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75 Comments

  1. artluvr
    November 25, 2014 @ 4:57 pm

    Presents. I think it is very hard for anyone to really know what someone else would like/need/want. Unless copious hints have been made early and often, which obviates the surprise factor. My husband surprised me in the first years of our marriage, resulting in a drawerful of jewelry I wouldn’t wear and scents that made me gag. Don’t get me wrong, he is a wonderful man. But taste? Not so much. Except, of course, in wives. 😉 After 25 years, he buys what he wants, I buy what I want, and we’re both blissfully happy. Your mileage may vary.

    The EARRINGS. I think they will make quite a statement when I wear them to my dog walking visits, and will be very practical, particularly after dark, when their luminosity will mean that cars are more likely to see me coming (unless drivers are blinded by the reflection of their headlights in all those facets). Hopefully, the bling won’t scare the dogs.

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  2. Heather C
    November 25, 2014 @ 5:58 pm

    Alas, I don’t tweet, face page or pin, so I can’t enter your give-a-way, but I just don’t think I could pull those gorgeous earrings off as well as you, I didn’t think you could top the pearl earring story, but obviously that’s the way us non pinners who don’t tweet on facebook think. I still love you, you make my day.

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  3. Pattie C
    November 25, 2014 @ 6:03 pm

    I don’t understand not liking presents. You put too much pressure on yourself. You don’t have to like the gift, get the receipt just in case. The giver has all the pressure to please you. Also, anybody who gives a scale as a gift, should be beaten with it.

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  4. Tamara @ Etcetorize
    November 25, 2014 @ 9:27 pm

    What a super fabulous giveaway! Rafflecopter won’t let me enter my Twitter entry but here it is: https://twitter.com/Etcetorize/status/537430837256409090 ~ Have a great week 🙂

    Reply

  5. Janet
    November 25, 2014 @ 9:56 pm

    I don’t like the pressure of gift-giving either, and frankly there is nothing we need or much desire. We are truly blessed by God. Perhaps I inherited this trait as whenever any package was being opened, before the wrapping was even off, my mother would chime in loudly with “I saved the tags!”. 🙂

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  6. Anne
    November 25, 2014 @ 9:57 pm

    I just heard an enormous crowd of teachers yelling THANK YOU!

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  7. Laurinda
    November 25, 2014 @ 10:12 pm

    OMG-the double baguettes! NEED them!!

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  8. nonpiercedears
    November 25, 2014 @ 10:27 pm

    I actually don’t want these lovely earrings as I don’t wear earrings, so count me out. Just wanted to say that you might enjoy mixedmediamanic.blogspot.com because she has lots of humorous pictures like your Colt one. And ditto on the teacher gifts. I heard that rant from a teacher once when I was trying to sell “teacher” mugs at a church bazaar. And the one time I tried to give a deserving teacher a Starbucks gift card he informed me icily that he didn’t drink coffee. I’m all in favor of shopping for yourself and not for anyone else, then everyone would get what they want!

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  9. Charlie and me
    November 25, 2014 @ 11:43 pm

    Dear Victoria
    I think I now understand why your posts are so eagerly anticipated by so many after reading this one. (And it isn’t just because they are hilarious…which they are)
    It’s twofold.
    Firstly the laser like insight you possess into your own personality and quirks.
    Secondly, the totally forthright manner with which you share it with your readers.
    Then the reader experices a moment of clarity as we recognise the same qualities in ourselves.
    Genius!!

    Reply

  10. Pamela Bolton
    November 26, 2014 @ 2:28 am

    Oh, those earrings would be perfect on my ears to replace the tiny,itsy-bitsy ones that broke today.

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  11. Delta Moxie
    November 26, 2014 @ 8:06 am

    Love your list.

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  12. Beverly Knight
    November 26, 2014 @ 9:32 am

    I usually agree whole heartedly with your comments and laugh through them. You are such a good writer and love the word pictures you paint. I think Christmas gifts are NOT surprises but something that is expected of us each year, which is the part I dislike. I randomly send packages to my daughter and now grands when they AREN’T expecting it and for no reason. That’s the fun part for me but to HAVE to do something because it’s expected, now don’t care for that one bit!!

