Gold and silver and other metallic-ized gifts.

1. Postalco Jotter Notebook.
I had really needed this as all year I had been scribbling phone numbers and directions on a stupid stocking stuffer from last year: a box of little loose (and easily lost) sheets of paper printed with a light orange graphic of man climbing a cliff or jumping over a river or something (I’ve blocked the beyond-dumbness from my memory) and the words “The will to succeed.” (Yesterday I easily mustered the will to successfully toss them in the trash!)

2. My dog Aesop looks like a fox, so thus this door-knocker looks like my dog.

3. My mother gave me the vintage spoon, along with a story: When we moved from England back to America when I was nine months old, the movers had accidentally packed up my baby spoon and my mom was in a panic about how she was going to feed me during our week long sea voyage back to the states. She said every restaurant in England had these little silver spoons in the standard brown sugar tins set on each table. So she guiltlessly stole one with which to feed me at sea. Flash forward 30 some years and she comes across the spoon somehow in my sister’s kitchen and steals the spoon (once again!) and gives it to me for Christmas.

4. Ultra-chunky pretend nails, perfect only for laying around looking pretty.

5. Another vintage English gift, though not stolen. A stamp sheet cover from the 1940s. Trying to figure out how/where to display it as it doesn’t really fit modern American stamp books.

6. A hunk of Brazilian pyrite now giving gritty glam to the top of a stack of books.

With all these shining, sparkling gifts, my digs are one big disco ball!

Due to the particulars of my personal life, “Santa” stuffs my stocking three times each Christmas. The stocking I traditionally dig through last each year is always the best one. Void of flat filler like Dilbert desk calendars or uninspired drugstore deodorant, my final stocking of the season always overflows with treasures vintage, exotic, or branded beautifully. Some of this year’s top-performing stuffers:

1. Indian Salted Pumpkin Seeds.

2. Mexican Bingo Boards & Cards.

3. New Mr. Goodbar bars in old-fashioned wrappers.

4. A zoo’s worth of Cracker Jack creatures in red and wintery blue.

Because of a big-ticket item that was given to me back in November as my early, main Christmas present, most of my December 25th gifts were all tiny and thrifty stocking stuffers, actually. But I didn’t mind at all, and my materialistic core didn’t even really notice the absence of splurgy goods, believe it or not. All the small-ticket treasures in my sparkly stocking brought me huge heaps of giant-sized joy.

…I’m gonna keep that in mind at Christmas next year.

Here are the Holiday Wishes of frame shop employee Yuko from NYC. Her own blog details her love for frocks and food trucks and is always fun and mouth watering to read.

1) Sonya’s Shopping Manual (#202~301). I have the first two books (#1~101 and #102~201) and just noticed that a new one is out. These books are a great list (even if i cannot read Japanese) of the most perfect items.

2) Conroy and Wilcox prasiolite ring. Totally a fantasy ring…I love everything that they make, very simple and classic but unique-looking jewelry.

3) Arts & Science rib dress. Anything from this brand I would absolutely love.

4) Pyrex! I bought some bowls and containers this past summer at flea markets…and now I want more!

5)  Saint James “Ouessant” shirt (ecru & red stripe). I know I am a little late to this game…

6) Dickson’s Whole Beef Punch Card. This one is a bit crazy… but who doesn’t like to get food as a present? And…it kind of sounds like a deal, right?

Peter-Frank sets The Netherlands on the map for the ongoing Treasury reader Holiday Wish List series.

“1) A TENORI-ON. It’s the sweet sound and old skool feeling. Some pick up a guitar in my group of friends – this will be the thing to be picked up and played with!

2) A proper coffee grinder, it should be old but this is the closest we like for our photostudio. The coffee machine is already heaven but the search for the matching coffee grinder is on!

3) It’s my biggest wish to find a climbing pole for my cats Ed and Dizzee. Everything I have seen so far is U G L Y and makes your house look stupid, for example see picture.

4) More respect and less judgement on each other life styles, the Netherlands used to be very tolerant but it has been changing, I wish for more common sense and just accepting of each other, it sounds cheesy but it is high on my priority list. If I can enjoy my life with my boyfriend than I can also enjoy the material things in life. Otherwise I would be unhappy and grumpy and all nice things wouldn’t matter.

5) Always good to have a bike, this one will be for my boyfriend. He always has problems with his bike and I have a bike that always rides, this will be so good for him.

6) For my best friend, Jojan, single mum and raising her daughter Beer (almost 2 years now – I’m her gaysitter, as she always calls me) that she will have a Nr. 1 record as a DJ.

Pffffttttttttt. That’s it, Ciao !!!!!”

_ _ _

Well, God bless Peter-Frank for thinking about other people this Christmas besides just himself. Remember what that was like?

Before his entry and especially after I’ve wondered about launching a spin-off series of posts about what we’re all excited to GIVE this year too.

