October Secret Sister Sign up and theme choosing.

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Originally Posted by uforgot

How can someone not like something you took the time and effort to pick out? It's not about the color or the gift, it's about sharing. We've become a nation of gift certificates and "you can always take it back". It really annoys me when I hear the commercials after Christmas..."Didn't get what you wanted, well for only....". Geeez, we have expectations for gifts? I'm not even crazy about the posts on here where people are telling their ss's what to get them. If you have to have a certain pair of socks, just get them yourself!

You are having a wonderful time, you are taking a lot of time and making a huge effort for your ss. Don't stress yourself out over it. You obviously are having a blast doing the ss thing. It's the fact that someone was thinking of me that will make me love whatever I receive!!!!

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Well said.:D :D

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Originally Posted by uforgot

How can someone not like something you took the time and effort to pick out? It's not about the color or the gift, it's about sharing. It's the fact that someone was thinking of me that will make me love whatever I receive!!!!

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I agree!!! Even if I don't like it, I'd still happily wear it because somebody picked it out for me- and they obviously found it to be beautiful. No matter color, pattern, or even fit- because a gift is a gift and I'm thankful someone thinks enough of me to spend their hard-earned money to buy it for me!!!
I love that we do this- it really reminds you of how wonderful people around the world are! Humans are pretty darn kind creatures (well, the vast majority of them anyway :) ).

OK, I've got this serious Blue thing going on with my bike. Blue bikes, blue shorts, shirts, gloves, helmet (actually, the current one is black, but only 'cause the LBS didn't have blue, and it's getting replaced ASAP), blue this, that and the other.

The first SS exchange, I got a pair of pink, sparkly Road Queen socks. I never, ever, even consider thinking of buying myself anything pink - or sparkly. So guess what? Those are my favorite socks. I feel my horizons (as opposed to my backside :) ) expanding every time I put them on. It's GREAT!

So don't worry too much. What's to dislike about Bike Stuff, anyway?

Oh, I will love whatever I get. If it is ungirly or especially if it happens to be black and/or reddish orange, I will have to keep it under lock and key to keep my husband from stealing it because we wear the same size socks, but I will love it anyway.

(My road bike is celeste, so a lot of things clash, but I wear them anyway. My mountain bike is boring silver so everything matches it. I am seriously considering sprucing it up with some pink flame decals I saw, just because it is so boring I can hardly stand to ride it.)

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Originally Posted by uforgot

Geeez, we have expectations for gifts? I'm not even crazy about the posts on here where people are telling their ss's what to get them. . . .

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I don't see it as folks having "expectations"; I see it as hints to help me out :) . Watching these boards, I can't imagine anyone here being unappreciative of what they're sent. But if I can send my SS something that's spot on for her because of something I read in her posts, all the better!! (right, DirtDiva? :D :D )

But I do have a sock sizing question. If someone says their sock size is 6-10 and the socks you want to get are only mens small, medium or large (with no sizing chart), would you get the small or the medium?

I just want to say (bianchi) that no matter what I get (celesteandnakedcarbon) that I will love it and (bianchicolorceleste) be happy with whatever I get because (nakedcarbonanddidImentionbianchi?) someone took the time to think of ME.......

Donna- It is completely the thought. Every month the things have been very different. And I can tell you I have enjoyed every month that I have participated. I have gotten new treats, socks I would never have picked (but I really like them), socks I would have picked, hot chocolate I can't get in Texas and a t-shirt my parents threatened to steal off my back!

Every month I have done SS has been a blast, who doesn't love getting a gift for no reason at all? I have enjoyed giving gifts and I am not ashamed to say I really enjoy receiving gifts! If you put thought into it I am sure you SS will love it. Don't stress, I bet your SS is one lucky gal with all the thought going into your gift. :D

I totally agree with what everyone has said. It's all about the thought, time & effort someone took to choose and get that gift for you. I, too, have been happy surprised with SS gift so far. I'm really not expecting that to change anytime soon.

Good luck and have fun shopping and recieving!

Kerry

This month was so much fun!! I have my gift and now I just need to package it up. :D

I absolutely love swapping! It is so much fun to shop for another person and hope the package brightens their day. I know my day is always brightened when my gift comes. :)

If anyone's interested, http://www.cafepress.com is a nice site with themes. You can find a printed product for just about any topic. I just put in "cycling" and came up with dozens of pages of things to pick from. You can narrow the search to journals, cards, calendars, mugs, t-shirts... I've bought from them in the past and they seemed quite professional to deal with.

Cindy

Had fun this morning shopping for my secret sister! :D

Bad day: Am in agony, have a torn muscle in my ribs, through playing about, spent all afternoon at A&E, in the hospital.

Even worse, cannot ride my bike.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...nkey_hides.gif

Good day: Have got my goodies almost ready to send to my SS, hope she will like everything.



Sally

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Originally Posted by ClockworkOrange

Bad day: Am in agony, have a torn muscle in my ribs, through playing about, spent all afternoon at A&E, in the hospital.

Even worse, cannot ride my bike.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...nkey_hides.gif

Good day: Have got my goodies almost ready to send to my SS, hope she will like everything.



Sally

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I hope you feel better soon!!
m

Today was going to be my cyber shopping day for socks for my SS. I was thinking warm wool socks as she lives in a cooler state..what to my wishes appear, but from TE a sale on such the things I was looking for. So I called TE regarding some questions on these ( Molly was very helpful) and can't wait to place my order tomorrow..now the big decision is what color? HHMMmmm!

i got the email of the sale too... and i just sent my gift out to my SS today. hopefully she likes it. i was actually able to shop for it in person instead of online. its a great accomplishment for me!

I got that email too. Seeing as my SS won't be seeing cold anytime soon, I picked up some socks locally. And a record for me.... I mailed it today!! I usually mail it the last week of the month. Of course she may not get it until the last week of the month! :D

Mailed my secret sister's package off today!
Most appropriately, I brought it to the P.O. on my bicycle. :)

Yeh Lisa! Supporting the cause! I'm jealous cuz I might get killed if I try to ride my bike to the PO. Most roads around where I live aren't so biker friendly.

HOWEVER - We went to Performance Bike in Hotlanta today, and I picked up the last of my SS's gift and I will be mailing it off tomorrow.

YEH! This is fun :)

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Originally Posted by Lisa S.H.

Mailed my secret sister's package off today!
Most appropriately, I brought it to the P.O. on my bicycle. :)

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You know in November I will finally be able to do this!! We are moving to a quieter town and the post office will be a short bike ride away. I might need to start researching some racks/panniers. Of course I can only imagine the look on the small Texas town's locals when they see the new resident running errands on her bike for the pure joy of it! I think it would be something like this: :confused:

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Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama

You know in November I will finally be able to do this!! We are moving to a quieter town and the post office will be a short bike ride away. I might need to start researching some racks/panniers. Of course I can only imagine the look on the small Texas town's locals when they see the new resident running errands on her bike for the pure joy of it! I think it would be something like this: :confused:

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Aggie, YOU may also be surprised. I live in a verrrry small town. It is rather dangerous riding to the PO as I'm expected to wave to every car, (because they always honk and wave) I'm always given the right-of-way at the town's only 4 way stop, and you are treated with utmost courtesy. You may have to have several conversations AT the post office about how great/terrible the weather is for a bike, or every time you walk into a store, the cashier will ask "Did you ride your bike today?" Eventually some want to know where you purchased your bike, what kind do you think THEY should get, and more often than not people tell me how great it is that I'm always on it, they wish they had that kind of energy...Yup, kind of crazy here in smallville.:D

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Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama

You know in November I will finally be able to do this!! We are moving to a quieter town and the post office will be a short bike ride away. I might need to start researching some racks/panniers. Of course I can only imagine the look on the small Texas town's locals when they see the new resident running errands on her bike for the pure joy of it! I think it would be something like this: :confused:

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No, they'll be secretly jealous. and will wish THEY had a bike and were free spirits enough to get in shape, save gas, and go forth on their OWN POWER! :)

Well, I think they will still be puzzled. We are moving to a small (pop. 1,400), sprawling town outside Austin. It is close enough to commute to Austin, too far and small to be a suburb. This is the same are my DH and I got a firecracker thrown at us on July 3rd. The bubbas in their big trucks may not understand. :rolleyes: Still looking forward to moving and riding, the area has a lot of great quiet roads. In fact that is the main reason we chose it over some other areas!

I might be pleasantly surprised when we move up there. :)

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Originally Posted by uforgot

Aggie, YOU may also be surprised. I live in a verrrry small town. ....You may have to have several conversations AT the post office about how great/terrible the weather is for a bike, or every time you walk into a store, the cashier will ask "Did you ride your bike today?" Eventually some want to know where you purchased your bike, what kind do you think THEY should get, and more often than not people tell me how great it is that I'm always on it, they wish they had that kind of energy...Yup, kind of crazy here in smallville.:D

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I experience this every day in my small town. Even people who don't know me come up to me in a store to tell me they've gotten their bike out and are cleaning it up because of seeing me ride around doing errands. Everyone asks me where I am riding today. A older stranger came up to me today in the shoe store, and merely said "Fifty-two pounds!" I answered him "You mean you lost 52 pounds?" "Yes, by walking and hiking every day!" he answered proudly. It's weird and wonderful how biking can bring out the inner child excitement in people. All they have to do is see you and they get enthused.
Imagine what a happy world it would be if everyone rode bikes and talked about their biking with strangers!

yup people think i'm crazy for running and biking here, because they are jealous! i love it!

they are very nice around here. (the ones that live here, the visitors... well see dear so and so and they need a swift kick in the shin to say the least.) having a hard time imagining myself in a bigger town after here. something with a couple hundered scares me now! i'm terrified of going back to phoenix. but enough about me and living in isolation.....

glad to hear there are others that like living in small places.

I wished I didn't have to shop online for some things re; to biking. I do live in the sticks as they are called. The closest (LBS) is about 20 minutes away, he sells only bikes, and not one thing more. The nice shops are like 1 hour 10 mins. away one way via vehicle, they offer womens things to view and buy. So that limits my shopping pleasure to catalogs and the computer. So my socks were ordered this morning at TE, to be sent to me so I can pkg. along with other items and send off to my SS. NOt to threadjack, but I tend to agree with Lisa SH, I live in the country and usually ride around a small town as part of my routine, I get from people "I saw you out on your bike"..Or this is the best, and I have yet to figure this out.." I thought that was you, I could tell by your shape" or best yet, "your legs"..now clad in spandex, helmet, glasses, and the whole get up..how can these people figure this out? I guess people pay more attention than I thought..Oh well, end of jack,

Yes Shelly, I get the same thing!...."I saw you all the way over in New Lebanon the other day on your bike, was that you? Did you ride all the way over there?? Where are you going today??" It almost makes me feel like I am a torchbearer of some sort- people getting a vicarious thrill over spotting me biking in adjacent towns....is it like a "Where's Elmo?" kind of thing? :rolleyes:

Wow the month is flying by! I had a blast shoping for my SS today and had to pry myself out of the LBS when i started looking at their winter gear! And i just got back from walking my package to the bike shop.

I am very happy, at long last everything was ready to take to the Post Office..........bit heavier than what I thought but what the heck, so I http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...ar_on_bike.gif off to the Post Office and now it's on it's way.

So, my SS should receive her parcel in approximately one week.

