Last Friday I woke up to the lightest dusting of SNOW, and people, I do not think I have ever been so excited by such a meteorological event. The first snow, IN DECEMBER! This is incredible to me, and also it felt so special and festive, even if it didn’t even cover the grass and disappeared by mid-morning. It snowed lightly throughout the weekend, though, so I may be able to use my new skis very soon!
I spent many hours last week grocery shopping and wrapping gifts and packing parcels to be mailed. So many hours, people. Any week that I visit Costco AND Superstore is going to feel exhausting, in the grocery shopping department, but whoa nelly. I think I’ve mentioned before that the Kelowna Costco is the busiest in Canada and second-busiest in North America, right behind the one in Maui. How they measure this I do not know, but having visited both many times I believe it. In any case, this past week it seemed worse than usual, in that it was almost impossible to move the cart as there were people literally everywhere, and then the lineup went two-thirds of the length of the store. She died the way she lived, standing in line at Costco. On the plus side, I had a nice conversation with two ladies, one with regards to the giant stuffed bear in her cart. Have you seen those? One bear fills an entire cart and costs $150; she was telling me that it was for her grandchildren but that she kind of wanted to keep it for herself. This was extremely understandable. “Touch it!” she said to me a little intensely, but I did as she said.
The other lady was also very intense, about the role of ingredient substitutes such as artificial sweeteners or keto-friendly bread in our society. I didn’t disagree with her opinions – after all, I myself am not a fan of those or meat substitutes – but her level of disapproval was, shall we say, heightened. Costco shopping can be a fraught time, emotions run high.
I generally like all manner of holiday-related jobs, such as baking or treat-making or decorating or what have you, but there is one festive job that is at the very bottom of my list, and that is gift-wrapping. I strongly dislike gift-wrapping, possibly because I am so abjectly terrible at it. I might be the worst gift-wrapper over the age of five. I don’t know why I am so bad, but I am: I’m always cutting the paper too big or too small, and then I am trying to either repair the gaping strip where the ends don’t meet or, alternately, folding up huge wads of paper on the sides. There is no in-between. I use far too much tape and somehow I always manage to tape strands of my own hair onto the gift itself; perhaps the stress of wrapping makes my hair fall out, I don’t know. And this is if the gift is in a box, which is the best-case scenario. If it’s irregularly shaped, forget about it. You might be thinking to yourself gift bags exist, which, indeed they do, but we are tear-open-the-gift-wrap people around here, and I also have four rolls of Costco wrapping paper purchased years ago and I still haven’t used them up. I might take them to my grave at this rate, the grave I’m working myself into by standing in line buying such things as giant rolls of Costco wrapping paper.
Anyway, one of the best things about having a newly-retired husband is that I can delegate such jobs to him, and he is happy to do them. I can’t outsource all my wrapping to him, though, which means all the gifts directed to him will be a jumble of wrapping paper and tape.
I don’t know how you get through the various drudgeries of your day, like gift-wrapping, but I mostly listen to music or podcasts. Spotify Wrapped came out this week and it turns out that I, as my friend Nicole said (HI NICOLE), am an actual teenager.
You guys. I am in the TOP ONE PERCENT OF SPOTIFY LISTENERS. Now, in my defense I did spend many hours this year packing and cleaning and moving and unpacking, but still. 93,784 minutes is a lot of minutes. My peak day was July 18, which checks out. That was moving day and I drove eight hours listening to podcasts, then spent another couple of hours unpacking the car and organizing things, so 643 minutes sounded about right.
I’m always a bit surprised when Spotify Wrapped comes out, to see what my top song was. For several years running it was, inexplicably, Midnight Train to Georgia, but this year it was Dog and Butterfly by Heart. Who could have guessed? Certainly not me.
The interesting thing about my top artists is that Wilson Phillips made it in there. There is only one song that I listen to of theirs, and that is Hold On. I feel like that says a lot about my mental state for the first half of the year. I had no idea I listened to that much TLC, but otherwise, I’m not terribly surprised.
