Christmas 2012

So it's my favorite time of year again! This year I decided to skip Black Friday because I felt that it was overhyped and the prices weren't really worth the chaos. All year I have been putting up links on Twitter (@xmasconcierge) of gifts that I thought would be unique or just must haves. I will be posting the complete list in the coming days. If you have a suggestion or if there is anything that is really popular in your country please let me know! I'm really interested to know what everyone reading my blog wants for Christmas. XOXO

A glimps into what I do for my client's for the holidays.

The holiday season is upon us and if you are a personal shopper, it feels like a ton of bricks. My client just informed me that my team & I will be purchasing 300 gifts for her friends & family. We started by buying concert tickets to events such as Jingle Ball, Skrilla, & cirque du soliel- Michael Jackson (a whole row), iPad 2, a Cartier watch,Beats by Dre BeatsPro, & A consultant to help a 16 year old build a home studio. I will post pictures as the pile of gifts accumulates. Merry Christmas! Please let me know what you are buying for Christmas or what you are buying.

Black Friday

Black Friday is coming!!! What is Black Friday you ask? It is the day after Thanksgiving and it is the first day that jump starts the holiday shopping season. Hot items are almost given away, if you have the stamina to stay up into the wee hours. 5 days left! I'm going to list some of the deals that I have found so far. I will start with Best Buy. 

A Toshiba BDX2150 Smart Blu-ray Player for $39.99 down from $79.99.





The 3TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive (pictured below) is a down from $159.99 to $99.99. 

3TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex

If you own an iPod Touch or plan on buying one, an iPod Touch Case & Wall Charger Accessory Bundle is $54.98 $9.98. A $100 iTunes Card is $80.

Assassin's Creed Revelations (PS3) $59.99 $34.99

Unchartered 3 (PS3) $59.99 $29.99

Sony PS3 160GB Console Bundle $369.97 $199.99

MicrosoftXbox 360 4GB Kinect Console $299.99 $199.99

The following deal is from HHGreg

Samsung BDD6500 3D wi-fi Internet Blu-ray Player $199.99 $129.99

The following deals are from Staples

Kindle Touch Wi-fi w/Staples $20 gift card $99,  Kindle Fire w/$20 Staples gift card $199 

Nook Color w/$25 Staples Gift Card- After Rebate $249.99 $199.99

BlackBerry Playbook 16GB Tablet $499.99 $199.00    

Acer Iconia Tab 10.1" Tablet w/16GB $399.98 $299.99

The following deals are from Target

Early Bird Special 8GB iPod Touch w/$40 Target Gift Card  $195

Amazon Kindle Keyboard 3G $139.00 $85

Acer 10.1" Netbook $229.99 $157.00

I will be tweeting deals on Thanksgiving , Black Friday, & Cyber Monday on my @xmasconcierge account. Please join me and let me know what deals you find so I can share them. Happy Holidays!! 

Customizing your Christmas list 2011

I've had a very busy couple of weeks so I apologize for not blogging last week. So let's get right to it. If you are like me, you get a lot of spam in your inbox. I checked my email today and after wading through literally a couple hundred emails, I noticed a trend. The stores are presenting "must have" lists. I almost deleted all of them, then I thought, "wait a minute, what if there is something here that I missed?" So I'm going to review some of the lists that I was sent. Today I will review Ebay's list. I love the fact that they have a Splurge section. First on the list is the MacBook Pro. Since I am typing this on a MacBook Pro, I think you can gather my opinion of this pick. The only issue that I have regarding the MacBook Pro is that I purchased mine 6 months ago and a new one was released and now I feel like mine is old.

NFL tickets caught my eye. Am I the only one who didn't know you can buy tickets from Ebay?! Ok, so I'm late. I think the NFL tickets are a great, unique gift. I would go one further and make it an experience. Go all the way with the NFL theme. Pick at least one game that the fan receiving the tickets will really want to attend, then plan an awesome game night. Get them limo service (pay for extra alcohol) to and from the game, upgrade the tickets to a suite for that game (suites include food in the price), and get him or her a signed official ball on Ebay that you can put in a collector's case. The tickets will cost you $20 for nosebleed seats to $250-$1,400 for a suite. Depending on the player who signed the football, it can cost you from $45 to $1,000. The case for the football will cost you $16. The Limo service will of course be the big ticket item at $75 per hour.

