I can't believe I just spent $30 on things with which to contain and then wrap Christmas presents. Ridiculous.
I am also distressed because, despite our agreeing not to get one another Christmas presents, I bought D a shirt at Filene's Basement.
One of the reasons I made the decree to not buy gifts is because buying presents for D is a challege. He is very particular. He is very obsessive compulsive about anything he allows in his apartment, on his body, into his brain, etc. He wears only a certain brand of socks. Boxers must only have certain patterns. Nothing can go on his wall unless it is chosen by him and him only. He will not humor the gift giver. He will not accept the gift, or he will accept it and then sell it on EBay. D, despite being a minimalist, is also a consumer, and thus has millions of books and magazine subscriptions and CDs and basically already has everything he needs. And because he is a minimalist, he will only allow into his life what he needs.
Hence the stress of buying him a gift.
I bought him a couple silly things just so he would have presents to open on Christmas. Nothing major. Just a book of puzzles which he will have no good reason to refuse and a DVD that he will find funny and can then sell on EBay if he wants. He will get a kick out of it and I didn't spend much, so when he gets rid of it my feelings will not be hurt.
Why did I buy him a shirt tonight? I have no idea. I really shouldn't have. I did most of my shopping this year on the internet but left a few items to buy in the real world. As I was shopping tonight, I remembered how much I love to shop for gifts for people. I love it. It's so much fun to think of what will make other people happy!
Now. D is absurdly particular about what he wears. He will only spend a certain amount of money on a shirt and above that he will say "Ridiculous!" even though the prices are not ridiculous. The shirts have to be of a certain style and only certain patterns are acceptable. The neckline has to be just so and the length has to be long enough to tuck in but short enough to wear out.
I found the perfect shirt for him. I thought "D will go nuts over this!" It looks like all his other shirts, which is why he will love it. It is a D Shirt. End of story.
I was wrapping it just now and I thought "Wait a second..." and then it occurred to me that there is a very likely possibility that D already has this shirt. I just don't know. Did I think it was perfect for him because I've seen it on him before?
I am the worst girlfriend ever.
It's problematic because all of his shirts are similar. They all have wacky patterns that invovle blue and they are all button-down. I didn't dare buy him an argyle sweater that would have looked so cute on him.
Now I am all stressed out because how lame would it be for me to give him a shirt that he already has? And also, what are the odds?
I do know that D hasn't bought a new shirt (well, a new button-down) in the year that we've been dating, so odds are he doesn't have it. Then again, maybe Filene's Basement carries fashions from a year ago. Then again, this shirt is French Connection and is marked $78 so there is no way that he bought it for regular price. Is it possible The Basement would have the exact same shirts for a year?
I now have to find a way to sneak into his apartment and look in his closet to see if he has the shirt.
The good news is that he wears his clothes in a rotation, so he'll probably get through the entire rotation once before I give him the shirt on Christmas.
I think it would be better, though, for me to just look through his clothes and double check. Yeah. I am the worst girlfriend ever, but not really, because oftentimes he'll be like "I've never seen you wear that before!" and I'm like "Umm... I've worn this about 40 times in the last year."
Ugh. This is what I get for violating the No Presents Decree.
Friday, December 16, 2005
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7 comments:
Hmm. I completely empathize and agree with D.
No one can buy me books/DVDs because I'm already on top of everything and have strict ideas of what constitutes something acceptable to my library. And because I am a hyper-minimalist -- I bet I out-minimalize D, even, because I do not still, at this date, have any real furniture (except, as readers of my blog know, my Barcalounger) -- frivolous or excessive things people give me are met with a look which is often confused as a look of contempt, and although this is not true, it's also probably not as false as I'd like to think.
A while ago, a friend bought me a beautiful, insanely expensive wallet for my overcoat, which she correctly interpreted as one of the few material things I own that I can reasonably be accused of fetishizing. And while I appreciated it -- what the hell was I going to do when it wasn't winter outside? Carry this purse-like thing with me wherever I go? A gift which cannot be used to its fullest extent? Frivolous. And thus it was rejected.
By the way, D is clearly a devout student of logic and practicality, because his conclusions about the requirements for button-down shirts are the only reasonable ones at which to arrive.
You should marry him before Jonathan Safran Foer does.
Put together a song about D and his Minimalist OCD ways!
agreed, banalities. every guy wants a button-downed shirt that looks good untucked. surprisingly, a vast majority of the shirts out there do not look good untucked. are these guys doing market research, or am i in a minority? what you want is the straight-hemmed shirt where the back of the shirt is not a different size than the front of the shirt. it can actually be very difficult to find this type of shirt (online may be your best bet). hope D likes the shirt!
Oh my... you are scaring me. Is he really that bad? I think you have known him long enough to know that he will like the shirt. However, will you be upset that he didn't buy you an equally thoughtful gift? Even though you said, "No gifts"? I think you should have said, "No gifts except jewelry. I will only accept jewelry." I think it is our prerogative.
Oh yes, he is that bad. He is so very particular. The good news is that I checked his closet this morning and he does not have the shirt that I bought him! The better news is that it will blend in just fine with the other shirts that are all very similar.
No, I won't be upset if he doesn't get me a gift. He is spending the holidays with my family and I appreciate that. I know its cheesey, but its gift enough that he's actually spending Christmas with me. Also, I wanted to make sure that he also had a present to open on Christmas, because that would be sad if he didn't.
P.S. The reason you spent so much money on wrapping is because you are an insane wrapper! Your presents always look the best. Quality costs money. I keep the same wrap from year to year and it just gets more and more beat up and wrinkled and horrible looking. I'm lucky to wrap it and tape it around gifts, but I only use it on BOXES. Anything of an odd shape automatically gets a gift bag. Gift bags are a life saver!
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