BLACK FRIDAY : GOING BACK TO SLEEP BUT YOU MIGHT WANT TO BUY SOMETHING FOR YOUR LOVE!

Stats have shown that American's penchant for using today, the day after THANKSGIVING, in which we give thanks for all we have, for shopping, to ACQUIRE MORE to be THANKFUL FOR, has eroded a bit in favor of Internet purchasing from the safety of one's own home. 
 
Me, I'm happy to be able to get up, walk my dog, and then go back to bed.  I've never loved crowds, am not inspired to buy while competing with others for stuff, loath standing in long lines to check out, and hate trying to drive backed up in traffic or waste time trying to get a parking space. 

I really do like the sensual experience of shopping... the seeing, touching, smelling, hearing, thinking, and fantasizing involved. I like to know that people are employed in retail stores. While "Big Box" stores and employees who are more concerned with warehousing than customer service are no fun,  I love being waited on by someone who takes pride in their appearance, their product knowledge, and their service.  Almost gone are the days in which SHOP KEEPING was an honored profession, but even when I'm being careful with my spending, I manage to find small boutiques and other unique places to buy that prove that retail is not dead.

May I suggest to you, one of my favorite places to buy gifts are MUSEUM SHOPS.  In my city there are plentiful museums and plentiful shops and I go to exhibits often, so I always go to the shop and see what they've got. Museum shop buyers seem to have an eye for things you don't see in other stores and though sometimes their purchases are thematic, sometimes they are not.  For instance, I've found beautiful rare scented soaps in arboretum shops and an umbrella with Monet's gardens as a fabric in a shop associated with a science center.  One local museum makes ecologically correct big beach bags from the banners that are hung from poles on the streets. They all seem to have some unique designed and hand made jewelry items.  But if you can't get to a museum shop in person, consider ordering from the ones that have catalogues for well made good costume jewelry and scarves.  It's a bit exciting to get a package from New York when you live in Los Angeles, or visa versa.

Missy