Every year it’s the same: one moment you’re walking around in shorts and flip flops, basking in the warmth of the sun, and the next, Christmas is a few weeks away and gift buying-panic sets in. Here are 11 items that’ll give you a head start on your holiday shopping:

Noteworthy Notebooks

With the look of a chic evening bag, suitable for any dressy event, the yet-to-be-named Vivienne Tam-designed clutch notebook from HP is the cutest laptop I’ve seen in a long time (perhaps ever!). The outside is dark red with painterly pink and purple peonies, the national flower of China where it is considered a symbol of riches and honor, and inside, the return key sports the Chinese character for double happiness.

It comes with an embroidered sleeve (also designed by Vivienne Tam) and the only downside to this fabulous laptop is that it won’t be available until 2009. But why not ask for a homemade gift certificate for it for the holidays, and you’ll be all set once it hits the market. Newsflash! I just found out that this gorgeous little digital clutch will in fact be available in time for the holidays. It will be priced around $699, and you can reserve one by calling HP.

I’ve written about Ego’s laptops before, but it bears repeating. They are so ultra-fabulous I just can’t help myself. They currently offer 4 different pink designs, but they keep adding new, fresh looks continuously, so if you don’t like what you see now – just keep checking back with them. They were previously only available in the US from Avant Gallery in Miami Beach, but now, Saks Fifth Avenue in NYC also sells them.

Awesome Accessories
It somehow feels like a shame to put your Ego laptop in a bag, but I have to say that their pink leather “Enrichment Bag” is too cute to resist. It looks like your Ego but with pockets and a shoulder strap (which can also be detached from the bag and put on your laptop directly).

Abbi New York makes adorable laptop bags and keeps coming out with new fabulous collections. I absolutely adored the dusty pink Sienna messenger bag, but alas, it is no longer available (bring it back, Abbi!). However, Abbi’s new collection, Erin, is equally delightful with its retro styling. Erin is available as a briefcase, slim carrier or clutch and is made with water-resistant nylon and patent leather trim and adorned with Abbi’s four leaf clover logo. Note: This bag is no longer available, but check out my latest post on laptop bags for Abbi’s new designs.

Cool Gadgets For Kids
For the kids (and who enjoys Christmas more than they do?), I love the Tag Reading System from LeapFrog. Intended for 4-8-year olds, the specially printed storybooks (currently over 20 titles to choose from, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Olivia, and The Little Mermaid) come with a pink and white (or green & white) “Tag Reader”, a pen-looking device that when moved across text in the books, reads them out loud to your kids.

The Nintendo DS Light in Metallic Rose is super stylish, light, and features two bright screens, wi-fi, surround sound and touch-screen technology. It’s backwards compatible too, allowing you to use Game Boy Advanced games as well.

Sweet Stocking Stuffers
Mice
The pink leopard patterned G-Cube Lux Mouse (wired) is an inexpensive way to add some sass to your home office.

HP’s wireless mini mouse (in metallic dusty pink) is the perfect “travel mouse”. It’s tiny, works on almost any surface, is designed for both left- and right-handed users (great for situations when you can’t use it on your “regular” side), and the USB receiver fits into the bottom of the mouse when not in use, making it a bit harder to lose.

External Memory
Kingston’s 8GB Traveler flash drives are pocket sized, cute, affordable, and come with an attached cap. The accompanying software lets you create a “privacy zone” on the drive – a password protected area only you will be able to access. A great idea, since flash are one of those things that people inadvertently leave behind in various places.

To store a bit more data, consider iOmega’s eGo 250GB portable hard drive (it comes in several colors, metallic Flamingo pink being one of them). At 3.5×5.2″ and 7.7 oz, it can easily fit in a pocketbook or laptop bag, and it also has what they call “drop guard”, so it can handle being banged about a bit.

If you need a lot of external memory on the go, check out Western Digital’s My Passport Essential. It’s compatible with both Windows and Mac, has a 500GB capacity, and is actually even smaller and lighter than the iOmega above: 3.1×4.9″ and 0.4 lbs.