Review: Shimmery White Chocolate M&M’s & How Does Your Family Do Gifts?
JFG Nation, no matter what holiday you celebrate, typically the giving of gifts is a big thing this time of year. But as you get older, gift giving changes, doesn’t it? As a kid you get ALL the gifts. You have no income so as a little kid you end up giving your dad random spaceship pencils you get from the school store. Or you make your mom something using glue paper glue rocks more glue and dried glue. LOOK MA! PUT MY MASTERPIECE UP ON THE FRIDGE! I KNOW IT LOOKS LIKE A MUCUS BALL DON’T YOU LOVE ME??
Then as a teenager, you start buying gifts. You’re forced to buy your dopey brother that gross Anime poster he wanted – yuck. And usually around that time, a pattern emerges – 1-2 gifts for each person in your family. Hope that you get that Goat Mug you always wanted. Crumble into unappreciative teenage angst when your parents buy you a Wilco CD.
The JFGal comes from a large family where during the holidays, EVERYONE gets together, so besides immediate family gifts, they do a Secret Santa to compensate for the 30+ people and kids that in attendance. Other families I know do a White Elephant Swap, sometimes known as a Texas Auction, where in a chaotic fashion you steal each other’s gifts. By the way, A WHITE ELEPHANT SWAP / TEXAS AUCTION IS HOW DREAMS DIE. HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY XBOX LIVE GIFT CARD, SHARON.
Some families I know only buy gifts for little kids and the adults no longer swap and some others I know just don’t give gifts at all. Gift giving is stressful, and I want to know: What about YOU, JFG Nation? How does your family do gifts, if at all? I’d like to hear it in the comments below. AIR YOUR GRIEVANCES!
Today’s junk food: Shimmery White Chocolate M&M’s!!
Shimmery White Chocolate M&M’s have been all over the place this holiday season; I bought these at Target. Full disclosure: I’ve never quite loved white chocolate M&M’s. They are the base of the Candy Corn M&M’s, and I’ve always felt these were too sweet. Still I’m a sucker for shiny things so OOOOOO MUST PURCHASE.
Shimmery White Chocolate M&M’s are, well, shimmery. That is, the surface of the candy shell appears to have been sprayed with some sort of shiny sugar lacquer, giving the red and green pieces a dull sparkly or shimmery effect. They aren’t as glittery as the package, but they are…uh…something.
Newsflash: Shimmery White Chocolate M&M’s are just white chocolate M&M’s. I know plenty of other blogs have revealed this spoiler alert, so I’m just jumping on the pile here. This is BS, M&M’s. You fooled me with the hot outfit, then you took your clothes off, and I’ve lost my buzz. These are cloyingly sweet and not my bag, man. Still, if you’re INTO the white chocolate M&M’s, then buy these – they are sort of pretty. Otherwise, walk on by.
PURCHASED AT: Target, Germantown, MD.
COST: $2.99.
Sincerely,
The JFG
Discuss - 10 Comments
Christmas was always just the 3 of us. I don’t think I ever bought gifts for my parents. They were always way more into it than I ever was. I stopped doing Christmas once I was like 16.
Then in my 20s I started giving bags of coffee beans as gifts, being the Luddite I am (no, you don’t get Starbucks gift cards, do the work!). Then eventually I just stopped doing that & give them a card that said a donation was made in their name to the Human Fund.
Here’s a question: does anyone under 35 actually do Christmas cards anymore?? I think Facebook has made these things obsolete. I’m 38 & I still haven’t ever gotten one.
HA……had to look up Luddite……maybe I should start using the term, technology is great….but it is not the end all be all of life. Don’t get me wrong I love my phone and my ability to use it as a little computer, but the addiction some have just has gotten bothersome. I quit sending Christmas cards years ago, I’m 40something. My husband and I used to look forward to the annual bragging xmas card we got from one of my college friends….we didn’t make the cut last year, which made me sad because we got such a kick out of laughing at how wonderful their life must be (NOT).
Nice Seinfeld reference
My family doesn’t celebrate Christmas but Hanukkah. We all gather for New Years and give out gifts. That tradition stopped for a bit due to family costs but I stepped in and pulled together great gifts with a $50 budget for 12 people. Used store rewards, expos freebies such as glasses and usb ports. I don’t care if it got branding on it but it is usable. I am going do it again and my family is going be thrilled. I even buy a stack of cards at dollar tree and nobody knows. I don’t need too many cards. 14 cards for a buck is perfect.
The M&M’s doesn’t look so shimmery to me
It sadly got to the point we were only exchanging money. So…for the most part, the adults have stopped exchanging gifts. We buy for my niece and nephew. I’ve never gotten anything from them. It isn’t what Christmas is supposed to be about, is it?
Christmas has been about spending & kids getting gifts for a long, long time. I wouldn’t expect kids to have to give gifts since they don’t have the means to pull that off.
I don’t see the point of adults exchanging money other than the novelty. If anything, people complain “Oh now I gotta shop & spend this at Borders!!” I’ve never had any problems getting cash, tho.
I usually get my parents a little something or take them out to a nice dinner. I buy for my sister’s three kids, usually around $25 gifts….my husband sends his 2 nieces & nephew a gift card to Toys are Us-I think he gets them each a $25 gift card (they live four states away). My in-laws continue to send us around $200 for XMAS to share….we have asked them to stop, now that they are both retired, but they continue…which means we have to exchange money with them as well…kind of like what Jessica describes. I don’t see the point.
The holidays always stress me out. Forced happiness but somehow never lives up to your expectations.
In my family everyone buys for the youngest generation (right now 3 -11 years old) and then everyone who wants to participate can bring a $20 gift for the white elephant.
I still buy something for my parents and in laws – mostly sentimental grandkid themed memorabilia.
We do “only kids” 18 and under get gifts. Then we say “no gifts” for adults. However, there’s always that one adult who does not listen and buys a gift making everyone else feel like dirt for not giving.
Jesus, what a bunch of scrooges!
As a kid I always loved Christmas, admittedly because you got an ish ton of presents. As I’ve moved into adulthood my mentally has shifted. While buying gifts for the little ones is still a priority (I don’t have any little ones yet, so I buy for others), I still go big with the adults. Mom get’s something extravagant usually, and while my brother has tried time and time again to quash the gift giving between the two of us, I still tend to go big. For me, it’s not about what I get back, I genuinely enjoy giving other people nice things for the holidays. If I had a larger family I would probably have to scale it back a bit, but I would still do all I could.
You all sound like a bunch of whiny emo kids, embrace the season! Even if you can’t afford big gifts there are a ton of other options, it’s not all about how much you spend, it’s about the giving.
Bah humbug! Don’t you call me emo! That’s it – I’m putting out the Festivus pole. LET’S RUMBLE!