It’s the time of year when I start thinking about family togetherness, copious amounts of baking, cheerful carols, and blatant commercialism. Even those in Canada aren’t immune to the allure that is Black Friday or Cyber Monday – even with an October Thanksgiving, we still have Black Friday sales (this is primarily to compete with the US Black Friday sales to keep money north of the border). But, I digress. Because commercialism is also something that exists in the world of Blythe (and yes, I realize how obvious this is after part 2 of the Holiday Shopping Guide…).

In a doll-eat-doll world, a lot of people do get sucked up in the cycle of buying new things all the time. A new doll, new clothes, new shoes, another new doll, selling that doll to afford another one. The cycle just keeps on going until you finally get yourself off the carousel. I tend to buy in spurts because I tend to have moments where I want to Buy All The Things! and then I wait and get so many packages in the mail, only to feel slightly guilty about the spending, I stop buying for a while, and then I repeat the process again. It’s very cyclical for me, and I know that I’m currently in my “lull” stage. This is because I spent some money on myself for my birthday, and now it’s time for thinking about giving rather than receiving. The holiday season always does this to me. Even with the many, many, many inserts in the newspapers about who’s have ‘door busters sales’ on this and ‘lowest prices of the season’ on that, I find it very hard to step away from it because it’s all just in my face all the time.

And while I would love to welcome a new doll into the family (and let’s face it, when wouldn’t I love to welcome a new doll into the family?), that is not in the cards for me right now unless I end up receiving one as a gift (and if my family is reading right now: hint hint?) or if I go for a less expensive doll (e.g. My Little Pony, Monster High). More readily available dolls are always an option, so I really should have said that I’d love to welcome a new Blythe into the family, and would love to receive one as a gift. Because the truth is, I would.

Over the next however many days until Christmas, I’ll be busy with studying (for finals), baking, and crafting (for all those Christmas gifts!) and rumour has it that the first snow of the season in my local area is predicted for this weekend! That is always fun, and I’m looking forward to cozy days indoors with some knitting and a doll by my side. Mostly because when I have downtime from school, that’s when I have the time for dolls. I might even make a few things for Kitty Brighton this holiday season!

What are your plans for the holiday season?