270 readers
2938 followers
490 fansHave you started making your Christmas list? Here’s are my recommendations based on things I’m wishing for and a few items I’ve already treated myself to and really loved this year.
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christmas
My fiance and I are very excited to be celebrating our first Christmas together this year. I suppose you could say we celebrated last Christmas together but we weren’t engaged and didn’t live together then so this is the first year we’re decorating together (he vetoed my 3 foot lime green tinsel tree) and sending a joint holiday card.
We’ve already sent save the dates for our wedding next summer and it’s not time to send invitations yet (plus we still have lots of details to sort out) but we thought it’d be nice to send a photo holiday card of us so that all of our out of town relatives and friends who will be coming to the wedding can see what we look like. We also really wanted to get a special ornament to commemorate this year so we picked a silver heart photo frame ornament that says “Our First Christmas” and “2011″.
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Amazon and Facebook are rolling out a new beta feature where you can connect to Facebook through Amazon for improved recommendations for yourself and for gifts for your friends based on what’s been liked on Facebook.
To get in on the beta test, head over to Amazon.com. At the top of the page it says something like “Hello, so and so. We have recommendations for you.” Click on the recommendations link. On the right side of the recommendations page, you should see a box to connect to Facebook.
Recommendations based on Facebook at this time appear to be limited to books, music, movies, and TV shows. I can see which of these products are currently popular among my friends and I can see what media is recommended for me based on my own Facebook likes.
I’m also presented with all of my Facebook friends’ upcoming birthdays and can see gift suggestions for them.
My sister’s birthday is this week so I started by checking out the recommendations for her (even though I’ve actually already given her this year’s gift). My sister has apparently not liked any books, movies, or music on Facebook (or she has her privacy settings such that I can not see her likes) so it can’t provide me with any personalized recommendations for her. It does connect me to her Amazon wish list which I didn’t previously know about and it gives me some very good ideas for Christmas presents.
Then I decided to check out my best friend who’s birthday isn’t for several months but I know her well enough that I think I can use her to gauge the quality of the recommendations I’m being given. She apparently does not have an Amazon wish list, but she has liked a ton of stuff on Facebook so there are lots of book, movie, and music recommendations for her. We often lend each other books and I’m currently lending her several books by some of the authors being recommended for her so the recommendations seem pretty reasonable to me. If I didn’t already have something in mind for her, I could definitely find inspiration here.
The Amazon/Facebook integration is only in beta right now so I expect to see lots of improvements yet. And liking things on Facebook is becoming more significant than ever so if you like Carrie Actually make sure to do so on Facebook too, I see potential for that like to subtly influence your personalized Amazon recommendations in the not too distant future.
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I think I got a little spoiled this year but it makes up for the fact that we didn’t really do any gifts last year or the year before:
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Tiffany Open Heart Pendant in Rose Gold |
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Gelly Roll Stardust Pens |
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Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Squares (2 bags) |
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Bliss Spa and Aaaah Tried + Blue Bubbling Body Wash and Body Lotion Set |
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Xhilaration Polka Dot Pajama Shorts |
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Urban Legends Bloody Mary DVD |
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Swiss Tech Screwz All 4-in-1 Multi Tool |
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Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine |
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Stila Kitten Eyeshadow and Lipglaze Set |
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Stainless Steel Spice Measuring Spoons (extra narrow so they fit nicely in spice jars) |
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Penguin Spatula |
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Bamboo Wooden Spoon |
| 1lb See’s Chocolate, $25 Jamba Juice, and $15 iTunes giftcards |
What did you get?
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I love Christmas music but only in the later weeks of November and the month of December. I don’t appreciate Christmas music in May no matter how good it is.
Here’s an easy way to turn your Christmas music on and off as is seasonally appropriate to do so for iTunes, your iPod, or your iPhone.
- When your iPod or iPhone is plugged into your computer for syncing, make sure that the second box down in the options that says Sync only checked songs and videos is checked.
- Go to the File menu and create a new playlist. Call it Christmas.
- Search through your music library and drag and drop your Christmas songs to that playlist. Don’t worry if you miss a few, you can always add more later (like in May when you hear a Christmas song playing).
- While viewing the songs in your playlist, go to the Edit menu and choose Select All.
- Right click on those songs. If it’s the right time of year from Christmas music, choose the Check Selection option to turn on all your Christmas music. If it’s the wrong time of the year from Christmas music, choose the Uncheck Selection option to turn off all your Christmas music.
Enjoy your Christmas music until December 26th and then turn it off until Christmas time next year.
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