Shopping slackers say they’re not fazed

A young Swedish couple walked out of the Ikea store in Costa Mesa on Sunday, armed with a bag of Swedish herring, gingerbread, cookies and a pack of UNICEF Christmas gift cards, hoping to celebrate a last-minute “small Swedish Christmas.”

And like many others, Frans Mittermayer and his girlfriend Asa Fagrlund were doing some last-minute Christmas shopping for each other.

The Swedes were vacationing in Orange County and planned to celebrate Christmas with friends.

Yorba Linda resident Erin Perez’s had this excuse for putting it off: four kids at home.

“I’m notorious for this,” Perez said, rushing out of Fashion Island with her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter in a stroller.

She bought a golf shirt for her husband from a favorite golf store, At Ease. “It’s the only one around here,” she offered, as the reason why she drove all the way to Newport.

Perez said she’s always trying not to delay buying gifts until the day before Christmas, but that’s how it’s been so far. “I have good intentions,” she said with a laugh. “That’s what matters.”

And finding someone to baby-sit three of her kids so she doesn’t lose them in the mall is another reason she ends up putting off her holiday shopping, she said.

Mittermayer admitted to being a procrastinator “most of the time” but had no regrets. “It usually works out this way,” he said.

The couple planned to buy some spur-of-the-moment gifts for each other, Fagrlund said. They were heading next to Fashion Island to do just that.

There were many others who were still wrapping up their purchases on Christmas Eve.

“This is pretty much the only time I had to go shopping,” said Santa Ana resident Erica Schram, who works in Costa Mesa. “And things are cheaper too.”

Having missed several New Year’s resolutions to finish Christmas shopping early, Schram is hopeful that next year will be different.

She’ll be shipping gift packages and cards on Tuesday to family members and friends.

“They don’t care if it’s late.,” Schram said.