An Evening With the Saks Catalog

With the holidays just around the corner and your mailbox bulging with glossy holiday catalogs (many with their own online shopping addresses), we ask: Is there a better way for Santa to shop for just about anything for anyone?

We don’t think so.

Join us, then, as we highlight a catalog every Friday until the Big Guy delivers the goods.

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There it is on Page 116--a dazzling “suite” (necklace, bracelet, earrings) of nearly 200 carats of sapphires and diamonds. So exciting, so exquisite, so expensive.

Got $250,000 to blow?

Hey, this is the Saks Fifth Avenue holiday catalog we’re flipping through as we lounge in our sweatpants, watching “The New Hollywood Squares,” the dog plopped by our feet.

No crowds. No parking hassles. No waiting in line. Just Whoopi, whooping it up in the center square, as we make our way through the pages, circling and X-ing items--both possible and impossible for me to buy--for friends and family.

As we escape into Saks Catalogland (a lot of it bejeweled), we are reminded that we should have bought--and won--a Lotto ticket. Among the ornaments:

For Her:

* Diamond pave link necklace in 18-carat white gold. Price tag: $82,000. (Also has a matching bracelet for $37,500 and pierced earrings for $8,500.)

* Square- and full-cut diamond iridium platinum bracelet. Price tag: $35,000.

* Black or gray silk velvet slippers in their own travel pouch. Price tag: $160. Or a black silk cosmetic clutch for $194.

For Him:

* A green cashmere tweed robe by Daniel Hanson. Price tag: $2,450.

For the Kid:

* A battery-powered Ferrari 250GTO replica with metal chassis and horn. Price tag: $378.

For the Pooch:

* A black calfskin and silver dog collar. Price tag: $110.

For Whomever:

* Saks Fifth Avenue canisters filled with Florentine lace cookies, chocolate-laced popcorn, gourmet gum balls or gummy bears. Price tag: $8 to $24.

Call (800) 347-9177 for a Saks Fifth Avenue catalog.