Picture Yourself sitting here and shopping...
I am not much of a traditional gift giver. In fact, the last time that I gave somebody a present on one of the "expected" occasions was probably something like the birth of a baby. My usual winter holiday for gifting is the solstice, frequently celebrated at a Saturnalia party where food and drinking are intermingled with much laughter, and the actual contents of the gift is not as important. My other regular occasion for gifts is when I finish writing a book. Getting the last edits out the door usually means chocolate for the editorial and production staff, home baked goodies for the friends and family who supported and/or tolerated me while I was writing, and something indulgent purely business for me. Like a new camera lens.
The silver lining to the cloud of my broken arm has been that since I can't take care of myself very well, someoneElse has spent a lot of time at home making me endless cups of tea, ferrying ice packs between couch and freezer, and generally spoiling me rotten. Not such a bad silver lining, for me at least; someoneElse had to hold down a full-time job, complete with product rollout, while he was doing this. Meaning he's been a bit stretched for time. Me? I've just been bored. Books are heavy, I'm typing with two fingers, and I can only stare at video for so long.
So imagine my delight when BlogHer and JCPenney's offered me $300 for my own private shopping spree. Nothing like a little free shopping take your mind off things.
My first thought was to make a trek to the local mall and fondle merchandise...errr, I mean, contemplate the goodies I could buy. I even made plans with someoneElse for an excursion that included breakfast and a trip to Penney's with a fistful of gift certificates. Sadly, the amount of work required to get ready (wash hair, find pants I can put on with one hand, dig the sling for my arm out from behind the couch, pack pain meds...gettng ready was easier when theKid was a baby!) was just too daunting and I gave it up, heading instead for JCPenney.com.
When it comes to online shopping, I was an early adopter. From the early days of the World Wide Web, you could find me at the river of books, the place with a sock puppet puppy, or any of a number of other online only retail outlets. I never really thought of it as a replacement, however, for shopping at stores that had a brick-and-mortar presence. Silly me!
Shopping at JCPenney.com was a blast. The website is well-organized, with not only categories for types of products, but also specific manufacturers. Like Cuisinart, Henckels, Pfaltzgraff, Le Creuset, and Fiesta. I had to keep reminding myself I wasn't shopping for me, because... Fiesta! All those colors! (just in case anyone wants to know what I want for my next birthday…) I wandered the web site for far longer than sane people (like someoneElse) would have tolerated following me around the store. Nobody said, "But you've picked that up and looked at it a dozen times already!" and I could change my mind as many times as I want to. (I changed my mind daily for a full week, and it was much more entertaining than anything that came on my television.)
Another upside to shopping online is that I managed to buy something for someoneElse, which would have been much more difficult had he come to the store with me. Especially since he's currently hovering protectively lest I bump my arm and squeal in pain. I had noticed on our last trip to the doctor that he frequently pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and opened it up to look at the time. A dozen times, at least. While I can't give him more actual time, I can give him this beautiful Citizen watch so he will always know what time it is without quite so much work.
The other beneficiary of Penney's generosity is theKid, whose kitchen is going to have a number of extremely useful additions. I had to be a bit more devious to figure out exactly what she needed. I called her up and said, "I'm going through stuff from my kitchen and had some things I'm probably going to get rid of. So tell me what you need, and maybe you can have some hand-me-downs." (Feel free to steal this trick. It works).
The first thing on her list was an immersion blender --- she's been coveting mine for a while --- and I was fortunate enough to find this Cuisinart Smart stick hand blender with nifty attachments. On sale! Next on the list was a kitchen scale, something that made me very happy since we all know how I feel about weighing ingredients. I chose this Polder kitchen scale which is useful and will look good on her counter. Also from Polder, a digital probe thermometer will help her cook things to just the right temperature. A pair of roasting pans and a reversible stovetop grill/griddle round out theKid's gifts.
Finally (don't look, nice people at BlogHer and Penney's), I bought myself a set of purple nesting colanders. Yeah, I know I was supposed to buy gifts for other people, but you know what? I've had a rough couple of months. Besides, they match my cast.
Would you like to go on your own JCPenney shopping spree? BlogHer and JCPenney are giving away a $300 gift card each week for five weeks. Good luck and happy holiday shopping!
