Shop Annandale: gift ideas – part 1

If you’re not psyched about fighting the mall crowds and prefer a more personal experience than that offered online, you might want to consider doing at least some of your holiday shopping right here in Annandale.

If you’re shopping for a girl, you can find Hello Kitty pillows for $10 to $80 and a large assortment of jeweled hair ornaments for $30 to $60 at Hello Fancy, 160 Annandale Road.  

For the fanboys on your list, check out Ron’s Collectors World, 7030 Columbia Pike. Comic books on the Green Hornet, Superman, Spiderman, and lesser-known super heroes are $3 to $5. Graphic novels on the Walking Dead series (now a TV show) are $10 to $15. The Thor movie won’t be out until next spring, but the store already has a Thor action figure for $39.99.

The Treasure Trove consignment shop, 7010 Columbia Pike, offers all sorts of one-of-a-kind items—although the inventory changes from day to day. Some of the items on sale the day I visited include a unique horseshoe-shaped frame with an elephant ($7), a blue and white ceramic vase ($9), the Sopranos Family Cookbook ($7), a beige zipped sweater from Talbots ($7), a nearly new three-piece yellow Vera Bradley purse ($16), and a DVD of the cult classic “Grandma’s Boy” ($5). If you’re looking for a hideous Christmas sweater, they had one for $24. The Treasure Trove is operated by volunteers and benefits Inova Fairfax Hospital.

For the pets on your list, the new Petco, 7434 Little River Turnpike, has a sisal play ottoman for cats treated with catnip for $99.99 and a three-level “kitty suite” for $99.99 marked down to $79.99.

For those ready to go all out for their cats, there’s a huge, multipiece cat climbing apparatus for $149.99. If that’s out of your price range, what cat wouldn’t love chasing an erratically moving feather on an electronic “super swooper”($15.99) or trying to catch catnip-filled soap bubbles ($3.99)?