Ahhhh, what better time than a cold afternoon to throw on an Aggie football T-shirt (and a sweater!), sip on some cocoa from a law school mug and read one of the newest books from the UC Davis faculty? Maybe while your dog curls up at your feet or your cat nestles in your lap?

Need something to nibble on? How about some dried fruit or organic popcorn from a California Harvest Gift Box? And, as dinnertime approaches, maybe some bread dipped in UC Davis olive oil?

The Aggie T-shirt, the law school mug, Professor Charlie Bamforth’s book (Beer Is Proof God Loves Us), the California Harvest Gift Box and UC Davis olive oil products are readily available for yourself or to give as gifts, as a way to share your Aggie Pride.

And all of these items have been talked about on the UC Davis Facebook page since the day after Thanksgiving. Hundreds of people have clicked through for additional information.

(You are on your own for the dog or cat — although we can provide the opportunity to have your pet get his or her picture taken with Santa Paws! — as a benefit for the UC Davis-run clinic that provides care for pets belonging to homeless people. Read more below.)

Bowls, body butter and bugs

Look for more Aggie Pride gift ideas on the UC Davis Facebook page in the days to come: clothing for Aggie moms and dads, wine glasses from the Department of Viticulture and Enology, California Aggie Alumni Association memberships and alumni license plates, the UC Davis cruiser bicycle and olive oil body butter, to name a few.

Other items to be featured include bowls and cutting boards made out of salvaged wood from the campus.

Most of these items are available through the campus bookstore, in person and online.

The UC Davis Facebook page also will feature some gifts from the Bohart Museum of Entomology: honeybee post earrings and scorpion suckers. The earrings, by the way, come in a bamboo box engraved with the museum's name and "University of California, Davis," under an etching of the state insect, the California dog-face butterfly).

The museum also carries an insect collecting kit that received a mention recently on a Martha Stewart website, which included the kit in a listing of "Gifts for the Naturalist."

"Perfect for a serious bug lover, this insect-collecting kit includes a butterfly net and mounting equipment," reads product description on Stewart's “Living in the Family Room” blog. “Visit the Bohart museum’s resource page at bohart.ucdavis.edu for collecting tips.”

The museum is in 1124 Academic Surge. Regular hours are 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Special Saturday hours, from 1 to 4 p.m., are coming up Dec. 11. See separate story.

California Harvest Gift Boxes

The California Harvest Gift Boxes are an annual treat from women's crew — which sells the boxes as a fundraiser.

The rowers this year have gathered chocolate, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, garlic, honey, almonds, dried fruit, organic raisins and organic popcorn — all from California, many from local producers with UC Davis connections. The gourmet goodies come packed decorative wooden boxes with the Aggie athletics logo etched on the cover.

The price is $36, for boxes that you pick up in Davis. Or, for the same price, you can have the boxes delivered in Davis or Sacramento. The boxes can be mailed at additional cost.

For a California Harvest Gift Box order form, click here (and download the PDF), or contact rowing coach Carissa Adams, (530) 867-1494 or cradams@ucdavis.edu. The rowing club can accommodate recharges, for departments wishing to buy the boxes for official UC business purposes.

Photos with Santa Paws

Veterinary students organize this annual event, scheduled this year from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12, at the Arden Animal Hospital, 1823 Fulton Ave., Sacramento. You can arrange an appointment by calling the Arden vet hospital, (916) 485-5412; walk-ins also are welcome.

Second-year veterinary student Brendan Boostrom, fundraiser coordinator, said a $25 donation will cover the cost of the photo shoot and one image in a holiday card, plus free access to the photographer's website, for downloading your pet's photo.

The Santa Paws event also will include the sale of homemade pet treats.

Proceeds go to the Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Homeless. Students set up and run the clinic the second Saturday of every month, at a location next to Sacramento Loaves & Fishes, which provides services for homeless people.

In another holiday project each year, veterinary students work with volunteers from the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital to assemble gift "baskets" for the pets that visit the Mercer clinic.

This year's distribution is scheduled for Dec. 11 — and donations are welcome. See separate story.

More information

“Wrap up some Aggie Pride for the holidays” (Dateline UC Davis, Nov. 19, 2010)

"From olive oil to Twain: UC shops have holiday gifts aplenty" (UC Office of the President, Dec. 1, 2010)