Ebay suggested Fender guitars. I'm of two minds on this one. Did I miss a trend or is Ebay just trying to sell a high ticket item? I suspect the later. Don't get me wrong, Fender is a respectable brand, but who on your list this year is begging for a guitar-- besides my daughter? I think this is a gift to skip this year. The last two on the list are Breitling watches and Diamond earrings. Let's start with the watch. Breitling has some very gorgeous time pieces. Case in point the picture below. I chose this one because the colors are in trend for this year. These watches range from $5,000 to over $25,000.

Now we address the diamond earrings. I am going to be sexist for a second. I am a woman. I love all electronics, I am probably considered a tom boy in some circles, yet diamonds melt my heart like the girliest of girls. If you can buy a woman a diamond, buy it. You won't be sorry. I would suggest a ring or a pendant, but earrings are nice too. A piece advice to the person purchasing the diamond, go big or go home. A reasonable budget for diamonds should start at $350 and upwards. I threw in the Tiffanys sunglasses for good measure because I like them. They retail for $220.

   

I won't waste your time any more on things that I can't or won't recommend. Do not buy a TV yet. The best time to purchase a television set is in January because of the huge sales centered around Super Bowl. Also, TV's are not selling as well this year so I suspect the discounts will be awesome. If the TV purchase is for the one you love, I would suggest buying smaller gifts that hint at the ultimate prize in January. Let's say you are buying the TV for someone who loves movies. Buy them a one year subscription to Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Prime. If the TV isn't automatically compatible to the service don't forget to get them the blu-ray player. Buy them a gift card from their favorite movie theater. Stock the house with their favorite snacks such as popcorn and candy. I hope this review helps you pick something out or at least got you thinking creatively to make this holiday special. Good Luck! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask, I would love to talk to you.

The Smartphone Xmas List

4. Samsung Galaxy Nexus ( Nexus Prime)

We are going to start with a smartphone that has held the curiosity of many who are looking for the next best Android. Samsung and Google announced their new collaboration device, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, previously known as the Nexus Prime on Wednesday October 19, 2011 at 10pm EST. Before I give you the stats, lets talk about why people want this phone so much. Nexus will have the new Android operating system Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). This operating system will tie the phone interface in with the Android tablets so that it makes for a better experience for the user. As a person who has used Android phones as little as humanly possible, I can't say I understand the buzz this phone has generated. The styling is elegant if I do say so myself (for an Android anyways).The Samsung Galaxy Nexus comes with an NFC module chip for close proximity communication, which means you can share videos, photos, contact info and check into Google Places just by being near them and scanning with NFC, or sharing with the new Android BEAM app within Android 4.0. It also has USB 2.0 support, which may allow you to add a gaming controller or keyboard to the device if you so desire, as well as extra storage via USB drives. On the front side is a 1.3 megapixel camera which will be used for the new Face Unlock feature for security on your device.(technorati.com) If you would like more details about the specs check out the links below. I could reprint all of the specs, but that isn't why you are here is it? You want to know if the Nexus is worth getting. If you love the Android operating system then yes I think this is the one to buy for the holiday season. The actual release date has not been announced (sometime in November) and there are rumors that Nexus Galaxy may be available on Verizon first then other carriers to follow. Pricing has not been announced but is rumored to be around $299. If you prefer IOS, then keep reading.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ice-cream-sandwich-debuted-with-samsung-galaxy-nexus/2011/10/19/gIQALxeM0L_story.html

Read more: http://technorati.com/technology/gadgets/article/how-does-the-samsung-galaxy-nexus/#ixzz1bKBz9hcWRead more: http://technorati.com/technology/gadgets/article/how-does-the-samsung-galaxy-nexus/#ixzz1bK7gyCPP



Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
no buttons- all touch
720p line resolution screen (most phones have 540 lines.)

3. iPhone 3GS

Let's get started with the iPhone 3GS. Before you start talking about how old this phone is, let's consider the benefits. First of all, if you sign a two year agreement with AT&T you can get this phone for free. This is unprecedented for an iPhone. The 3GS is a solid phone. You are able to download the new IOS 5 so you won't feel left behind. It has a decent camera & video camera. The reason I say "decent" is because of course the iPhone 4 & iPhone 4S have better cameras and higher video resolution. The 3GS is the same size as the next generation iPhones. If you don't mind having only 8gbs of storage and don't mind AT&T as a carrier, then this is definitely the way to go. If you are purchasing an iPhone for an older individual, this is the one you should buy. The awesome thing about Apple products is that they have an actual store that your parent can walk in and get help from a "genius". This will save you a lot of trouble when you buy your mother an iPhone and she has trouble with downloading Apps or just getting around on the phone. Do not get your parents an Android! Unless you want to spend countless hours being their personal IT support on the phone, don't do it. You have been warned.





