Let the Holiday Shopping Commence!

Many of you start your holiday shopping early in the year and many of you start it around now.  My mom and I have been to several craft fairs over the past month and we just went to our last one the other day.  It's the biggest one that we go to and it has a ton of cute handmade crafts by artisans from all over.  It's a lot of fun and gets you in the holiday spirit!  I'd rather shop homemade crafts for the holidays versus what's in all the retail stores already!

When do you start your holiday shopping?  Do you do all of your holiday shopping online, in retail stores or specialty shops?  I think it's fun to mix it up a bit and I still like going to physical retail stores to do a majority of my holiday shopping.  I know some people do all of their shopping online, but I haven't and probably won't convert completely over.  Besides, I enjoy the time shopping with my mom too much to do all my shopping online.

I can't believe it's November already?!  Where did this year go?  Has this year flown by for you, too or are you ready for it to be over?  It's always interesting to reflect back on a year, a month, a week to see what transpired versus what you think was going to happen.  Most of the times, as we all know, it doesn't work out the way we planned or thought it would...sometimes it works out better and sometimes it doesn't.  That's just life and if we could all just learn to live in the moment maybe we wouldn't have those expectations that let us down or discourage us.  That's easier said than done, though and being a planner at heart it's hard for me not to plan out the next day, week or month ahead.  It's just a natural thought-process for me.  But, I'm trying to set that aside and enjoy moments throughout the day...one step at a time.  Because when we're not in the moment, we steal the beauty of that moment and the gifts of what the present moment is giving us.  That's how we 'skirt' through life not really living but just getting by or getting through it.  So, although this year has flown by for me, there are moments in the past 11 months that I do remember and cherish just for the simplicity of what they were and that I was present in those moments to fully take in...life!

So, I hope you take a moment today to just "smell the roses" and take it all in...good or bad...because that's how we learn, grow and enjoy life more fully!  Blessings to you today!