Less is More

I must admit as far back as I can remember I am/was a Black Friday Shopper.  I have wonderful memories of getting up early the day AFTER Thanksgiving and hitting the stores with a pile of ads and my Mother and Sister in tow.  This was a ritual, a welcome to the holiday season that we participated in for as long as I can remember, probably 20 years, and I loved every minute of it.  It can be really exciting when you score that great deal or watching my Mother shop commando style in the mall, she had mad shopping skills. 

Lately, it seems like things are getting crazy in the world of Black Friday shopping.  Maybe it's the economy, because most people do not have the disposable income they once had and they need a good deal.  Maybe it is just the media making a big deal out of everything and scaring people into thinking these deals are so great they must go out, shop and buy stuff they don't really need.  I don't really know.

What I do know is that when I went to Everlane on Friday to order a Christmas present, ok and maybe a little something for myself, I was peasantly surprised to find this....



and it got me thinking.  I love this philosophy, I want less stuff but I want the stuff I do buy to be excellent.  I want to focus this holiday season on bringing high quality gifts, decorations and food into my life.  I want to teach my children that it is better to receive and give fewer, well thought out, high quality gift then several gifts that will never be used.  I want them to think about the money they spend and how that item will affect them, the person who receives the gift and the global community they live in.

I realized what I really enjoyed most on those Black Friday shopping trips was the time spent with my Mother and Sister and that is a tradition I plan to continue, just not at Walmart.