I seem to be missing something in my brain – probably because it’s filled up with song lyrics – that allows me to create any kind of visual art. If, for example, you asked me to draw a car or a dog, I would be completely unable to. It would almost seem as if I had never in my life seen a car or a dog, but had only received a verbal description. Here’s a…tire? A dog has…a tail? It’s really bad and probably somewhat related to my inability to wrap gifts with any kind of normalcy. This past weekend we went to a party and I was asked to bring a veggie plate. My beautiful friend Sammi (HI SAMMI) sent me a few photos of Christmassy veggie plates, to see if I wanted to try to recreate one. I was a little nervous – as I said, this is not my forte – but after looking at the photos, and with strong encouragement from my husband, who suggested I try the absolute easiest one, I did it!
My husband, thankfully, made the star. I know I’ve seen a star shape but…?
Weekly Reading
I had a DNF this week; it was I Have Some Questions For You. I had started reading the e-book in September, and it just wasn’t captivating me, and I ended up not finishing it by the time it was due back at the library; I put it back on hold and thought I would finish it later. Well, it came in this past week and after another chapter or two I thought life is too short and I cannot waste any more time on this. This could be because I had just finished the below book.
The Invitation. By the time I got to this book, I was on a four-book meh streak. I thought this might break the streak; it’s a story about a woman in a loveless marriage having a one-night stand, and then the two lovers being inadvertently thrown together on a yacht in 1950s. Friends, it did not break the streak. Five meh books in a row.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful. Finally! The streak of meh books was broken! Thank god. I don’t think I could have taken another one (my DNF was right before this one). Anyway, I loved this author’s earlier book, Keep Moving. I read it in the thick of the pandemic and whoa nelly, did it ever resonate. What I didn’t know (or maybe I forgot?) is that she wrote Keep Moving while going through an absolutely terrible divorce, and this book, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, is about that divorce. Her prose is absolutely gorgeous and can I just say that a toxic marriage and dreadful divorce make for very good writing material – as one of her friends said, at least you’re a writer so all this material isn’t wasted. Isn’t that a silver lining? I love dark humour and I loved this book.
Shelley: Also Known As Shirley. I first read this book in 1987; I was at my grandparents’ house, bored, and helped myself to my grandma’s paperback collection in the basement. I had never seen or heard of any movie Shelley Winters had been in, and in fact I didn’t even know who Shelley Winters WAS. But I have always been interested in women’s and girls’ stories only, and this was one of the few books about a woman. Well! You can see how many times I read this book over the years, because it completely fell apart. I haven’t read it for a long time though, and so I thought I’d revisit it to see how it holds up. IT HOLDS UP! This is one juicy autobiography, and wow, did she ever live an interesting life! As a child she lived in tenements in Brooklyn; when she was about nine her father’s haberdashery shop burned down and he went to prison in Sing Sing for arson. It was a wrongful conviction, so he got out after about a year but sunk into a deep depression. By the time Shelley (then Shirley) was 14 she dropped out of school, got her working papers, and organized a strike at the Woolworth’s she worked at, which led to all the Woolworth’s in the five boroughs being unionized! She became a model, acted in Broadway and off-Broadway plays, was discovered by Harry Cohn and ended up in Hollywood. Oh, and she got married to a man who was in the air force. He came home from the war and they got divorced, and this all happened by the time she was NINETEEN. If that wasn’t enough, she had so many interesting friendships and affairs, going on a publicity tour to Europe while engaged to a costar, and ended up meeting and marrying Italy’s biggest star, Vittorio Gassman while she was there. Later they had an absolutely explosive divorce while starring in an Italian film. This book HAS IT ALL. Wow, what a fun, star-studded read!
I know I talk about Costco with exasperation a lot, but here’s where it pays off: it’s kalette season again! I consider myself to be an unpaid Kalette Influencer; if you see them, just know that they are a life-changing vegetable that is here for a good time, not a long time. So have a good time, the kalettes won’t shine every day! xo
Hilarious and so true. Costco is both a joy and the bane of my existence.
