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Shog
Heaven
Shopping
blogs take some of the guesswork out of finding the perfect
gift
 The
holiday season can be nothing short of overwhelming. As anyone
who’s ever shopped for a gift for someone before knows, the
perfect gift is not always the easiest thing to come by. Yeah,
yeah, you know you can get pretty much anything from a boob-shaped
ice cube tray to a monkey online, therefore avoiding a couple
major holiday stresses (crowded parking lots and throngs of
out-for-blood shoppers), but picking out a gift can sometimes
be pretty impossible. Hallelujah, then, that there are people
out there who (gasp!) will do all the hard work—the thinking—for
you. Enter the realm of shopping blogs, a whole subgenre of
blogs focused completely on shopping, where enthusiastic bloggers
not only suggest thoughtful gifts to give, they tell you where,
how, and why to buy. I’ve rounded up some of my favorites
to recommend. So sit back, relax, and do all your holiday
browsing and shopping online with only your slippers and a
cup of cocoa as essential accessories.
Mighty
Goods
www.mightygoods.com
Maggie Mason, the bright, quirky San Francisco-based blogger
behind mightygoods.com, says on her site that Mighty Goods
doesn’t just feature things, it features “exactly the right
things.” Mason makes her blog extremely accessible by organizing
by price, gift recipient, and categories (gadgets, media,
kids, etc.). A sampling of what you can find at Mighty Goods:
a rooster clock (complete with a cock-a-doodle-doo wake-up
call), a bottle-cap tripod, and self-watering flower pots.
Pepperjam
www.pepperjam.com
Pepperjam is a different kind of shopping blog. Here, you
can search the Pepperjam database for what you’re looking
for, buy the product, and then blog about it for the use of
future shoppers. Or, if you own the product, you can blog
about how wonderful or awful it is. It’s all about being able
to access the most information possible about what you’re
about to buy, to make the most educated opinion about it.
Welcome to the future of shopping. This process, believe it
or not, has acquired a name—“shogging.” It’s kind of like
an automatic, by-the-people, for-the-people Consumer Reports.
A
Girl Must Shop!
www.agirlmustshop.com
This blog is girl-centric—founded by, written by and aimed
toward the female shopping population. AGMS is a good pick
if you’re at a loss about what to get your girlfriend, sister
or mom. It highlights some unique gifts that you may not have
otherwise thought of. Like butt-shaping undies.
Great
Green Goods
www.greatgreengoods.com
For the environmentally aware gift recipients on your list,
travel on over to Great Green Goods. As its name implies,
this shopping blog is eco-friendly by exclusively featuring
recycled products, like bracelets made from recycled sneakers,
Christmas-tree ornaments made from recycled circuit boards,
and holiday wreaths made from recycled traffic signs.
Shopping
Blog
www.shoppingblog.com
Shopping Blog not only recommends products, it keeps Internet
users far and wide abreast of what’s going on in the news
in this great land of consumerism. Did you know that San Diego
is set to ban Wal-Mart Super centers? Or that experts are
seeing a trend in which parents are buying Lincoln Logs-type
gifts to counter the invasion of tech toys? Now you do.
Design
Sponge
designsponge.blogspot.com
If you’re shopping for someone who’s into home and interior
design this season, Design Sponge is not to be missed. Brooklyn-based
freelance writer Grace Bonney (whose work has been featured
in House and Garden, Food and Wine, New York
Home, etc.) runs this blog as part of her Web site, www.design-sponge.net,
which features work and products by up-and-coming designers
and artists.
Gizmodo
www.gizmodo.com
For the technologically minded people on your shopping list,
check out this blog, which features the newest releases in
the tech world. For example: a Fender keychain tuner that
doubles as a bottle opener; a light-up tank top (thanks to
fiber optics); and a mini-vacuum that plugs into your computer’s
USB port.
Über
Gizmo
www.ubergizmo.com
Same idea as Gizmodo, but Über Gizmo seems to have a more
thorough log of tech toys, and includes fun products like
glow-in-the-dark photographic printer paper and wrapping paper,
and dancing name-card holders.
In
the Bag
blogs.usatoday.com/holidayshopping
An interesting smorgasbord of items selected by the USA
Today staff.
—Kathryn
Lurie
2006
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