on Shopping - I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas shopping. See if this description fits for you...
In some respects I hate Christmas Shopping - mainly because I'm a little bit claustrophobic, or maybe its enocholophobic. I find them confusing. I'm not afraid of small spaces like elevators or closets. I'm not afraid of people or even large crowds of people. It's the combination I find disturbing - large crowds of people in tight spaces. Which is why I don't shop Black Friday at the Mall. And why when I go to convention halls, I pass right by the booths that have large numbers of people in them. At CK Convention, you can pretty much assume that the booth with all the women elbowing past each other has the best scrapbooking stuff - or the best prices on some gotta-have-it item - but there is no deal great enough for me to join that party! And should I accidentally find myself enveloped by that party, I get a headache, feel like I can't breathe, and immediately search for the nearest "out" where I can find an aisle with some s-p-a-c-e to breathe. I admire the women who can forge into the melee and come out victorious with that great gotta-have thing. I'm not one of them.
What I LOVE about Christmas Shopping. That rare instance when I can find the perfect gift for someone. And even better if it happens to be on sale. I can go into a store having no idea what I'm looking for and, if I am lucky that day, find the perfect item beckoning to me from a shelf. This year I stumbled into a half-price sale at a gift shop (Hallmark type store).
Beyond finding the perfect thing, what really gives me thrills & chills when it comes to Christmas Shopping is finding the deals. Yes, I'm a bargain shopper. With my own daughters, I rarely have the opportunity to find that perfect something. Their tastes in clothing are too specific and individual. Ditto with music, jewelry, or anything else that teenage girls enjoy. So I shop from their lists. And when I can score something off the list at a great price, well heck, that just makes my day. For example - p.j. pants - original price $29.50 a pair. Ouch. On sale at Aerie for $20 a pair. Better. With the 40% off coupon that I've been saving for just this purpose, $12 a pair. Score!
My best find so far this season:
Fuzzy Socks. This fun little footwear was originally priced at $12.50 PER PAIR! Are they insane? I would never even consider spending that amount on a single pair of socks, regardless of how cute. But at 70% off, they were $3.75 a pair. Much more reasonable. Take three pairs to checkout. Hand over a store gift card and ask sweetly "could you see if there is any balance left on this card?" Understand, I've literally had this card in my wallet for over a year without knowing if there was any money on it or not. Turns out it had $9.79 on it (that's like found money to me!) My total out-of-pocket for 3 pair of fuzzy socks - $1.46. SWEET! You've just gotta love it when that happens.
6 comments:
Agreeing whole-heartedly with your post!!
And grats on the socks. :o)
I don't think of it as a phobia, but I'm not fond of being in those shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, either. Ick.
And bargains make me feel like the shopping queen! This year, we bought suits for each of our oldest sons. On sale at Macy's on Black Friday (the men went; I coordinated the trip with coupons) for $159 for a $500 suit. When we went back at the end of the week to pick the suits up, we were offered a deal to open a store card and save 45% on all purchases that day, and they told us they would re-ring the suits to retroactively give us another 45% off! I'll be closing out the extra store card pretty much ASAP, but dang, it sure was worth the bother!
I love those socks!! I want some!! :-)
I don't do so well in crowds either. And if I haven't eaten recently enough, watch out. I can get really mean and weird if I'm hungry, crowded and anxious. And if I have to wear a coat, but it's hot because we're inside. Oh, dear. I really don't like to go shopping! Online shopping has rescued me this year! Unfortunately, there are some things you just can't get online easily, so back to the stores I go tomorrow.
Good deals! I love warm & fuzzy socks from LMM. And the S'more ornaments, love them & collect - even got a singing one that sits on my bookshelf and dances, lol.
Those socks are great...and I just love a bargain....which they definately were!!!!
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