ll see it done. I may even get my next tattoo once she’s up out of the chair. Merry Christmahannakwanzika, Never Contrary… I’m giving you temporary pain for a permanent addition to your bod.

*****

41. Gift for Psycho Babble:

For my gift to Lyssa Pants, I have selected chocolate figurines of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet (Saint Nicholas and Black Pete). This is the Dutch Santa Claus and his assistant, and the subject of a recent blog entry on that blog. This blogger seems to like chocolate, as well, so it seemed fitting. I also like chocolate, Christmas, and European holiday traditions.

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42. Gift for Ruminations on Love and Lunchmeat:

After trolling the Love & Lunchmeat lady’s site, I concluded she and I are dangerously alike, separated only by seashell-species. She is Long Island/Martha Stewart, I am Gulf Coast/Jimmy Buffet. Other than something like the Dial-Less Telephone to limit sensory exchange, the best gift in this case is a trip to the beach. The WARM beach. She and her children would fly LaGuardia to PNS, stay at our pad, we’d babysit while she hit the beach, enjoy some beach trips with both clans, and we’d chill. My original gift involved tequila, coffee and sex, not necessarily in that particular order.

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43. Gift for The Mercenary Researcher:

I’m so excited about my Secret Santa gift for Denise – The Mercenary Researcher. Just like me, she loves music. Although I love Jazz; she loves Rock. And we both would like to play Bass Guitar (at least she said she would love to play bass while listening to Gang of Four : Outside the Trains Don’t Run on Time). Her gift is a Fender Roger Waters Precision Bass with a Fender Rumble 150 Combo Amp and bass lessons. Besides, there’s something really hot about female bass players!

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44. Gift for Snide Reply:

Hanukkah/Chanukah/Chanukkah & Christmas Fortune cookies filled with funny things that come out of her kids’ & students’ mouths ~ they will be presented as hybrid strands of garland/ lights that she can string around her tree over a period 72 of hours (by herself, of course).  As well, she can have two strands if Christmas and Hanukkah/Chanukah/Chanukkah don’t overlap on a given year. During Hanukkah/Chanukah/Chanukkah, each person in the family can open one cookie per night after the lighting of the Menorah. The same kind of intellectual logic can be applied for the 12 days o’Christmas.

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45. Gift for Shoes on the Wrong Feet:

I’m getting Shoes on the Wrong Feet a pair of Skechers Shape Ups for Christmas because I noticed they didn’t have any in their header photo.  Shape Ups are the perfect shoe to dress up an outfit as well as make yourself ten feet taller than everyone around you.  Plus, they can be used to throw at people who refuse to respect your taste in fanny packs.  Not that I would know or anything.

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46. Gift for Sips of Jen and Tonic:

I have always thought that, if a girl has a sense of humor, she can overcome damn near anything.  Reading Jen’s blog, I was just blown away by her hilarious outlook on life, love, family and friendship.  But I was also touched by a beautiful vulnerability that often shows through her excellent writing.  So for those moments when she feels like she needs a little lift, I am gifting her with The Golden Girls: 25th Anniversary Complete Collection.  Because when your mood is down, what better way to pick it right back up than with all 7 seasons of the show packed into a collectible replica of Sophia’s purse? Oh, and did I mention the collectible character-themed playing cards?

*****

47. Gift for Someone Fat Happened:

An all expense paid trip to Ireland with the companions, and decorative boobs, of her choice. I initially wanted to be the wealthy family that finally adopted Maggie, because she is AMAZING and HILARIOUS. However, I am poor and I have too many cats, so I figured knocking one of the big-ticket items off that bucket list would pay appropriate tribute to an awesome lady this holiday season. Added in the decorative boobs of choice, because what better time to get your dream boobs than right before your dream vacation? Merry Christmas Maggie!!

*****

48. Gift for Southern Fried Chicken in Vegas:

For The Chicken I’m leaving under the tree five baby full-body tatto certificates, redeemable at any tattoo parlour within the continental United States. What better gift could you offer someone who loves the word “F*ck” as much as she does. Now she can parade her kids around town and listen to all the gawkers using that word as they admire her kids’ sleeves. And with five kids, perhaps she can earn a little extra $ on the side by tattooing some endorsements from major toymakers on her children. I figure “LEGO” across the chest should fetch a pretty penny.