My middle kid is also a terrible gift wrapper but she has decided to just lean in. She actually makes an effort now to make it as terrible as possible. Loose in places. bulging in some places, bonus points if there was a mystery gap and she needed to patch it with a different piece. Often held precariously together with a tie of ribbon. It’s become her signature and also a source of much merriment, I recommend!
I have never seen kalette in the wild or at Costco yet… I live in hope!
Also: I love that Maggie Smith poem, so I’m glad her book broke your string of mehs!
Thankfully, we’re a gift bag family–we’ve been using the same ones for years at this point and makes me feel a bit virtuous even as I overbuy presents.
Great job on the veggie tray and delegating lower order tasks :). Have you heard of aphantasia, Nicole? The kids are talking about it a lot these days.
I had never heard of aphantasia, so I looked it up. I don’t THINK I have it as I have a good memory for faces and can picture things, but maybe I have a mild case that interferes with my actual paper interpretation. Maybe it’s related to my insanely bad sense of direction? City maps puzzle me, but I can figure out a country map!
I’m so glad you don’t think you have it, Nicole! Nu thought they had it, and it made me so sad because they’re an artist.
I had never heard of it before Nu mentioned it–I think it went viral on TikTok (which I don’t have) a few years ago and the Green Brothers mentioned it recently on their vlog (or so I hear).
I don’t have tiktok either but there seems to be a lot of information on there!
The view from your home is so spectacular- you must be “rapt” every day. I would! I couldn’t handle those Costco lineups; I don’t have the patience. So glad you broke your meh book streak. I looked up Shelly, not at the library, so looked on line. The hardcover is $74 on Amazon, and the paperback $18. I’ll keep looking
I think it maybe has been out of print for a long time! I just found her second autobiography at Thrift Books for fairly cheap (although, there was shipping and US conversion involved, so not that cheap I guess).
Oops. Didn’t mean to hit post…also I made your mint squares- SO GOOD! Thanks for the tip about freezing each layer.
I KNOW, AREN’T THEY AMAZING? Love them!
I am so terrible at wrapping that sometimes when the kids were little and I’d wrap the presents they were giving relatives, the recipients would sometimes think the kids had wrapped them. And even though you’d think being as artistic as they are, North would be good at it now, they’re not.
Cute vegetable tray.
I haven’t thought of “Dog and Butterfly” in decades, so I downloaded it this morning and listened to it. What a very 70s song.
I think of you whenever I see palettes at the farmers’ market. In fact, a couple weeks ago I almost sent you a picture of some.
This is a huge downside to not having little kids anymore, we can’t blame them for the wrapping!
Dog and Butterfly is a really beautiful song, but who knew I listened to it that much! I guess Spotify knew.
Obviously, that was an autocorrect above. Palettes do not make me think of you.
Lol, that would be funny though! Like, remember Colour Me Beautiful? I had a student talk to me about that relatively recently, about having her colours done (she was a spring).
Well, like you, I cannot draw anything, which is baffling when you really think about it. I mean I’ve seen a table a million times, but I can’t reproduce one on paper??? BUT, I do like to wrap presents! I’m actually pretty good at it. I’m glad your husband can take over that task for you- but I’m laughing at the thought of my husband wrapping all our gifts. We wrap as many gifts for him as we can, but at some point during the holiday season he’ll say he’s going to wrap gifts (for me, usually) and disappear into the bedroom for like 90 minutes- then he’ll emerge with three or four poorly-wrapped presents. i mean… I just don’t understand how someone can be THAT BAD at it!!??
If I were you, I would take that light dusting of snow on December 1st as some kind of a sign- this is going to be the best Christmas ever!
I read Maggie Smith’s other book (Keep Moving) and really like it. I”ll check this one out.
LOLOLOLOL Jenny, I just thought for a second: how DO you draw a table? Solidarity, sister!
I wish you were here to wrap everything! You’d appreciate the cooler weather too, so what do you say, want to move North?
I snorted so hard at this: ” She died the way she lived, standing in line at Costco.” THE SECOND BUSIEST COSTCO IN NORTH AMERICA?!? Wow. That’s. A lot. Bless you, Nicole, for dealing with that. I cannot stand going to Costco in the best of times, but in December it is always a hotbed of chaos. No wonder your line mate started ranting about Keto ingredients and artificial sweeteners. The Costco stress is real.
