I'm gonna say it: it's downright difficult to Christmas shop in New York. Over the past week, I've made two separate attempts to buy gifts, and both times I've returned home empty-handed. Of course, it doesn't help that my family will give me no clues as to what they want (e.g. "Oh, nothing for me this year" or "Just a little something, you'll know it when you see it.")

On top of this, there is an overwhelming amount of options that are quickly narrowed down by price. So, it takes a large amount of sifting to find things that won't put me in the poor house, and when I find it, there's a line for the checkout that wraps around the perimeter of the store.

I (stupidly) tried to make my way down 5th Avenue yesterday, and while it was busy, I was trying to coerce myself into having fun and getting into the spirit of holiday crowds. This quickly ended, however, when I found myself trapped in an Italian-style crowd at the corner of 50th and 5th, just outside of the American Girl Doll store. Apart from the mob of angry mothers and shrill tourists who "drove half the day from Baltimore to wait in line to even get inside the store," there were mounds of other people blocking traffic and causing police on-foot to intervene. I literally couldn't move for 5 minutes.

So, I will now try to complete my shopping either online or when I return to the Midwest. I suppose it won't be as terrible after work, so I might try that when I have a night off.