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49. Gift for Southern Sea Muse:

I’ve been my typical over-analyzing self and fretted until the last minute over what is the very best thing for my Festivus recipient. I feel like my gift-partner deserves something to reflect how introspective she is, so here goes nothing:

In attempt to find something with meaning to the giver and the recipient, I’ve decided to “sew” a quilt made up of memories my gift-partner has shared onher blog. The overall theme will be the same as their blog (can’t give that away!), but there will be little stories scattered throughout. There will be nine different tales, including: the birthday cake story, the Christmas tree story, the driving-to-work story, and the making-things-with-Mom story.  There will also be one blank square, for all the stories yet to come.

*****

50. Gift for Speaker7:

Your humour is a gift to all,
No subject too tacky, big or small,
The day you had you colon cleaned,
Made me go a little green,

But green is just a colour too,
Much like red and gold and blue,
All these colours under the tree,
Wrapped around a gift from me.

I thought about this long and hard,
Then went out in my yard,
What could this blogger really want,
Apart from turds and groovy font.

“I know, I really have it now!”
I say out loud and raise my brow,
A hat when worn that will speak and say,
“I will go all the way”

Wide brim and crown will suit you well,
You’ll start to walk like a country gal,
I did the bash myself you know,
I took my time, it’s quite a show.

Don’t be offended by the bash’s name,
But hats cannot look all the same,
High in the north of this red, wild state,
People proudly tell their mate,

“My hat is moulded in this way,
But actually in the light of day,
We never put a ribbon or sash,
We only adorn with the ‘Kimberly C*nt Bash’”.

*****

51. Gift for Storyteller Girl:

My gift to StoryTeller girl is a recently discovered, yet to be read, re-write of the Holy Bible penned by J.R.R Tolkien. Reality and fantasy join together as “David vs. Goliath” becomes “David vs. the Orcs”, the “walls of Jericho” are now “the walls of Minas Tirith” and the “immaculate conception” of Mary is now starring Éowyn as the precious virgin. Become swept away by the magic as Gandalf the Grey takes on the evil Pharisees and Sadducees of Israel, seeking to restore order to the kingdom. With a foreword written by C.S. Lewis, this limited edition Bible will appeal to readers of all ages.

*****

52. Gift for Summer Solstice Musings:

The complete Rosetta Stone collection to learn every language! And a personal cook to enjoy home-cooked meals every night without having to lift a finger.

*****

53. Gift for The Bumble Files:

The amazing blogger I am “buying” for really needs a vacation. But I doubt that is going to happen so I think a bottle of some good vino (which my blogger keeps all to him/herself) and lots and lots of chocolate will have to do!  Since I come from Southern California I think See’s Candy is the only way to go at Christmas and I “got” this blogger the Christmas Gold Wreath box, one wonderful pound of deliciousness! Nothing says the holidays like a few extra pounds and a blissful candy coma! By the way, See’s didn’t give me one red dime. I have just loved their candy since I was a little squirt.  I am sure there are several pounds on me that can trace their birth to See’s candy, and I don’t regret a minute or a bite of it!

*****

54. Gift for The Cheeky Diva:

From one retro girl to another – a CafePress apron that has a picture of a 50′s cutie on it and states, “I could exercise but it makes me spill my drink”. I also threw in a set of As Seen On TV dryer balls, because who doesn’t need those? And because I can never pick just one of anything – plus I have an unlimited budget – I paid @Lileks to follow you on Twitter for one year. After that is up to you!

*****

55. Gift for The Diary of Mr. Ghost:

I sped over to read what diaryofghost had written, in hopes that I might stumble across a good gift idea.  I noticed a preoccupation of late with mustaches.  Of course, I immediately thought of Go Jules Go, who may just be the hot, blond version of the late Bob Barker (What?  He’s NOT dead?!).  Anyway, the lovely Jules is forever giving away her delightful ‘stache glasses.  Any pair of these would be a GREAT for diaryofghost!  With any luck, Jules will gift wrap them for a nominal fee.  Whew!  One less gift to buy.

*****

56. Gift for The Fur Files:

Normally I would have chosen a Shake Weight because I give Shake Weights to everyone. My grandmother cannot get enough of hers. But I felt the Shake Weight would not be suitable for Fern DeVilliers of The Fur Files unless they made Shake Weights in the shape of cats, which they totally should. See Fern DeVilliers is a fan of cats (“I LOVE cats” – Fern DeVilliers’ blog) so instead I opted for Paul & Joe’s cat-shaped lipstick. The tip looks like a cat’s head until you smear it all over your lips, and then it looks like smushed kitty face. But until that moment, it’s purrfect. Sorry, that pun was awful.