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  13. nancy
    November 26, 2014 @ 1:07 pm

    I love surprises and I love those earrings. So why don’t you surprise me and give me those earrings? 🙂

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  14. Anna
    November 26, 2014 @ 3:44 pm

    Hey Victoria and all of your lovely readers,
    Thanks for the post and the wonderful comments, you have made my day!
    btw, that profile shot of you in the earrings is VERY Wallis Simpson
    xanna

    Reply

  15. Jude'
    November 26, 2014 @ 10:49 pm

    I busily told you about my brother and the awesome gift he sent last week, I failed to mention my other greatest gift. I grew up loving Miss Dove, a self righteous teacher in an old movie called “Good Morning Miss Dove”…anyway, Miss Dove was a movie from the 40’s and her prim and proper hat with matching gloves always effected me, I have imitated her style for years…ok, so the amazing gift…on my last birthday (50 all ready?) my mother gave me a certificate to what she called THE HAT OF THE MONTH CLUB…she had scoured yard sales and flea markets…and on the 5th of each month (my bday is the 5th) I receive a new treasure in the form of an old hat which I proudly wear to church every week! Love your blog…getting those earrings whether I win or not!!!

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  16. Paula
    November 27, 2014 @ 12:24 am

    Holy craptarts! How did I not know of these? I have a giant Oprah size head with more hair than 10 people. Earrings never are seen on me unless my hair is pulled back. These are all kinds of awesome!

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  17. GMH
    November 27, 2014 @ 1:19 am

    As a teacher, I thank you! I really don’t want or need any more mugs. Actually, what I want my students to do- since I don’t gamble myself- is each spend ONE dollar and get me a scratch-off lottery ticket. Then I could have a blast scratching all 105 of them (the tickets, not the students) and I bet there would be a $10 or $20 winner in there somewhere. But who knows? There MIGHT be something bigger! Oh, the glorious suspense!

    Reply

  18. Diana C.
    November 28, 2014 @ 7:23 am

    Oh thank GOODNESS I’m not the only one who doesn’t like surprises… or gifts, unless from my sister in-law and BFF who totally gets me… most of the time. Like you, I love LARGE, CHUNKY, OVER-THE-TOP jewelry that comes around a corner minutes before I do. My mother and regular sisters are jewelry minimalists choosing small, “dainty” pieces, if they bother wearing jewelry at all. Why bother? If I must squint to see it, it isn’t there.

    Husband is almost as bad and yes, I buy all of his gifts to me. It has worked out perfectly for the last 20 years following the 17 he got it wrong. There is one year in there when he nailed it by giving me a huge triple strand set of… LARGE PEARLS! (Sound familiar?). He finally figured out that I would much rather have UBER BIG GLORIOUS fake pearls than small, dinky (aka: dainty) must-squint-to-see pearls, with 14K gold beads in between. Ick.

    Oops. Got distracted by those giant fancy earrings and breakfast is burning. Merry Christmas VEB; keep the blogs coming!

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  19. tammigirl
    November 28, 2014 @ 9:49 pm

    Not sure what happened? I entered the other day – I’m sure I did! But today it tells me I have zero entries.

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    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      November 29, 2014 @ 11:08 am

      It must reset everyday… I didn’t realize that I could restrict the option to share on more than one day. (why must there be so many options for EVERYTHING?)

      I checked in the entries, and you are in there.
      Hope you had a nice thanksgiving!

      Reply

  20. Jilletta
    November 29, 2014 @ 2:58 pm

    You know, I love reading the comments on your blog almost as much as I enjoy the posts (almost). While these earrings would surely liven up my work attire (I work from home so you can imagine work attire there, of course almost anything could liven that up!)…I’m more amazed to find out you don’t love gifts! I would think that $100 for a fleamarket or craigslist splurge would be the most perfect gift for you. I’m fixing up my 1890 Victorian in NH and love looking at the items you find and wondering how the heck you found THAT. I tell my husband the perfect gift would be helping me bring home my latest find with no complaints what-so-ever…

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