Oh There's No Place Like Costco for the Holidays

I love Costco. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I LOVE Costco. It’s one of the unexpected benefits that came with my marriage. I’d been to Sam’s Club and BJ’s, and they were both fine but nothing special. But when I married Herb and inherited his Costco membership, it opened my eyes to a whole new level of warehouse shopping.

Christmas is the height of Costco’s glory for me. First of all, the best thing about Costco is their party food. Frozen pastry hors d’oeuvres, giant bags of cocktail meatballs and huge jars of sauce, monster shrimp rings, cold cut platters, enormous chocolate layer cakes and sheet cakes…anything you could possibly want to eat at a party, you can get at Costco. You can even get big chafing dishes (disposable OR reusable) and sterno to keep things warm. Or a crockpot, if you prefer. Or a second microwave. They’ve got it all. They have all the paper goods you could possibly need – cocktail napkins, plates of all sizes, plastic flatware that looks like real silverware, plastic flatware that looks like plastic flatware, festive paper tablecloths, even Styrofoam coffee cups with lids to send home with your guests. And since we usually host two or more big parties this time of year, Costco is our go-to store for party prep.

Even before party preparation, holiday decorating at our house is also courtesy of Costco. This year we added a beautiful white lighted reindeer to our front yard (as did several of our neighbors, I noticed). We’ve gotten wreaths for our front door there, we even looked at getting an artificial tree (so did a lot of other people, apparently, since they ran out of them before we decided to buy it). A comparable tree from another store was three times the price! And our Christmas decorating could never be complete without our annual giant poinsettia under the piano – once again, courtesy of Costco.

And then there are the presents. Most people don’t think of Costco for clothes, but my husband and I love their clothes, both for ourselves and for the kids. I almost always find a nice outfit for my husband and some cute jammies or outfits for the kids, and I always add a suggestion or two to my own wish list from their clothing department. Costco toys and books, too, usually find their way under the tree. With their huge toy truck collection, you can bet that we can find something that Ryan will love.

So I’m willing to forgive the fact that they started playing Christmas music some time before Halloween. For me, they are the go-to Christmas store, so I’ll overlook that small fail in favor of the epicness of all their other holiday wins. Merry Costco Christmas to all, and to all a good bargain!

[I would have included a photo of the lighted reindeer here, but my camera is broken. One more thing to add to the list of things to pick up at Costco!]