*****

57. Gift for The Middlest Sister:

Can’t think of anything The Middlest Sister might like to have more than a big brother. Growing up a middle child, I always wished I had one and who better to have as your big brother than George Clooney? Imagine brother George as a “didn’t get asked to prom” mercy date. Well, maybe Middlest Sister didn’t need a mercy date like Secret Santa did. Still, I can picture him fitting right in with middlest and the other sisters, teasing and pranking each other. And grown up George would make an awesome uncle, always ready to take the kids ’cause he doesn’t have any of his own!

*****

58. Gift for The Tragic Whale:

I made this print of a whale with my own two hands. Inspired by the wonderful and far-more-competent-than-I Kerry. The whale represent Kerry because she lives in the ocean, and the paint represents me because I usually air dry. A very Happy Whatever Holiday This is Right Now to you!

DSCF4196 (7)

*****

59. Gift for This Heart of Mine:

Samantha loves romance novels; I love romance novels. Samantha didn’t love 50 Shades of Grey; I didn’t love it either, though as a writer of literary erotica, I can understand its appeal.

As I know a little something about erotica and erotic romance, I thought I’d give her a few books that I’ve enjoyed over the years, books that are both romantic AND sexy, but that are not as graphic as the 50 Shades series. They are contemporary stories, with strong female protagonists, and happy endings all around. They are: “Hot Rain” by Kat Martin, “Blonde Heat” by Susan Johnson, and “Sex, Lies, and Secret Lives” by Thea Divine.

*****

 60. Gift for Thoughts and Musings:

Kristin’s gift basket is wrapped up in crinkly iridescent film with red and blue ribbons (go Patriots!) Nestled inside is a package of fresh, fragrant macaroons that I made myself. These macaroons aren’t the usual pastels; I chose bright cheerful colors – lime green, nectarine orange, turquoise, goldenrod yellow, and fuchsia  I love bright colors; they help lift my moods when I feel unwell, and baking makes me feel better about myself when I’m having a hard time. Along with the tasty treats is further inspiration for Kristin’s adventures with waffles: “Waffles (A Nitty Gritty Cookbook)” with a few of my own special waffle recipes and one of my last jars of spicy-tart homemade ginger-lemon marmalade. Bon appetit!

*****

61. Gift for Unfettered BS:

I figured this would be too small. Too cliche. Too obvious. Too likely to fall off your fridge into your bowl of cereal. Too few words. But a beautiful home library like George Lucas’s place–that’s about right. It doesn’t come with a gift receipt, either. If you don’t want it, I’m happy to take it off your hands.

*****

62. Gift for Wendy’s Works:

For Wendy: a gift within a gift! On the doorstep would be a puppy, holding a present (by the bow). In the box: a coffee mug. In the coffee mug: a bag of sugar. In the bag of sugar: a Tim Horton’s Gift Card. In the gift card (aka: On the gift card): a year’s supply of Tim Horton’s coffee!

*****

63. Gift for Woman in the Middle:

Although you admit to having no knowledge of the Festivus traditions, you have managed, over the years, to do your own ”Annual Airing of the Grievances”, mostly in the month of October. You do a fair amount of kvetching about wind. I guess that’s the only “weather” you folks in Southern California can get worked up about. (In my neck of the woods we have things like extreme Summer heat, Autumn hurricanes, and Winter blizzards— no wonder we look forward to those three days of Spring!— Ah-choo! Or, should I say, “Aaaah! Pollen!)

While those of us living in the Northeast need foul/cold/hot weather gear for all seasons, you, my friend, only need one thing: A wind suit. I’ve chosen one in navy and white, but it’s got some nice lime green piping— which I think gives it a feminine touch! While shopping for your gift, it occurred to me that no Santa Ana wind suit would be complete without headgear. With the protection of your skin, hair, and eyes in mind, I have also chosen for you a lovely netted beekeeper’s hat!

*****

64. Gift for You’ve Been Hooked:

Okay, Hook gets a Festivus haiku and a trip on the TARDIS.

Hook_Festivus

*****

And that’s that. Get to guessing! Happy Festivus!

246 thoughts on “Presents! We have presents!: A very special Festivus post

  1. I feel confident that my gift giver is none other then El Guapo. Only he could come up with this wonderful present and thoughtful comment. If I get this right, I just want to say now, that I’m one heck of a smarty pants.
    …and Emily, the party is awesome and you are quite the hostess. Thanks for doing this!!! And now I’m going to get virtually drunk! Haha!

