November 7, 2006 9:41 AM PST

'Tis the season to Crave: Caroline McCarthy's picks

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NOTE: From now through December, every few days a different Crave expert will be posting his or her top 10 gadget picks for the holidays. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas! Here's our first installment.

Caroline McCarthy lives in downtown Manhattan and is very, very sad that after tomorrow there will be no new "Lost" episodes until February. She can beat all three of her roommates at Pac-Man.

1. Skullcandy Ti Chick headphones. I'm going to get this out of the way right now. This is the one and only "pink" gadget I'm hoping to get my grubby fingers on this Christmas. And, really, these aren't all that pink. Skullcandy makes great headphones; they aren't exactly the sort you'd want to go running with, but they provide awesome sound when it's 2 AM and you don't want to disturb anyone but really really really want to listen to "The Information."

2. Vespa LX scooter in Sky Blue. I'm going to disregard the fact that it would probably be pretty scary to ride this around the streets of New York City. I'm also going to disregard the fact that in a few years I probably won't appreciate buying a motor scooter in sky blue. This is a hypothetical wish list, for goodness' sake!

3. Bose SoundDock iPod sound system, in black. This is definitely the sweetest iPod stereo system around. Enough said.

4. Helio Hero cell phone. Call me a hipster-wannabe, but I totally dig Helio's whole modus operandi. Unlimited text messaging, picture messaging, and mobile Web, plus fun media features? My only hesitation on this is that there are rumors that Helio will be rolling out new phones soon. Maybe I want to wait till New Year's?

5. MXC: Season 1 DVD. If you haven't seen "MXC" on the Spike TV Channel, you're totally missing out. It's short for "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge," and it consists of footage from Japanese reality challenge TV shows--which are awesome, by the way--coupled with intentionally hilarious English-language dubbing. Think "Survivor" meets "Mystery Science Theater 3000" meets old-school Nickelodeon challenge shows. Great for anyone who thinks the 11-year-olds on "Legends of the Hidden Temple" should've been smacked with real logs and chased by real alligators.

6. MacBook Pro notebook. I know, I know, everybody and their dog wants this. But I could use it. For real. Thanks to my addiction to the iTunes Music Store, I've completely exhausted the hard drive on my PowerBook. Could I go for an equally pretty laptop with a way more expansive hard drive, a remote control, and a webcam? I think so. Oh, and there's that Intel Core 2 Duo processor, too. That'd be kind of nice.

7. Dance Dance Revolution Supernova for PlayStation 2. I know DDR's been around for years, but I've never actually owned the software or the mat. It probably won't be the same as the two-player, face-to-face experience in arcades and bars, but it's still DDR. I just hope the people who live downstairs don't mind...

8. iRobot Scheduler. I have a Roomba, and it does an awesome job of cleaning the dust, dirt, and squished Goldfish crackers off the floors, but here's the problem: It's loud. The Roomba's antics have interrupted many a baseball playoff game and "Scrubs" episode, which is a major crime in my place. Consequently, I'm craving the Scheduler. This way, I can time the Roomba so that it only cleans up the apartment while nobody's at home. And what could be better than always coming home to a clean apartment?

9. Logitech Harmony 890 universal remote. Actually, there is something better than coming home to a clean apartment: being able to come home to a clean apartment and collapse on the couch with one hand in a bag of Chex Mix and the other commanding the living room with the extra-sexy Logitech Harmony 890 universal remote control. We don't cover Chex Mix here on Crave (try Chow), but universal remotes are game.

10. Numark iDJ 2 for iPods. I'm not a DJ. But in this fast-paced digital age, where Senator Ted Stevens can be a techno artist and comedian Stephen Colbert can be a black-hat mischief maker, I guess you really can be whatever the heck you want.

(Photo: Caroline's iPhoto library)

Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.