top ten last minute* holiday gift ideas

1. box of chocolates that will get eaten in one sitting in front of the tv and make the recipient feel fat and gross.
2. some kind of gimmicky appliance that will break after the recipient tries to use it once.
   
3. ugly christmas sweater that will sit in the closet and get chewed by moths (or get the recipient made fun of when she wears it to the office new year's party).
4. homemade cookies that someone in the recipient's house will end up being allergic to.
   
5. gift certificate to future shop which, while handy, hardly says "i'm thinking about you!"
6. a bottle of wine that will end up being used for cooking (or brought as hostess gift to a new year's party).
7. jewellery that will be sent into cash4gold by the end of the year.
8. a calendar, which, let's face it, will be pretty useless after about 12 months.
   
9. my book! it's colourful, compact, easy to wrap, and will fit into the $20 and under limit that was set for secret santa.
10. a justin bieber cd. because if the recipient is young enough to enjoy the musical stylings of justin bieber, she probably shouldn't read my book.
    

* i used the title "last minute" because i realize for most people, this is considered last minute. most crazy people.