lend me some sugar. i am your neighbor.

is the universe telling me something again? this post and its part ii by life begins at thirty about buying locally had me thinking when i first read it. of course! shopping in the bay area is easy. there is such abundance, such diversity. but i thought in my little town of the mcmansion, how could i possibly buy locally?

the answer came to me, as they always seem to, in the face of adversity.

the trip to our local big lots! (don't you hate that name?) that gave us great kid gift last year sent my better half and i into an argument and we left with nothing. could it have to do with the complete and utter disaster all over the kids' aisles? with a "hiss" and a "harumph" i declared that i would do all "our" shopping via amazon. thirty minutes later i was done and click click clicking my way to checkout when i realized that amazon is one sneeaky squirrel. many of the items that were to ship in "one to two business days" were in fact not shipping until 20 december. so there went that. we also tried ucla's student union, but no luck there either.

then i began reflecting about that post and how i try to be gung-ho for the "little shop around the corner" in every other aspect of my consumerism. why not during the gluttonous frenzy that is christmas?

so we walked to our local toy store and i found personal help and attention, creative gifts, a knowledgeable staff and (my favorite) free gift wrapping. and it's so not cheesy, too! i was afraid of the price tag, but i found something within our budget for all the kids on "our" list. so what did i find?

this book for two of our nephews who are at that age when the grosser, the better. (for the record, i totally hate the cover.) a hawaiian ukulele for our niece, the aspiring rock star. a "make-your-own" radio kit for our nephew who is more mechanically inclined than my husband. little charm bracelets for our nieces, one with a "girls rock" charm and the other with her first initial in rhinestones. an eric carle book i hadn't seen before. a thomas the tank tank. a dora lego set. a science set for my nephew who will be holding a "mad science" birthday party this weekend. (yes, we have a lot of nephews and nieces!)

it was a pleasant experience all-around. won't you try shopping for at least one or two gifts locally this year? maybe there's more abundance and diversity than you thought.