It’s not Valentine’s Day yet but you know you need to think 
about those other gift-giving occasions coming up — weddings, graduations, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and family reunions. Want to earn fame as the best gift-giver ever? Two words: Photo books. Our older daughter and her husband gave us two for Christmas, and they top my grab-in-case-of-fire list (daughter and her husband as well as photo books, of course). I had seen these done as wedding albums but honestly never had considered them for anything else. What are photo books? They’re hardback bound 
books printed with your own photos — your own personal photo album. My daughter said she got the idea after she 
was bemoaning a small budget for gift giving and I told her all we her family wanted was more photos of new baby Capt. Adorable. After that, because she is young and techno-savvy and up on all sorts of cool stuff, she knew exactly what to do. There are several sites that offer photo books (Kodak, Apple and HP do — search on “photo books” for more) . Liz chose Walgreens (http://photo2.walgreens.com/storepage/storePageId=MemoryBooks) and was pleased with the results. She had great fun, she said, designing layouts and playing with the photos but if that’s not your thing you can make it as simple a process as you’d like. Prices range from $10 to $50 and up, depending on your choices. She did one on our beach trips — Capt. Adorable’s first tastes of sand and surf — and one on his first six weeks. Everybody who sees these just melts and says, “These are wonderful! I want to do this.” And you can.
Photo Gifts
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My fondest dream — well, after becoming a bestselling novelist, owning my own tropical island and acquiring the ability to eat chocolate all day with impunity — is to learn how to wear a scarf like all those stylish celebrities. Or, like every other normal woman knows how to wear a scarf — except me. I love scarves and collect as many as I can, but whenever I wear on I just end up looking silly. Sigh. Read more at my column in today’s TimesDaily, 
My younger daughter loves fashion and putting outfits together. She’s the best 
thrift-store shopper I know. We go into a Salvation Army dig store and I’m done in three minutes because there’s nothing there — I think — and she emerges with an armload of cute and stylish pieces. Of course, she’s young and cute and stylish herself, so that helps immensely! Most thrift-store finds would just look sort of sad on me but she wears them with flair. It’s all in the attitude, and she’s got it. The other secret to thrift-store shopping, I think, is combining high and low and new and found. When she was home for the holidays, she brought some of her latest discoveries and had fun putting looks 
together. In these pictures she was going to a Christmas party with her dad’s family and was trying to winterize a festive 
black sundress with pink embroidery she’d bought in a thrift store for about $4, I think. First she tried a black short-sleeved pullover top over the whole thing. Nice, but no pizazz, although it fit her well. So next she tried a black cardigan with black velvet trim and little black velvet bows on the pockets for an elegant yet casual touch. Adorable! I voted for this look, but I got outvoted — she ended up ditching the dress idea and instead headed to the party in her usual but very chic college-student look of jeans, boots, scarf and sweater. And here’s the thing: These two black tops are mine, and she looks great in them. However, if I wore this sundress, I would only look ridiculous. Why is that? My daughters borrow from me and look fantastic (better than I do in the same clothes, that’s for sure) but the reverse does not hold true at all. If somebody can figure this out and fix it, I’d be so grateful! In the meantime, I continue to be in awe of both my daughters’ creativity and style. I’m in constant hope that some of that gets passed up to me.
I’m not a runner (it hurts!), walking gets boring and I’m too lazy to drive somewhere to exercise. But I enjoy working out — I do, really — so thank goodness for exercise DVDs. I like the flexibility of working out at home on my own schedule. Plus, I can pause the action whenever I need a break instead of getting the evil eye from the instructor, although this probably has more to do with my dislike for being told what to do and when to do it than anything else. And it’s always easier to find an excuse not to get in the car and drive somewhere than it is to pop in a DVD — I’m more likely to take 30 minutes to work out in front of the TV than I am to gather my stuff together, figure out what other errands I need to run, get in the car, drive to the Y, talk to people, work out, talk to people, gather my stuff together, try to remember what other errands I need to run, get in the car, etc. And I love variety! Classes usually are the same every time. With DVDs, you can dance the salsa one day, do Pilates the next and lift weights the next day — whatever you feel like. Keeps things interesting. Some of my favorite DVDs are from The Firm — they generally combine cardio with weights for an overall invigorating workout. Back in the late 1990s, this approach was revolutionary and The Firm’s first videos were so expensive — about $50, I think — several friends and I bought one together to share it. The sets were a lush sort of Grecian spa with an orchestra soundtrack. Then The Firm went through some business changes and the next round of videos were spliced-together clips of previous tapes along with a few somewhat scarily Stepford wife-ish new ones that apparently didn’t sell well. Today The Firm has a winning combination with enthusiastic instructors, lively music, modern sets and good solid routines. Some tapes have a few glitches — instructors off beat, music not matching movement — and The Firm has an annoying habit of always coming out with The Next Big Thing You Absolutely Have to Have, but for fun workouts that do the job, these DVDs get it right. Visit The Firm’s Web site at 
If you’re looking for some of the most beautiful and creative jewelry ever, go to etsy.com and check out the offerings from birdznbeez. A 
jewelry maker in the Midwest, she puts together lovely whimsical pieces that will make you smile. For several years, my two 20-something daughters and I have been collecting jewelry with birds, and when my son-in-law found birdzNbeez on etsy, he knew we would all love it. He was right! We ordered several things for Christmas gifts, and they were even more amazing in person than in photographs. And prices are right, too. You know similar jewelry in upscale boutiques is almost three times as much. But the problem is that now I: 1) Want more of this jewelry; 2) Want more clothes to match the coolness factor of these pieces; and 3) Want more places to go to show off my new clothes and jewelry. Or, I could just send y’all to the Web site and live vicariously through your purchases. I wonder which option my husband would prefer …
Coffee with Cathy 