The Holiday Shopping Experience - Rewarding or Traumatic?
by Lee-Anne Robert
Picture this scenario! It’s December 24th, the day of Christmas Eve. On this day you should be relaxing, enjoying time with family and thinking of all the precious memories you have created throughout the year.
No, wait! It’s the last day of shopping before Christmas and you haven’t even started to do your gift shopping.
You get into your car and fight traffic all the way to the local mall, only to spend an hour trying to find a parking spot. That is if you find one at all. You enter the mall in search of the perfect gifts and there is a stampede of people. Looks like everyone else is doing last minute shopping too!
You dodge the nudging elbows and stomping feet of the crowds. You’re starting to feel claustrophobic, your stress level is starting to increase and you haven’t even begun shopping yet!
Sound familiar? To top it all off, you browse through the stores only to find that meager offerings remain. The shelves are practically empty. What happens then? You spend too much money on something that your gift recipient neither needs or wants. Their gift wasn’t chosen for them...it was chosen out of desperation.
Once again, you remind yourself that you will prepare far in advance for Christmas next year. The next Holiday Season arrives and you repeat the same traumatic shopping experience.
How many of us have waited until the very last moment to buy a gift for a loved one, friend or business associate? There is only three months left until Christmas and those days will go quickly.
Christmas is one of the most stressful events of the year. The expense of buying gifts and the pressure of last minute shopping can all take the joy out of the most joyful time of year.
Here are some tips to take the stress out of Holiday shopping this year:
1) Make a list of the people you will be buying a gift for before you go shopping. If you have a large family or friends to buy gifts for, it can get expensive. In our family, we have made the decision to buy only for the children. Another way to reduce costs is to have everyone draw a name out of a hat and buy a present only for that person.
2) Think of gift ideas for the people on your list and write them down. What are their hobbies and interests? What are their needs and wants? If you cannot come up with anything, ask the person directly for ideas. This will save you time wandering aimlessly in the mall in search of a gift and you will give a gift that your gift recipient really wants and will appreciate.
3) Buy a few extra gifts, for instance chocolates, so that you will be prepared just in case you forgot somebody or an unexpected guest arrives bearing gifts.
4) If possible, start your Holiday shopping a month or two before Christmas. It is never to early to prepare!
5) Don’t forget about online shopping! Buy your gifts over the internet. You can find most gifts online, shop at your own convenience and you won’t have to step foot in a mall.
If you follow these tips, you are on your way to a rewarding shopping experience and a less stressful Holiday Season.
We all must remember that Christmas is a joyful time of year. It’s not about the gift you give or receive but it is about cherishing the special people in your life and spending time with them. Create new traditions and memories that will be with you for a lifetime.
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About The Author
Copywrite 2004 Written by Lee-Anne Robert, owner of Cuddles ‘n Gifts at http://www.cuddlesngifts.net Check out the new Holiday and Christmas Gift Basket selection. With gifts this beautiful and classy, you will find a gift for anyone on your list!
info@cuddlesngifts.net
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The Five Best Gifts to Give Your Family
by Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
When we think of giving gifts, we usually think of things to buy for people. Yet if you think back on gifts you’ve been given, it might not be the material gifts you received that are foremost in your mind – it might be the kind of gifts that deeply touched your heart and soul. It might be various ways, other than material things, that people expressed their love to you.
There are five gifts of love that we can give to our families that can make a huge difference in their lives.
THE GIFT OF CARING AND COMPASSION
We all yearn to feel cared for, yet many of us withhold caring and compassion for others. A profound gift we can give to our loved ones is to listen with our heart, to understand and accept rather than to judge, and to s 
The Five Best Gifts to Give Your Family
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The SURGE of the URGE!
by Stanley J. Leffew
Have you ever heard the expression, "The Urge to Merge"?
It is a term relating to sexuality and marriage. The "URGE" symbolizes sexual interest, and the "MERGE" symbolizes marriage union.
We see it all around us!
Late night TV bombards us with sexual images and sensual content. Commercials that have nothing to do with sex use a sensual foundation to market to the masses. More than ever in history our minds seem to be more interested in the sex-drive channel than in channeling the sex-drive.
We call this, "The SURGE of the URGE".
Let's travel back in time about sixty years before we became so technologically advanced and started opening up the bedroom door for anyone with an appetite and "prying eyes". Many of the older The SURGE of the URGE!
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A Wedding Shower Checklist
by Claire Bowes
Bridal showers are one of many pre-wedding parties and are great fun. They are known as parties with a purpose. The purpose of a shower is to assist the couple in equipping their new home or for the bride to assemble a trousseau. Not only that, but they are a good excuse for the bride to get together with her friends and family to play hilarious games and to enjoy the food and wine.
Did you know that a trend has started for ‘couples showers’? This is sometimes termed as the ‘Jack’ and ‘Jill’ shower where you shower both the bride and groom with gifts and good wishes. Either way, if you are having a traditional shower party for just the bride, or decide to have a couples shower, then the planning and the checklist will invariably be the same. A Wedding Shower Checklist
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Victoria's Secret DISCLOSED!
by Stanley J. Leffew
SHHHHHH, don't tell anybody, but, I know the secret.
It all started with a simple shopping spree. I had decided to surprise my wife with a new purchase of special clothing essentials from every man's dreamiest of feminine wardrobe stores.
Yes, it was Victoria's Secret.
After spending a few hours there, I mean, a few minutes, something became very apparent to me. It was very obvious to anyone with a trained eye and the gift of observance. It became very apparent that I was the only man in a store mainly comprised of women who was shopping alone.
At that moment, I could sense it. Obviously, I was Ted Bundy, Osama Bin Ladin and Sadam Hussein, all rolled into one.
Now, I'm being humorous, but every man who has embarked upon Victoria's Secret DISCLOSED!
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