It's January, and this means a number of things to different people..
To some, it's all about diets, fitness, and giving up eating anything that even remotely tastes nice.
To others, it's about reading self help books, signing up for Yoga and focusing on their Dharma.
And to the rest of us, it simply means that we need to buy a new calendar.
Buying a new calendar may sound simple (especially when most of us use Google Calendar anyway), but choosing the right one can be hard. But, never fear, I am here to help. Here are my picks for the best calendars for 2011:
Basically, this calendar is so absurd, it's awesome. It pretty much is what it says...gratuitous shots of (mostly) topless men holding bunnies, lambs and puppies. But, the best part (yes, better than six packs and kittens) is that all the animals featured in the calendar are in foster care, and available for adoption - as well as partial proceeds of the calendar going to the SPCA and other non-profit animal rescue organizations.
Hot Guys and Baby Animals 2011, $14.99 plus tax & shipping.
This calendar is essentially the same as the Hot Guys and Baby Animals, with less baby animals and 100% more Betty White. There's nothing to not like about this calendar, especially considering all of Betty Whites's royalties earned from the calendar will support the Morris Animal Foundation. Yay animals! Yay Betty!
Betty White Calendar 2011, $6.49 on Amazon or £7.20 on Amazon.co.uk
Shot by American celebrity photographer Mark Seliger, the "Falling in Love with Italy" theme of this years Lavazza calendar is pretty spiffy. It's cheeky and playful, while still capturing the essence of an Italian love story, and, of course, coffee. Plus, it's bloody massive, and works more like a piece of art in your office rather than a calendar, which can be both good and bad.
Unfortunately, this calendar is only available to Lavazza's clients. But if you can manage to track one down (and/or steal one) you'd be one lucky cow.
The mobile phone service and online community giffgaff has created a 12 month calendar for 2011, featuring "hot blogger" in London. Yes, I'm in it, but no, that's not (the only reason) why I'm telling you about it. While staring at bloggers you've never met for the next year may not sound interesting, the fact that giffgaff are donating all proceeds from this calendar to Cancer Research UK is pretty damn cool. Plus, it sits right on your desktop and features some of BitchBuzz's favorite bloggers, including the team from The Londonist, Vikki Chowney, and Ms. Marrmite Lover!
Hot Bloggers Charity Calendar, £5 on giffgaff's website