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Shop local for trendy, savvy choices

We’re awfully excited about the growing locavore awareness in the 570. A recent Twitter poll found Outrageous, Anthology New and Used Books, and Green Being are among the most popular destinations in Scranton to find unique gifts.

Hopefully, the French press travel mug you received for the holidays isn’t too hot to handle. If so, save some of your Christmas money for a reusable coffee sleeve from GreenBeing.

The Scranton eco-boutique is offering padded burlap protection for your hands embroidered with men’s ties, plump birds, cheerful flowers, dainty trim or even your own monogram. Visit www.shopgreenbeing.com for more information or visit the store on the 300 block of Adams Avenue.

As reported in The New York Times Style section earlier this month (“This Just in From the 1890s,” Nov. 11.), men’s fashion has taken a sharp turn for the 19th century. Knee breeches and tail coats might be a bit over the top for most, but tweed or suspenders may not be out of the question. For as hard as specialized accessories are to find in the 570, we’ve still got Dietz Hats a few doors down from GreenBeing. Surprise your king with a classy crown after your next downtown lunch date. Whether it’s a fedora, homburg, porkpie, or bowler you’ll want to see it on him before you buy and make sure it’s a good fit. Park on the other side of Linden. On the way back to the car, you can point out your favorite luxuries through the LAVISH window.

The body, bath and home store has suggested “12 Ways of Christmas” to aid the indecisive. On the list are French bistro glasses, porcelain ornaments, felt robins, a set of monkey candlesticks or a candleabra, holiday candles and soaps, spa booties, Barefoot Contessa confections, Royal Highness boxers and a chocolate dipping kit. Yum.

In doubt about what to take to that holiday party? At the top of local recommendations for holiday gift giving by The Times-Tribune’s Winestein, Dave Falchek, are Maiolatesi’s syrah/cabernet franc blend or Grovedale cabernet franc for “pro drinkers,” or Galen Glen’s grüner veltliner, which is pleasing to most any palate.

We know several savvy shoppers who plan to purchase work from local artists as gifts this year. Other crafty types will be making their own creations. Handmade holiday gifts aren’t just for grade-schoolers anymore.

If you need a little help getting started, attend the Lackawanna Historical Society’s Victorian Ornament Workshop Sunday at the Catlin House at 2 p.m. Call 344-3841 to register. Arts YOUniverse will host an all-day Holiday Crafting Event on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participants ages 8 and older are welcome to attend as many workshops as they’d like for a $10 fee. Among the choices are money origami (bring your own bills), yarn dolls, ornaments, crochet rag rugs, beaded candy canes, dream catchers, recycled earrings, knitting a scarf and keepsake book (bring photos). Call 970-2787 to register.

— alicia grega


No better time to take advantage of vacation deals

The eve of every New Year remains a holiday that gets way too much hype, often yielding little return than a hangover and a remixing of those lofty resolutions. So as a Christmas gift suggestion, give a gift to yourself or someone you love and get the hell out of town for a few days.

The major travel Web sites are offering huge discounts and incentives to book vacation packages before the New Year; unfortunately, the deals for NYE aren’t as hot as the promise these destinations hold. But the recession’s over, right? We all have money again? No. Well, that’s why the devil created credit cards.

If you’re thinking of heading to the massive human cluster&*$# otherwise known as Times Square on New Year’s Eve, you probably want to act now on booking a reservation. Booking purely on price rather than comfort – you’re in New York, you’re not going to spend much time in the hotel room – Lotus in midtown still had rooms available for NYE at just $149. About a half-mile from Times Square, that’s the best deal you’ll find on Expedia as of right now. If you’re talking a two-night stay, you can find hotels in midtown as cheap as $300 a night. Think you can fight through the crowd, or want to try one hell of a bar tour? Hotel Reserve, some 3.5 miles from the NYE epicenter, is $247 a night for a two-night stay.

Care to vacate the Northeast altogether? Book a hotel and flight package through Expedia and get a $200 coupon to use on your next vacation. One catch (of several, honestly) is that your coupon can only be redeemed on a vacation of 5 or more nights, and it must occur before the end of April. Be sure to read all the fine print on this deal, but it’s definitely worth it.

So if you’re flying somewhere, take a flier on Vegas. It’s definitely more expensive to go there on NYE, but with risk (and expense) comes great reward, if you’re lucky. You’ve got your pick of more than 25 hotels that, combined with a flight, will set you back no less than $820 for a three-night stay. A costly venture, but if you have the money and the itch to head west, there may be no better place in the U.S. to spend the waning moments of 2009 than Sin City. A much cheaper alternative, for flight and hotel anyway, is Miami, where your travel costs could be half of the cheapest Vegas has to offer.

Travelocity is offering a great incentive for the skiing set, with one catch — it’s centered around Salt Lake City, Utah. If you book a four-night stay with the Ski Salt Lake Super Pass, the fourth day of skiing and lodging is completely free. Not bad, right? You have to book the trip by Dec. 15, but unlike the Expedia deal above, Travelocity allows you to take this ski trip anytime before April 19. So this could be used as a New Year’s getaway, or a gift for you or someone else that’s good through spring.

— eric scicchitano


Ideas for the techie in your life

With just about everybody in the U.S. cutting back on spending — especially in the realm of consumer electronics — there are some fantastic deals to be had this holiday season. Lots of big-ticket items like HDTVs are taking a price plunge, particularly in what we’d consider the “medium” size range of 32-52 inches. Aside from the usual Black Friday sales, expect prices on this stuff to stay low throughout the holiday season and even into early 2010.

