I received a beautiful Amy Smith photo for Christmas from my sister. I can’t link directly to the image, but it’s in the Vintage Books gallery and is called A Garland for Girls. You’re jealous, aren’t you? My sister saw the photo in a show and purchased it right away. When she went back several weeks later, a dozen people had inquired about that photo, and 4 of them were librarians! That’s when she knew she chose the right one

 I love it! It’s absolutely gorgeous – the colors and textures are amazing and it’s just a lovely composition. Best gift I’ve received in many years.

At my place of work, we sometimes have grateful customers try to give us stuff. The city’s gift policy allows us to accept gifts of food so long as we share them with other employees. This time of year we usually get some candy or baked goods, which is really nice. But sometimes things just get a little weird. We used to have a customer who would always come in with a pocketful of candy to hand out to staff. He would get pretty offended if you didn’t accept a piece. Most people just took a piece and then threw it away or stuck it in a drawer. Later we found out that he was filling his pocket with candy from the candy jar at his bank and then bringing it to the library to give away! But today someone topped that – a customer brought in a whole rotisserie chicken for one of my colleagues. It’s in the staff fridge and is up for grabs…anyone hungry?

I generally like to get my Christmas shopping done early, but this year I am not on the ball as much as usual. I suspect this will be the year when I do nearly all my shopping online. I’ve already purchased gifts from ThinkGeek, Levenger, and amazon.com (my old standby).  Thanks to dooce’s mention, I’ve been browsing etsy and have found some potential gifts there as well. I like etsy because there’s a wide variety of stuff that you don’t see everywhere. Real Simple Magazine also provided a nice list of shopping sites, but I haven’t had a chance to look at all of them yet. What’s your favorite place to shop online? Suggestions welcome.