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Woman shares hilarious reactions to unboxing a $825 luxury Chanel advent calendar

chanel, advent calendar, chanel advent calendar

@eliseharmon on TikTok

Sure, you could celebrate the holidays with a traditional advent calendar filled with chocolates. Maybe if you want to indulge, you can splurge on one from Godiva (yes, they have one).

But what if you want the ultimate advent calendar experience? After all, who needs tradition when you can have luxury.

As it turns out, several high-end brands are offering this option, including an $825 first-time edition Chanel No. 5 advent calendar. Shaped like a giant perfume bottle, it does give off an exuberant air of class and sophistication.

Elise Harmon (@eliseharmon) excitedly purchased her premium calendar in store. Though Chanel’s website shares what waits inside, Harmon had no idea what to expect.

Impressed by the initial impression of the product’s “10 out of 10” packaging, Harmon decided to document her unboxing on TikTok. That video soon went viral, mostly for Harmon's hilarious underwhelm. But also roasting Chanel's questionable quality control.

For one thing, it didn’t even have a full calendar.


“It starts on day number five…I guess for Chanel No. 5…” Harmon says. Red flag number one.

But hey, all in the name of marketing, right? Remaining optimistic, Harmon opened up day number nine, which had, drumroll please … stickers.

“This has to be a joke, this is a joke. Stickers?! Stickers?!” she says in shock.

On a positive note, she did seem happy about the tiny hand cream that followed.

Plus the video was teeming with hilarious comments:

"Those stickers better keep my life together."

"It’s giving me white elephant gift exchange when u finally get the biggest present but inside it’s just a toilet plunger."

"Say Chanel is going broke without saying they’re going broke."

So, yeah. There’s that.

Sure, Harmon might have received some nice lipstick and a tree ornament (yay!), but she also now has to figure out what to do with an empty dust bag, a magnet, some temporary tattoos and a flipbook.

Oh and let’s not forget the keychain.

“I’m really not sure how I’m supposed to live-laugh-love under these conditions,” Harmon jokes, which I might steal as my new catchphrase.

@eliseharmon

Reply to @mishmasharen

♬ The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) - Nat King Cole Trio

The real controversy happened after Diet Prada shared Harmon's story on their company Instagram, revealing that some items were previously given away for free with other purchases.

Still, Harmon remains in good spirits about it, sharing her misfortune with a sense of humor.

@eliseharmon

bless this mess

♬ Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson

Though the whole debacle was hilariously documented, and yes, points to some flawed logic we have about expectation versus reality, it also sheds light on a new cultural shift as well.

Chanel is not the only company to offer these holiday items at exorbitant prices. You can get one from Neiman Marcus ($300), Acqua di Parma ($600) or even Tiffany's ($150,000). And even if those other brands didn’t include something as egregious as a flipbook, odds are at least some of those items aren’t exactly worth the overall price.

Why? Because now more than ever, luxury needs to elicit a genuine feeling through quality experience. Simply pasting a logo onto a piece of plastic isn’t going to do it.

What’s more, Harmon has unboxed a whole new level of responsibility and accountability belonging to high-end companies. Simply put, if companies slack, the betrayal consumers experience will be made public. And virally followed.

Since then, Harmon has become something of an advent calendar influencer, as several companies sent her samples, which have gotten positive reviews. So there’s no need to “bah humbug” all the advent calendars out there.

And it goes without saying, but quality experiences don’t have to be bought. Even during the most overspending inducing season of the year.

All images provided by Kat Chao

A photo of Kat and her mom, and a bowl of her mom's famous curry

True

Whether it’s the mac n’ cheese that reminds you of simpler times, or the exotic spiced chicken recipe you acquired from your travels, every meal tells a story.

This rings especially true for people whose families immigrate to different countries to start a new life. Immigrant parents often not only save every penny, but spend most of their time away working in order to build a future for their children. Each comfort meal they manage to provide their kids in the very few spare hours they have tells the story of love and sacrifice.

For Kat Chao, that meal was her mother’s Korean curry.

korean foodA photo of baby Kat and her mom and dad

Growing up, Kat’s mom worked weekends to support her family. But that didn’t stop her from waking up Saturday morning to dice up some beef and fresh veggies and throw them into a large pot so that Kat’s dad could heat it up and serve it with some rice to her and her brothers later.

Curry was a quick, easy and inexpensive way to feed a full house, but it served more than just practical purposes. As Kat would wake up to the enticing aroma, she was reminded that her mom was always taking care of her, even if she couldn’t physically be there.

koran curryYUM

As Kat grew a little older, her attitude towards her mother’s curry shifted. Instead of looking forward to it, she would “roll her eyes at it,” as is customary of the rebellious teen. Those less-than-positive feelings were only exacerbated by the media constantly labeling carbs, therefore rice, as “bad.” As a kid who struggled with weight, her comfort food became a source of discomfort.

But as an adult, and now a mom herself, Kat has reached a full circle moment.

korean recipes, albertsonsKat, all grown up with her own familiy

As she makes her own kids the exact same curry dish (okay, maybe a leaner cut of beef, and organic veggies…but otherwise exactly the same!) Kat finds a whole new appreciation for the recipe, knowing how hard her mom worked to even make it happen.