  2. Dear Secret Santa,
    This outfit is FAB! My one-ab would look splendid between suspenders, and supported by a clown jockstrap, even if it looks slightly tight in there for my magnificent™ peen.
    Le Clown

  3. This was sooooo fun!! I love my gift …. it was perfect. And, yes, outside the trains don’t run on time.
    Thanks ladies – this was GREAT idea… I can’t wait to see who my Secret Santa is….I have a guess…but I’m gonna be patient and see if it’s correct when revealed.

  4. I love my gift! I always wanted to go to a ghost town too, I find them fascinating. And the idea of reading about ghost towns AND checking out photos of hot dead mining guys—what’s not to love? I’m not sure who my Santa is, I’m going to have to ponder this some more… Emily, this was a great idea—everyone posted such ingenious presents!

  5. Wonderful gifts, and a fabulous holiday party ladies. I have zero idea of who my Secret Santa is, but I really wish I could give them a big hug and start spa daying it up…while reading. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Secret Santa!

  6. This is the Festivus gift to end all Festivus gifts. There’s nothing more to life than pizza and baseball, so Secret Santa literally got me everything.

    So, Emily, got an ETA on the arrival of these gifts? Like do I need to rearrange my holiday plans to make sure I’m home? Because I totally will.

  7. Reblogged this on Life in these times… and commented:
    FESTIVUS IS HERE! I was super excited to participate in Festivus for the Pressed of Us! Basically the coolest virtual secret santa extravaganza ever! All the bloggers who participated were matched up with another blogger and told to get them ANY gift! No price limit, no boundaries, get to gifting! We all sent in our gifts and today the presents have been revealed! I’m super pumped about my gift but I had to reblog this so you could all see some of the other SUPER CREATIVE and fantastically unique gifts. Now all I need to do is try to guess WHO my Secret Santa is! I have NO IDEA who my secret santa is so I may spend the whole weekend researching all the other bloggers. Who am I kidding… I’m going to be doing that anyway, because these guys and gals are fantastic!
    SO… enjoy the Festivus present list and stay tuned for when The Waiting blog reveals our Secret Santas!

  8. My dear secret Santa, I am a huge WKRP fan and one of Herb’s coats is perfect! Thank you so much. I will wear it on New Year’s Eve. You’re concern for my long suffering wife leads me to believe you are a woman. Since you know WKRP makes me think you are a woman of a certain age. I will continue to narrow the field and guess later. HF

  9. A mom always wonders how she can use her children for personal gain…but I have to say, I never thought of tattooing them with advertisements. It’s a Festivus Miracle! So, now that I’m all drunk and disorderly, when are the Feats of Strength? I think I can totally take out Emily.
    Sidenote: I may be willing to donate money to Movember next year if we can see Le Clown in his new outfit.

  10. there is no WAY I would give my gift back…oooh to have a library like that.. Lawdy that would fabulous..although it looks to be bigger than my current home :) I need to ruminate on my secret santa.. a fellow lover of books

  11. Reblogged this on Laments and Lullabies and commented:
    I got an unforgettable Festivus present. And I think the one I gave was pretty darned good too, though not as deliciously decadent as some. Really creative, really fun. If you didn’t participate this year, well, your life just got a little darker, didn’t it.

  12. Oh, what an awesome gift! Mystery poetry-writer, you made me cry. In a good way.

    You have no idea how spot-on you are! I have a secret addiction for practical, durable, beautifully organized bags – even have a draft post on the topic. Glacier National Park is the destination next summer, for my first real vacation in years, because the glaciers will be gone in another decade and I want to hike a Glacier glacier.

    Once we reveal who gave what, I can explain how spellcheck/autocorrect screwed up my gift (but maybe the recipient will figure it out from that – je n’ai jamais rien faute d’orthographe en français! Well, except for special characters that I’m too lazy to type.)

    Also, I’m going to steal the gift given to the Awesome Sara Lomas of (Laments and Lullabies) next time I go to Montreal.

    • Hi Ben! I’m glad you liked your new car. As soon as I heard there was no cap on the dollar amount, I thought, hey, I bet Ben would like a fun zippy car. From one Mormon to another, I considered that you might have a mini van (haha!) and could use something with a little turbo power. You seemed like a Jetta guy and I was right! I’ve read several of your posts, you have a great blog, and probably commented on a couple – do you remember seeing my avatar?
      Lisa – A Gripping Life

  13. What a good time! Many thanks, gals, for putting this together. I have ZERO idea who my SS is… someone did their homework though or quite by a happy accident they are sneding me to Hawaii to see my brother and his fam!!

  14. I’m going to guess The Hook for mine. (And they were perfect.)

    Emily and Ashley, you two did an incredible job organizing this, and reading some of the gifts was a lot of fun in seeing how appropriate they were.
    Great job, and Happy Holidays to all!

