My mom wants to know what I want for Christmas. This year, this is a surprisingly difficult question. I am normally unfailingly materialistic and have a long list of “wants” and “needs”. However, this year, with my committee meeting taking up all my time and my brain full of recombination intermediates, it’s hard to think of things I want. Also, I already received the best present I could think of from the new owner of the duplex I live in: I DON’T HAVE TO MOVE IN THREE WEEKS! (The new owner is moving into one of the two units to make improvements on it while renting out the other one and he decided not to move into mine! Delightful! Here’s to not coming home from Christmas early to move all my possessions in the rain and cold of January!) Additionally, for my birthday I got a beautifully decadent present from my parents: this lovely gold necklace -

tiny key for a dollhouse! I wear it with everything!
I love that necklace so much. It goes with pretty much everything I can think of and is so tiny and precious, it makes me smile every time I see it. I feel like it is so much nicer than I deserve as a lowly grad student grunt.
Mr Bandy can also attest that I have been pretty overwhelmed with all my belongings over the past couple months. My heart starts to race when I think about reorganizing my bookshelves. My goal in the coming year is to try and downsize the amount of “stuff” I have so I’m not carrying things around that I don’t really care about. I’m particularly inspired by this woman’s uber-organized apt (with more info on her blog here) and this AMAZING apt makeover that was featured on the Neo-traditionalist. I’m even thinking about re-purposing the breakfast nook in my kitchen (that I rarely use) to increase the organization of my crap. My closet is jam packed and so dark, I often forget about all the beautiful things in there that I love.
All that is a long version of the basic answer that even though there are clothes and bags and shoes that I want, I can’t bear to ask for them. There are some books and other useful things that I want though:
1. A new set of knives. I’ve been using the same knives since I got my very first apartment in 2001. (Purchased at Fred Meyers in SE Portland when I was in college! ) Maybe I can upgrade? This set looks like everything I would need and nice quality to last me another 10 years:

wusthof 7-piece knife set with block
2. An external hard drive so I can back up my photos and music (and clear off the HD in my laptop to hopefully improve its performance). I think this one should work, since it’s compatible with a Mac and the price is cheaper than what I found at Office Depot or Target.

Iomega Prestige 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive
3. I REALLY REALLY want this book on interior decorating since I have been pouring over all these design blogs for months and am looking for more of a foundation. The women who worked at the now-defunct Domino magazine are still creating trends all over the internet (just look at the buzz over the online-only mag, Lonny).

Domino: The Book of Decorating
4. I have a gaggle of younger siblings and since we all buy gifts for each other, here are a couple of things that they could buy using their allowance: A new travel mug. I bring tea to work every day and I have somehow managed to lose the lids almost all my travel mugs. Though I know the ceramic ones are chic, I need a plastic one that won’t break in my bag or if I drop it in my morning-stupor. This is a good option:

Soft-Touch Concord Tumbler by Starbucks Coffee 16-oz.
So you could get one pretty much anywhere. I just like the ones that fit in my car cup holders and hold about 16oz of rocketfuel. And still have their lids. That’s a crucial component to a vessel designed to help you not get tea all over your clothes in the morning.
5. A set of filters for my digital SLR. Or just a circular polarizing filter so I can shoot outside and not get a ton of glare. This is what I’m thinking though I need to figure out the exact size for the standard 18-55mm lens my SLR has got-

the Filter kits generally contain a UV filter, a polarizer and a "warming" filter for using in indoor lighting.
6. One of those lovely hooks they sell at Anthropologie or Restoration Hardware to hang my outfit on for the next day. (Can you tell I am trying to get more organized?) I like this one and this one and this one too!

"Bug's Eye View Hook" from Anthropologie