Can you believe the word 'Christmas' is being spoken already?
It feels like Summer is over in the blink of an eye and now we're on the run-up to Christmas again, which suddenly seems a lot closer when I'm not starting a University year and facing a whole term before the festivities.
So are you an early shopper or a last-minute buyer? I ask because of how much I'm hearing 'Christmas' lately, and actually going to the shops today and seeing Christmas cards, decorations and wrapping, whole aisles of it. It's amazing that we see it now before Halloween has even come and gone.
It's around my birthday I usually start thinking about Christmas, my birthday is late October, shortly followed by Halloween, so I find around that time I start to think about lists and organizing at least who I will be getting presents for, and starting to think about what.
So I would say it's usually around November I start buying and putting away, I often end up with a couple of bags of things to wrap then by December. I also try and handmake some of my gifts, which is getting tricky for friends I've known for a number of years as I'm losing track of what I've made for them now!
Newspapers and online sources will often release articles around this time of year about when to get the best deals, or when to avoid the rush, but honestly it depends on what you're looking for I think. When I lived in Cardiff, virtually the whole month of December and some of November was really busy for shopping. I did used to live close to Cardiff as a child so regularly would get into the City Centre for the Christmas shop, so I was used to the bustle of this and my time there as an adult didn't surprise me. But if you can deal with that kind of thing, Cardiff is amazing for the outdoor Christmas market that lasts for weeks before the big day. The stalls range from gifts and accessories, food, drink, music, just all round a good day out as well as getting the shopping done.
So what about this year?
Obviously last Christmas was a weird one, it was harder to get out to the shops, not that I was able to see many people around the time anyway due to the firebreak. So this Christmas where shops are open and makers are doing their thing, I plan to get started as soon as I can this year to avoid spending my December in a big rush, especially with running my business at the same time!
What about you, what's your plans for the Christmas shopping this year?
