Congratulations to Jennifer Leite for winning the recent blog giveaway! I hope you enjoy your gift card! I loved reading everyone’s answers. It was wonderful to get ideas for my own random acts of kindness and it just gave me the bestest of warm fuzzies inside. Spellcheck is trying to dissuade me from using both the words “bestest” and “fuzzies.” This just reinforces my conclusion that Spellcheck is a reincarnated grumpy spinster with a yardstick to be doled out as punishment. Thankfully she can no longer physically whack people and instead resides in our computers, taunting us with our inadequate spelling. She is grumpilcious (I swear I just felt the air whiz by my ear and the faint sound of a “thwack”).

Is it wrong to crave things in the midst of gift giving? In the midst of thinking of others? Well, probably. But that does not stop me from looking ahead. I will not be doing a gift guide. There are so many out there. Here are a few things I have purchased recently and some of the items I like right now:

To be perfectly honest, there is nothing in particular that I want right now, except for books. Lots and lots of books. And then top that off with some whipped books with a book on top. I have so many book reviews I need to get done, but that would get in the way of my reading of the books. It is a tumbling slope to a creative dungeon. I will say I have loved The 5th Wave this month and its sequel. And I just finished a surprisingly delightful book entitled Throne of Glass. Both are easy reads aimed at teens or folks who want to read something light for a change.

For Christmas, I have asked my husband for a large saucepan. My old saucepan had to be discarded as the nonstick coating had begun to shed into our food. Which probably is not the safest thing. Nor is it the most exciting gift. However, all of the saucepans I have been eyeing sold out this month. Did you all ask for a saucepan, too? I cannot believe that they are all gone.

I have to keep it real and say that not one of my favorite large companies have come out with anything this month that I really, really want right now. I am waiting for this dress from a few months ago to hit a good sale. But it is the only item in my wishlist besides jeans that I am waiting on (oh, and maybe The Tasseled Maxi Dress). So I am going to discuss some random items. Some purchases, some gifts and some recommendations.

I previously showed the afghan cardigans I purchased at The Rose Bowl Flea Market in this post. Some sweet people wanted to know more about them. Here are all of the details that I can recall: I do know the seller had approximately forty more of these in sizes small and medium. Each one was very different. I took a medium. My daughter took a small. Most of the hoods are a different pattern than the rest of the sweater and the sweaters come to my knees. The brand says, “American Vintage.” I am unsure if the vintage shop puts its labels on their sweaters or if this is an actual brand. The flea market I went to was in Pasadena and a few things popup for that name in that city. The woman selling them gave me a discount because I purchased three. They were priced at $35 each but I paid $30 a piece. She told me they sell for $65 in her shop, most retail sellers offer a large discount if an item is purchased at the flea market versus their retail shop, so they must be available somewhere, but I am sorry, that is all of the information I gathered. Good luck if you are trying to track them down! I hope you find them! I love mine!

I will be giving these small See’s chocolate boxes filled with milk and dark chocolate molasses chips to a few people on my list with gift cards attached. If I can manage not to eat them all. We buy gift cards to See’s at a discount from Costco and then drive directly to the See’s store and redeem them for large amounts of chocolate during the holidays. We bought nine pounds on Monday and I think we have eight pounds left in the bag and ten pounds more on my thighs. Isn’t that just lovely how the calorie math is so generous with its gifting?

If you are looking for art, I can highly recommend the artist Aja from Sagittarius Gallery on Etsy for the art lover. I adore her abstract impasto nudes. I own two and definitely want more in the future. I like the small sizes because they are not in your face, but just add a touch of female beauty to a gallery wall.

And Ginette Callaway is another artist currently selling on Etsy whom offers originals and prints of beautiful subjects. I own a multitude of her paintings and they always make me smile.

Are you craving anything right now? Did you ask for anything exciting this holiday season (it has to be more exciting than a saucepan)? I am hyperalyzed with this holiday season (thwack!)!