If I were my own Santa ...

     I love Christmas shopping: even when I was younger and had $10 in my pocket to divide between a dozen family members, I loved looking for gifts. The picking, planning, wrapping, and eminent surprise on Christmas day always excited me even more than the childhood excitement over what Santa would leave for me. This is the first year that I've had any substantial amount of money saved up for the holiday season ... I'm still a fairly poor college student working in retail, but thanks to frugal/smart/early shopping and several months of saving up I've managed to splurge on several people (especially my sister Nicole and brother Skyler).

      I'm not wanting for anything; I have pretty much everything I need and the few items I'd like to get in the future are expensive enough that I'd never expect them as presents, like my someday laptop. I did, however find some pretty cool things as I shopped for other people and have my own little Top 5 list for Santa. I wouldn't ask anyone to get my anything on it, but one of these days when I recoup from my holiday shopping spree I'll be getting them for myself. Birthday coming up soon? xD

1. A Kindle eReader

     I've always been a bookworm, but work and college life have limited my time and book access. The few times I find spare minutes I could use to read that guilty-pleasure Nora Roberts novel, I'm far from any kind of printed literature. Any eReader would be great, though I love everything I've heard about the Kindle and the access to e-library books. It'd definitely make getting and carrying my textbooks easier as well. ^_^

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005890G8Y/ref=famstripe_kt

2. A Nikon s3100 or s4100 Camera

     Quite literally anything besides a drugstore disposable camera would be a step up from my ten year old, AA battery, 3.2 megapixel Kodak camera. I've used it for years and never minded it, but now that it will no longer turn on, a new camera is definitely on my to-do list. In addition to being a cute girl with a rarely-updated facebook photo, my sculptures and art assignments need to be documented for a final portfolio and the cellphone camera shots are hardly professional. I'll never be one of those crazy DSLR kids with a camera that's worth more than my car, but a current point and shoot would be handy.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00353172000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

3. Dr. Who Fan-girl Swag

    The wonderful menagerie of cheesy Doctor Who merchandise, especially The Van Gough Tardis print and anything David Tennant/10th Doctor related; as much as I love the show, I have absolutely nothing cool or commemorative. It's my favorite tv show of all time, Santa should really fix that :3

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/posters/eaf4/?srp=14

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/a150/?srp=4

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/9223/?srp=11

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/8cff/?srp=22

4. Adorable Plushies

     I've seen too many cute plushies this year, though the quirky and often video game related ones are my favorites. The sushi and fuzzy microbes on ThinkGeek are definitely a winner. 

http://www.thinkgeek.com/clearance/on-sale/c4a6/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/clearance/on-sale/d351/

5. Clothes!

     More specifically, a gift card to H&M/Ross/Target etc ... or even someone to accompany me on a little shopping trip. I've got enough garments to cover my back, but I'd love some cute things I feel good about myself in that actually FIT me. I've dropped so much weight that even the clothes I've picked up along the way are far too big or baggy on me now. I know I'm not a kid anymore now that I actually want clothes for Christmas: shirts, jeans, blouses, bras, shoes, pretty much everything needs to be replaced. That's my mission for the upcoming year, so any cute clothes or accessories would be a huge hit with me <(^_^)>