Your paragraph about wrapping resonates so strongly with me. I am the WORST wrapper. The worst. All your struggles are my own struggles. I am especially comforted to learn that you also experience the taped bits of hair. I am always SO EMBARRASSED to finally get to the end of the nightmare that is wrapping a gift, and then there is a big hank of my hair, taped right to it. It seems that a person would improve with wrapping after doing it for years on end, and yet no. I never improve. Some years I am measurably worse than other years. But you and I are no longer alone in our wrapping failures!!!!
Loved seeing your Spotify stats. And I giggled, but with much empathy and compassion, at your explanation for the Wilson Phillips appearance. Hold on, indeed.
HOLD ON FOR ONE MORE DAY!
I wondered how that song could make the artist be in my top five, but not actually be my number one song, and then I realized I have different remixes. Ah! Now I get it!
The stress of wrapping makes our hair fall out, Suzanne, we should not be wrapping things!
I am planning to go to Costco one more time before Christmas, so, you know, if I don’t return JUST KNOW I LOVE YOU!
I can’t draw anything either. Once I was drawing with my nephew when he was around 5 I think and later I was looking back through the pages and I couldn’t figure out who drew what…
I think abandoning that book was absolutely the right decision, not that you needed to hear it from me. I appreciated it but it’s had very mixed reviews and if you aren’t drawn to something, it’s time to move on. There is this buzzy book called “The One” and I abandoned it in the first 10%. I know multiple people who LOVED and RAVE about this book but I will just have to wonder what the buzz is all about as I can’t bring myself to read it.
I’m a terrible wrapper, too. I can do boxes, if it’s misshapen, good luck. I do gift bags for kid birthday parties because it’s not worth the effort to wrap some other kid’s gift. I do wrap my boys’ gifts though because it is far more satisfying to tear a gift open. We did not wrap the nugget, though. It came in a massive box and might have required a roll of costco paper to wrap and I did not have it in me. We actually unboxed it from them and said Santa dropped it off early because he needed room in his sleigh. The boys didn’t call us out on this which was a relief. I hadn’t planned to give it to them early but when it arrived, we got an email with detailed directions saying it needed to be unboxed immediately because it can only handle being as compressed as it is for a short period of time. And I am a RULE FOLLOWER.
Well, that just seems smart to unbox it, and your kids are young enough that they would think that was magical!
Sometimes buzzy books just suck, and I just looked up The One and it looks like a no from me as well. You know, I used to just push through AND I DON’T WANT TO DO THAT ANYMORE!!!
I love your conversations with Costco shoppers. So funny! I have never been inside a Costco, but there is one in a suburb of Cleveland that causes so much dang traffic that I avoid the area at all costs! At least they have decent parking lots though, as opposed to the ridiculously small Trader Joe lots.
I’m not a fan of wrapping either, for the reasons you mentioned. My Dad was the BEST gift wrapper. He was an engineer and his wrapping was so precise and professional. I always think of him while wrapping.
I just finished Lisa Jewell’s None of this is True. Not my usual genre, but it was a good book. I also read Alice Hoffman’s The Invisible Hour. I thought the first 2/3rds were good, but the last part of the book was stupid to me. Main character goes back in time and gets pregnant by Nathaniel Hawthorne?? And then the conclusion was totally lame. I don’t think I’ll be reading any more of her books in the future.
I put the Lisa Jewell one on hold but that other one, no thank you. Hard pass on anything that is fantasy/ time travel-ish. Looks like it’s a long wait, so I’ll probably forget it was you who recommended None of This is True by the time I get it! But just know that I WILL read it (and do remind me!)
You have NEVER been in a Costco, this is amazing to me! I am an International Woman of Costco, apparently.
I am terrible at wrapping and yet I inexplicably love doing it. I also have not started holiday shopping at all, so…hearing about you wrapping presents has given me a feeling of intense anxiety. Only 21 days left! How will I get it all done?! Also, I just ordered my holiday cards and the delivery date is the 15th and I usually order them Thanksgiving Day weekend and now I’m remembering why. *sigh* I’m definitely getting the holiday scaries this year.
