|
For kids at heart
By MARY JANE PARK
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 7, 2000
Shopping for kids is easy. If you don't know what they want, they're happy to fill you in. Grown-ups, however, are another matter. Make this the year you look beyond ties and scarves for things to delight adults who have a sense of play.
Even if you don't enjoy the smug satisfaction of those who got their holiday shopping done in July, it isn't too late for a successful shopping season. There are two weekends to shop before Hanukkah, three before Christmas. Tackle the task this weekend, and you'll find that most longed-for items will still be on the shelves, retailers won't yet have reached the limit of their patience, and fellow foragers will be less frenzied and frantic than in coming weeks.
Thin profile cd system
[Times photo: Lisa DeJong and Dirk Shadd]
This slim gem is a CD player, radio and alarm clock and requires about as much nightstand depth as a picture frame. Thin Profile CD System. $99. Brookstone, Citrus Park Town Center, West Shore Plaza, Tampa; http://www.brookstone.com; (800) 351-7222..
Martini set
 |
Shake up a cool holiday combo using cranberry vodka, or gin and a whisper of vermouth. Add some hi-fi tunes or a James Bond video, and you're one hep cat. Luigi Bormioli Rigoletto martini set in blown crystal includes four glasses, pitcher. $29.99. Bed Bath & Beyond. |
Lincoln logs, tinker toys
| Today's tots may marvel at these wooden shapes and wonder where the batteries are stored, but boomers remember them with fond nostalgia. Pull these out at your next gathering and see the grown-ups release their inner children. Original Lincoln Logs Frontier Explorer Set, Tinkertoy Junior Construction Set. $19.99 each. Toy, discount and department stores. |
 |
Filofax organizer, cell phone holder
 Even the incessantly organized deserve some fun. Filofax's Balmoral faux crocodile leather organizers and mobile phone covers are available in black, brown and stylish red. The phone cover includes a pen loop and notepad. Mobile phone holder, $55. Personal organizer, $195. Pocket organizer, $120. Filofax writing instruments, clockwise from left: Brushed metal mini/pocket pen, $25; YARD-O-LED Perfecta plain pencil, $275; YARD-O-LED Viceroy Barley fountain pen, $375. Filofax products available at Beach Drive Papery, St. Petersburg; Stationery Square, Old Hyde Park Village, Tampa; or order toll-free (877) 234-2426.
Coleman lantern/fan/am-fm radio
 When the great outdoors beckons, take along this lightweight lantern. It has high, low and night light settings plus blinkers and can be used as a table lamp. Cooling fan is great for ventilating stuffy tents. Also: brilliant torch flashlight, AM/FM radio, piercing distress signal capability. Runs on internal rechargeable battery (recharger included). Coleman Lantern Fan Radio. $69.95. http://www.wirelesstoo.com.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game
No Regis Philbin monotone shirt/suit/tie combinations required. Just line up your lifelines and amass all the play money you can. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game. $24.99. Toy, discount and department stores.
Philosophy 'The Cookbook' set
Lather up from head to toe with these delicious 3-in-1 shampoo, conditioner and body wash scents. Each bottle label has a recipe for the dish it resembles. Eight flavors. You supply the rubber duckie. Philosophy the Cookbook set. $25. Saks Fifth Avenue, Tampa.
Tampa water globe
Shimmering sparkles swirl around Tampa landmarks such as its downtown skyscrapers and the University of Tampa minarets. There's a larger-than-scale Buccaneer, too. Music box plays the Sunshine State song: The Swanee River (Old Folks at Home). Musical water globe. $35. Saks Fifth Avenue, Tampa.
New Beetle
For that special someone on your list who’s been really good, Volkswagen’s New Beetle is sporty fun for grown-up drivers. The GLS five-speed is widely available, though some colors are in short supply. And if you want one painted to look like a baseball, talk to your local custom detail shop. Car starting price: around $17,000. Bay area VW dealers. Detail work extra.
Buccaneers Santa
 Who'd have thunk it? Santa as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer? The Memory Co. offers the the jolly old elf dressed for all 130 teams in the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and National Football League. Bulls, Gators, Hurricanes, Seminoles, do not despair: There are Santas, ornaments, logos, helmets, mascots, stadium buildings and statues emblazoned with your emblems. Professional series Santa, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. $50. Collegiate series available online from http://www.memorycompany.com; order collegiate and professional series toll-free (888) 448-1480.
|
|
What’s in store
The Times’ annual report on toys and gifts continues through the week: |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Sunday
Too much of a good thing? |
|
Back to Weekend
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
|
