One of my all-time favorite Christmas songs is "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt. If you're not familiar with the song, it's basically a rundown of one woman's wishlist for the holidays—sung sweetly to Santa, of course. It's cheeky, it's catchy, and, if I'm being honest, it perfectly captures every woman's tendency to want it all (year-round, but particularly during special occasions). But while a light blue '54 convertible and the deed to a platinum mine may be on her wishlist, they're certainly not on mine.

When it comes to presents, I'm not the easiest person to shop for. I like the gifts I receive to be useful and practical—or at least useful and practical in my eyes. Through the years, my parents and my boyfriend have learned the most foolproof way to give me presents: either they ask me point blank or they take me with them when they go shopping. The element of surprise? I've never heard of such a thing.

Since I know my mom regularly stalks the Female Network website, she's bound to come across this entry. So Mom, if you decide to take back what you've said about working people not needing to receive gifts on Christmas, then here you go. If not, well, I'd appreciate it if you can share this list with my boyfriend.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. As a kid, it meant cooler weather, longer vacation breaks, Christmas cartoons, and lots and lots of presents! Of course, it helps that my birthday is five days before Christmas, but I consider that to be more of a bonus that anything else.

Over the years, as with probably most of you, my idea of Christmas has changed. After all, the weather has been tampered with by global warming, vacation breaks have been replaced with relentless deadlines, and Christmas cartoons have been overthrown by holiday crime reports. But if there’s one thing about Christmas that has never changed, it’s its gift giving aspect.

Gift giving is a tradition that I take very seriously. Months before the holiday season would find me planning everyone’s presents, creating a list, revising the said list, and basically going crazy window shopping. I could spend all day just thinking about what to get people for Christmas.

I’m proud to say that I’m done with everyone on my list, and now, I suppose it’s time to consider what I would want to get this Christmas. So, for family and friends who are wondering what would make me happy this season, here you go:

I think it is hard to keep up with the newest gadgets, especially if you have the same passion as I do.

My photography hobby has become my profession. If I'm planning to do this in the long run, it's time to give my six-year-old camera and laptop an upgrade. However, it's not easy for me to get new gadgets because they are always a little bit pricey. So to my family and friends out there, if you think I deserve these goodies, please leave them under my Christmas Tree. Thanks!

Happy holidays, FNites!

Yep, you read that right. The  holidays are now in full swing, now that November is about to come an end (you'd be surprised just how fast two weeks fly by).

By now, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" is on loop in malls, and stores are all decked out in their full red, green, and tinsel glory. At the same time, we're growing pensive about our Christmas lists (don't even ask me what I'm getting for my husband--I still have no idea), our Christmas schedules (with the seemingly endless reminders for reunions, family gatherings, and barkada meet-ups), and everything in between.

But despite all the Christmas frenzy, I'm sure all of us are thinking the exact same thing at the back of our heads: "What am I getting this year?" We all have something that we want for ourselves before the year ends, and I'm sure we're crossing our fingers that by some Christmas miracle, we would be able to get them.

Well, the good news is, we here at FN are allowing you to let your loved ones know what you want. As mentioned by our editorial assistant, Marianne, last week, we're launching the MyFN Wishlist today. This nifty feature allows you to highlight particular items on our gallery and add those to your "Wishlist" page on MyFN. Have you set your sights on a particular bag from last week's Frugalista Finds gallery? Just click the "Add to Wishlist" button, and the said image will get automatically added to your Wishlist page on MyFN. That way, your loved ones get to have an idea of the things that you want to get for Christmas (I mean, come on, we've all had horror holiday presents of our own).

And just to get into the spirit of things, I'm giving a rundown of my own holiday wishlist. Take a look at my picks by scrolling through the gallery below: