One week till Christmas- noooooo! I want the season to last forever! But here we are. Tomorrow is my last day off before the big day, and I have a LOT to do! But first…
Five or six days ago a pile of packages arrived on our doorstep. Assuming they were all things I had ordered for the kids, I put them into the closet. The days passed, and meanwhile I was thinking, “Man, my Secret Santa is kind of a slacker! Weren’t we supposed to mail our presents by the 7th? I haven’t gotten anything!”
Then today I went to wrap all the presents I had hidden away in the closet and- you may have guessed where this is going- one of them was for ME. From my Secret Santa, who turned out to be… BIRCHIE!!!!! Look at this amazing mug:
…and all that Earl Grey tea! I love it so much, and it will make the transition from holiday mugs back to everyday mugs much less painful. Thank you Birchie, and thank you to San for making the Secret Santa swap possible.
Meanwhile, on Sunday my daughter wanted to go to a yard sale. She had heard they had a lot of “vintage” and “goth” clothing. Well, okay!
I thought of Elisabeth and her amazing thrifting abilities. We ended up spending $65 and got: a sweater and two shirts for me (do I need to clarify that these were not “goth”?), two pairs of jeans, a hoodie, five shirts, a ton of jewelry and a purse for my daughter. It was amazing!
The bad news is, Christmas will now have to be canceled. Honestly, the things we got on Sunday are nicer than the things my daughter is getting for Christmas! AND, I wasn’t done shopping for her- I was going to get her some clothes to round out her gifts. Now I feel like that would be pointless. Arg. Bad time for a yard sale.
The good news is, I found molasses!!!
Un-cancel Christmas! Gingerbread men will be baked! And we will have our annual cookie decorating party on the 24th. Phew.
On tap for today- first, an eight mile “long” run. Then getting bagels (to be frozen until Festivus.) Bath and Body Works for three wick candles (they’re on sale, and will be gifts for our guests on Christmas Eve.) Do you think the mall will be crowded? Naaaaah. (Haha.) I still need stocking stuffers for my son (the most impossible one to shop for) and some weird odds and ends, like a disposable tablecloth for the cookie decorating. And… I have to FINISH AND SEND MY CARDS.
Wish me luck!
Do you wish time would slow down, or are you eager for Christmas to get here?
Top photo by freestocks on Unsplash
31 Responses
Hooray, I am so glad you received your Secret SANta Swap package (after it sat in your closet LOL) and what a sweet surprise it was from Birchie. I’ve been loving all the Secret SANta Swap postings so far… it makes me happy that you’re all making each other happy <3
Yes, I love Secret Santa exchanges so much! It really makes the season even more special.
Love the mug! It’s so cute. And look at all that Earl Grey tea.
Jenny, I hope you know how excited I am about your yard sale (thrifted) finds!!!!!!!! Golds stars to you AND your daughter for all the great finds. I have a post coming tomorrow about what sorts of things we thrift at Christmas (to gift), so the timing of your post makes me extra delighted.
Yay for molasses. Thank goodness Christmas doesn’t have to be cancelled after all <3
Yes, thrifted or yard sale clothing is the way to go. Everything is in great condition. OH, and I forgot to mention that for the $65 my daughter also got a REALLY NCIE DRESS that she’s planning to wear to Homecoming next year!
Lovely gift- I LOVE earl grey tea! And those yard sale finds sound amazing, although the timings not ideal haha!
Hooray for molasses and your cookie adventures part 2!
I’m still sending my Christmas cards this week too 🙂
Ha, of course I’m not done with mine! Hopefully they will still get there by Christmas… or Boxing Day perhaps?
Birchie knows you well! I love the mug.
Yay for thrifting!! I love the idea of a yard sale – it’s a win-win-win for everyone: the seller, the buyer, the environment. So cool that you found so much good stuff!
When is Festivus again?
Festivus is the 23rd! And yes- I was also happy because the seller really wanted to get rid of that stuff. So everyone was happy.
That sounds like an amazing yard sale haul! Hopefully your daughter will still end up liking what you got her for Christmas!
The week before Christmas always ends up being super busy. I only have two more days of work but then once I get up to my parents I have to wrap all the gifts I had shipped there, we are doing a mini celebration on Saturday with my sister and her fiancé since they will be staying with his parents over the holidays, I have an in person PT appointment on Monday and then it will finally be Christmas! I’m excited for it all but I know it’ll go by too quickly!
It always goes by way too quickly! Oh well- I’m determined to keep up the festive spirit at least till New Years.
Well I am just tickled pink that my gift decided to “hide” and make itself into a bigger surprise. There is a lot going on at this time of year.
I am planning to send Christmas cards…soon. What can I say, I have been honoring the Canada Post strike by not crossing picket lines.
I haven’t done any thrifting for a good long while, but it seems like I’m missing out!
Hahahaha… I’m using that excuse too. I’m not a strike breaker!
Great mug.
I’m too busy working to think about Christmas.
But I keep hitting Amazon for more granddaughter gifts.
Dinner party tomorrow and also sat and Sunday.
No time for cookies.
Well, thank goodness for Amazon. I’m still ordering things! I’ll have some wrapping to do on the 24th.
That mug is adorable.
