TalkingShopping.com

Now that the holidays have come and gone, it's time to start thinking about the list of thank you cards you need to send.  Sure you can go with the standard pack of 12 you pick up at the grocery store, or you can get a little more creative and take your holiday thank you's to the next level. Just like holiday cards, thank you cards can now be personalized and even include photos of you and your family.

The TalkingShopping gals love cards with pics and found lots of different options online at PhotoWorks that would make great thank you cards to let everyone that gifted us know just how much we appreciate them and their gift.

Here are a couple we liked...


Classic Glamour Thank You Card
Set of 12 (envelopes included)
$12.95

Also a great choice for newlyweds looking to send a classy thank you note.













Reveal Card
This unique card can be personalized from top to bottom!  Each card is sold separately... so you could include a picture of you (or your little one) with the appropriate gift item and send a very custom thank you card!

$3.95 per card (envelope included)





Check out all the options online at PhotoWorks.com.

Here's some food for thought while you're rounding out your holiday shopping duties this weekend!  The Wall Street Journal enlisted a trio of "eco-experts" from various green environmental groups and businesses to rate some of gifts being advertised to shoppers as "green." 

The WSJ explained how the panel assessed each item by saying, "We asked the panel to weigh items on several fronts -- including sustainability, energy efficiency, resource conservation and health -- based on the marketing information given to consumers."  Then the panel gave each item a number, 1 (least green) through 10 (most green) "eco-rank" based on their opinion of how eco-friendly the product really is!  We will tell you this - none of the products received 10 rating and none of the products received a 1, with most of the products on the list falling in the 5, 6, 7 range.

Their commentary and ratings were pretty interesting, prompting the TalkingShopping team to think twice before we consider ourselves good to go on the green gift front!

Here's a few of the highlights from the list:

BIG NAME PRODUCT
Apple's new MacBook series
Advertised as "The world's greenest family of notebooks."
$1,299 to $1,599.
WSJ Eco-Rank: 7

HIGHEST RANKING (more than one)
Wind Power Renewable Energy Science Kit by Thames and Kosmos
Advertised as a kit that teaches kids about wind power.
$49.95
WSJ Eco-Rank: 8

LOWEST RANKING (more than one)
Bit Doctor by LoggerHead Tools
Maker says "producing products in the U.S. using environmentally responsible manufacturing adds to a 'green-sustainable' economy".
$24.95
WSJ Eco-Rank: 3

NO RANKING:
Dean & Deluca California Estate Osetra Caviar
Advertised as caviar from domestic sturgeon farm-raised in "artesian" water and fed natural foods.
$78
WSJ Eco-Rank: None.  The eco-experts bowed out, and noted that they may want to look for a third-party opinion on this one.

Currently Craving!

What: The Sony MDR-NC60 Noise Canceling Headphones.

Where: Sony.

Why: Because we'll be heading home cross country for the holidays this week and with that comes the pure joy of riding on a plane with tons of other noisy holiday travelers.  Therefore, noise canceling headphones, although a bit pricey are an absolute necessity.

Price: $199

Bonus: Sony (and of course, Bose) also have other noise canceling headphones that start at $49 and go all the way up to $399.99!

As if the TalkingShopping gals needed yet another reason to love Overstock! Now you can enter to win $50,000 in the Overstock Family Bailout Contest!

"In these tough times, Overstock.com wanted to do something special to help the families who visit us. You probably know that you can save up to 57% on your everyday purchases at Overstock.com. In addition, we have created the Family Bailout Plan in order to give you a chance to win up to $50,000 to help you or someone you recommend pay off their mortgage, credit cards, or other large debts."

You can go back to the site each day and enter again and again. The last day to enter is December 22nd, 2008. Good Luck!

The TalkingShopping gals love to personalize gifts as much as possible. We don't know what it is about personalized products, but it seems they are more popular than ever.

You can personalize towels, mugs and backpacks so why wouldn't we be able to personalize our makeup?! The TS gals aren't too fond of having to buy an entire makeup set, only to find that less than half of the goods work on our skin tone.

For all of those reasons, we were excited to see a new trend in makeup purchasing hit the likes of Too Faced Cosmetics! The Design Your Own Palette custom makeup kit program allows you to virtually create a unique makeup palette for yourself or as a gift. We haven't seen this before on other sites, but we are hoping it will spread like wildfire.

So, here's how it works... you can choose your fave products, pick the packaging designs and even add a personalized message on the gift tag. How great is that?!

Have you all heard about nine-year-old Alec Greven's new book?! The TalkingShopping gals were browsing around Borders and came across the new book called "How to Talk to Girls," we couldn't believe that a boy his age wrote it. How cute is that?!

The entire text offers advice, telling other boys to dress nicely, try not to act desperate, and don't over-compliment girls!

Just think of the age-old theory that we are all little geniuses at birth, and loose it all as we get older. If that's true then taking advice from a young boy about love and relationships may not be a bad idea! In fact this book may be the simple answer to the questions we've been asking for decades.

Ok, maybe we are getting a tad ahead of ourselves but either way the TS gals must say this book might be a good gift for men of all ages! Want the text for your son or maybe your hubby?! Get it now!

How to Talk to Girls
$9.99 at Borders.com

There is a super cute interview at Borders with Alec Greven, so check it out!

The TalkingShopping team check in at Target every week to see what's new, but lately we haven't been too impressed! Well, today is a different story!

There are dozens of new items featured in the New at Target section today! Check out our top picks below!

For Him:
Norelco Speed XL($89.99) OR
Vizio 32' 1080 LCD HDTV($599.99)

For Her:
Kodak Pocket Video Camera($179.99) OR
Houndstooth Coat Black/White ($47.99)

For The Kids:
Animal Crossing: City Folk/Nintendo Wii ($49.99)



For those of you who are still last-minute shopping don't forget that Target has e-GiftCards! All you have to do is choose the desired amount, include a message and send it off!

TS Update:
Yet another report from UnwiredView.com (via Endgadget)seems to confirm rumors of the iPhone 3G hitting Walmart stores soon!  Apparently, the site got a hold of a "Walmart-confidential letter" that again explained to store employees that the iPhone 3G would start selling at 488 Walmart stores across the country at 9a.m. on Dec. 28th. 

What's somewhat strange about the deal is that the letter specifies that the 8G version will be sold for $197 with a two-year AT&T contract and the 16G version will sell for $297 with a two year contract.  So why the $2 discount?  Who knows!  The letter doesn't explain the price difference but hey, we're sure no one's complaining! 

This new report confirms TalkingShopping's previous piece about the Walmart/iPhone collaboration and also seems to confirm that despite rumors, it won't be sold for a bargain price of $99!  Bummer.

Wanna gift someone with an iPhone for the holidays?  Don't forget that Apple now sells an iPhone-specific Gift Card! Read the Full Story