Here are a few cool places to find unique presents, which I’ve dutifully bookmarked over the year. Just in case you’re shopping for someone like me.

• Daytrip Society: for the traveler/nature fiend
• English Retreads: fashionable environmentally conscious bags
• Yogitoes: yoga supplies
• PalmerCash: cool vintage-style T-shirts
• Underground Signs: create your own subway stop
• Survival of the Hippest.com: bling your twitter address
• BigCartel: from the artist direct to you – i.e.,  Sandra Juto or Bakers Dozen
• WWF: Adopt a species and help protect their habitat
• Still stumped? try Neatorama for that weirdo cousin of yours.

And don’t forget these very very important Christmas Cheat Sheets. FABULOUS! From Cookie, an awesome designer.

Thanks to @smashadv at Obsessed With Conformity for the WWF idea.

So we finally find a great townhome, reasonable condo fee, nice neighbors, and my question is:

Do we really want to be Home Owners?”

I mean, what is the big deal about owning anyway? It’s a lot of hassle and paperwork, and it chains you down. If you want to upgrade, you have to sell, and that’s only getting harder to do. Ugh! Plus, if we do buy, my fall vacation is surely canceled. Totally unfair. Am I being short sighted? I think not. Especially not in this market.

Renting means we can afford to live in a nicer neighborhood and someone else deals with the big headaches like the roof and the furnace and the property tax. Plus, I get to go on a fall vacation. So we’re taking a break from house shopping. And planning a vacation instead.

Here’s a doozy — we find a home at the right price in the right neighborhood, but it’s part of a co-op.

My first thoughts:

1. You mean a condo, right?
2. A co-op, like where we buy our tofu?
3. Is that good or bad?

Well, if you’ve got any experience with co-ops in the DC area, I’d be really happy to hear from you. co-ops are apparently popular in other cities, but I’ve never lived in one in DC.

One of the strangest things about co-ops dealing with this extra big down payment, which I’ve found is called the Share Loan. When you buy into a co-op, you’re actually buying a share of the housing cooperative, which gives you a vote on how things are run on the property.

I’ve a couple of helpful links on the Internet — see below — and I’m asking my agent and my lender to give us advice, as well as all you people. Please, crowdsourcing, don’t fail me now.

Links:

• Wikipedia
• National Association of Housing Cooperatives

Last year we — my husband and I — looked at some houses with the help of some folks. None of them were helpful enough that I’d want to call them back, though. So we’re starting over this year with a new agent that we hope is more helpful.

Last year we also witnessed the mortgage industry crumble around us. The 0% down program our bank offered last winter disintegrated into thin air, and was replaced by something new every two weeks or so.

This year we’ll go straight to the credit union.

It WILL be a different experience this time, or it won’t happen.

I was recently asked to define celebrity service. Donna Cutting is writing a book on Celebrity Service.  Hmm, what makes me feel like a celebrity ?

Outside of immaculate cleanliness, perfumed tissues, and beverages offered at no extra charge for the full extent of my stay, what are we really talking about here?

I think it gets down to a definition I included in my last post: gracious …

I have been to upscale establishments where the staff are aware that they are supposed to be providing 5-star service to me, but I don’t quite look like the 5-star customer, so they provide a reluctant, snobbish version of the service. They are meeting all the minimum requirements, but not with the enthusiasm they would for, say, a rock star.

What a shame. I found myself surprised this weekend. I was at a rock concert this past weekend that happened to offer table service. We had a table for two next to a group of 3 girls and a guy. I overheard the ladies talking about how the guy might be able to get them backstage passes, and I didn’t really think anything of it. Imagine my surprise when the show started and he was on stage, playing the bass!

Our server may well have known who he was, but we had no idea. Cheers to our server, who provided excellent service to both tables. Also — remember that all so-called ‘important’ people do NOT go around with neon signs on their foreheads, whether the people that are important to you are rock stars, CEOs or journalists.

Elements of celebrity service ( in my opinion)

• Eagerness to please
• The customer is always, always, right
• Extra touches: in packaging, purchasing assistance, follow-up
• Listening vs. telling: giving your customer the floor and following through with their requests

Of course you walk a fine line: especially if you are a consultant, like myself. You need to be able to listen to a client and be able to tell them if they are steering themselves wrong. That’s not easy, but it can be done tactfully. Or should I say, gracefully?

Check out the book: The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service

There’s a new film out about Wal-Mart – I am waiting for my copy to come in the mail, but I’ve heard about it from trusted resources (my parents). From what I’ve heard and read, it seems to confirm all the reasons I’ve boycotted it for years. The corporation is low-paying, anti-union, and anti-worker in general. As a matter of fact, it’s even sounding anti-American. To buy from China – no, wait – to manufacture in China, then put American Main Street and smaller chains out of business… is that the patriotic image we all had of Sam Walton? Wal-Mart has chosen this route on a grand scale in order to keep their prices lower than any other store can compete with. Stories about their full-time workers needing food stamps, about required overtime, and about muscling out union organizers are downright disgusting.

OK, I’ll get off my soapbox. If you’re pinching your pennies this holiday season, look to alternative options to spend your celebratory cash, like:

• artfortheanimals.org
• www.heifer.org
• www.puravidacoffee.com

For more info on WalMart: WalMart Watch