Kat was lucky to have grown up with a meal to look forward to each night. Other kids aren’t so lucky. 1 in 8 kids currently experience food insecurity in the United States. But there’s an opportunity to decrease those numbers.

For every O Organics product you purchase, the company will donate a meal to someone in need through the Albertsons Companies Foundation—for up to a total of 28 million meals.

Is there a dish from your childhood that you’ve longed to rekindle with? You could do like Kat does and give it an O Organic twist. Luckily, the O Organics brand has a wide array of affordable ingredients, so creating healthy swaps is easier than ever. Plus, you can provide nourishment to another family at the same time.

Just think—the next meal you prepare could make all the difference to someone else. If every meal tells a story, that’s certainly a story worth telling.

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Woman goes to huge lengths to adopt husband's ex-wife's baby to save him from foster care

She had lived in foster care and didn't want it for the newborn with no name.

Christie Werts and her son, Levi

Christie and Wesley Werts have taken the idea of a blended family to the next level. When the couple fell in love five years ago and married, they brought together her children, Megan and Vance, and his children, Austin and Dakota.

As of January, the Ohio family has five children after adopting young Levi, 2. Levi is the son of Wesley’s ex-wife, who passed away four days after the child was born. The ex-wife had the boy prematurely, at 33 weeks, and died soon after from drug addiction and complications of COVID-19.

When Levi was born, he was a ward of the state with no first name or birth certificate.

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Larissa Gummy was first introduced to the work of the Peace Corps in high school. All it took was seeing a few photos shared by her ninth-grade teacher, a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, to know that one day, she would follow in those footsteps.

This inspiration eventually led Larissa away from her home in Minnesota to Rwanda in East Africa, to give back to her family’s country of origin and pursue her passion for international development. Though her decision confused her parents at first, they’re now proud and excited to see what their daughter has accomplished through her volunteer work.

And just what was that work? Well, it changed from day to day, but it all had to do with health.

Mostly, Larissa worked for Rwanda’s First 1,000 Days Health project, which aims to improve the conditions that affect the mortality rate of kids within the first 1,000 days of being born (or almost three years old). These conditions include hygiene, nutrition, and prevention of childhood diseases like malaria and acute respiratory infections (ARI). Addressing malnutrition was a particular focus, as it continues to cause stunted growth in 33% of Rwandan children under the age of five.

In partnership with the local health center, Larissa helped with vaccination education, led nutrition classes, offered prenatal care to expecting mothers, and helped support health education in surrounding communities. Needless to say—she stayed busy with a variety of tasks.

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The Snow White she knew as a child is now a Fairy Godmother.

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Disney princesses are a magical thing, sometimes most of all for the princesses themselves.

Amber Shaddock Roberts used to visit Disneyland every year as a child. And from ages 2 to 15, she stopped to say hello and take pictures with the woman who was dressed as Snow White.

Amber Shaddock Roberts/Facebook

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There's nothing like the bond between twins.

If you've ever spent a significant amount of time with twins, you know that no other relationship compares.

My husband has twin brothers, and one of those brothers had twin daughters (busting the twins-skip-a-generation myth), so our family is quite familiar with the twin bond. Over and over, we've watched with amusement as one adult twin will move across the country for one reason or another, with the other twin eventually, but inevitably, following them. Twins redefine the word "inseparable," which makes sense since they've literally been together since before they were even born.

Nowhere is that bond more apparent than in a video of twin babies at the end of their first day of separation ever.

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Teen bullied for loving books gets an avalanche of support from those who love reading, too

A tweet from his sister has already been liked more than 180,000 times.

via Analysees Consulting / Twitter

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There are few more fulfilling hobbies than having a love of books.

Reading isn't just a great way to have a good time. Reading increases brain connectivity, makes people more empathetic, reduces depression symptoms, improves vocabulary, and may even cause you to live longer.

It's a huge benefit for a child's development as well. According to Parent.com, reading "stimulates the side of the brain that helps with mental imagery, understanding, and language processing, and that brain activity."

Sure beats wasting time playing video games.


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A doctor specializing in child development shares 5 of her most surprising parenting tips

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via drkristynsommer / TikTok

Parenting is the most important job that most people will ever have in life. Your decisions as a parent will be some of the most important determining factors in whether your child becomes a happy and productive adult or not. It's a huge responsibility.

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Dr. Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas teaches you how to pee.

A pelvic floor doctor from Boston, Massachusetts, has caused a stir by explaining that something we all thought was good for our health can cause real problems. In a video that has more than 5.8 million views on TikTok, Dr. Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas says we shouldn’t go pee “just in case.”

How could this be? The moment we all learned to control our bladders we were also taught to pee before going on a car trip, sitting down to watch a movie or playing sports.

The doctor posted the video as a response to TikTok user Sidneyraz, who made a video urging people to go to the bathroom whenever they get the chance. Sidneyraz is known for posting videos about things he didn’t learn until his 30s. "If you think to yourself, 'I don't have to go,' go." SidneyRaz says in the video. It sounds like common sense but evidently, he was totally wrong, just like the rest of humanity.

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