No surprise to me that my top artists on Spotify were Taylor Swift and Pam Tillis. I am, above all else, very basic.
You know what, I don’t even know Pam Tillis! I will look her up!
The place I order my cards from always takes weeks to deliver, unless I pay $$$ for delivery, WHICH I SHALL NOT DO. So I end up ordering them in early November, because I can’t stand to pay so much for delivery!
So much to say. This was just so much fun to read, Nicole. As always. I smiled and laughed and sighed happy sighs. So thank you for putting such lovely content out into the world.
I like wrapping and am fairly good at it (sorry, does that sound braggy). I do it quickly so not to my best standard, but I learned a few tricks YEARS ago and if I really want to wrap something nicely, I can do it well. That said, I am a BAG girl for things that can’t fit/don’t already come in boxes. I always used to put EVERYTHING in a box and wrap EVERYTHING and then I decided life is simply too short.
I never go to Costco. It stresses me out. Like so much. Buying in bulk is so expensive and I get so overwhelmed with the choices. So never fear – I will not add to the lineup at Costco.
Yay for kalette season <3
We have a LEGIT snowfall today. Schools are cancelled and really should be and the world outside my window looks like a snowglobe and I can't believe I'm saying this – but I'm loving it! (Maybe because my kids are both at playdates right now so the house is relatively calm).
Other than the repetition (so repetitive), I thought You Could Make This Place Beautiful was lovely and I took A LOT of quotes. I still enjoyed Keep Moving more, but she is just a very, very talented writer/poet. And I love the poem the title came from – I can see why it went viral.
Hmm, now that you mention it, it was a bit repetitive! I guess I didn’t really notice because it was such a smooth and fast read!
Enjoy your lovely snowfall! It’s kind of exciting to get one of those in December (less so in April or May…)
You gave me an idea. Instead of ugly sweater contests, how about bad gift wrapping contests? The only thing is that everyone would have to use their natural gift wrapping skills. I feel confident that if you and I went toe-to-toe on this that I would win.
Every year we buy my parents a calendar that I usually get from Amazon but by chance we happened to be physically in a local bookstore that had the calendar so I got to shop local AND they offered to wrap it for me! Double win!
I never attempted I Have Some Questions for You because I’ve found that books about podcasts just don’t do it for me. I like books and I like podcasts, but I don’t like books about podcasts. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I was determined to read Shelley as soon as you told me about it because hello SHELLEY WINTERS WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME THAT SHE WROTE A BOOK OH WAIT I GUESS YOU DID and now that you’ve told me even more I can’t wait to dive into it.
Birchy Birchy Birchy, guess what! I was going to keep it quiet until I read it but I found a copy of her SECOND autobiography on Thrift Books (it has been out of print for years) and it JUST ARRIVED TODAYYYYYY. So you can look forward to another recap. Oh, I really want you to read her first one at least, it is SO JUICY. Also, there is a great story about Tony Curtis that I think you’ll really love.
So we have two things in common: I hate wrapping presents. I’m also terrible at it. Mike and I usually wrap presents together to make things easier for me. Because I hate wrapping presents, I usually just put gifts in gift bags lined with tissue paper. Did I mention I’m terrible at it?
Second, I am also among the top 1% of Spotify listeners. I love that we have this in common. Spotify is my place of refuge. 🖤
We are both the top 1%! I was also excited because I am in the top 0.5% of Aretha fans!
Nicole, you are striking right at the heart of me with this post! W/r/t wrapping gifts, I am objectively bad at this and do not enjoy it. How do you know you’re objectively bad you may ask? Well, years ago I started a new job in a small office and there was one woman there who wrapped all of the gifts for people’s birthdays (there were only 5 of us so we did group gifts for birthdays). She was a beautiful present wrapper but we couldn’t have her wrap her own present so another person had wrapped them, badly. When I started, this person was like great! Finally someone else can wrap office gift-wrapper’s present. I did it for her birthday one year and everyone was like oh god, it’s awful and was never asked to wrap again. I mean, I genuinely tried and it still looked a mess.
