File this under: How to Organize. A few years ago (or more) I read this cute little article about how not to make purchases. The idea was that when you are out of your natural element (like on vacation or at the mall), your brain will latch on to ideas that only seem good where you are. So, a trip to Mexico doesn’t seem complete without that authentic sombrero as a souvenir. But once you imbue it with memories, drag the thing home, and protect it from crushing on the airplane, that sombrero doesn’t seem like quite the unique find it was in Mexico. In fact, you may even come to despise it and the space it takes up in your “normal” life. However, you’ve already stored your memories in it, spent money on it, and risked life and limb to get it home, so now you are attached to it, and it will be one of the last things to go when you need more space, more money or more peace.
We all have a sombrero of some type in our closet. Recently I met a friend for lunch in the quaint Bucks County destination called Peddler’s Village. In a tiny kitchen store there, I found another sombrero. A toast rack. I chuckled because I was, in fact, expecting out-of-town guests later in the week, but I couldn’t imagine owning, dragging out or using such a contraption for them. Yet, here it stood, prominently displayed in the epicenter of the store, clearly a must-have item for those anticipating holiday entertaining.
Just say NO. This is a SOMBRERO. Next season you’ll be wondering where it is, and the year after that you’ll be hiring me to help you haul it away.When you are getting ready for the holidays, and yes, the rush has already started, keep it real and keep it simple. If there ever was a year to economize and skip the sombreros, this is it for many people.
Research shows that the joy that you get from things lasts only days, or maybe two weeks at most, while the joy from shared experiences can be recorded for months or years. That means you can skip the toast rack and ask for those special folks to help you prepare the toast instead! Sounds yummy.
