Decorations were up in London the 2nd week of October - much earlier than I expected.

Agree the holidays feel rushed with a late Thanksgiving. I'm also traveling 2 weeks in December. Did the math last night and informed DH that the halls will be FULLY DECKED including anything to be ordered by Dec 8. I have very minimal procrastination room this year!

Oh so interesting. In Israel where the holidays go by the Jewish (moon based) calendar every year is different. This year, for example, the holidays were "late" (New Year's was the end of September rather than the beginning) and everything shifts accordingly. It had never occurred to me that Thanksgiving could also shift and cut a weekend out of Christmas shopping since Christmas is stable! No wonder everyone is focusing on singles day(11/11) sales to compensate!

I bought me my first two Christmas presents. One arrives today. Thank you, Banana Republic.

Hobby Lobby has Christmas crap on the sales floor BEFORE THE FOURTH OF JULY

and if I complained to corporate about it, I'd probably be accused of making war on Christmas

Which is stupid, because I love Christmas. But I love Christmas AT CHRISTMASTIME, not when it's 112F in the dang shade. Christmas and hotdogs and fireworks and apple pie and baseball just don't go together. If I wanted Christmas in summer, I'd move to South America.

Retailers do this stuff and then complain about a retail apocalypse. This isn't a retail apocalypse, this is a bunch of marketeer idiots at corporate all committing corporate hari-kari because they drank the Jim Jones kool aid.

The grocery store where I work? Let the beer vendors start putting up Christmas displays while I was in Georgia (Oct 20-26). It's a grocery store, do they really think they can sell cranberries for Thanksgiving before trick or treating is over? It's total chaos and complete seasonal confusion, almost like they think I'm going to pass out cranberries to trick or treaters or something.

Rant over LOL

I noticed Christmas stuff in our town before Halloween. I ignore it. I love decorating our house for winter, as Lisa p says, but this year we are away so I won't be doing that. We don't buy many gifts either.

That is perfect, Elizabeth P

Cindy, I’m generally not one to make excuses for Hobby Lobby, but I will give them a pass for Christmas in July IF the Christmas stuff in question is the sort of hobby/craft thing that might take a person a couple months to complete.