{gift ideas}

i've been a crappy blogger lately. this is for all kinds of reasons. reasons of i'm not living at home right now and reasons of i'm suuuuper tired all the time and reasons of quite frankly i've got nothing to blog about. don't worry; it's just a season in every blogger's life. i'll come back.

in the meantime, i wanted to drop in and share a couple of Christmas present ideas. because i was online looking for Christmas presents for friends last night and it was completely overwhelming. did you even know how big the internet is? the internet is bigger than saskatchewan even. and, land mass-wise, saskatchewan is pretty big. but the point is not that.

the point is that in my combing of the internets, i came across a few cool present ideas.

first: bracelets and necklaces from thirty one bits. {$9 and up}

taken from the thirty one bits website:


{{Kallie Dovel, traveled to Uganda in the summer of 2007, getting a first- hand look at life in Northern Uganda. While she was there, she met women making paper beads but who lacked a plan to market and sell them. After spending time in their homes and hearing their stories, Kallie knew there had to be a way to give opportunities to her new friends. She brought a box of jewelry back to the U.S., and spent the next year finishing her degree and dreaming up the concept of a development organization. She brought a few friends on board and her ideas quickly evolved into 31 Bits. The girls traveled back to Uganda in August 2008, and selected six women to begin buying jewelry from on a monthly basis. Since then, we have grown to 99 women; each with a unique story of suffering that has been overcome with joy and liberation. Find out more about what we do in Uganda here.}}

it's a really cool organization, and the jewelry is so, so, so pretty. i kind of want some for me...

second: absolutely anything from photojojo.

but might i recommend these fantastic polapost mailable frames? {$15 for a pack of 7} 
they're little envelopes with a clear cover. you cut down a picture, stick it inside, seal it shut, and write on the back! i would love to own a little pack of these. stationary is one of those gifts that you can't really go wrong with.

but there is seriously no end to the goodness in the photojojo store. crazy lenses for your iphone, sweet picture frames, a diy pinhole camera kit... i just bought a camera bag from there and i LOVE it. plus their customer service ROCKS, PLUS they ship out their stuff crazy fast {international shipping to me took 11 days, even though international shipping usually takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks}, PLUS PLUS they threw a little toy dinosaur in with my order. weird, but endearing. right?

third: again, absolutely anything from david's tea.

they have, by far, the cutest and most efficient tea sets, travel mugs, and tea accessories i've ever seen--not to mention, the best tea. but i have to tell you, this cork collection teapot is what i would pick if you were shopping for me. {$29.50}

stocking stuffers? definitely these mad libs bandages from perpetual kid. {$4.99} 

i saved my best for last, obviously:
click here to shop for gifts that will actually help people in third world countries.

it's run through an organization called Compassion International, and it's a really cool thing. 35 bucks gets a kid some dental care. 16 bucks gets a family a chicken. for 100 dollars, you can pay for medical assistance for new moms.

a friend and i decided earlier this year that we're going to do this instead of getting each other gifts this year, and i'm pretty excited about it. i have 112 subscribers right now, but according to the stats page there are more than that who read every day. so even if each of you just bought one chicken, you could feed about 200 families. i think that's cool.

anyway, at least read up on it and let me know what you think.

whoa. i need to get some brekkie. i'll see you all around. happy Christmas shopping days!