This is My Grown-Up Christmas List

Dear Santa,

It's been a while.

I haven't written you in sometime but we both know I've never lost the faith. In fact, I'd like to think that I've done my share of spreading holiday cheer wherever I can.

My daughter is one. I think about how soon she will be writing her own letters to you and and leaving them on the tree for you to pick up and bring to your elves that work endlessly and whole-heartedly in that magical workshop of yours. She will be scavengering the house, looking for hidden presents, hoping to find something early. She will find wrapping paper under my bed and not understand why mommy and daddy have the same wrapping paper as the presents under the tree from Santa do. I will have to explain to her, as my mother did to me, that Santa can't lug allllllll of that wrapping paper AND presents around on his sleigh. So he leaves the wrapping paper up to the individual parents and wraps them when he gets there. Duh!

But as I mentioned, Santa, Rafaella is only one and cannot write you a letter. So I've decided to write my own grown-up Christmas list. It is a far cry from the lists I used to write as a kid, though I must say, I was never disappointed. You always got me everything on those lists... and more. Remember that year I asked for you to bring my grandparents home who were living in Florida? I got home from school just as my mom was getting home and "unloading the car." She asked me to help and up from the backseat popped Abuelita and Abuelito. Voilà! There they were! I ran around the car and down the street screaming with excitement! That was a good trick Santa! However, I never did get that skateboard I put on my list one year - though I feel my mother had some intervening on that one.

In no specific order:

#1 - Headphones 

Everyday when I work on my writing, I have my Mac, my idea notebook, and my headphones. At some point last year, my headphones started making a fuzzy, snowy noise. So I switched to another pair I had laying around: my JetBlue airplane headphones. They are quite comfortable and since most in-ear headphones make my ear feel like a much needed massage, I haven't found it necessary to switch. With so much use, however, my JetBlue headphones have started to break apart. The wires at the connector tip are starting to pull out. I fear this could be dangerous in a rainstorm. I've heard that these in-ear headphones are quite comfortable and quite easier to travel with, even against airline headphones.

Skullcandy Ink'd Headphones ($20.99) in purple or red picture from Best Buy.com

Koss ruk-20 Headphones in blue-pink ($19.99) picture from Koss.com

#2 - Underwear

I know Santa, I know. I never thought that I'd be asking for this myself. In fact, I am only bringing 2 pairs with me on my trip back to NJ so that I HAVE to buy a whooooole new set when I get there. No excuses. I don't know if its the water in Santo Domingo, the humid weather, or drying my clothes by line instead of a washer but all of my underwear and bathing suit bottoms are starting to streeeeeeetch out. They're wearable but hiking up my underwear every 15 minutes doesn't make for the most dignified sight. I haven't decided where to buy my new underwear yet but I can't wait.

Oh, how Christmas lists change with age...

#3 - TOMS

What I love about TOMS is what everyone says they love about TOMS; you buy a pair and they donate a pair to a child in need of shoes. Can it get any better around a season that is known for giving? I bought my first pair last October and instantly fell in love with a basic Olive Green pair of TOMS. Comfortable, simple - and my favorite of all - easy to put on... sssssslip and Go. I meant to buy another pair this summer when I was back in the states but a little surprise pregnancy changed many of my plans. Any of these patterns will do in a size 8.5 please, Santa.

All pictures from TOMS.com

How cute and retro and perfect to
match my red polka dot bathing suit!

Snowflakes? SNOWFLAKES!
To always remind me of the bestest holiday!

♥ Moms?! Seriously?! Seriously adorbs!

 #4 - Rose Gold Watch

I've never been a watch person so spending a lot on a watch is very hard for me. I have loved this accessory for a year now but can't ever seem to find the right one within the right price range. Still haven't but maybe you can Santa. The two MUSTS that I have for this watch is that it is Rose Gold and that it has a thick band, almost makes it look like a man's watch. These are two options that I like that work in a decent price range - both are $135 compared to the $250-$300 watches that I was seeing.

All pictures from Fossil.com

Stella Stainless Steel Watch - Rose Style # ES3198

Stella Stainless Steel Watch - Rose Style #ES 3211

#5 - Aura Coin Drop Necklace

My BF Laura has been working as a stylist for Stella & Dot for the last year or so. This summer, when I attended one of her trunk shows, I was torn between a great pair of earrings and an awesome necklace. Because I had purchased a somewhat similar necklace a few month prior, the earrings won out and every once in a while I think about that necklace. For me, that is always a sure sign that you should buy something, if months later you are still thinking about it. I just looked for this necklace on the website and found out that it is ON SALE!!! I might not wait for you on this one Santa... don't want it to get sold out before you could bring it to me on Christmas Eve.

Aura Coin Drop Necklace - ON SALE  $24.50
Picture from Stella&Dot.com

#6 - Anything Striped

A few years ago I was packing for a girls' weekend to Delaware. While I was packing my friend asked me if I noticed anything strange about my choice in clothes. I did not. She picked up a striped grey and white tank top and said, "Striped tank top." She picked up a yellow and white striped long sleeved light shirt and said, "Striped shirt." She picked up a black and white striped dress and said, "Striped dress." Well, I think you get it. She picked up shirt after tank top after sweater after dress and said, "Thin stripes, thick stripes, one stripe, two stripe, red stripe, blue stripe." The moral of the story is I like stripes. Click the pinterest image to view my Es Mi Estyle page to get an idea of my Stripefatuation.

Es Mi Estyle page

#7 - Boring Gift Cards

I love shopping. I like just going to the mall and trying clothes on and looking through Pinterest to imagine what, if maybe, I would buy if I had all the money in the world. Major downside to island living - NO GOOD SHOPPING. Most shopping here is done online. Many of the local hire teachers that we know wait to go to the states over Thanksgiving or Christmas or the summer to load up on clothes and bring them back. So when I go home, I love the mall. I LOVE the mall. Yes, perfume lady, I might even let you spray me with your barrage of perfumes as I walk through the cosmetics section because I love the mall so much. With that said, being a teacher's wife and stay at home mom doesn't exactly scream BuYinG FrEnZy! It screams maaaajor budget. So, yeah. Gift cards are awesome.

#8 - The Boots

The boots. Pronounced THEE boots. For years, at least 5 years, I had a picture of thee tan, knee length, comfortable heel height, right priced boot that I wanted. When I went to Macy's with now husband one day, I saw them on display. He said to me, "Wait on them." I didn't like his advice then, but I did wait on them... and I never found them again. I searched every internet engine known to man but I never found quite the right boot. Eventually, I settled for a similar pair but not the image in my head; the tan, knee length, comfortable heel height, right priced boot. Thee boot. But tonight, as I sit here and write my Christmas List, Santa, a Christmas miracle has occurred. I found thee boot... and ON SALE for $104.99! It's hard to rationalize buying boots when you live on an island, so I asked Husband. You know what he said, Santa? He said, "Wait... eventually we'll live somewhere cold." Done!

Thee Boot - by Naughty Monkey "Park Avenue"
 Picture by zappos.com

So that's it Santa, my Christmas List of 2012. It's not fabulous or glitzy, although if you have an extra iPad or ticket to Oprah's Favorite Things episode, I'll take one of each, but it's my list. Just a few things that would be nice but nothing that I actually need 

...besides the underwear

...definitely need the underwear.

What about you? What would you ask Santa for?