2. iPhone 4

The iPhone 4 was released on June 24, 2010. This may seem like it was forever, but trust me if you buy this phone today, you will still feel like you are way ahead of all of your Android friends. Let's get started on some of the cool stuff that you may never use, but have the option if the fancy ever takes you. Face Time. Admit it. You watched the Jetson's and you couldn't wait till you could see your friends during a phone call. Face Time allows you to video chat with your friends (wifi) who have an iPhone 4 or 4S as well as an iPad 2 or a Mac. It's a great feature that hasn't caught on. I guess no one wants to put on makeup for every call. Next up is speed. with an A4 processor this phone is faster than the 3GS and a lot of other phones on the market. You are no longer tied to just one carrier in the USA because Verizon, and Sprint have jumped in to the game with AT&T. Your choices in color are now black or white (literally). The camera is 5megs and video recording is HD with a High resolution retina display. This simply means the screen is hundreds of pixels better, making it a sharper image. The 8gb iPhone 4 is currently priced at $99 with a 2 year agreement.



1. iPhone 4S

So you are looking at the picture and you are thinking, there must be some kind of mistake. This is the same picture as the iPhone 4. The phone that came out in June 2010. First the bad news, the iPhone 4S looks exactly the same on the outside as the iPhone 4. For those of you who want to show off that you have the latest and the greatest, you will have to do that with your accessories this year. If you are still reading after the crushing blow of realizing that there was no new redesign, then I'm going to assume you want to know more about the fastest selling iPhone of all time. Although some speculate this phone is flying off the shelves because it's release coincided with the passing of former CEO of Apple Steve Jobs, I beg to differ. Don't get me wrong, I was disappointed to the point that we could all agree was unhealthy for a parent of two to be about a phone, granted it is a smart phone. After a couple of days of downright denial, I decided to take a look at the phone. It is faster of course. It has a dual core A5 processor that I hear makes the A4 look slow. The camera is 8megs and the video is 1080p. Face Time is still available as well as an increase in talk time (though some dispute this) to 8 hours. iMessage which is technically a feature on the IOS 5 is a hidden gem for those with friends and family members who live abroad and would like to save some money. iMessage is Apple's answer to BBM from Blackberry. It is worth checking out. Last but not least Apple has given us another piece of the Jetson pie by adding Siri to the iPhone 4S. Who is Siri? She is a virtual assistant that can answer almost anything that you ask of her without having to dumb down your questions. For those of you who want to show off, stand on any street corner and ask Siri a question and I promise you at least a couple of people will start asking you questions about Siri. I see a lot of potential in Siri. She can only get better. The iPhone 4S is available in Black & White. A 16Gb is $199, A 32GB is $299, and a 64 GB is $399 all with a two year agreement. The shipping time right now is 1-2 weeks which will increase the closer we get to the Holidays.



follow me on Twitter @xmasconcierge

MB&F Legacy Machines & The Row Alligator Backpack- Xmas List (luxury)

MB&F Legacy Machines
$5551.85- $166555.50 USD

Movement: Hand-wound with single barrel, bespoke balance wheel floating above the dials, 279 parts, 23 jewels, 18,000 vib/h, 45-hour power reserve

Functions: Hours, minutes, independent dual time zone and power reserve

Case: 18K pink gold or grey gold, 65 parts, 44 mm
Domed sapphire crystal, anti-reflective on both sides, and sapphire crystal caseback
Crowns at 4 o'clock to set the time and wind the right dial, and at 8 o'clock to set the time of the left dial

Dial: Balance wheel in the center Dials at 3 and 9 o'clock for local time and dual time zone
Vertical power-reserve indicator at 6 o'clock

Bracelet/Strap Hand-stitched black or brown alligator with matching 18K gold buckle

Images Via Askmen.com the link to the article describing these watches are in the @xmasconcierge timeline on October 8


The Row Alligator Backpack is $34,000

The Row backpack: black alligator, adjustable canvas straps, internal detachable handle, internal zip-fastening and slit pockets, feet, comes with metal mirror plate and case, designer-stamped gold-plated brass hardware, fully lined in leather. Drawstring at top. Alligator: United States. This bag is crafted from the finest materials and should therefore be treated with the utmost care. Please refer to the accompanying care instructions.

Cartier Calibre de Cartier
Price
$7,100

J.Crew Beaumont Weekender
Price
$228

WANT Les Essentiels de la Vie Travel Bag
Price
$675

H&M Tote Bag
Price
$59.95

Swatch Full-Blooded (Smoky Brown)
Price
$160

A few trendy things that don't look mass produced. Get the Bespoke look for a great price point.