There are a lot of wonderful things about the holiday season. We can all agree on this, yes? Good. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’d like to discuss something about the holiday season that sucks big matzoh balls – the pressure to give the “perfect gift.” This pressure is especially felt by husbands during this time of year. Why? The endless string of commercials where Mr. McDreamy Pants gives his wife the greatest present ever.

The commercial that really drives me nuts is the one for Zales Jewelers  where some dreamboat gives his wife a pair of giant diamond earrings. A pair! This jerk wasn’t satisfied with giving just one diamond, he had to give two. I’d love to get Heather a pair of diamond earrings for Christmas, but I, like most regular Joes, have yet to recover from buying the rock I put in her engagement ring. So, instead of selling a kidney on the black market to afford the earrings, I just talk excessively about how morally opposed I am to the blood diamond industry. Yup, the blood diamond industry seems to really offend me in December, February, and around Heather’s birthday.

The worst commercial though is the one where the guy brings his wife outside on Christmas morning to find a brand new BMW with a giant bow on it. I dig the romanticism of bringing Heather outside on Christmas morning to find a present, but something tells me it wouldn’t be quite the same if I brought her outside to find a sweater from the Gap with a giant bow on it.

Sigh. I really want to get Heather something great this holiday season, but am operating on a budget considerably smaller than the Dreamboats in all of these freaking commercials. So here’s where I ask for your help. I’d love to hear about any affordable holiday presents you received that you really loved, or any affordable slash awesome presents on the market right now that you think Heather would like. Heather has promised not to read the comments on this post, so any suggestions you make are just between you and me!