Shopping Differently, Pt. 1

So as many of you may know, I began my quest to "Shop Differently" this holiday season on Thursday, Dec. 1.

With extended holiday hours and FREE parking in the Towers, Market, and Center in the Square garages for folks entering after 4pm, there's no reason to miss a great chance to get a unique holiday gift for everyone on your list.

As promised, I was able to get some great shopping done on Thursday. I may have gone a little overboard, but I was in the spirit!

First stop was The Gift Niche, located right on Market Street. (Which meant I wasn't even required to walk that far!) They have all sorts of crazy cool stuff, and even Virginia Tech and UVA logo'ed merchandise.

After some serious browsing, I found the little frog wearing a hood. As you'll soon realize, my girlfriend LOVES frogs. The other nice addition is the wine glass in the background. It's hard to see in the picture, but it's similar to the clear insulated cups that are popular now. The great thing is it also has a lid and a straw. How many wine glasses can make that claim? Exactly. And that's why I had to get it.

Next stop was the Blue Ribbon Boutique. It's right next door to the Gift Niche, and it carries a great assortment of interior design things. I'm not much for putting out jars of decorative ceramic balls, but I was able to find something to suit my needs.

Ok, it IS ceramic, but I told you. She likes frogs. And the earrings were a great find! Reasonably priced and right at the cash register. I couldn't resist.

Then came polished by claire v. If you don't know much about this place, it's a nail salon/ retail store/ pretty much anything I could have imagined that I'd want to find. So, I figured it would make a great deal of sense to get her fingernail polish. Great idea for a stocking stuffer, right? Yea...you're supposed to actually paint it on to see if you like the color. Because "it changes once it dries," as I've been told. I think it was a rouse to get me to have my nails painted. I fell for it anyway.

They did have a great selection of nail polishes though.

And those were just the ones that they convinced me to try.

Yes. They did in fact paint my nails. And I guess I'm willing to admit that there was a color difference, but I still don't believe it warranted painting 7 of my fingernails 7 different colors.

At any rate, I got two of them. With really weird names. "Joust for kicks" and "You set my heart ablaze." So, I've got a good stocking stuffer now.

Final stop for the evening was Appalachia Press. It's a really cool antique/ oddities/ screenprinted/ embossed store on Salem Avenue. There were all kinds of great things in there, including homemade holiday cards, embossed Roanoke items, and more. I found two more fun things for this season that I couldn't leave the store without.

First, I found this.

Who doesn't need a Generic Winter Holiday Countdown Calendar? I thought it was great. And if you look closely, you get "six delightful non-offensive surprises." I couldn't resist.

Next was a little closer to my theme this year, which apparently is frogs. (Just to be clear, it wasn't until I got back to my office that I realized I had gotten a frog shaped something at every store I went into.)

This creepy little guy is a lighter. When you press his back, his mouth opens and the fire comes out. That was just too ridiculous for me to pass up. I mean why not light a candle with a fire-breathing frog?

So, I've gotten some great stuff, but I still have more people to shop for, and more stores to hit! Keep up with the blog and come down to "Shop Differently" with me!

I'll be going out on Thursday again, hope to see you then!