Anna H.:

Realistic: A new, aesthetically pleasing (read: contemporary and not embarrassing-looking - NO CARPET OR SISAL) cat tree or perch.
Fantasy: A first class ticket to Sydney because flying economy on Qantas for that long in such cramped conditions is inhumane for everyone and should be illegal.


Latoya:

Realistic: A gift card to a bookstore. Always appreciated.
Fantasy: $5,000 Gift Certificate to GameStop (one of my homegirls works there - it will last me years) and a month off from work. OR a free year of natural hairstyling services from Miss Jessies, provided they don't give me that poodle style thing they were doing for a while.


Margaret:

Realistic: New Strangers With Candy complete series DVD, because my friend borrowed a few disks and never returned them.
Fantasy: Tickets to California to retrieve my DVDs (and visit my friend, I suppose.)


Hortense:

Realistic: I'd really like a new record player.
Fantasy: A complete replica of the Imagination Room from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with wi-fi and a big comfy chair/desk combo set up near the banks of the chocolate river, so I can write in between sessions of eating the scenery.


Anna N.

Realistic: some decent-quality black gloves to replace the ones I left in a cab. I think my mom is actually getting me this.
Fantasy: a Hedi Slimane suit


Dodai:

Realistic: I'm into headbands now and really any hair accessories make me happy. I like the headbands Tarina Tarantino is doing… I also have a crush on some Irregular Choice ankle boots (in red)! Oh, and the Diana F+ camera is something I'd never buy for myself but would LOVE as a gift.
Fantasy: To spend the rest of the winter in Mexico with the boyfriend! Or a personal trainer. Actually, both. The personal trainer can come with us.


Katy:

Realistic: A miniature meyer lemon tree, thick wool tights (preferably in bright red, but I haven't found any that fit this description) and the book "The Haunting of America: from Salem Witch Trials to Harry Houdini."
Fantasy: To find an apartment in Boston that is cheap, but still has hardwood floors, a decent sized kitchen, and lots of windows. Also, a fireplace would be very nice. As would a puppy.


Sadie:

Realistic: I love good caramels, and crave a batch from the Trappistine Monastery, which are the most delicious and keep the order self-supporting. Also, a membership to either the Center for Fiction, since my local library has a lousy selection, or the Film Forum, to get my revival kicks.
Fantasy: Besides a karaoke machine that has both the Pastels' "Nothing to be Done" and "Sometimes Always" on it? The Goodybe Babylon box set, or the complete New York Review of Books classics collection - even though I own some of them already, and there's something a little "books-by-the-yard" about it, and I have no room, and it's incredibly expensive, and I have a niggling suspicion that some classics are "forgotten" and "minor" for a reason.


Jenna:

Reality:Really delicious cookies and a scarf from my mum.
Fantasy: Jeans that are tight but not restrictive, closer to a straight-legged cut than "skinny," don't come in an embarrassing pre-weathered wash, have absolutely no stupid non-functional embroidery, give me neither a wedgie nor camel toe, are neither too low- or high-waisted, and have NO Lycra. And cost less than $100 at Loehmann's. I don't think these exist. Also I would like an office chair i could sit in comfortably for hours a day that also doesn't look like some piece of aeronautical equipment or get advertised so relentlessly on NPR that I start to feel like a someone with a tote bag collection, on the inside, but i don't think such a thing exists. Maybe the Herman Miller Aeron Chair!

Anna H.: Worst: My first Christmas after starting to date my husband. He gave me a very expensive pair of stiletto Gucci booties - with the Gucci logo stamped all over them. Not only do I not wear stilettos (booties or otherwise) I am not a "label whore" and don't want obvious luxury logos on anything I buy. Also let me say that this was also while his friends from Sydney were in town and the male friend was out shopping with my husband on 5th Avenue for an engagement ring for the female friend (they ended up getting engaged on the Brooklyn Bridge). So, to recap: Tiffany diamond ring for the lady, Gucci boots for me. They are somewhere in the back of my closet and a source of much humiliation to my husband whenever they are discussed.
Best: When he bought me a set of mint-condition vintage John Bellairs books with the original Edward Gorey drawings.

Katy: Worst: A really hideous velvet thong. Best: a hand-painted ceramic teapot.

Sadie: I have gotten a lot of mediocre gifts in my time; the worst is either the empty oil can or the vodka-filled chocolates. And the best? Our first Christmas together my now-fiancé really came through: the collected Girl Groups CD set and a top-quality pocket knife engraved with my name.

Dodai: Worst came from a friend of my mom's, who gave me a book by Dr. Laura. I don't THINK it was "10 Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives" but it might have been. She meant well, but yuck. Best would probably be when my mom gave me my late father's Rolex he bought in the '60s and wore when I was a kid.

Anna N.:Worst: a disposable razor and a toothbrush (an uncharacteristic lapse on the part of my grandfather, who usually gave cool gifts)
Best: when he was about seven, my brother gave me a baseball on which he had written "#1 most times bieng there for her brother"

Hortense: The best present I ever got would probably be the chocolate lab my parents bought us for Christmas when I was 15, Bailey. (We named him after George Bailey from "It's A Wonderful Life.") He was a crazy dog. He actually just passed away last summer, so this will be the first family Christmas without him in 14 years. :(

ProActiv Solution



Potpourri


Deodorant


Chia Pet


Nose Hair Clipper


Scrunchie


Love: Poems by Danielle Steele

Earlier: Ultimate Terrible Gift Guide: Part 1

Picture of Yourself



Gift Certificate For "Meal With Me, On You"



Salad Spinner



Unsolicited Gym Membership



Socks



Book of Limericks



Things People Are Allergic To



Uncut Sheet Of $1 Bills



Nips

Because there are so many luxuries in life that we can't afford it's all the more important to take advantage of the ones we can. Let the lovelies over at Riptopia burn your 50 favorite cds for your new 4g iPod Nano. All you have to do is insert the Swaroski crystal ear buds that come with it and push play.http://www.riptopia.com/shuganano.php