I am not one to go shopping at the malls the day after Thanksgiving. The crowds and craziness just have never appealed to me. I also prefer to let Christmas wait until December and to savor Thanksgiving as long as November lasts.
However, this year I made a small exception.
My sister and I enjoy going to Filoli for their holiday boutique. This year the most convenient day for us to attend was Saturday after Thanksgiving. Not as crazy as Friday at the shopping mall but still a Christmas thing in December. For this event, I was willing to make an exception.
We arrived a bit early and took a few pictures of the beautiful grounds and then got in line. Though you can't see it, there was quite a long line of shoppers waiting in front of the entrance. As we stood in line, we mapped out our plan of attack. Which way to head after the doors open and how we'd loop through the house to be sure we saw everything.
The doors opened and the crush began. The mansion is filled with holiday decorations and there are glorious trees in every room. Garlands were looped down the staircase banister, a birdcage surrounded with poinsettia plants filled a corner. Every nook and cranny has wonderful things tucked in and most can be purchased.
Also, there are a few food vendors there handing out samples of chocolates and caramel, scones and nuts, jams and fruit spreads. All the samples nearly made up for their being no buffet and closing the cafe on Saturday. Nearly.
The walkways were jammed with shoppers at times and periodically we just stood in place with our bags held close to our bodies waiting for someone to move and unstop the people-jam.
The volunteers are very smart too. They look for shoppers with filled shopping bags. Then they will gladly put your name on your full bags and whisk them away to the holding area near check-out. You are given an empty bag and can carry on without a heavy bag to deal with. It's lovely and it also helps you forget just how many things you have already picked up to purchase!
As you can see. We were rather successful with our shopping. No, we didn't need the cart to actually haul our purchases back to the car, but we couldn't resist setting our bags in one and snapping this picture.
Soon some of these treasures will be decorating our home for the holidays and others will be wrapped up for gifts! I'm feeling ready for December.
-- marcella
,Moncler Polo Shirts