If you’re cutting back instead of spending big this year, consider shooting smaller for your gadget-giving. Accessories always make great gifts — find out what sort of devices friends and loved ones use on a regular basis, and what kinds of accessories or add-ons might enhance their lives. Is someone always running out of juice on the road? Grab a car charger, or better yet, look for a cigarette lighter USB power adapter. They’ll work with just about any device that can be charged via USB cable, so it’s a safe, platform-agnostic bet for on-the-go power.

Another useful and thoughtful, yet not very exciting, option is cabling. That’s right — cables can make great gifts. You can coordinate with others to provide the necessary accompanying connections for a new home theater setup or help someone replace a spliced or rigged system. Give an extra USB cable to someone who’s always borrowing your camera’s transfer cable. Replace a damaged iPod transfer/charge cable. None of these are glamorous gifts, but I guarantee they’ll be much-appreciated.

Finally, if you’re looking to save a good chunk of change on all these accessories and cables, forget brick-and-mortar stores. The markup on these things can shoot as high as 400 percent or more – trust me, I put in my time wearing primary-colored shirts. Your best bet is to hit the Internet — I use newegg.com for just about any computer- or gadget-related purchases, and monoprice.com for any cable needs.

And remember — copper is copper, and 0s and 1s are 0s and 1s, so a $100 home theater cable is exactly the same as a $3 home theater cable.

— tucker hottes


It’s easy for local sports fans to get their fill this year

Whether you’re a sports fan or you have a sports fan in your life, there’s one thing that’s certain this time of year — giving the gift of gear from that favorite sports team is always a hit on the holidays.

Fans of the local Yankees and their parent club, the World Series champion New York Yankees, can get twice the bang for a shopping trip to PNC Field, not to mention avoiding the crazy crowds at the mall and other shopping centers in the 570. The SWB Yankees team store has World Series merchandise on sale, which means the Bronx Bombers fan in your life can celebrate the franchise’s 27th World Series title in style.

While you’re at the stadium, make sure to ask about 2010 season tickets. The SWB Yankees staff is currently putting together pricing options for the upcoming season, so you’ll want to be among the first to put in your request for tickets to watch the future New York Yankees in action.

For more information, check out www.swbyankees.com.

If cold weather sports are what your sports fan loves, check out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins team store. With everything from replica jerseys for the diehard fan to tote bags for the ladies, the team store has just about any item to satisfy a hockey craving, plus numerous sale items.

Don’t want to leave the house to do your shopping? Head online to check out www.wbspenguinsteamstore.com, where you can do all your shopping from the comfort of your own home. Then head to www.wbspenguins.com to purchase tickets to an upcoming game, including Wednesday, Nov. 25 vs. Norfolk or Saturday, Nov. 28 vs. Syracuse.

— randy shemanski


Give the gift of rock ’n’ roll

Tis the season for scoring cool and unique gifts for your nearest and dearest. You could always take the easy way out and wait until the week of Christmas to get gift cards for the fifth year in a row, or you could actually put some thought into it.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I’m not just jivin’ you. Anyone who’s close to me will tell you around the holidays my stereo is pumping Christmas music loud and proud, and that I tend to be giddy like a schoolgirl when buying presents for my family, girlfriend and best friends.

It’s no secret that music and the rock ’n’ roll culture is what I’m all about, so I’m going to give this years rock ’n’ roll shopping guide for those badasses in your life.

Let’s face it. Almost anyone would enjoy getting some of his/her favorite music for the holiday season. Whether it’s the Jo Bros for the little pre-teen princess in your life or some Bad Company for your Dad, getting a good CD can never hurt. There a few CDs that have been in rotation in my personal collection that I would highly recommend as a stocking stuffer this holiday season.

Them Crooked Vultures — Them Crooked Vutlures

Dave Grohl, (Foo Fighter, Nirvana), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stoneage) and John Paul Jones (Led F*cking Zeppelin) … enough said!

Pearl Jam — Backspacer

Seattle’s finest is back and better then ever. The first single, “The Fixer,” alone is killer, but along with 10 other high-energized tracks, Pearl Jam has done it yet again.

The Badless — Love is Rain

The first local rockers to put the 570 on the map return after a five-year hiatus with a new record full off the band’s signature jangly rock. Key tracks include “Drive Back Home” and “Anodyne.”

Panacea — We the Broken

NEPA’s hard rockers give its best effort yet with an album as melodic as it is heavy. Tracks such as “Now or Never” and “Too Little Too Late” show the band is better than ever.

Lemongelli — Vintage Vibes

Sorry, but this is a shameless plug I don’t feel bad about. Lemongelli’s latest is full of old-school rock ’n’ roll tracks that are as scummy as Buckcherry and Papa Roach but as vintage as Cream or Zeppelin. If that’s your flavor, pick it up.

Also check out Breaking Benjamin’s Dear Agony and Three Days Grace’s Life Starts Now.

And for the rocker chick in your life, a new clothing store has just opened that will have her smiling from piercing to piercing. Bettie and Co. is located at 1950 Wyoming Ave. in Exeter, behind Kurlancheek Furniture. The store features rock, punk and club wear along with cutting edge fashion trends and accessories. With the slogan “Badass clothes for badass women,” how could you go wrong?

Have a safe and memorable holiday season, and always remember giving is way more fun than receiving.

— dustin drevitch
-electriccity@timesshamrock.com