some gift ideas

Before I get into some ideas for gift giving this Christmas, I need to share this picture.  The boys and I got haircuts yesterday morning.  And instead of walking out of the salon with a neatly combed hairdo, this guy decided to try something a bit festive.  I think his head looks like a bunch of Christmas lights.  It was so hard to take him seriously yesterday when I'd see his spiky do.  It's all washed out now but thankfully he was willing to take a few pictures to remember it.  I think he even wants to take a picture in to show his classmates.  Love it!

So, onto gift ideas.  These might very well be gifts that you want for yourself.  But maybe someone will see something that they could get a loved one.  And don't feel shy if you need to pass on my blog to give someone a bit of inspiration.

I just came across this list of top cookbooks for 2010.  Perhaps an idea for the food lover in your life.

Found this cute necklace on one of my favorite online clothing sites.  It's called "a million ways to say i love indie necklace".  It's a dark gold heart engraved with the words "i love you" in fifteen different languages.  Not sure if it would make it here to Canada by Christmas.  But guys out there, I might have just scored you the cutest Valentine's gift.  But don't delay.  Their stuff can sell out fast.

For the photography freaks out there that are learning about the big SLR cameras and want to push themselves to shoot in manual mode, this book is the best.  I recently bought Bryan Peterson's 'Understanding  Exposure' and highly recommend it.  I have read so many great reviews about this book and agree with everything that I have read.

And any serious cook needs a microplane.  I talked about mine ages ago in this post.  I still love it.  If you ever use grated ginger, this is the best tool I have found.  Parmesan cheese and citrus zest also love this tool.

And I know you can definitely have too many kitchen gadgets, but this is one I've often wished for when I'm making cookies.

The cookie scoop.  This is how you get all your cookies looking so nice and uniform.  I'm sure you've seen a certain someone use these on her old cooking shows.  Let's just say it's a good thing.