All mySimon Shopping Picks

We just accompanied a coworker to Express where she tried on their PVC leggings. The verdict: Too hot. PVC does not exactly breathe. So if you're freezing this winter, maybe check those out, along with some fleece sheets. Not flannel; fleece. They're a lot more affordable than flannel sheets, and probably a lot warmer too. And if our fleece hoodies are any indication, you probably don't need to put them in the... more

Top 4 reasons not to buy a real tree (and go with a fabulous artificial tree instead):
1. The cost. $100 for something that will end up on the street in a couple weeks? In this economy?
2. The hassle of getting the thing through the front door and into that tree stand. The Christmas spirit should not involve so much swearing.
3. The mess. Your vacuum cleaner hates you. So does your garbage man.
4. Real... more

We're not huge fans of Lost (we've only seen a few episodes) but half the people we work with are obsessed with it and want the world to know that Lost - The Complete Fourth Season is now out on DVD. To sum up: More than 3 months after their fateful crash, the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 discover that the only thing more dangerous than the island might be the people who have... more

Introducing the BlackBerry Storm, the first touch-screen BlackBerry that CNET says "will definitely give the Apple iPhone a run for its money" because it "offers consumers and mobile professionals a full-featured smartphone with an innovative touch screen at a good price." The phone uses BlackBerry's "SurePress" touch screen, where you have to press down on the screen (unlike the iPhone), and has dual-mode functionality for seamless world roaming. Other features include a 3.2-megapixel camera,... more

What do you buy the woman who has everything (or at least everything in the San Rio catalog)? How about a diamond Hello Kitty ring? The one shown here ($395 from Zales) is mostly white and pink sapphires with some diamond accents, but the white sapphires look close enough to the real thing. Bigger spenders can plunk down $2500 for something with more diamonds at Neiman Marcus, while those of us with more sense... more

Remember that 1988 song "You Gots to Chill" by EPMD? Targus should use that song to promote its Chill Mat for Mac laptops. If you've got a hot laptop (hot as in radiates heat, not hot as in stolen), you're all too familiar with the discomfort of trying to work while your thighs sweat. Not sexy. Enter the USB-powered pad Chill Mat, which keeps Mac laptops up to 17"cool, thanks to 2 fans that... more

George Foreman is back, this time with a lean, mean, deep frying machine. Just like your washing machine, the George Foreman deep fryer has a spin cycle. Once your wings are cooked, the basket spins, shaking off some of the extra greasy goodness, so you don't have to feel so guilty about eating deep fried food. Other features include a viewing window (so you don't have to open the machine to check on your... more

The first sites we look at each morning - before mySimon, even - are dailypuppy.com and cuteoverload.com. The latter is a "nonstop parade of utter cuteness," which Time magazine calls its "#1 mood lifter." We're giving our grandmothers (who still aren't online) the 2009 Cute Overload calendar, which is loaded with pages of wiggly nosed bunny rabbits, fuzzy chicks, snuggly squirrels, roly-poly hamsters, baby pandas, the occasional hedgehog, and, of... more

The New Yorker recently profiled Bob Kramer, a former chef and a Master Bladesmith (there are only 122 people with that title in the US). To say this guy knows how to make knives is a gross understatement. Famous chefs like Thomas Keller of French Laundry rave about Kramer's knives, which used to cost small fortunes and be very hard to get, because Kramer made each one by hand. But! Kramer has finally designed a... more

In the So Cute We Can't Stand It department, check out this tiny Mickey Mouse-shaped MP3 player. The size of a marble, the iRiver Mplayer is a 1GB music player that comes with headphones on a lanyard, so you can wear the player as a pendant. Control the volume with Mickey's left ear, skip tracks with his right ear, and twist both ears at the same time to go into shuffle mode. There's no... more

Time Magazine included the Nike Zoom Victory spike shoes on its list of the "Best Inventions of 2008." Designed for running 800-5000 meters at a time, these Nike+ iPod-enabled training shoes are the lightest "middle distance" spike shoes Nike has ever made. They have what Nike calls Flywire technology: Thin nylon fibers that provide strength, durability, and hold your feet in place without slipping. And somehow the sole is thin enough for "optimum feel... more

How do you get a Star Wars nerd to eat breakfast? Give him a loaf of bread and this Darth Vader toaster. It won't be available until January, but you can preorder it now. There's not much to say about it except that it burns an image of Darth Vader onto every slice, doesn't require "Force" power to operate, and costs twice as much as a toaster should cost. But Mr. Lucas has bills... more

Look out Kindle; Sony's third generation digital book reader is here, and it makes you look, well, second generation. The Sony PRS-700 Reader has a 6-inch touchscreen display that understands gesture-based commands (like the iPhone). You can highlight with your finger, make notes with the virtual keyboard or a stylus pen, and even adjust the font size. And the device, which weighs all of 10 ounces, holds up to 350 books. Our backs and... more

As much as we love Lech Walesa and Magnum, P.I., we're not fans of mustaches on actual people. But the mustache as design element - we love it. From pendants to pint glasses to stuffed animals, the mustache is popping up everywhere, including Target. This mustache key holder is a great place to, um, stash your keys, dog leashes, jewelry, or anything else you want to hang on... more

The best way to ease tension among family members during the holidays is with humor. Now on DVD: A Colbert Christmas - The Greatest Gift of All!, starring Stephen Colbert, "dirty liberals" Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson, and "real American" Toby Keith. The special include Yuletide songs like "There Are Much Worse Things to Believe In" and "Little Dealer Boy," a book-burning video yule log, and 3 alternate endings.

Remember that time you were trying to get the turkey out of the roasting pan and it slipped and fell and went skidding across the kitchen floor, and by the time you caught up to it, the dog already had his mouth around a turkey leg? We don't care how clean your kitchen floor (or your dog's mouth) was; you should roast the turkey on a Sili-Sling this year. The Sili-Sling helps you get... more

If your kids liked the Wall-E movie, they will love the Ultimate Wall-E robot. Designed for children ages 8 and up, the robot stands 16" tall and uses 10 motors and 2 microprocessors to play music, dance, talk to you, follow you around, explore, and more, all using the programmable remote control. If it also ran errands and washed dishes, we'd buy one in a heartbeat.

At home we've got a 4+ year-old iMac (the one that looks like a lamp), which we still love except for its crummy fist-sized speakers that do not do justice to our brilliant Pandora radio station preferences. So we're thinking of upgrading to these Logitech Z-5 speakers, because 1) they're omnidirectional (the sound comes out of all sides of the speakers), 2) the sound, while not blow-you-out-of-the-water-amazing, is 1000 times better than what we... more

Further proof that you can reduce, reuse, and recycle just about anything: An artist on Etsy.com is getting a lot of press for her one-of-a-kind jewelry made out of Barbie doll parts. Shown here is the "Sassy Smile Pin" perfect for lapels, scarves, and anywhere else you want to make a statement. Just what kind of statement, we're not sure. The artist also makes rings, earrings, and pendants, but so far, nothing out... more

If you grew up with Pat the Bunny (or read it to your kids), you'll appreciate this new parody book called Pat the Husband. The book is just as interactive as the classic: You can remove the Velcro pants from the husband and put them on the wife, pull a tab to make the husband nod his head in agreement, and more. Wrap this one up with the Porn for Women 2009... more