ExposedNYC

The holiday season is officially upon us, and with it comes inevitable hours of shopping. We will be bombarded for the next few weeks with big sales, sentimental commercials full of ribbons and bows, and guilt trips to give to the fullest degree of your credit cards.

The holiday season also brings us a difficult question when it comes to gift giving- who to include? I thought I had this issue down with my girlfriends last year, when five of us drew names of who to buy for. Sadly, being an out-of-towner, mine got lost in the mail so I got the equivalent of a lump of coal (with the best of intentions, of course).

I’ve already made a deal with my girlfriend in grad school to go out to dinner instead of exchanging gifts, but from there, I’m on shaky ground. Of course I want to spoil all of my favorite people, and deciding what to give them isn’t the problem. Remember the Friends episode where the three of them with stable jobs go to a Hootie and the Blowfish concert, and the other three can’t afford it? That’s definitely typical in the years after finishing school. I’ve got great girlfriends in successful jobs, struggling to survive, and raising children.

I’m almost thankful I don’t have a significant other to worry about! My girlfriend from LA, we’ll call her “Callie”, just got an amazingly thoughtful gift from a guy she works with, and is just beginning to date. She’s a die-hard USC Trojans fan, so for her birthday, he placed a bet on one of their biggest games (which they won). Then, she drew his name in the office pool and is stressed out about how to repay the favor, while staying in the spending limit, and without being obvious in front of their co-workers.

Holidays are more confusing than Valentine’s Day, where at least you know what’s expected of you. I’ve heard discussions of couples who chose to break it off before holidays or birthdays to avoid the hassle. I know others who waited until after in order to take advantage of generous gift-givers. The worst is in the early stages of dating someone, and you’re not sure what level of gift would be appropriate.

I’m going to stick with holiday cards this year (makes it easy not to offend Chrismakkuh followers and such), and spend every penny I can on the people I care about. Some of my favorite gifts have never been about the money. Right now I’m waiting to get on a plane to head back to NYC for a few weeks, but the best gift in the world will be coming back home for the holidays for the third time in four months, and that’s some of the best money I’ve ever spent.

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