I’m also very bad a drawing from memory. At one point my son asked me to draw him a bicycle (I really don’t remember why) and it was as if I’d never seen a bike before. Like I know they have two wheels and connect somehow but it was just the most ridiculous attempt. I guess this is why I’ve been a CPA and lawyer and not an artist….
Oh Maggie, we are twinning hard here! The wrapping! The drawing! I just…want to be a person who creates beautiful gifts, but I am NOT.
Putting the Maggie Smith book on my list, since this is the second time this week I’ve heard a good review! I’m in a meh reading period myself, so I hope it has the same effect. I am not a Costco shopper, and all of your stories just steel my resolve!
There’s a few comments about being able to draw something by just thinking about it – I think very few people can do this! You really need to establish a visual vocabulary first. Look at a bike while drawing it, and draw it 100 times. Then eventually you might remember how to draw a bike. So, it’s not that you’re “bad” or not talented at art – I don’t think anyone is! Like anything, you have to practice a ton to get there.
Oh what an interesting comment, Sarah! I think I could probably follow something if I looked at it while drawing, but there’s no way I can just…draw, if that makes sense! Ah, as with everything, practice is key?
I hope you break your meh reading streak!
Regarding packages that aren’t in a box; put them IN one. From about October on, I save every single box that comes to this house for that reason alone. I’m pretty good about wrapping and don’t mind it; but if I don’t break it up and try to do it all in one go; I get cranky and sloppy. Do you follow TheFoldingLady on Instagram? If I’m remembering correctly, I think she has a few tips to figure out how much paper or ribbon that you need to wrap a gift. She also has fancy ways to wrap; but you could skip over those bits.
Oooh these are great tips, Gigi! I have boxes! I have Instagram! I’m going to do this – thank you so much!!!
I use fabric drawstring bags for holiday gift for gift wrap. They are spectacular! It takes me mere minutes to wrap presents. I liked the Maggie Smith book too but it was tough reading about her marriage.
Oh, that’s so smart and also so environmentally conscious! What a good idea.
It WAS tough reading, I had to take a few deep breaths about her ex commenting about her “work.” Hoo boy, that’s rough.
I like wrapping gifts, though I’m not good at it. I bought my step-mom a gift certificate (massage!) for her birthday (don’t tell her! Shhh!) and realized that I had sealed her birthday card envelope without the certificate. So I had to open it up, put the certificate in, and tape it closed. Of course I got a hair in the tape. WHY??? I can’t even send a birthday card and have it be nice. (Of course I fixed it.)
I looked up the Costco bear, I guess we don’t have them here. They do have one on their website that is $400 and about as big as a small car, but sadly it’s not available here. (As if.)
Hahaha, that is totally something that would happen to me, J!
Wow, a $400 bear, that is kind of insane!
I REALLY want to buy that bear, but it looks big at Costco, so imagine it in a real-sized place!! You seem like someone who would be a perfect gift wrapper– I mean look at that crudite tree!!
Aw, thanks Sarah! Imagine actually having the giant bear in your house, it would be like a new piece of furniture!
I actually like wrapping presents – something very soothing about making it all nice and neat and the corners crisp. Although, I once saw a tv segment about a professional gift wrapper – he gave all sorts of tips and tricks. And then at the end of the interview, they asked him what his favorite way to wrap was, and he pulls out a gift bag. That has stayed with me for decades.
Hahahah that cracks me up so much!
You made me laugh SO many times in this post, so thank you.
“She died the way she lived, standing in line at Costco.” Nicole, I know you have a schedule to adhere to, but I swear to goodness, our Costco is also CRAZY busy, but if you go in the evening after 5:30: IT IS A DIFFERENT WORLD.
I also can not draw to save my life, so I understand your delimna….luckily, I can wrap gifts though. You killed it on the Veggie Christmas Tree.
Suz, you’re totally right. YOU’RE TOTALLY RIGHT. I have heard that after 5:30 is THE time to go around here. But…I just don’t know if I can do it. Maybe? I should try, maybe just once, and then I can be hooked.
