“If you meet up with your family over the holidays, take a family photo. Not enough families do this anymore.”
Annoyance of the Day - Gift Receipts
I hope you know where I'm going with this. What's so annoying about gift receipts? THE ABSENCE OF THEM.
(And before I go on, if you find this post selfish or crass, please don't ever get me a gift. If you're that sensitive about such a topic, I can't imagine you'd be a good gift-giver anyway.)
Now, why are people so anti-gift receipts? Those tiny pieces of paper are beautiful little angels who WANT you to enjoy the money that has been spent on you! The mere existence of them is one of the greatest advancements in our modern society. Hey! You don't like your gift? That's cool, go pick out something else you DO like and don't waste that hard-earned money that was spent on your behalf! That's all they're saying, why are they not more used?!
I'm not alluding that for every gift I get, I want a gift receipt attached to it - I'm not some sort of demon. But if you're buying someone a gift and you're asked the question, "Do you want a gift receipt with your purchase?" - why the hell is the answer ever NO?! Who has the abnormally high confidence that every gift they've ever bought has been the absolute perfect gift?
Oh, and the weirdos who give you a gift, you open it and then they say, "I have a gift receipt if you want it" - are we kidding here? Why did you not just include it in the box?! You want me to ask you for it?! I already told you that I'm NOT a demon, so no - I don't think I'll be asking you for that little piece of paper.
It's so simple. You get a gift receipt. You include with the gift. If the gift sucks, the receiver doesn't have to throw out something they'll feel badly about. They can, God forbid, GET SOMETHING THEY ACTUALLY WANT. Why is this a difficult concept?
Okay. I'm getting heated up here. I'm sorry. There are, of course, exceptions to these opinions. If you're in my family and there isn't a gift receipt with someone that I don't particularly care for - I'll probably let you know that I want to return it. And it won't be weird 'cause we're family and we can be dicks to each other without guilt. But with friends and acquaintances? That's a way harder area. Friends feel like they should know you, but such is not always the case. And telling a friend is WAY harder than telling your family.
And honestly, there have been maybe four instances in my life when I've really wished there were a gift receipt with a certain gift I've been given. I'm typically very happy whenever someone gets me anything, so I'm really just speaking generally. Gift receipts are so important. I mean, they exist - so why not give them with every gift? Unless you're buying that gift online, I really don't see why this custom hasn't caught on more.
All right, that's it. I'm sorry that you think I'm a terrible person, but someone needed to say it.
“Get Amazon Prime in November. You’ll get a thirty day free trial for any holiday shipping for Christmas gifts. But make sure to cancel it a day before the thirty days are up, so you don’t get charged.”
Holiday Decorations Box
Other than teachers, I never knew who bought holiday decorations. Little did I know that it would be ADULT ME!
I'm currently in the process of obtaining the contents for my first year-round holiday box, since this is technically the first year I've lived without roommates (I don't consider Nathan a roommate since I love him) and once you no longer have roommates - you can decorate the hell out of your home with no concern for others.
Just incase this somehow isn't clear, a holiday box is a box full of holiday decorations for all the holidays of the year. AND WE ALL SHOULD HAVE ONE IN OUR HOMES! I don't think we need to go nuts with excessive decorations, but there are such simple things you can do to make your home look more festive and warm. And the Dollaramas these days have stuff that don't necessarily look like they came from Dollarama!
The decorations don't always have to be lame signs (like the one I have above). Subtly allude to the oncoming holiday with colours or accoutrements! Look at this Easter piece I just got for $2 that I intend to put in a vase in mid-March.
You're telling me that's not gorgeous? Get out of here.
Get on this, everyone!
“I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favourite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending.”
Real Mistletoe at Trader Joe's
$2!
$2!
I've never understood why it's so hard to get your hands on real mistletoe in the month of December. A few years ago, I walked into a flower shop and asked for some and the guy's response was, "Sorry, this isn't 1943." Seriously! I laughed, but cried a little inside, too. WHY IS THIS SO HARD TO FIND?!
You can imagine my delight when I saw that Trader Joe's packages and sells them for $2 a box. TWO DOLLARS A BOX! I wish I'd have found this out earlier 'cause then I would've bought a bundle and shipped them to all my people. Is there not a more romantic sight to be seen in your household than this hanging from above?!
Love, love, love it. Then again, you already know that I'm a big fan of any kind of mandatory romance.
Christmas Season Guff
Let's get one thing straight. I start Christmas on November 1st. I'M SORRY. I happen to have some valid reasons, too, so shut up and hear me out.
- Winter is long and cold, agreed. So doesn't it make sense to make the most of the holidays for the maximum amount of time (ie. November 1st - December 25th) since, well, come January 1st we, as a human race, have NOTHING to look forward to until SPRING?! THREE MONTHS OF GARBAGE WEATHER WITH NOTHING FUN IN SIGHT?! Can't I bask in a loving, warm, Christmas-y feeling for the maximum amount that should be socially acceptable by now?
- Christmas is (and should) be mostly about giving. Is it not too early to put a little bit of extra thought into whatever you're giving people as gifts? You need that extra time! You need that November time.
- I'm Canadian and we already had our Thanksgiving, so our next holiday technically is CHRISTMAS. It's the next one on our horizon! Deal with it. I'm putting up lights, bitch.
- So you're telling me you'd say no to a Christmas cookie that was served to you in November? Yeah, right. You're gonna eat that damn cookie and we both know it.
Let me also get another thing clear, I do not pump any sort of Christmas music this early because, personally, I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas music all the time. However there's no need to be so utterly hate-filled when you're out and about and you happen to hear it. Get out of the streets/stores/world if you hate it so much! Online shop! 'Cause it's Christmastime, baby. And the music is gonna blare.
And no, I haven't put up my Christmas tree yet. Nathan said it's "too early". My Dad would say the same thing to me every November 1st. One day, dammit. One day I'll show these men how things need to get done.
Anyway, my point here? LET ME START CHRISTMAS WITHOUT ANY OF YOUR GUFF, please.