Ron Perelman may be selling his 190-foot yacht for $67 million, but the billionaire mogul isn't dry-docking the ship until a buyer comes along: Daniel Benedict and Andrew Saffir report that they spent New Year's Eve aboard the "beyond chic" Ultima III off the coast of St. Bart's. "It's the only place we ever want to be on New Year's Eve," the duo tell Fashion Week Daily. Take heart, gentlemen: If the economy continues to spiral downward, Perelman should still be in possession of the boat to ring in 2010. [FWD]

You certainly have to take advantage of the city's free Christmas tree recycling program if you don't feel like it, but would it be too much to ask to avoid tossing your tree into oncoming traffic? [Bowery Boogie]

A Very Noel Christmas [NYM/Daily Intel]

It's amusing to watch retailers squirm and cry about disappointing holiday sales. What part of "we don't have money" don't they understand? That's what happens when you balance an economy on consumerism and debt!

Anything homemade or stolen, as predicted? Anything howlingly inappropriate? Did people totally cheap out this year and use the economy as an excuse?

Holiday cards seem to be a little less popular now that being eco-friendly is so trendy, you can just as easily email your seasonal greetings, and these days there aren't quite as many people interested in spending $2,000 engraving their names on cards that will be tossed into the trash precisely 30 seconds after they're removed from their envelopes. But the practice lives on, especially with certain couples who'd like to maintain some semblance of a healthy marriage, and disgraced public figures who'd really like everyone to know they're still alive and well and keeping a stiff upper lip. After the jump, a random collection of cards sent out this year by a bunch of celebrities, politicians, and the odd porn magnate.

• A list of spots where you can save on stress and dine out on Christmas. [NYM]
• Tips on how to avoid food poisoning at Grandma's house this year. [NYDN]
• Frank Bruni checks in on Tom Colicchio's Tuesday Dinner and Brian Bistrong's Braeburn in today's Times. [NYT, NYT]
• Is champagne too ostentatious given current events? Try punch. [NYT, NYT]
• Just in case you feel like skipping ahead to New Year's Eve, here's a complete rundown of events planned for the big night. [Citysearch]

Stephanie Seymour playing with her daughter on the beach in St. Barts ... Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn leaving the Ritz in Paris ... Hilary Swank standing outside a ski lodge in Aspen ... Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon walking around Aspen in ski gear ... Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber packing up their SUV with son Alexander and baby Samuel ... Alicia Keys laying by the pool in Australia ... and Gwyneth Paltrow going out for the night with Stella McCartney and Madonna in London.

Just in case one list wasn't enough, we present to you a second roundup of what a bunch of celebrities (Robert De Niro, Amy Winehouse), socials (Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Amanda Hearst), art moguls (Larry Gagosian, Aby Rosen), and the occasional billionaire (Jonathan Tisch), and publicist (Nadine Johnson) have planned for the holidays. The full list—which is based on various press accounts, TV interviews, and the excellent research of blogs like Park Avenue Peerage—is after the jump.

"It's a question that many people have on their minds this season: Does spiking the homemade eggnog safeguard it against salmonella?" A: Who cares! [NPR]

If you're like us, you've long given up watching the televised Yule Log for want of a truer orange fire, flamier flames, and more textured firewood. Finally, Santa has the high-definition holiday blaze for you.

You may be planning to stay home this holiday season with a bottle of vodka and a fistful of Xanax and have little more to look forward than the soft glow of the Yule Log on WPIX, but needless to say other people have more exciting plans in store. A totally random (and occasionally jealousy-inducing) roundup of vacation destinations after the jump.

Newsday, the little Long Island paper that couldn't, just laid off 100 staffers. And they told the union: On the way out, take your damn holiday "food drive bins" with you. Bah humbug:

Fox Business Network's Christmas card is here! And their nemesis, CNBC screamer Jim Cramer, appears as the Grinch. They hate him because he works at a network people actually watch. Click for big pic:

Last week, we dialed up a few luxury hotels in places like Aspen and Vail to see how they were faring this holiday season amid the recession. The abundance of rooms didn't strike us as a very encouraging sign, especially since many of them had already slashed room rates compared to previous seasons. But that was two weeks before Christmas—maybe there would be a rush of well-heeled travelers who would take advantage of the low prices at the last minute? With Christmas Eve just a week away, we thought we'd check back in and see if business had picked up at all.

The Spitzers' Hopeful Holiday Card [NYDN]

It's not always easy for young children of different faiths to distinguish the singular pleasures of Christmas from those of Chanukah. Now, thanks to Adam Sandler, the distinction is clearer than ever.

With this "holiday" card, Fox is again on the wrong side of the "War On Christmas" it's so worried about. And apparently this is supposed to totally make up for smearing all those reporters:

Time Warner may seem like a grinch laying off thousands of staffers less than two weeks before Christmas, but the company isn't lacking holiday spirit entirely: Time Warner Cable is giving all employees (as well as customers who request one) a pin-up calendar featuring its cable repairmen in a variety of suggestive poses. Just what you've been waiting for, we're sure. [NYDN]

Everyone in Real-America liked Christmas a lot, but Hitch, who lived just north of Real-America, did not. So he drank until ill and drank until iller, and spilled on his Christmas card from Phyllis Diller!