Also, I meant to say that the day I stumble upon Kalettes, you will most likely hear me shrieking from way down here, to way up there!
I will be so excited for you if that ever happens!
Stink, stank, stunk! This post brings back a bit of deja vu, as I am pretty sure that one of the first few posts of yours that I read said something about Kalette and I had to Google it as I had never heard of it, but I do not think I have seen them at our Costco. However, I went to Costco last week and it was already getting “Christmas busy” and I have sworn it off until the next time I need five dozen eggs, which should not be until at least February (I hope), so even if they do carry it, I will probably miss the boat. I have two stores near me and both are madhouses, but strangely, if I go to one near my friend’s house, which is only about an extra 10 minutes from the one near my house, it is like a tenth as busy. Why?
You know, I have asked many questions about Costco over the years, and that remains mysterious. Why ARE some so crazy? Well, in my case it’s because this is the only Costco serving the Okanagan area (I think) so people come from far and wide.
This cracked me up for several reasons. First, I am not surprised that the first post you read contained kalettes and Costco. Two of my favourite topics! Lol. They MIGHT be still here in February, but it’s not likely.
Also, five dozen eggs!
Five dozen eggs at Costco cost $11 vs one dozen eggs at Safeway cost ~ $3-$4, so my rationale is that even if I do not eat all of the eggs, as long as I eat three dozen, it is basically break even. However, I probably eat 2 eggs per day about 4-5 x per week, so I can eat five dozen in about a month and a half at that pace!
My brother’s GF works at Costco and hers is a lot busier than the next closest one, which is only about 10 mins away as well. It makes no sense. (actually if you want some random info about Costco, she used to manage the bakery and can you guess how many pies they sell on the week before Thanksgiving? 6,000. Just for that one location for that one week!)
Six thousand pies!!! Wow!
Ah, five dozen eggs sounds perfectly reasonable at that pace!
She died the way she lived, standing in line at Costco – that cracked me up. I wish you had a Von Maur near you – free gift wrapping. It’s the bomb. The veggie tray is artistic inspiration.
Free gift wrapping! Now THAT is a great idea!
I love gift wrapping. LOVE IT. It is one of my favorite things about the holiday season. I actually get sad when I’m nearing the end of my gift-wrapping for Christmas. That said, I am not the BEST gift wrapper ever. I have gotten better about figuring out how much wrapping paper I need for a specific gift, but I don’t have those clean, sharp creases. I’m working on it! I’m glad you can put your husband to work on this task, though!
I really, really miss those 80s covers for books. So iconic!
Hmmm, I am wondering how I can get you to Canada to do all my wrapping for me? You might freeze, is the problem.
I listened to “The Guest List” by Lucy Foley back in the spring and it was good- entertaining and fast. Back in 2020, T made cloth wrapping pieces so that’s what we use. I don’t mind it, it’s fast and easy- comes from a Japanese art of gift wrapping, I guess? You make a knot, and another knot and voila!
Oh Daria, that’s so smart and so environmentally responsible too!
I’d gladly take over the gift wrapping.. it’s one of my favorite things to do and I sadly don’t have the opportunity to wrap many gifts (because most of my family and friends are too far away, and I stopped mailing parcels (too expensive, USPS unreliable) and order gifts online… which deprives me of the joys of wrapping. Sigh.)
Costco is wild on a normal Tuesday, but any day during the holiday season it should come with an extra warning.
Oooh San, can I import you here to help me wrap? Lol!
I have to go to Costco one more time before Christmas, god help me.
Seriously, when will teleportation become a thing? (I have to go to Costco one more time before Christmas, too. We could go together AND I can help you wrap gifts! It’s a win-win!)
Count me in the group of people who cannot wrap to save their lives. Seriously. It is pathetic. And this is reminding me that I must do my charitable gift-giving for the year. Those are my gifts to my family. Does not require wrapping. 😉
I need to go to Costco this weekend. For almonds. And gas. I don’t think I shall venture near the food, though, even to see if we have the much-loved kalettes.
Oooh Costco for gas is a whole adventure!
Charitable gifts are a lovely idea!