We interrupt this blog to bring you a holiday advisory: Think twice before drinking and shopping. Or at least shop first, then celebrate, rather than vice versa. Unless you want to end up with deliverymen on your doorstep the next day, waiting for you to sign for that Barca Lounge Massage Chair that seemed so fantastic the day before, after you’d had a few glasses of wine.
Here’s a funny tidbit:
On a recent Friday afternoon in Bar Louie at the upscale Legacy Village in Lyndhurst, Ohio, four women — all mothers in their late 30s — laughed and raised glasses in the corner. They try to get together at least once a week to shop, sip and socialize. They’ve learned their lesson about what the order should be.
“Now we get our shopping done first,” said Cassi (none of the four wanted her last name used). “If you drink before, you just get too brave. You spend too much money.”
“I get shopping goggles,” said Kim, citing a recent incident when she dropped $90 on a sweater while tipsy.
“The next morning, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what was I thinking?’” Perhaps the worst place to get your drink on is in your own house, near your computer.
Karry’s been there. “I was at home drinking,” she remembered, “and I thought, ‘Oh, my God, I need bras.’ ” She found a couple at Nordstrom.com and spent $55 — each.
Several years back, The Baylor College of Medicine even issued a public advisory: “Don’t drink and shop during the holidays.” Drinking before shopping relaxes you, to the point where you may linger in the stores and spend more money than you normally would.
On the other hand, shopping can be stressful, especially on Black Friday, with visions of trampled shoppers floating around your head. So maybe a few drinks can take the edge off, or help you relax when you try on bikinis.
Drinking and shopping–pro or con? What do you think?