It is so weird the pleasure I got from buying socks plus all the little extras to send to a complete stranger but it was also a lot of fun. :)

Sally

And when I say SOUTH I mean SOUTH!! :D
I don't know how long international shipping takes, so hopefully she get's it soon. And hopefully she enjoys the goodies I included... Lot's of fun bits from sunny AZ. :)

I received my package from Washington state yesterday. There was an Amazon box sitting on my porch. I kept thinking I haven't ordered anything from Amazon recently...and then thought YIPEE me surprise has arrived.

Thank you so much for the wonderful socks. I cannot wait to try them out. I love the notecards. I write to people and usually send notecards. These are perfect.

Thank you!

shellyj "Today was going to be my cyber shopping day for socks for my SS. I was thinking warm wool socks as she lives in a cooler state..what to my wishes appear, but from TE a sale on such the things I was looking for."

hmmmm, ya think they know we're doing Sock Secret Sister? Can we influence what goes on sale next month?

Ok, this sounds like a lot of fun! I want to get in on this whole secret sister thing next month! When are we deciding on November's treat??

ok, it's on it's way. I meant to send it Tues but sometimes life gets in the way. Hope my SS likes what I've picked. :D

The socks I ordered are in so I'm ready to send the goodies to my SS. They'll be in transit by monday(which gives me time to go to the post office :) I hope she likes them. Jennifer

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Originally Posted by Trek420

shellyj "Today was going to be my cyber shopping day for socks for my SS. I was thinking warm wool socks as she lives in a cooler state..what to my wishes appear, but from TE a sale on such the things I was looking for."

hmmmm, ya think they know we're doing Sock Secret Sister? Can we influence what goes on sale next month?

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Hey Trek, I saw those wool socks too, so I got my SS her socks and ordered me a pair too, those knee high stripacinno(sp?) socks, I needed those last saturday morning on my club ride because my lower legs were cold even w/ tights on. They're a little high for one pair, but I said, it's only one pair and they feel wonderful. So if anyone else has their eye on them, they're worth it. Jennifer

Thanks to TE i found my SS some nice warm socks for the winter up yonder in North America...

The rest of the goodies will be sent early next week.

Have a good one
c

I had so much fun shopping for my SS and trying to find cute socks and other things to add. I did have difficulty with the stationary though. Good grief, I would never had imagined finding even the simplist stationary would be so difficult. They just don't have much of that kind of stuff around here, or I just don't know where to look. LOL (which could easily be the case) :rolleyes:


I had all the fun in the world though and got her package sent off in the mail yesterday. It is very expensive to send stuff outside the United States, and I was told that it is even more expensive from the other side, that it was cheaper for us. First time I had ever sent anything outside the States, it was interesting and I learned something new on top of it.
Anyway, she should be getting her items according to the post office in 7 to 10 days, so hopefully she will get them before the end of the month. I am very sorry if it is late though, I really tried to get them out in time.

It was great fun and I hope she has great fun with all the socks.

I was going to send Chocolate because I saw in 1 post when I was looking for clues that she liked Chocolate, however I decided against it because I wasn't sure how it would fair through the mail if it was real hot or anything.
You girls have any idea how things like that would do through the mail, regardless if it is mailed in the United States or overseas?
I would like to know for the next time how to send food type items should I decide I want to do that. Or is that maybe now a good idea?

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Originally Posted by DDH

You girls have any idea how things like that would do through the mail, regardless if it is mailed in the United States or overseas?
I would like to know for the next time how to send food type items should I decide I want to do that. Or is that maybe now a good idea?

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I have sent and received chocolate and other goodies to and from overseas without any problems. :)

Hey DDH...

If you ever get a secret sister in Australia or NZ, I can assure you that there's a possibility that it will be opened but don't worry....Just make sure you write exactly what's inside on the customs dec then your ss won't get a "what can't be mailed to Australia" pamphlet in their package.

I posted a link a while back but will post it again just for something to read!!!

www.aqis.gov.au

c