‘Tis the season.

It’s almost Christmas and that means one big thing: shopping.

We all love the feeling of giving and receiving gifts, but shopping for those gifts can be quite the chore.

First off, is it just me or does it seem every store magically has a “70 percent OFF BLOWOUT SALE” where “ALL MERCHANDISE MUST GO”? Whether it is at the Clarksburg Outlets or Westfield Montgomery Mall, every store is having huge sales. This seems great until you read the price tag to see the stores hiked up the price of that perfect gift 60 percent just to put it on a “70 percent sale.”

Speaking of the outlets… the traffic is crazy. It feels like every single person in Clarksburg, Germantown and Gaithersburg is going to the outlets every time I go. This leads to two problems for me. (On top of the traffic.)

The first problem is parking. Have you ever tried to park at the outlets? Both times I took the mission to them I spent what felt like hours to find a spot. It’s hard to go shopping when you can’t even park the car.

The second problem with everyone going to the outlets is the lines. Some stores like UGG and Kate Spade New York have a line to get in the door, while other stores like Under Armor and Nike have lines the length of the store.

I think the hardest part of the whole shopping experience is finding what to buy. Like most teenagers I participate in my friend group’s “Secret Santa.” If you do not know what Secret Santa is, it’s when everyone in a group has to buy a gift for another person in the group. This is loads of fun, until the person you get says “cozy sweater and cozy vest,” *cough cough* my brother *cough cough.*

But when you finally find the most perfect, most cozy sweater ever in your price range, it makes all the blowout sales, traffic, and lines worth it.

Happy holidays and good luck shopping!