Dang, Jenny–I’m so disappointed you didn’t get Goth sweaters and shirts :)!
Ha ha, I know. What was I thinking? I’m so boring.
I WAS ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT ABOUT THE MOLASSES.
Whew! So that’s solved. Also glad you clarified that your clothing items weren’t goth, I was wondering if you were embracing a whole new look!
Birchie’s Secret Santa gift is perfect! I love it. Also, I totally can see how it would get hidden, I can see myself just hiding away boxes like that too.
Yes, there would have been a lot of disappointed people around here if we had no gingerbread. And, no- I don’t think at the age of 58 I”ll be embracing goth.
That is a lovely, positive vibe mug. So cute. I love that you both scored great stuff at the yard sale. I love buying stuff 2nd hand, but rarely make the time (unless we are talking about FB Marketplace – which I love to hit up when I’m shopping for something specific like sound makers) and don’t know the best 2nd hand places near me. There certainly aren’t yard sales in these here parts this time of year. I’m in a similar boat as far as having a kid get a few things in advance of Christmas . . . Kay and Rae received their gifts from their social worker yesterday. I GAVE the woman ideas, but didn’t remember what ideas I’d given her until the girls opened their gifts. I was like, OOF, I NEED TO ADJUST MY SHOPPING PLAN. Eek. It’s fine. I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not done shopping, so I can adjust. I’m in the ‘wishing time would stand still’ mode. Way behind. My unexpected trip to Notre Dame Monday night to rescue my kid from her test anxiety was a set back in terms of time I won’t get back. Both Tank and Reg are home today and ready and willing to be put to work. Thank goodness.
Oh good- PUT THEM TO WORK! It’s time to start delegating. And- gifts are so hard. I don’t know about these people who finish all their Christmas shopping in October. People change their minds!!!
I’m glad that you tracked down some molasses. If we were neighbors (wouldn’t that be amazing??) I would have given you mine. I bought some awhile ago to make baked beans and have not touched it since! But no one else in my house like gingersnap/gingerbread cookies, etc. I should bring it to my mom after Christmas (assuming it hasn’t expired but it must have a long shelf life!!).
I am kind of ready for Christmas to be here. Every morning when we wake Taco up, he asked if Santa has brought his presents yet…. Kind of tired of the whole ‘no, it’s not Christmas yet, it’s X days away’ conversation. Ha. But then I want time to really slow down. I have the Thur and Fri off after Christmas and we’ll be up at my parents which I am very much looking forward to as my little sister’s family will be there. Her oldest is a couple of months younger than Taco and they haven’t seen each other since a year ago September!
Can I recommend the Curious George Christmas movie? I think it’s called “A Very Monkey Christmas” or something like that. George keeps waking up the man with the yellow hat, thinking it’s Christmas, and they make some sort of wall calendar so George can keep track of the days. It’s a pretty funny movie- we still watch it every year!
We have watched that one a couple of times already and it is so good! Paul has sort of outgrown it but Taco is loving it! The “Are you ready for Christmas Eve to Come” song is very catchy and gets stuck in my head!
I have to admit that I am slacker lady at work this week. I have off from 12/21 all the way until 1/2 (combo of weekends, holidays, personal days) and I cannot contain myself. WHAT WILL I DO WITH MYSELF with so much time?! I’m going to hang out with Zelda, bake, and sleep in. Those are my big dreams.
Oooooh I’m so envious. That’s what I would do with time off. And read, of course.
Aww, I love that mug! What a great phrase! I agree that hitting the jackpot at a yard sale/ thrift store is so exciting. I don’t frequent either of those places often, and I feel like I generally have “bad luck” with them, but I can absolutely see how awesome it would be to get a bunch of like new/ cool stuff for really cheap!! I have my cards sitting here but have not addressed nor stamped them yet… ugh. Need to find time! And still need to bake some cookies… and finish wrapping… and will need to get groceries again before everyone comes back on the 23rd.
My present wrapping has gotten less and less fancy. I’ll have the straggler gifts to wrap on the 24th and those will be completely slapped together. Oh well! And, I still have cookies to bake. I keep trying to remind myself that there’s still time…
Love that mug and the quote! I am sucker for mugs and quotes. And your favorite tea stocked up? how nice!
I’m looking forward for our new Zealand trip to enjoy our last family holiday in this region, on the road, in nature, with my loved people, hopefully also some mind relaxation (my mind is a spinning wheel lately with so many planning things to do).
I love the mug!! I’m both overwhelmed and kind of at peace with where I’m at, haha! My cards will be late and that’s ok. We inventoried LM’s gifts and found them all from various hiding places, so that’s a win. I work one more day in 2024 (Monday) so I’m on the home stretch! I can’t wait to bake some cookies and chill out!
Oh, that mug is perfect! I love it. What I love about these mug swaps is now we can think about the person who sent them when we drink out of the mugs. It’s a nice sentiment!
I can’t believe Christmas is NEXT WEEK. That’s crazy to me. I’m doing a lot of Christmas magic over the next few days so I’m going to try to be present and revel in it all, and not think about Thursday.
You just reminded me that I wanted to try my hand at gingerbread cookies this season! I need to figure out the batter for that.
What a cute mug. I bet it will bring you joy year round.
Also congrats on the successful yard sale shopping.