Shopping Season

December is well and truly here, which means it's time to get out the Christmas sweaters and hit the stores to do some shopping, right?

Do you like to shop? I mean besides fabric shopping, because I already know the answer to that question--that's a little like asking if you like to breathe! Most of the time, I'm not much of a shopper. I could go clothes shopping once, maybe twice, a year and be perfectly happy. And it sort of annoys me sometimes that we quilters can't just keep wearing denim for the rest of our lives, because that seemed kind of simple. Judging by the fact that it's a lot harder to find denim--other than pants--in stores these days, I guess it's kind of gone out of fashion.

I like shopping for stuff for the house better, but there's a limit to that. And thrift store shopping doesn't count--that's not shopping; that's treasure hunting! Usually, though, I get pretty excited about shopping for Christmas decorations, but for some reason, this year I'm just not feeling it. Maybe I have enough stuff. Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind, I'm thinking about the shaky economy. Maybe it just hasn't hit me yet. But for the last couple days, I've been thinking I needed a few new candles. And I had in my mind the kind of candles I wanted--two large round ball candles for the mantle; a couple "root candles" for the tall candlesticks on the mantle (I finally figured out what the candles I wanted were called at least!); and maybe one or two of those nubby textured candles.

So, after work I headed to William Glen. Once I got there, I decided to scope out the William Glen Christmas Store and Clearance Center first, which is located in a separate building across the parking lot. As I got to the door, I saw the the store would be closing in 10 minutes. Humm. Not good timing. And what's up with stores closing that early during this time of the year, anyway?

Seriously, I don't think I've ever been able to go into the William Glen Christmas Store and not buy something, but tonight that's exactly what happened. And, of course, there was no time left to go over to the "big" William Glen store. So, instead, I headed over to the 100 Dollar Store (aka Target) to see what they might have.

And for once, I was terribly disappointed at Target. Very few things were on sale, and what WAS on sale wasn't discounted much. The selection wasn't what I've been used to seeing in the past either. I left Target with only some candy (for the jar I keep at my desk for the girl boss and a little supply to keep the energy flowing in the Sweat Shop--the essentials!) and a pair of slippers (because my old ones aren't far from falling apart).

On I drove to Kohl's, still in search of candles. Kohl's was better--at least I found the round candles I wanted. The root candles--well, maybe I'll just order those on line. The nubby candle? Probably not going to turn up this year. I also came away from Kohl's with a new top for work, a new nightgown, and yet another pair of slippers (because I liked THIS pair better than the first pair I found). Oh, and this kind of fun candle that I thought was well suited for the Sweat Shop--

You know what, though? Kohl's also didn't have the selection they had last year. And on top of that, I didn't think the quality of the merchandize at either Kohl's or Target was what it's been in the past--which isn't exactly top of the line but is normally just fine for the price. At least Kohl's had better sale prices. I keep hearing on the news about merchants offering deep discounts and doing whatever they can to entice consumers, but I sure wasn't feeling very enticed tonight. And you know what else I didn't see? Christmas sweaters! Have they gone the way of denim?!

How about you? Have you hit the stores this season? Noticed any difference? I wonder whether it might just be my mood this year that's coloring my opinions, so I'm wondering what you think.