Shower Shopping

Hi All!

It has always been apparent to me that I somehow didn't get the "traditional" woman shopping gene. I have never really enjoyed shopping very much and only do it because I must. After all - I must have clothes to wear and food to eat etc., etc.

Then there are presents.

Shopping for others only intensifies my dislike of shopping. There is so much pressure involved! What if the person I am shopping for doesn't like what I pick out? I would rather not do it but . . . in our world, you just HAVE to sometimes.

Like for a wedding shower.

I am going to a wedding shower tomorrow (Chelle - if you are reading this - stop because I am going to ruin the surprise of what I got you . . .). That means that I HAD to go shopping for a shower gift. Super. I decided that after my weekly trip to the DAC I would stop at Target (one of two places the couple are registered) to pick up a gift. No sweat - in-out - done. Right? WRONG!

I got the gift registry and then spent about fifteen minutes studying it to determine what a) I wanted to purchase b) what I could afford to purchase c)where in the world it was going to be located in the store. Then I hit the aisles.

After looking at various stuff on the list which I liked and could afford . . .I wasn't too impressed. I mean - I can buy ONE oven mitt or ONE pan. That doesn't sound too exciting to open, does it? I like to open gifts with more than one thing in them. So . . . I started the hunt.

During my hunt I covered pretty much the entire store except for the food section (this is a Super Target with groceries also). I picked up a few things along the way for myself (a neat long sleeved v-neck shirt in a nice purple color, some fingerless gloves to use when on the computer in the winter, a new shower squeegee)and thought and thought about what to buy.

I finally decided to buy a small cutting board (technically a bar board) because I have a small board that I use ALL the time and love it. Then . . .I had to decide between a "good" paring knife or something else. Up and down the aisles I went. Up and down. Up and down. Have I mentioned that I really don't like shopping?

Finally, I decided to purchase the cheese cutter that Chelle had registered for. Cutting board and cheese cutter. That goes together pretty darn well.

Next - it was to the gift wrap! UGH!

Do I get a gift bag with tissue or do I get a box or just wrapping paper? What color(s)? Do I get traditional wedding stuff or more "funky (in a good way)" stuff? Finally, in desperation - I asked a fellow shopper her opinion (women are great about being supportive!). This woman even took me to an area where they had clearance stuff that was neat. Such a wonderful woman to take time from her own shopping to help me!

I picked up a bag and some tissue and then went on a hunt for something to embellish the bag with. And that led me down an entirely different set of aisles ending up in the kitchen towel area. There, inspiration struck. I picked up a set of kitchen towels in black and white (the cutting board and cheese cutter are black and white as well) and decided to use the mainly black towel as the gift bag (I will baste the sides with bright yarn) and the mainly white towels as tissue paper. The towels are wrapped in a nice, white, grosgrain ribbon which I will utilize as the handles of the bag.

Now all I have to do is to actually get that all done.

This "simple" process - picking up a shower gift - took me an hour and a half! Yuck! AND I don't have anything for the wedding yet!

Trisha

Voice Update: Still having issues with "two" and "prayer." This is not helping me maintain my positive attitude about life!