Three months until Christmas! Time to start my list!

All year long I think of things that I want and say to myself, 'that would be a good thing to suggest as a Christmas present'. Then I promptly forget about it. When the Christmas season rolls around and people ask what I want, well, I can never remember and leave them hanging. Not this year! I'm starting a list!

1.) A gift subscription to Real Simple magazine. I really got into this magazine when I was in Dublin. It was a little pricey over there, so I only ever bought it as a little treat. I love that they have a little bit of everything (fashion, food, home design, stories, etc) and it's totally for my age range (i.e. no stupid Cosmo quizzes).

2.) A gift card to Boden's US site. Ironically, I never bought anything from Boden when I was in the UK. Well, it wasn't so ironic. I was a student and I couldn't afford anything! They just recently opened their US site and I love the dresses they have on offer. Like this one!

Source

3. An eReader. I've pretty much been anti-eReader ever since they came out. Now that I'm commuting, I'll eat my words. I love books, but who has time to go to the book store!? Not me! My bag is also already heavy, so adding extra weight in books isn't ideal. As far as brands go, all I know about is the Nook and the Kindle. Are there more? Feel free to give me recommendations, since I don't really know anything about them!

4. A Keurig to keep in my office at work. I really don't drink that much coffee and I can actually get decent coffee at a reasonable price in my building, so this one is a little difficult to justify. BUT the variety of K-cups gets me excited and I think in the long run I would save money. Oh, and it comes in a very cute red color!

5. A new camera. *Le sigh*  You may have noticed the reduction in photos on my blog in the past 6 months or so. My camera has been acting up (as in only turning on 20% of the time) and taking pictures is no fun right now. I've kicked around getting an inexpensive point and shoot to use in the meantime, but it's hard to find one that has an LCD screen that swivels. That's a feature of my camera that I really love. I could get an updated version of my current camera which is reasonably priced, or for an extra couple of hundred dollars I could get a small SLR, but then there are the expensive lenses and what not. So I don't know...I guess I'll have to see what Santa decides! :-)

I think that's a good starting point. Of course diamonds and spa gift certificates are always on the list!

I went in to buy a salad....

and ended up walking out with these (in gray). They're totally cute and totally useless to me here. That's right, they're work shoes (aka 'smart shoes' here in Ireland). Do I have a job? No. I guess I was feeling pretty hopeful yesterday. I envisioned myself walking in the door with my new smart shoes, logging onto my email, and being offered an interview! Does that ever really happen to anyone? That's a rhetorical question. Please don't leave comments about miraculous job offers you received.

Birthday Wish List

I'm going to try and spruce up a gray January and get excited for my birthday! What gets me excited are the presents. No surprise there! Here are a few I wouldn't mind opening on my big day!

This is the biggie! My current camera is fancier than a point and shoot, but not much more than that. I bought it before I moved to England, so it's almost 5 years old and starting to show it's age. Dropping it at the Dublin Marathon hasn't helped it either. I would love, love, LOVE a digital SLR camera (this is a Canon EOS Rebel T1i) and a few photography courses to go with it!

We're definitely getting this print when we move to the US, so I'll be getting it even if it's not for my birthday! Our friends have the Paris one which I love, but the London one just seems more appropriate for us.

Orla Kiely makes lovely bags and I can't leave Ireland without one! Right!? Well, that's what I keep telling Wes! Ha! I love the flowers on her new bag. (Sorry about the tiny picture!)

Alan Ardiff is an Irish jewellery designer who makes some really cool stuff. Some of the designs actually have pieces that move! This little fish doesn't move, but I think it's really sweet.

It's no secret I love wearing my FitFlops in the summer. They are the most comfortable flip flops out there, hands down. I have no idea if they tone your legs, as their marketing suggests. In fact, if you saw my legs you'd probably call their bluff. I just love them because they actually have arch support and my feet don't ache by the end of the day. I would love a pair of their boots to wear during those months that the flip flops are inappropriate. That's a lot of months here in Ireland!