Hope you all have a good holiday season! Check the sidebar occasionally for new photos posted from my phone and hopefully I'll be able to check my email a bit during the next week.
December 2004 Archives
Betsy of 2ktog was my secret pal. She had a little capsule message that said "Your Secret Pal has been Betsy from 2KTOG! You snoop, you knew!"
Ah yes. I suspected. *BIG GRIN* and it wasn't even due to snooping. It was because chicknits, a very famous blog, linked to their blog and I visited that link and said, whoa, this is just like my secret pal. I admit I snooped a tiny bit, but this just fell into my lap. Don't hate me for it :) All this aside, Betsy sent a lot of surprises my way and my eyes haven't lost their saucer-like look yet.
Lookie!
Betsy, once again, spot on. I have the Real Simple Mag on my wishlist :)! I've wanted it for more than a year! (I hope no one purchased it for me for xmas. hehehe. We seem to do a lot of gift "claiming". Some people call shotgun. We call gifts.) The colorful tape measure can be purchased at the container store. She made me stitch markers will little bells on them! PERFECT. Now I might be able to find them when I drop them! There's a staple-less stapler. Betsy. My friends are laughing out loud right now. I'm known as "the Stapler Queen" to my friends because, well, let me say that staplers amuse me. Greatly. They're laughing even more because I love a Japanese Stationary which carries this particular type of stapler :) and all sorts of fun office gadgets (eraser sweeper cars!). Yes, the cute little book is also funny as it is Mr. Nosey. Hehe.
Thanks ever so much Betsy/Blanca. Secret Pal 3 was such a hoot. Soo much fun. Have a great holiday season! I'm still working on ideas for the alpaca silk and trying to make sure I don't drool on it. My friends agree, especially when we go to the yarn store and pet their alpaca silk, that you so rock. Funny story- my friend Robin, a total non-knitter, went to the yarn store to pick out yarn for me. Is this friendship or what? Even after I listed several books and a wishlist she still gets me the hardest gift of all- yarn. Anyhow, she's standing in this yarn store and basically is whimpering. This is funny. She knows nothing about yarn other than what we force fed her in a round-trip car ride to Vancouver from Seattle. She was whimpering in the car, then, too. Such a brave brave friend! Thanks Robin! Now I just have to figure out what to get her! (I think I know I think I know.)
Starbucks must be getting rich off the knitters who are frantically knitting around the clock. Me? I'm taking the febreeze to vegas with the yarn.
The only thing I'm better at than packing or drinking tea is shopping. If you have been shopping with me when I'm on a mission, you know this well.
So what are freecia's shopping tips for a stress-reduced season?
Online shopping
This is best done in november so you can take advantage of the free shipping offers. If you're thinking about this now and need the gift in your hands by the 24th. Well. Get your butt over to barnesandnoble.com for their free w/ $25 purchase 3 day business shipping. Tonight. Otherwise it will not be there on the 24th. Look for online retailers offering reduced/cheap expedited shipping and in-store pick up. Stores which offer in-store pick up - office depot for electronics, best buy for gadgets and cd's/dvd's, circuit city
Instore
Shopping during the holiday rush is probably not your idea of fun. Massive amounts of people which resemble the day-after-thanksgiving Walmart sale. To minimize the crowd and shortening tempers, make a list of who you need to buy for and what you'll need to buy. Also list where. Make sure you know your budget, too.
Shop when it opens or late at night. Be sure to avoid lunch hours, post-work rush, and the prime "squeeze me to death I really love it" weekends. Especially around the afternoons. Take the list with you.
You can usually get items put on hold if you know what you want. Shop online and call the local store with your list. Know the exact model, size, and colors you want for clothing. Bookstores will put aside dvds, cds, and books with a single call. Don't hunt for it yourself- let them do the work.
Doing the giftwrap dealio. Stores run out of the boxes early. Try the children's department or another less visited department for boxes. In our area, Valley Fair is much busier than Stanford and the giftboxes will be gone far before you hit the store. Try shopping at Stanford. I've found their Gap and Banana Republic to carry more sizes, colors, and be fairly neat during the holiday rush. The salespeople in Valley Fair seem indifferent and can't be bothered to help you find a specific size.
Lastly, try to be kind to the holiday staffers. They're pulling extra long shifts with lots of cleaning up. People aren't treating them the best either. Tell them they're doing a good job and you appreciate their help during the xmas rush. Thank them. Hang up your cellphone while talking to them (I've been guilty of this. They wouldn't talk on their cell while helping you as if you weren't there, would they?). Use your manners. It'll be good practice when your relatives start to talk about your weight loss/gain at family dinners.
Lastly, remember it only lasts so long. About one week and it should all be over. Unless your gift-exchange is in January. Hey, in that case, you still have time to order from an online store. Or do what we do- get together one day and go shopping together. Everyone is obligated to point out things they like and wander out of the store ever so innocently while their friends argue over who gets to buy it/put on hold. All is fair in xmas gifting.
My desk seems to have exploded. Note the random balls and swatches of yarn...
It really doesn't normally look this bad. Two of the piles are books and such that need to be filed away. Notes to be put into storage.
Yes, you do spy some new Japanese knitting books!
Pinku kindly did a swap with me and sent me cute books from Japan. They have droolmarks on them already. The one on the left is full of cute accessories, the middle is a clever clover brand pamphlet with patterns inside, and on the right is some gorgeous crochet projects. Yes, my ability to crochet is currently laughable but just you wait. I wiiiilll learn just to make the most gorgeous bag.
Lovely stamps from Japan.
Lastly, finishing up a mittenette for mama who requested white yarn. Don't look too closely, I accidentally knit two right ones except luckily, the thumb is all done through increases and not knit into the palm like some mittens are. So I decided to leave it since only a knitter would notice the mistake :)
Off to clean up this desk. Yeez. It's really bad. Comfort yarn strewn about. Then back to work.
Venus Hum CD's, Songs for Superheroes
You probably haven't heard Venus Hum unless by random chance, you spend a lot of time at Fry's when they're playing the Blue Man Group DVD :) They've got CD's on iTunes, too, so if you need a last minute gift for me, well. There ya go! I don't have any of their iTunes or CD's so you're safe in buying the iTunes or CDs. The website is giving an awesome deal on the CDs, too. Order early for CD, last minute for iTunes. How sweet is that?
Borders 20% off until 12/10
20% off just about everything including books, dvds, and cds. If you don't want to wait for Amazon or want to look the books over before buying, get them before this coupon expires on 12/10. Not just 20% off 1 item. Or use it to buy your xmas cards/calendar.
Another book I'd like for xmas. PLEASE! Or I'll get it myself as soon as I get time and cash ;) Yeah, definitely getting this one. This would be a sure bet.
