I know, its been crazy here.  I’ve written reviews on a lot of great Christmas gifts.  However, I am finding that people are having a hard time navigating some of the older reviews, so I thought I would be a roundup so you know what to buy for Christmas! I’ll be doing a couple more of these between now and Christmas to help you with your gift giving! Each image links to the review and/or giveaway I am doing for the items.

Baby:

Books:

Cards:

CDs/Music/Audio Stories:

Clothes:

Electronics:

Food/Beverages:

Home:

Jewelry:

Pets:

Software:

Sports:

Toys:

Image via Wikipedia

This was my favorite newspaper.  I think we have been subscribing to it since we have moved here.  However, about a week ago, they changed their format.  Now, I have went through several format changes with them already.  However, this one, I cannot stand.  I cannot stand it to the point that I will be leaving them and getting a subscription to another area newspaper.  (The advantage of living in Chicago is that we have quite a few to pick from).

This  makes me sad.  However, the changes that have been made this time around I just cannot stand.  The majority of their articles completely blend with the ads for things like fat burners and real estate.  As a blogger, we got a lot of slack for not disclosing what is paid and what isn’t.  However, it doesn’t look the print media has to have the same standard.  The majority of the articles have huge pictures and less content.  I know it is not just my eyes playing tricks on me either.  It actually takes me quite a bit less time to read the paper everyday.  A lot of the articles also look like blog posts with the amount of stuff on the page.  If I wanted to look at something that looked like a blog, I would read my news online.  I personally love having a print paper in my hand.  I like the style and how informative a paper is.  If I want a synopsis, I go to the internet.  If I want to read full articles, I look for my local paper.

As soon as I find my credit card, I will be canceling my Chicago Tribune subscription and signing up for the Chicago Sun Times.  Hopefully, their paper will be less tabloidy and more news.

Image via Wikipedia

Best Buy is one of my most favorite stores.  Usually.  However, last night was an entirely different story (and this review is actually going to be more like rant instead).  On Sundays, Best Buy closes at 7.  I personally thought I had plenty of time.  What I didn’t know was that out of the three people in the computer department, 2 of them were new.  Interesting times, let me tell you.  In the amount of time it took me to get waited on, I could have seriously taken a CDL training course.  The other thing is that I went looking there for a desktop.  This weeks ad had a ton of them in there.  Surprise, Surprise.  Of all the desktops that had in their ad, they had 1 in stock.  Yes, 1 in stock.  They had some not in their ad but the CPUs along were over $1,000.  Ummm, no thanks.  I ended up walking out of Best Buy at 8:00 pm — one hour after they closed due to their employees having no training!

/rant over

Yes, you heard it right.  I am completely jealous of all of you, since I only got one of these to borrow!  The Sony Digital Photo Frame is worth about $249.99, so this is a giveaway you want enter!

Let me tell you a little bit about this frame.  It is a 9-inch digital photo frame with 800×480 resolution and 15:9 aspect ratio LCD screen.  It has 512MB of internal memory with optional image resizing to maximize the internal memory.  It also includes HDMI output for viewing photos in high definition on an HDTV.  You are able to auto correct images with features such as red-eye correction.  It also offers nine slide show styles and clock and calendar modes.  Now, I know that all sounds difficult to figure out what to do.  However, I was able to do this all without reading the manual!  This digital picture frame is even BlueTooth ready!  You can also run the pictures off several different kinds of memory cards:  Memory Stick media and Memory Stick PRO Duo media, SD, MMC, CF, Microdrive, and xD Picture cards. I seriously could not believe how crisp these pictures are.  I am seriously sad that I have to venture over to Fed Ex on Monday and send mine back.

Now, I know you don’t want to read about how much fun we had playing testing this out for you, my readers, so . . . . what do you have to do to get one of these in your house?

1.  Leave a comment on this post.  Check out Sony’s site and tell me what feature you think you would like best on this frame.  One comment please and let me know everything you did on that comment.  If you don’t list a feature, you are not eligible to win.
2. Stumble this post. If you don’t know what Stumble Upon is, please read Lori’s post at Blogging Cents. She explains it extremely well.
3. Vote for this post on other social media sites. One extra entry for each social media site you vote for this on.  (I’ll be adding some links to make this especially easy for you to vote — Digg, Propeller, Mixx, Kirtsy, Entreview, Reddit, Blogging Zoom)
4.  Twitter about this contest.  Please leave me your Twitter name in your comment.

For 5 additional entries,

1.  Blog about this on your blog.  Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
2.  Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
3.  Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed

This contest will run from now till August 24th at 8 PM CST.  It is for US residents only.  Good luck!

This Sony DSLR camera is my first “real” camera. This is definitely not a point and shoot camera. However, this another camera that you don’t need to read the book to figure out how to use it.  You also don’t have to contact a few mortgage lenders to be able to afford it either!  You will find that the majority of my pictures on Lisa Cooking are done with this camera.  My inlaws also took it to Hawaii with them on their vacation.

Some of the highlights of this camera include 10.2-megapixel Super HAD CCD which gives you clear, sharp photos, Live Preview of your subject, Tiltable 2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD Plus screen, Continuous shooting while viewing, Smart teleconverter 2x zoom, Expanded ISO sensitivity, Super SteadyShot in-camera image stabilization, Bionz image processor, 1200-zone evaluative metering, Dynamic Range Optimizer, Anti-Dust technology, Auto Pop-up flash, Eye-Start autofocus system, 9-point center cross AF sensor, Scene Selection modes: Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports, Sunset and Night Portrait/Night View situations, Creative Style Settings including Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Night View, Sunset, B&W and Adobe RGB modes, Index and Slide Show Display, High-resolution thumbnails for PhotoTV HD viewing, Function Guide Display On-screen menus are intuitive and easy to use, Stamina Battery Power, and High-capacity media options.

In plain English, you’ll take some of the best pictures of your life with this DSLR camera.  The picture to the left here was taken the same day I got the camera.  If I could figure out how to use the DSLR in one day, anybody can use this camera!