Note: This post is part of an ongoing blog series called #costamesa365 where the author is striving to shop only* in her city of Costa Mesa, for a year.
January is a busy month for birthdays in my family.
We’ve got four.
Usually, about this time of year, I’m still recovering from the holidays. Just settling back into my routine when suddenly I panic, “Sweet cupcake! It’s my dad’s birthday tomorrow!”
The “old me” would be one-day Prime-shopping like a boss and get it all done via the Interwebs and UPS.
The #costamesa365 me packed up the kids and drove over to Metro Pointe and South Coast Plaza.
I have vivid childhood memories of shopping at South Coast Plaza with my mom.
My siblings and I were expected to dress up because it was a classy place and shopping there was a big deal. Mom would let us throw a penny from her purse into the SCP fountain to “make a wish.” If we were well-behaved, we got to share a fresh, flaky, chocolate-filled croissant from the french bakery counter when she was through.
Bringing my kids out to shop for family gifts – the way my mom used to do – was a really lovely experience. The kids were so wide-eyed at the displays and genuinely enjoyed getting lost in the beautiful shops. It occurred to me how little of that kind of window-shopping we do.
When my kids were really little, I started online shopping as an efficiency hack. Clicking a few buttons on my phone is way easier than dragging cranky toddlers around a mall.
Now that my girls are older, I don’t really need to shop like that so much anymore. I’m just used to it.
After our day at SCP, it hit me that the opportunity for connection and experience can sometimes get lost in the service of efficiency. Productivity meant to free up my time in some ways, had enslaved me in others. That sometimes, wandering through beautiful, elegant shops with your pre-tweens isn’t rational, but it is the stuff of life.
Of course, the kids wanted to buy one of everything they saw. But that just gave me the chance to Mom up a little and talk about the importance of putting some mental space between the wanting of things and the buying of things.
We managed to stick to our list and get all the gifts we needed. They were lovely company.
At the french bakery, they passed on a chocolate croissant in lieu of a tiny plate of beautiful macarons.
You can bet next time we need gifts, there’ll be pennies in my purse. ♥
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*We will always start by shopping / looking in Costa Mesa, first. But if we really need something and an alternative is nowhere to be found in Costa Mesa, we’ll stray. Also, as parents, we’ve decided that certain kid-related things (mainly educational) will need to remain baked in.
