Sister and I set out this afternoon on a mission to buy gifts for grandma, cousin, and father at the most unpleasant place in the world, the mall.
Mission #1: Grandma’s Gift Card for Aladdin’s Eatery: we committed a huge fail, buying one $30 gift card and one $20 gift card. We thought we’d get a $10 bonus card, but the rule was buy ONE $50 card, get the $10 card. So now we have a $20 gift card and no one to give it to. Partial success.
Mission #2: Exchange underwear purchased by Mom at Aerie because they were all the wrong sizes. Downfall: everything in the store was 40% off. Sister managed to only exchange the underwear. I bought myself yoga pants because they ended up being $17.70 & I’ve had that on my list for a long time.
Detour #1: Pacsun. Found Olive Green Corduroys on the Clearance Rack for $11.99, another thing that had been on my list for a while.
Detour #2: Hot Topic. Bought noise-canceling headphones that have cupcakes on them for $24 after discounts. Did I need them? Not really. Did I want them? Heck yes. And for the record, they are better than the pair I’ve been using since 2008…
Detour #3: H&M. I saw a dress on the mannequin and I wanted to try it on. However, they did not have any left in my size. BUT here we accomplished Mission #3 and found an adorable sweater to give to our cousin.
Mission #4: Gifts for Dad: strolling through JCPenney on the way back to the car we found him gray corduroy pants and a blue fleece all on sale. Total cost $29. Steal!
Although we accomplished all of our missions, here is my grinchy proposal: eliminate Christmas gift-giving. It feels like an obligation and I HATE it. Birthdays should be gift-giving holidays, and Christmas should be a give gifts to yourself and hang out with your friends and family kind of holiday. I don’t say this only because I found it so easy to buy for myself during the mall trip today, but because at this point I am not even excited about gift-giving or any gift-receiving. My favorite things about the holidays are seeing people (ie. yesterday’s holiday party) and dressing up. Buying gifts is stressful, wrapping them is stressful, receiving them is stressful. Holidays should not be stressful.