Saucy, the afore-mentioned awesome Aussie is the author of today’s Reader Wish List. She’s like the Liz Lemon of the Down Under, Under 30, Stylista set.

To me, at least.

“Number One:
I will forfeit all other previous items on this wishlist if I get this one. In fact I won’t need a christmas present for the next 20 years if I get this one. I am referring, of course, to an American Greencard.

Number Two:
I need a new camera body and this is the one I have had my eye on for awhile, the Canon 5D Mark II. It also records HD video.

Number Three:
These mustard Swedish Hasbeen peep toes in the super high style. I love any shoe that is mustard. Wait, except crocs. Gross.

Number Four:
A mini short haired daschund (but my cat will kill me so this one will probably stay a dream).

Number Five:
This retardedly awesome horse lamp.

I have about a billion other things but these are the first that popped into my head. I have to go pass out now, I just ate the weight of a small child in cake related products.

Saucy.xox”

_ _ _

If the holidays have you feeling bogged down in too much holly jolly and good will toward men, read a few entries from Saucy’s Cigarette Jeans Blog. Her acerbic sass will instantly jolt you back into your original, jaded state. A precious, rare gift to be handed this treacly time of year.

The latest in the line of Treasury reader Holiday Wish Lists: Mitch Frank, a who-knows-what from who-knows-where who clearly has a taste for the finest things both man and nature has to offer us.

“Rounding out my kit:

1. This coat. I dearly hope that Folk expands to the US in the near future. I dig them to death. Their priorities are straight and I’d buy almost anything they make. They have the fabric, the fit, the details….This coat in pertickler is beautiful, and I need a beautiful coat in pertickler.

2. A pair of boots. I think the Alden plain toe boot is basically the boot. The Boot. I want any of them.

3. These wingtips. I’d like to throw my weight behind some young, new shoe outfit. But as long as Alden makes shoes like these, there’s no point.

4. A sweatshirt that fits right. A sweat like this could split duty as a nice sweater and a grease-monkey pullover. When you think of it that way, it’s a steal at twice the price! No it’s not. It’s absurd, but I still want it.

Literacy:

1. These nature ID books are the most useful ever. They’re like choose your own adventure books, sort of: ‘if the tree you’re looking at has rough bark, go to page 3. If it has smooth bark, go to page 5.’ And so on, until you narrow it down to the tree you see. Super easy, super gratifying. Plus, trivial knowledge is my favorite accessory.

2. Charles Causley is the most accessible good poet of the last century. I am telling you so. You’ve never heard of him because he spent his life teaching grade school in Cornwall. Where is that, even? I don’t know. King Arthur is from there, I guess? Anyways, the important people of poetry say that Mr. Causley wrote nursery rhymes for adults, but the man himself said he recognized no distinction between his children’s poems and adult poems. And they’re really powerful because of that — because they walk and talk like nursery rhymes, but then all of the sudden you’ve read a poem about destitute, bombed-out southern England after WWII and you feel pretty bombed out yourself. And that is how I like to spend my afternoons, sometimes.

3. Dinosaurs are so cool. I want to be one when I grow up.

4. Aldo Leopold intended to write a textbook for the newly formed US Parks service, but he ended up writing this, which should be America’s claim to philosophical fame instead of that highfalutin’ stuff from Emerson and Thoreau. I mean, the ethics of nature is one of America’s great contributions to the world, and this books is the best expression of it. Oh my gosh, it is so much better to read than I am making it sound. Anyways, I love it but I don’t own a copy, so I want to fix that.

Breaking The Bank:

1. A really good camera. There were some game-changing developments in the digital camera world this year, and I’d really like to own one of them. It’s probably good that there’s no way I’ll get one of these in the foreseeable future — by the time I can afford one, maybe they’ll have all the bugs worked out.”

_ _ _

There’s still time to send me your Wish Lists, fellow Treasurers. I’m pretty much open 24/7.

The next Holiday Reader Wish List is from a local reader. Minneapolis represent!

Name: Kate Levine
Occupation: Architect-In-Training

“My Mom starts her Xmas shopping in October and religiously asks me for a list, so throughout the year I put things I like in an online list so I don’t have to scramble when Autumn arrives.”

1.  Nixon Iris Watch – white/gunmetal
“I tend to wear a lot of black and gray (that architect stereotype exists for a reason…) but I like to have some relatively funky accessories. I also don’t wear leather, so I’m always looking for a nice non-leather watch.”

2.  Bodum Columbia Tea Press
“Is there anything more homey than a tea kettle on the stove? This one is exquisitely detailed, and yet understated.”

3.  Recycled Felt Portfolio Bag
“For meetings with clients, I often need a smaller bag to carry just the essentials.”

4.  Architectural Graphic Standards
“This is the go-to book in my field for pretty much everything. Plus, it’s beautiful.”