  15. OMG!! Vinderpants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s the gift I never knew about, never knew I needed, never knew I wanted UNTIL NOW!! Oh! OH! Falalalala! This is the BEST!!! I can’t wait to learn who my Secret Santa is so I can stalk that person and deliver personal thanks :)

    • LB, even though your Secret Santa was chosen at random, the gods were smiling on us all. I expect you and him/her will have a long, wonderful relationship once their identity is revealed. I like to think I’m a blogging matchmaker.

  16. Whoever my SS is, they did their homework! When I get my dirty little mitts on this, I am definitely going to be blogging about the joy and happiness it brings me! SS, if you’re reading this, YOU MADE ME SO HAPPY.

    Speaking of happy, I see that the person I had loved the gift I bought. This gives me a case of the “HELL YEAHS!”

  17. I just woke up and my first thought was FESTIVUS! I love my present! Someone knows me well enough that I need Chicago comforting. Hmmm I feel like it’s maybe Jells? Orrr I don’t know!! I’m bad at guessing!

  18. I was so excited to read this post!! Whoever my Santa is, they are obviously awesome! It was so fun reading the other gifts and getting to know everydody else too–Happy Festivus! And a big thank you to you and Ashley, because heaven only knows how long it took to put this post together!

  19. I have no idea who my Secret Santa is, but they were spot on! I want that typewriter….Festivus was absolutely brilliant. :D This most definitely has to become an annual thing–we just need to throw in virtual food now! ;)

  20. In case anyone is wondering, I was the one who gave you all these presents. No, not really.

    I’m not sure who got me “Madame” present. My mind is “Weebling” back and forth trying to “Figure” it out. I guess figure didn’t need to be in quotes. Clearly this was the work of Madame Weebles. I’m going to have to discuss with her if we can have someone else driving the car in case he gets caught.

    Great work Emily and Ashley!

  21. What a thoughtful gift SS! I love my new Minnie Mouse scrubs, they are gorgeous. I do have a confession though, I am no longer doing my nursing degree. I have been offered an awesome job as National Accountant for the biggest Steel Company in Australia. I had given up on Accounting as I thought that no-one would want to employ a single Mum of four with all the baggage that comes with that! Lucky for me, the company I left 10 years ago have invited me back to fulfil this bigger and better role. I feel so lucky and very honoured. Anyway, not to worry, I will wear my scrubs anyway for the days I dissect and doctor the accounts. Hell, I’m going to wear them every day. They will also come in handy for the times I have to play nurse to my boys….they saw them and they thought my new outfit was gorgeous.
    I am going to need a hint though so that I can than you personally!

  22. Reblogged this on Jiltaroo and commented:
    Just 4 months ago, I entered the blogging world. I had no idea what it had to offer, I thought I was just writing my little old memoir for me really. I had no concept of the incredible and varied blogs there were on offer, the friends I would make, the discussion I would have……Secret Santa? The girls that have organised this, Emily (from the Waiting) and Ashley have worked hard to put this together for over 60 bloggers. Many of these present givers I already know and visit their blogs regularly, but some I haven’t met yet. I will enjoy getting to these new blogs. If this is a new “pool” of bloggers for you, I can guarantee that you will be blown away by this concentrated talent. Don’t be shy, come and have a look at our gifts and while you’re there introduce yourself to some new friends. I can assure you, you will get a very warm welcome from each and every one.

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  25. Oh, Emily and Ashley…fun fun fun!! My Secret Santa has me pegged! I do need a vacation and probably won’t get it. Yep! I would love some wine and See’s any day of the week.Yay!!! Is it Weebs? I don’t think she’s from Southern California, but that is my first guess…otherwise I have no clue.

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  27. Dear SS,,,,you are the bestest bestest present giver ever!!!
    If you are a man,,,,will you marry me? If your American,,,,I can even save you some Moola,,,cause I allready have my green card!!
    You know me sooooo well,,,thank you for everything,,,you spared no expense on lil ol me!!
    Sigh,,,,I’m going to go dig into the big box of vino!

  28. Ah my Secret Santa rocks! Skechers, for me? Why yes and thank you. And that fanny pack reference has me thinking I really should know who you are. It is driving me crazy!! :-)

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  31. Definitely thanks to both of you! This was GREAT! My gift got me all teary-eyed! So beautiful!

    But no idea who it is! (just like most of the people on here, hahaha!) I think it’s someone who didn’t know me before this… maybe?

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