Visions of sugar-plums have never danced in my head but memories of frigid temperatures sent a shiver down my back over our recent Pride weekend when my partner and I hosted our former neighbors, Gil and Leland, from the Midwestern chapter of our lives.

Our friends always enjoy this reprieve from the cold, which I understand completely having adjusted to the Palm Springs concept of winter.

The holiday season is here and in the spirit of things, I thought I would compile a list of holiday gift items for the young professional on the go.

This year, instead of heading straight to my Northern California hometown of Lodi, I am taking a detour through San Francisco prior to being consumed by the madness that is my "beautiful crazy" family.

I am excited about this little jaunt through San Francisco because my favorite season really is winter – and this city really has a better feel for the season - unlike San Diego.

It is difficult to believe that Halloween and Thanksgiving have passed. I’ve been holding out for a late San Diego summer that didn’t even have the courtesy to call to say he isn’t going to make it this year.

Congress and the White House still haven’t figured out what to do about next year’s income tax rates or estate tax (not to mention repealing DADT). All these unknowns make it difficult to do tax planning. However, I’ve come up with five tax tips that apply regardless of the productivity levels from our elected officials.

No. 1: Couples do the splits

I spent the better part of the morning in the ER waiting room at Cedars-Sinai while Stanley Tucci got stitched up after an unfortunate freak accident in my kitchen. The poor dear. His little bald head never knew what hit it.

While technically, yes, it was me who threw the 20-pound frozen turkey at his head in a fit of rage – I maintain that the party at fault in this unfortunate situation is clearly Stanley. He should have known better than to bring up that beast’s name in my house.