5.  Matt & Nat Bauhaus Bag
“Often, non-leather means cheap. But not with Matt & Nat. They have fabulous attention to detail and materiality. They also have a lot of unisex pieces that are good for smaller people (like me).”

6.  Asics Ultimate 81 Vegan
“I love colorful footwear.”

_ _ _

Thanks for breaking up the boys club, Kate.

Whether near or far, male or female, keep sending in your Wish Lists, folks!

I don’t live near Paris or within a storybook or in the year 1913.

So I thought I never could and never would live in the same world as magenta or mauve or minty blue macaroons but, alas, I do!

Braving the first midwestern blizzard of the year, I drove out to the newly opened Sweets Bakeshop in St. Paul to cram a cardboard box full of technicolor treats. Just look at the rainbow of brave flavors their website promised!

Anything sweet but salted totally wags my tail, and Chile Pepper and Lavender flavored desserts introduce intrigue and adventure to a world bogged down in the vanilla-ness of boring chocolate.

The Sweets Bakeshop site was part Dessert Depot, part Baked Good Gallery with delicious displays of its custom cupcakery-as-art ordered for weddings, wingdings, and whatnot.

The daily goods counter was not as endless as I’d envisioned. Only three varieties of macaroons were available that day but I ordered two of each, plus one each of the Caramel Corn, Peanut Butter, and Red Velvet Cupcakes. And a brownie.

The supremely sweet shopkeeper said they hoped to replace their display case soon with a larger one so as to expand their daily offerings, and that a schedule of which flavors will be baked when will post to their website soon.

Either way, I’m going back again and again to try and nab a Mint Basil macaroon. And a Feisty Goat (cheese cream-frosted) Cupcake. And…well everything they make.

How else will I be able to state with any authority what my favorite frosted find really is?

The next in the ongoing series of Treasury reader Holiday Gift Wish Lists: Damien D. of California and author of his own aesthetically obsessed blog.

1. Kanye West’s Tour Book GLOW IN THE DARK. “Because no matter what he always makes you want to look.”

2. Makr Horween Leather Wallet. “Simple, functional, beautiful.”

3. Calabrese Washbag. “More leather (I know, cows hate me.)”

4. Hover Board. “My affinity for 80s nostalgia begins and ends here.”

5. This Guy’s Life, The Sartorialist.

6. His Girl. Jane Birkin.

_ _ _

I find it interesting that in both Reader Wish Lists posted so far there’s always the inclusion of some dream/fantasy item(s). I guess it’s the time of year to dream big if you’re gonna bother dreaming.

Keep sending me your Wish Lists, friends.

Here is the first Treasury reader Holiday Gift Wish List submitted by Ontario-based Biology student Bernard Pawlowicz. In the lists that have been submitted so far I’ve already proven my Holiday 09 Hypothesis that other people’s greed feels just as good as your own.

On to Bernard’s list which he separated into two categories: Realistic and Just Dreams.

1) Original Skateboards Apex 34 Longboard (Realistic) “I’ve been looking into longboarding for some time now and I think Original Skateboards makes some pretty sweet looking ones.  They also have great vids on youtube of the Team’s Longboard Adventures.  I recommend a peak.”

2) Weezer’s: Raditude (Realistic) “The Latest CD from my favourite band Weezer.”

3) Arkadius Goggles – Model A04 Brown Lens (Dream) “I’ve wanted these for a couple of years now but they are way out of my price-range at the moment.  They are incredible; very stylish and virtually indestructible.  Arkadius has many styles to choose from as well.”

4) A pair of Anna Laub Glasses (clear) (Dream) “I think these just look great!  Very very cool glasses, therefore I want.”

5) A B&N Nook e-book reader (Realistic) “I want an e-book reader and I think the Nook is a pretty stylish and functional.”

6) A few books (Realistic) including Ticket to Ride.  ”I always ask for a few books for Christmas to read over the break.”

_ _ _

So thanks to Bernard for his submission. He seems to share my obsession with un-understated eyewear. It’s interesting how you can start to form a picture of a person based solely on their material cravings.

If you haven’t submitted your Wish List yet, there’s still plenty of time. In the first wave of submissions I’m coming across a lot of brands and products I never knew I should be salivating over so let’s all share our swanky, secret cravings.

Their label said Beauty Berries, and they were almost $15 for a bunch of three at the expensive grocery store.

They’ve lasted a week already – maybe they’ll stay this bright and happy forever.

My holiday trees have been going topless the past few years. (So bawdy!) I’d kept my eyes open for a tree topper as life rolled along but I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for until I found this skewed little star.

Its sweet and slightly strange, like Christmas in Whoville, and its only twelve dollars, so it’s as done as deals go.

Hurry Christmas, Hurry Fast!