Techies and those who hate being alone will absolutely drool over the Sony mylo Personal Communicator COM-1 ( www.bestbuy.com ) . You can stay in touch with all your Instant Messenger and e-mail contacts without having to lug around a laptop; moreover, it offers multimedia playback and VOIP Internet telephone capabilities. The Communicator lets you use Wi-Fi connections to send e-mail, chat across multiple IM conversations and browse the Web. Users can also employ the built-in Skype voiceover IP software to make phone calls over the Internet.
If you're into flea-market deals ( and you know who you are ) , then P.O.S.H. ( www.poshchicago.com ) is probably your style; everything from carafes to vintage European books are at your fingertips. However, the site actually offers a lot more than those types of treasures. Featured on the site are sundry items such as absinthe glasses, restaurant china, dachshund bottle openers and '60s Czech shoulder bags. ( Actually, there are a lot of absinthe-related accessories. Hmmm... )
Speaking of art, you can't go wrong with The Museum Shop of the Art Institute of Chicago ( www.artinstituteshop.org ) , either. A Seurat tote: $34. Amber mosaic pendant: $58. Danish symphony mobiles: $66. The cost of looking so erudite for choosing a gift from here: priceless. In addition, The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago ( www.renaissancesociety.org ) —whose goal is to encourage the growth and understanding of contemporary art through exhibitions, publications, and events—has some items worth buying and giving.
For the cinephile on your list, get The Complete Idiot's Guide to Classic Movies ( www.amazon.com ) . This tome—the latest in the Complete Idiot's Guide series—provides the latest, comprehensive information on true 'classic' movies from the silent era through 1969.
Would you pay $27 to be on your boss's good side for a while? ANARCHYNYC ( www.anarchynyc.com ) offers cool personalized paperweights in a variety of colors. Give one of these, and your supervisor might forget about those papers you accidentally shredded.
However, there's also The Chicago Film Festival online store ( www.chicagofilmfestival.org ) . You can find items like those steamy Skrebneski posters, messenger bags and scarves—and don't think you won't need that last item with January approaching.
Show your local pride with Chicago Gift Baskets ( www.myfavoritecity.com/chicago-gifts.html ) , the perfect present to entice your out-of-town relatives to come. ( Then, on second thought... ) Moreover, MyFavoriteCity.com actually has themed gifts from practically every area in the U.S. ( including Pittsburgh and San Diego ) and beyond.
Give your favorite alpha male or fetishist a T-shirt that tells all ( and, quite probably, warns others ) with items from Psycho Therapy Clothing ( www.psychotherapyclothing.com ) . Shirts are grouped into categories such as 'Fashion Therapy,' 'Sex Therapy' and even 'Gender Therapy,' the last of which includes clothes with such choices as 'bisexual,' 'bottom' and 'top.'
