Holiday Procrastinators Unite

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If you’re anything like me, you probably still aren’t finished with your Christmas shopping. If you’re exactly like me, you probably haven’t even started thinking about it yet.

Never fear, in the next few days you have enough time to get everything you need picked out, paid for and packaged with a bow.

If you still have some time left for online shopping, then great! You can take advantage of websites of companies like Price for price comparison of your required items. However, if you are too late to the party, thinking of ordering something on the eve of Christmas, you’ve likely passed the window for online shopping. Sure, some places have money-back guarantees that you will get the goods on time; however, a lot of these sites don’t have shipping to Hawaii figured out, so it’s still quite possible that you might end up without a gift on Christmas. Some places, like Walmart, allow for curbside pickup though, so if you’re near one of the 10 stores on the island, you might still be in luck with online shopping – and there may even be a walmart promo code available for you to use! However, as for the guarantee, usually all that it actually means is that you can return the items without paying return shipping. And with online shopping, you might have to spend Christmas Eve waiting for a package to arrive. If it doesn’t come, most stores will be closed by then, and even if it does arrive, you could wind up late to your Christmas Eve dinner party with a bunch of unwrapped gifts. If there’s ever been a time to buy local and boycott online shopping, it now has arrived for us Christmas procrastinators.

Luckily, last-minute shopping doesn’t need to be stressful. In fact, this weekend there are two big shopping events that will make it fun – and give you an opportunity to support local, independent business. On Saturday, from noon to 5 p.m., Art+Flea and Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s Office of Economic Development are bringing more than 60 independent vendors to the streets for their HoliDAZE Chinatown Market at the intersection of Nuuanu Avenue and Pauahi Street. There will be entertainment galore, with DJs from KTUH, POW! WOW! School of Music, The Willards and Ohtoro.

Ashtin Party is hosting the event as the emcee, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t some kind of crowd participation in store. (During the last Art+Flea, I signed up last minute to enter a shave ice eating contest and really didn’t know what kind of public embarrassment I was getting myself into. At first bite, my teeth already hurt from the cold. By the third bite, I had already slowed to casual consumption and was left in the dust by the other entrants. The shave ice (from Haahaa Shave Ice), however, was delicious.)

If you can’t get all your quick gift fixes fixed, then you can head right over to Honolulu Night Market for an evening romp in Kakaako from 6 to 11 p.m., which will feature even more local vendors selling their latest creations and wares. Palme The Label is holding a fashion show that will show off the line’s flowing, beach-inspired looks that are perfect for women who don’t like to overdress but still want to look chic – or like an off-duty yoga instructor. If you already got all of your shopping done, you could still come down for the beer garden, food trucks and all-around fun.

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