FMM: Holiday Shopping

Going back to work today for the start of a very busy week -- major evaluation of case files, and the one colleague who shares my case load is out while her mother is very ill.  Yikes!  But the days off were nice, though I did do some emailing and stuff to help take a bit of the load off today.

I figured it was a good idea to choose a ready-made topic since it's Monday!

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Friend Makin’ Mondays: Holiday Shopping

1. Do you like to shop? Not really.  My clothing is fairly old b/c I really hate buying new stuff.  I'll even have stuff altered when needed to avoid having to shop again.  It just takes so long to buy clothes and I hate it.  And I've delegated grocery shopping to my husband, so I don't have to shop much at all, except around the holidays. 
2. Have you started shopping for Christmas gifts yet? Yes, I enjoy the holidays A LOT more when I've started shopping well before Thanksgiving. If I have time today, I'll do some cyber Monday shopping! 
3. Did you shop on Black Friday?  If so, what did you buy?  Nope.  I went to yoga in the morning and we spent most of the day doing some major cleaning around the house.  Like pulling everything out of our walk-in pantry to reorganize and scrub the floor, etc.  Then Saturday we did our holiday decorating, and Sunday we went to see friends.  We had dinner out on Fri and Sat, and lunch out on Sunday, but no shopping all weekend.  
4. List a few of your favorite stores.  Container Store!  I have too much stuff and I always like putting it in smaller boxes for some reason.  Also like Crate & Barrel, Nordstroms and Nieman's I suppose.  I like Coach and Sephora too.  And of course my fave local running store.  But I'm really not a big shopper. 
5. What is the last thing you purchased for yourself (food and drinks excluded?)  I went ahead and paid for another month of heated yoga on Saturday!  I can't even remember before that.  Probably gas for my car?  I bought a weighted vest for working out about a week ago.  And I did shop for myself in Sept or Oct and I got a red skirt (which I popped a button off of the first day I wore it, and is now in line to either get the button sewn on by me or taken somewhere else to get it sewn on, and this is unlikely to happen anytime soon) and a green short-sleeved top.  I will purchase more holiday cards soon. 
6. Do you prefer to shop in-store or online?  Online for gifts, in-store for clothing for myself.  It's too hard to find clothes that look good on me and fit well online. Plus I like to feel the fabrics...
7. If you could purchase one thing that you don’t need at all for yourself today, what would it be?  Well, my purchase of choice is almost always airline tickets -- next trip will be Mardi Gras, then for the marathon at the end of March, then China in the fall.  That's probably why I don't like to shop much -- I'd rather save the money for travel.  But in terms of buying something for immediate consumption, today I'd buy some awesome dress for work and some yoga shorts for tonight (I've been wearing running shorts).  
8. Does your significant other shop with you?  Do they love it/hate it? Since I don't really shop much, no he doesn't really go with me I don't think, though he has before and he hasn't complained.  I think if I were a frequent shopper, he might not enjoy it, but since it's rare, he's a good sport when I ask. 
9. Do you shop at thrift stores?  I did in grad school, but I think I feel too guilty to do it now.  If 15% of Americans are relying on food stamps to feed themselves and their families, I feel like I need to be donating to thrift stores and not shopping there.  I'm in a very fortunate place in my life and of course I don't want to waste money, but I've thought of thrift stores as being designed to help those in need, and I can't say I'm in need. 
10. When you’re holiday shopping, do you make lists?  Kind of.  I'll write down ideas as they come to me (usually well before the holidays), and I'll write down what I've already purchased, but basically I just keep lists in my head or have the lists people give me. 

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