Holiday Gift-a-Way
Our neighbours to the south will soon be enjoying Thanksgiving, and then taking part in the busiest shopping day of the year, which is ominously referred to as Black Friday. While Canadian cross-border shoppers will likely fill the ranks, I am thankful that Black Friday hasn’t really caught on in Canada, yet. That said, with the passing of Kingston’s Santa Claus Parade, the Fat Goose Craft Fair, and the lighting of the tree behind City Hall, the time has come to make that list, check it twice, and take care of those who’ve been naughty and nice.
Christmas is 31 days away, while the eight crazy night of Hanukkah are a mere 17 days away. Have you started your shopping yet? Do you plan on supporting locally owned businesses, or do you prefer the cookie-cutter atmosphere of big box stores? Is Kingston’s somewhat vacant downtown more appealing to you than the climate controlled mall, or will you skip the crowds altogether and shop online? With all this incessant hand washing and a lack of snow, are you finding it hard to catch the holiday spirit?
Please let us know where you hope to find that perfect gift, and how you’re holiday preparations are coming along. As a reward, Kingstonist will randomly select one lucky commenter next Tuesday, and give them a pair of tickets to the Kingston Symphony’s upcoming performance of The Nutcracker. Tis’ the season! Photo credit and thanks to Croixboy.
I’m a hardcore Lee Valley Tools girl. I mean, even if it’s something they don’t want, it’ll be cool/useful enough to make up for it.
My holiday preparations consist of staring at the single string of Christmas lights that are supposed to go around our windows and willing them to put themselves up. So far it’s working: I think I saw them move half a foot by themselves last night.
No cross border shopping for us, or outside of Ktown for that matter. I do a majority online, then topping up things here and there at places like Cookes, Minotaur and 4c8b. We don’t do lights, and last year we didn’t have a tree. We do get in the mood by baking loads of treats, and watching way too many XMas movies…from Die Hard to Elf, XMas Vacation and this year, the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia festive special. Oh, and I’m happy if it only only snows on XMas day, then melts before I have to drive down the 401 to the in-laws.
I plan on gift carding it this year. I’m on a budget and who needs more crap to return/ fill their house. I usually give gift cards to restaurants, and since I live downtown, I will give cards for downtown restaurants because I want everyone in my family to experience all it has to offer.
Heather, That’s a great idea! Plus its a way to ensure the downtown gets some support – looks like my Christmas shopping just got easier!
I actually like shopping downtown. There are so many quirky shops that make finding unique gifts easy. Like Heather, I also give gift cards for downtown restaurants :)
We’re actually nearly done our shopping – hoping to be done by the 1st!
We live out in the west end, so we stuck to the big boxes, mostly, this year. Zellers and Canadian Tire probably took top spots from us. We put things on our CT credit card through the yesr, so being able to spend some of that CT money on Christmas gifts comes in quite handy.
That said, I still have a trip downtown to the Tea Store and 10,000 villages before I’ll be all done.
The majority of my christmas shopping will be done downtown this year. Seeing the christmas tree behind City Hall, the decorations on the lamp posts and the beautifully done up store windows puts me in the spirit.
We always shop downtown – it’s the only way to make shopping enjoyable, for us. Lots of indie stores and fresh air between each stop!
We have only begun to start our Christmas shopping this past weekend. We will likely be shopping downtown (ex., Cooke’s for interesting and tasty items), and box stores. If the shopping trip is on a Saturday, the Farmers Market is always a stop, hot cider, Christmas goodies from the bakers stall (Mmmmm rumballs). I believe I have just revealed my love for food…
I was walking down the street the other day when my phone rang, and I threw it down on the side walk while attempting to answer it. It was a crowed side walk but none of the Christmas shoppers missed a beat, so I bent over to pick it up. Five steps into my recovery I notice this homeless guy in a Santa hat looking at me with his hand out. Naturally I thought he was gonna ask for money, but as I got closer saw that his hand was pointing right at me, and that he was laughing. I couldn’t help but laugh either, and feel out of sorts as we were the only people to take notice of the event. It seems as though the holiday mindset makes most of us blindly flock to the mall, carol, dress up, and eat one of the ugliest birds known to man. It’s beginning to seem a lil weak even by my standards, but still, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. I’ll shop this year, but I won’t be that guy fighting in the aisle of a store for the last good item on the shelf.
Kingston is a wonderful place for work and leisure. The local merchants make their shop nice and festive for the holidays and I love Christmas shopping downtown
Entry into this contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts on the festive season. Happy holidays!