it's beginning to look a lot like...

i did some Christmas shopping today. i was actually intending to go grocery shopping but i got this overwhelming desire to buy more decorations and toys for my two little nieces so i veered away from the direction of save-on and towards winners.

i spent at least an hour and a half looking for toys that weren't useless and didn't put the wrong ideas into the kids' heads. my one niece is 7 (or did she just turn 8? i'm losing track) and the other one is just 2. everything they had for 7 year olds was all that Bratz crap, with the little dolls wearing dark lipstick and whore clothes, driving convertibles and talking on cell phones. no thanks. my niece picked up on the whole "britney spears" thing when she was five or six and the results were disturbing (think of a 6 year old lipsynching to "Baby, One More Time" and crawling around on the floor like some sort of karaoke stripper - can you say 'creepy'?). don't get me wrong - i'm not against buying girly toys for her but not ones that advocate children wearing makeup, high heels and adult-style clothes made in children's sizes. it's arguable that she already does that.

i did end up buying her one of those giant Barbie heads where you can style her hair (brush, clip, braid and what have you). T was talking about buying her 8 year old niece that for Christmas because she was begging for it so i guess it must be something that girls this age like. the other niece, i bought a toy that she would find fun but is also a developmental toy. actually, the back of the box says that some of the skills kids learn are, "hand-eye coordination, grasping, keeping busy and hitting." i thought the last one was hilarious and it was even funnier when i saw the exact same toy by the same company (but with bed bugs instead of mice) but the back of the box conveniently left out the "hitting" reference. anyway, it's a whack-a-mole type of toy so she gets to hit things, maybe get out some baby-aggression, and have some fun at the same time.

for me, i bought another wreath (it was too cute not to buy and it was only $13), which is hanging on my den door on the too-small $2 wreath holder i bought from the dollar store, and a Christmas stocking (although it will be empty when i wake up on Christmas day...). i'm inadvertently creating a "snowman" theme in my apartment as my new wreath has a snow-family sitting on it (all dressed up in scarves and hats - so cute!) and my stocking has a snowman on it. kind of funny for someone who really doesn't like the snow.

i can't believe it's almost Christmas. i'm already thinking about my vacation next year. there are so many things i want to do and it all requires a bit of creative saving and financial restraint on my part. i want to go to mexico in the next four months for a nice, week-long, all-inclusive beach holiday. or, i'd like to use my airmiles and visit my cousin in san francisco. or, i'd like to save up and finally visit my friend in NY (and finally visit NY!). or, i'd like to really save up and meet up with my friend from south africa in two years, although he's thinking of selling his flat and buying a house soon so he may not be able to meet me. in that case, i'd have to really, really save up (money and time off) and meet him in SA. that would be cool. they have beaches there too. or, i'd like to get a dog. but that would keep me in one place for a very long time.

decisions, decisions. oh well, they're easy to make when you're just dreaming :)