If you'll recall, I previously gave you my fail-proof guidelines for purchasing gifts.
As promised, here are the four items I gave as Christmas gifts this year, and why they were excellent choices:
The Practical/Sentimental
What it was: Mickey Mouse bag clips
Cost: $4.46 (with Annual Pass-holder discount)
Why it was a good gift: Carly needed bag clips. As I was strolling through the World of Disney store at Downtown Disney, I stumbled upon these. Hey, Carly needs bag clips, I thought, and these have Mickey Mouse on them! And who doesn't love Mickey when he's actually being practical for once? She was excited, trust me.
The Special Treat (also arguably practical)
What it was: Peaberry coffee
Cost: $13.95
Why it was a good gift: My mom loves the peaberry coffee, and would always ask for a bag back when I had Starbucks connections (free pound a week, 40% discount!). The problem is, peaberry is relatively rare and therefore difficult to find, and Starbucks hasn’t carried it for a few years now. When I was in The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf a month or two ago, I noticed that they carried peaberry beans! Since there are no CBTLs in Seattle, I bought my mom a pound before flying home for the holidays. She is looking forward to gloating about having the coffee next time she sees her nephews.
The Sentimental/Useable
What it was: Mickey Mouse ice cream bar shirt
Cost: $19.76 (with AP discount)
Why it was a good gift: My dad loves t-shirts, and he really loves Disneyland. He also loves ice cream. But the real reason I bought this shirt was, the first time we went to Disneyland with my dad, Carly bit into one of these Mickey ice cream bars and her tooth fell out on the ground. It has been a source of family joy and an inside joke ever since. Although he didn’t really remember the story, he still loved the t-shirt.
The Re-Gift
What it was: Poster
Cost: Free
Why it was a good gift: I know what you're thinking here, but I guarantee you're wrong. This was probably the most-appreciated gift I gave this year. I received this poster as a consolation prize from a co-worker after getting laid off over a year ago. It's a super cool, hand-drawn, pen-and-ink poster print, in traditional Victorian-Gothic style, by a very talented artist. As soon as I saw it I knew Halle would like it. I always planned to get this framed and hang it on my wall, but it sat for over a year, first on my dresser, then on my kitchen table, then on the dresser again... and I kept doing nothing with it. I finally decided that if I didn't appreciate it enough to get it framed, I had better give it to someone who did before I spilled something on it and ruined it for everyone. Which brings us to Christmas morning, and the cheapest, most successful give of all.
Total Cost of Christmas
Time: 30 minutes, give or take
PPV earned: Negligible
To conclude, I didn't burn a lot of calories trying to make Christmas magical, but I also didn't burn a hole in my wallet or my sanity. I didn't get give gifts to everyone I knew, but the gifts I did give were meaningful and appreciated. I'm pretty sure no one is angry at me for leaving them off my list, and I'm pretty sure I'll find random items for other people throughout the year (oh dear, how will this be affected by my resolution?).
And yes, this is really how I spent Christmas morning.
Did you get any crappy gifts this year? Not from me, you didn't!
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