Well, it’s that time you’ve all been waiting for (ha ha); with only 42 days left until Christmas, here is my 2011 Christmas list (incidentally, this is also my 100th post! Woo!). And to keep the tradition I started last year of, um, modifying the Twelve Days of Christmas, this is my life this semester:

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my life gave to me: 12 million project hours, 11 thousand keyframes in Maya, 10 times the workload of last year, 9 hundred lines of code (probably more), 8 render nodes in the school’s render farm (why?!), 7 trips to see my landlady about my bug infestation, 6 weeks remaining in my internship, 5 near-all-nighters pulled so far, 4 cups of tea a day, 3 humongous classes, 2 bus trips a day on packed buses, and 1 very, very tired Tamara!

And my obligatory notes:

1. Please do not buy me cosmetics, lotions, skin care, or any products of the kind. If you want to go this route, please buy me gift cards instead (Body Shop, LUSH, Lilou, et al). I’ve become so picky about what I put on my skin that I don’t want to risk you giving me something I will absolutely not use.

2. My preference for gifts in general is towards experiences (for example, a trip to a spa… or something) and consumables (food, money, gift cards, movie passes, etc.). Despite the fact that I have rather large wishlists on various sites, tangible things which persist (DVDs, books, etc.), are second priority, especially when I will be moving again in the middle of next year and I am trying to keep the number of possessions I own to a minimum!

3. Quality over quantity. Always.

List:

- Any sort of experience (spa visit, tickets to a play, travel pass, etc.)

- Money towards new camera lenses. A new camera lens would cost me between $250 – $320 right now (going rate on Future Shop’s website)

- Anything from Ten Thousand Villages, Teaopia, Happy Goat Coffee Co., or Second Cup

- Anything off my Amazon.ca wishlist (if you are doing this, please use the “buy” buttons on the wishlist itself, this will ensure the item gets removed and no duplicate buying will occur) or ThinkGeek wishlist (for all of the above, keep it under $40… some of the items are pretty pricey).

- Gift cards or certificates off the following list: iTunes, Tim Hortons, Second Cup, HMV, Spring, Payless ShoeSource, Amazon.ca, La Senza, The Body Shop, LUSH, IKEA, Paypal (yes, you can get Paypal certificates!), Lilou Organics

- A gift certificate from YouBar (for a box of custom nutrition bars–http://www.youbars.com/gifts). This one is pricey, so if you’re buying me this, don’t get me anything else! Also, I’m not sure if the included shipping is Canadian or not, so they might have to be contacted directly… or you could just give me money towards making my own set of bars.

- Another good gift which I will appreciate is giving a donation in my name to a charity from the following list:
- Charity:Water
- Stop the Traffik
- Restore NYC
- Equality Now!
- Calgary Food Bank
- Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter
- Little Warriors
- Farm Forward
- MEOW Foundation

Please do not give me any of the following:

- Gift cards to clothing stores

- Coffee (beans, instant, etc.)

- Cosmetics / lotions

- Anything religious (excluding Christmas-themed things, obviously)– I have my own views on religion and beliefs, and I don’t have an interest in reading/watching religious books/movies, so please refrain from giving these as gifts.

I seem to remember having a comment from someone last year about my “do not give” list; I think someone thought it was arrogant of me to look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak. I can see their point. But I feel it is useful to provide a list of things which won’t be useful to me, as a preventive measure. This way, the gift-giver can rest assured he/she is giving me something I want or will use, or both. So it is there again this year.

Any questions, comments, etc.? Let me know . And feel free to pass this list or link on to anyone who needs ideas .