I love the Macy's here in northern California. I don't know what they're up to in your community, but here they are basically giving away product. As fast as they can. Do you have any discretionary income at all? Take it to Macy's. As my mom would say, I kid you not. #1, their ads almost single-handedly keep our local newspaper afloat. They run at least one full-page sales ad in the paper EVERY day. It's far more usual to see 3-4 full pages. #2, they are constantly combining 20% off everything with an all day extra 20% off coupon, combined with gift bucks if you spend a certain amount, plus an additional 20% off everything if you open a charge card with them. They might like the look of you and throw in a handful of extra merchandise.
This began in November with a "best sale of the year" two day sale, followed by a pre-Thanksgiving sale, Black Friday all weekend, a Friends and Family pre-sale where you could buy cheap stuff but not take it home til December 2 when they ran the sale for real for 5 days, followed the next day by a Giant One Day Sale for two days, followed yesterday by the More the Merrier sale still underway, prices sinking 30, 40, 50% off plus the coupons. This will go on indefinitely until you simply must go down with large sacks, scoop up any remaining stock and let the poor delirious employees go home at last. And just think how much you'll save. But you can't buy gifts there; everyone you know has been hauling stuff out of Macy's for the last month, too, and already have whatever you bought. They probably have two.
I am buying few to no gifts this year. My immediate family does a used book exchange. My kids will get stuff; they always do. If you invite me somewhere, I'll bring you a bottle of wine (my husband is a winemaker) or maybe a book of poems. I've got a new one out after all.
But I promised to talk about Real Men here. "Real Men" is my Macy's ad. I just keep reoffering Real Men every day and you keep coming back because it's unthinkable that I won't at some point say something Real. While I can't give you 20%+ off anything, I can at least type the promise of Real Men. But if there is such a thing, I'd far rather hear your idea of who or what a real man is and would find it cool if you left a one-line definition in the comments section below.
Everyone I love has been a real man at some point in his or her life, and to each and every one of you I would like to once again recommend a visit to the Art of Manliness blog, just as I did here last Father's Day. I admit I hadn't returned to it myself since last June, but I just did and they have a video posted on how to carve a turkey that's changed my life. I might roast one tomorrow just to try it out, though as the chef suggests, everyone starts with chicken.
Anyway, they have some fun holiday recommendations, quotes, and all-around manly stuff like this pic of Bing bringing on the manly spirit. If you want something a bit freakish, they also have a video called How to Escape a Sinking Car. This, however, is not for the manly-though-faint-of-heart. This is Real Men Stuff. At last.
