Home Shopping Parties—Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em

The very first home shopping party I attended was a Tupperware party given by my mother. I was a young teen and not buying anything, so I thought it was fun to hang out with the women, eat the appetizers and get a free trinket or two. Until my mom’s best friend “stole” my favorite trinket in a party game. To her credit, she did apologize as she took it.

A dozen years later, as a freshly-minted working woman, I started getting invited to Party Lite and Pampered Chef parties. At first, they were thrown by women I really didn’t socialize with and I often turned the invitations down. I was actually criticized by one “hostess” who relented when she decided my excuse was valid (I was in graduate school and had a class that night). Eventually they stopped asking me. When I did go to the parties, I always bought something, even if it were something small and inexpensive. It could be tough to balance my sparse budget with my desire to buy something new.

Ironically, I ended up, briefly, as a home shopping party dealer for Tupperware. I really loved the product and the discounts were great! It turned out, however, that I was not particularly good at selling. (I have mentioned, in a post called Motivation, that my Myers-Briggs is INTJ…the “I” is for Introvert…should have been obvious.) I now have a really nice set of pots and pans as well as a top-quality knife set…not things typically associated with Tupperware. I also have several very large boxes in my attic with unsold merchandise purchased to qualify for my great discounts. Hmmm…

Recently, however, I actually enjoy these parties. In part, this is because I don’t have much of a social life as a mother of three who works full time and has a commuting spouse.  It also helps that I get invited by friends, some of whom happen to be co-workers, and not co-workers who don’t really want my friendship. I have little time for shopping and I don’t enjoy it, but sitting around chatting with my friends and picking out clothes and jewelry is quite enjoyable. It doesn’t hurt that my friends make amazing appetizers and serve wine.

A couple of months ago I went to a Silpada party and bought these three stack rings. I’ve been wearing them to work and five or six people actually asked me to have a party because they like them so much. Well, how can I say no to that? I checked with my friend who threw the party where I bought the rings and she can get credit for my party, so here goes! This will only be the second home shopping party I’ve ever had…the first being my debut as a Tupperware dealer and that was over 10 years ago.

Maybe the best part about planning a party is that I will feel compelled to do a massive amount of de-cluttering and may even be motivated to do even more, like hang curtains or paint walls. I just may dig out some of my other home party purchases…candles and a crystal chip and dip bowl from Party Lite, my fireplace screen and tools from Southern Living, a few of my Tupperware knives. I’ll wear clothes from Carol Anderson by Invitation and absolutely, wear my Silpada stack rings.

Find the Joy in the Journey…maybe you’ll find a little in a home shopping party, but if not, feel free to say no!