Retail Valentines Eve

I never really thought about what it is like in the stores the day before Valentines. I mean I KNOW Christmas shoping is crazy. Now I know Valentines is crazy too. Not 3 weeks worth of crazy like Christmas. But Valentines Eve crazy. The lines were long for about 3 hours straight. I was exhausted. I did notice a few facts worth mentioning.

1) There are more women buying Valentines product the day before than there are men. I am calculating the ratio to be about 10 women to every 1 man. Does this mean the men don't shop until the actual day? Or does it mean that men really are more prepared for this holiday than women?

2) Very few men buy stuffed animals as a gift to thier loved one. While 7 out of 10 women DO buy a stuffed animal, or 10. I thought that was kind of interesting.

3) Children are better behaved during the Valentines rush than they are durring the Christmas rush. I wonder if this is because we are not reminding them to "Be Good or the Valentines Cupid won't come" constantly. Worth thinking about.

4) Men do not group shop for Valentines like women do. You will see a lone man shopping and looking rather embarrased. While you will see 3 and 4 women shopping together. Kind of like when they go to the bathroom in a restraunt. They just can't go alone.

5) Valentines cards a so NOT cheap. What happened to cards that were $1.35? They are now running from $2.99 on up to $9.99. For a Card! I guess this tells you how often I buy cards these days.

6) Out of all the gifts being sold, I found the lone man buying the heart shaped box of candy and a little stuffed animal to be the most romantic. Every time one came through the line my head just screamed "What a lucky woman". This surprised me as I always thought that particular gift was so un thought out. Normal. Does this mean I now think traditional Valentines is romantic? Hmmmmm.

7) Some women give out Valentines cards like they were Christmas cards. Buying 15 to 20 cards at a time. Ok, lady, think, you can not possibly send out 20 cards to friends and family by tomorrow. The mail is not that quick. AND..... I thought Valentines was for your mate or children. NOT the entire family. Oh, and don't forget, they are not shocked when thier bill is $80.00 for said cards. I would have a heart attack.

8) Very few people buy Valentines for their animals. I rang out one lady that had rawhide hearts for her dog. A miniture poodle. Only one. Now at Christmas EVERY ONE buys gifts for their pets. Do you NOT love your pet? They deserve to feel the LOVE too. Might as well, your buying for the whole family anyway.

9) At Christmas a lot of people will tell me Happy Holidays, Happy New Year or Happy Thanksgiving. Not one person said Happy Valentines.

And the last fact I noticed on Valentines Eve.

10) I am soooooo glad I am not a fourist at this time of year. woot woot!

Treats

A mom and her daughter are checking out last night. They have, I swear, 8 boxes of Rice Krispies and about 30 bags of marshmellows. The girl was about 8 and grinning from ear to ear.

Me: "Ummmmmm Rice Krispy Treats?"
girl: "yes"
Me: "For your class"
girl: "For two classes!"

It is 8:36 pm when they came through.

Me: "Wow, that's some project. Are they due tomorrow and you didn't tell mom until tonight?" (keep in mind my daughter did this to me on numerous occasions)
girl: "No, they are due Thursday" (like that gives them oh so much more time--today is Tuesday)

I am looking at the mom like....girlfriend you got a job ahead of you. She is giving me the same look back.

Me: "That is so cool. Are you making them by yourself or is mom helping you?"
girl" moms helping"
Me: "your mom must be very nice?"
girl: "oh she IS"


Here is the good part...............

Me: "well next time you should have her help you make POPCORN BALLS...."
girl: (gets all excited) "POPCORN BALLS??????? What are those?"

Oh my god...are you kidding right now? Have popcorn balls completly disappeared from our list of treats? We explain to her what they are. She gets so excited she is jumping up and down right now.

girl: "Those would be so COOL. Can we make THOSE?"

The mom just grins and says "Next time." She gives me that BIG eyed look and I just mouth the word "Sorry" as they leave. It was all good though. The mom enjoyed the conversation as much as I did. The girl was just too cute.

But seriously folks. When DID we stop getting popcorn balls for every occasion? I remember getting them for Halloween Trick or Treating. In all different colors. They were my fav. I even made them myself at least once a month. It is a sad sad time when the young folks of our day have never seen a Popcorn Ball.

Super Excited

I am so super excited about this. Yesterday morning I decided I want a funky little Chandelier for the corner of my new living room. I went on Ebay and immediatly found this little jem. Exactly what I had pictured in my head. The auction had 9 hours left and I won. This little baby is all mine. So super excited. I am thinking I will stain the crystals with Adirondack inks. For some reason I have a blue/tealish type color in my head. I can not wait to get it. Another SCORE!

Total SCORE

As most of you know by now, I am moving. Time for me to focus on ME. I am so excited about this new change.

I want my new home to be airy, bright and funky modern. The other day I SCORED BIG TIME. I got this chair from a friend of Andi's. Renee is a home decorator and stager. She was getting rid of a lot of stuff. I got this chair for $25.00. Totally not kidding here. $25.00. Actualy I got two of them for $25.00 each. I could not believe my luck.