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Holiday Party and Gifts Update

December 12th, 2016 at 02:22 pm

We had our holiday party this past weekend. Guess who was lucky enough to win the grand prize? That's right, this girl. Since it's not something I can use (an Apple watch), we will be giving my little brother a very nice Christmas gift. Christmas shopping is almost done. We have a few gifts left: a bed pillow for my MIL, something for my FIL, a gift card for DH's goddaughter's parents, something for his goddaughter, and maybe one more gift each for my mom and older brother. Overall, I think we did pretty well. From the bedroom furniture purchase, we had $45ish in Amazon rewards, so I used that to get coloring books and pencils for each of my 3 closest friends in this area. I also got some cooktop cleaner and scrubbing pads that had been on my list awhile.

The last big purchase was Christmas cards. I never did get around to sending out thank you notes from the wedding (I know...shame on me), but with the move and all the other life changes, it just got away from me. DH has a friend in this area who's working on growing his photography business. He did our engagement shots and is really talented, so we asked for his help with holiday photos. Since it only ended up being an hour-long shoot, he didn't charge us anything, but I would like to get him a $25 gift card as a thank you since he also spends time editing. I read about a hack for using holiday business postcards instead of Christmas cards to make it cheaper. We are getting 100 postcards for $12. I did end up splurging for the rush order though, so that was another $16. Overall though, $30 bucks for 100 Christmas cards is a good deal to me. I'm hoping to have those sent out this weekend.

In the next few weeks, we have a few spendy things planned. Tonight, we're hoping to finish up the shopping. Wednesday, we're doing a drive through light show ($12, plus the popcorn and hot cocoa we bring ourselves). Saturday, we're probably going to visit DH's goddaughter. And Sunday is tentatively decorating our work office (we go all out each year...this year, we're doing The Nightmare Before Christmas). Next week is my big 3-0. I told DH not to make a big deal out of it, but that I do want some sort of date night. I think we're leaning towards Allied at a movie theater that serves dinner food. I'm also really hoping he and his dad come through with the hot tub as that's all I really, really want.

Then, we have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with both of our families. Going to be a hectic few weeks, but filled with lots of good memories.

3 Responses to “Holiday Party and Gifts Update”

  1. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1481597951

    That will be a nice gift!

  2. snafu Says:
    1481641001

    Depending on specific model, Apple watch retails $ 269. to $ 1049. Would you consider offering it for sale on local FB sell site to see response and choosing something more modest for brother's gift?

    Have you really sent 100 Christmas post cards? I hope you included a Thank You message for the wedding gift to those who offered gifts or congratulations. BTW, you are still in the parameters to acknowledge gifts and I wish I knew what words to use to encourage you to send written acknowledgement. I know I feel quite rejected and devalued when I send an important, well considered gift and the bride chooses to ignore/spurn my generosity and effort.

  3. debt-free by thir-ty Says:
    1481644252

    Snafu, I am not comfortable with selling it. My company is very small and tight-knit, and they like to know the prize was enjoyed by the person who won it or someone close to the person who won it. So much so that they offered to let me trade the watch for something else from the store like an Apple TV that I would actually use. But I don't need an Apple TV, and I know my brother will love the watch.

    I haven't sent them yet, but my options were 50 or 100 and I need at least 70 for wedding thank yous/change of address notifications. I intentionally left the back of the card blank, so that I could put personalized notes on them. Of our 80ish wedding guests, we only received a handful of gifts, and most were given to us on the spot, so we've already thoroughly acknowledged them, but I do fully intend to write a little note on every postcard which will include an additional thank you if they gave us a gift or card. I don't normally send Christmas cards at all, but since this was a big year for us, and we still needed to acknowledge wedding thank yous, these cards are doing triple duty: wedding thank yous, we-bought-a-house announcements, and Happy Holidays.

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