It Might Be a Bad Thing If.....

...your purse is so heavy it breaks the purse hook on the back of a bathroom stall door.
















Do not ask me how I know this.

One

~The number of Christmas presents I have left to purchase before being completely done!


~The number of followers I lost over the weekend. Apparently Black Friday bluntness offends people.


~The number of people out sick at work today. Gross.


~The number of days til the Grammy Nominations concert! So. Excited.


~The number of earrings I'm wearing today. That's right, folks. I only put one earring in my ear. I've said it before and I'll say it again - not a morning person here.


~The time this morning that I finally fell asleep.
~The number of Christmas cookies left from the tin we got from a client last week. We are pitiful at my work.


~The number of days that we're into December. Merry Christmas, y'all!


Cyber Monday

I know I'm not supposed to be here, and I swear I'm really not. I'm actually headed out the door to run about a million errands.




BUT, it is Cyber Monday and I've found some deals that I feel compelled to share with you.




If you're not done with your Christmas shopping or even if you are, you will want to check these out!




First of all, if you shop anywhere online today make sure you are doing it through your Ebates or Cashbaq accounts so you can get some money back! Ebates has doubled cashback on so many of the online retailers for today only and Cashbaq already has such a high return on investment you can't lose! If you aren't signed up with either one of these companies, just click the links I've provided you!




1. Now, Old Navy, The Gap and Banana Republic are all offering an additional 20% off your order + free shipping on any order. Woah. Plus, if you shop through your Ebates account you will get 10% cash back.




2. Ulta is offering 12 free samples and a makeup bag with any $35 purchase! I don't know about you but it doesn't take me 2 minutes to put $35 in my cart at Ulta. Part of my sister's presents came from here and I'm keeping the bag and samples for myself! So we all win! Ha! And if you go through Ebates - 6% cashback for you!




3. Row Nine has some insane boutiques opening today. Now, I know we are all members of Rue La La and Gilt Groupe and I love these sites, but I am way excited for the boutiques that Row Nine has opening today. A sunglasses boutique, Mulholland boutique and more! Check it out. I should also mention that if you sign up for Rue La La right now via my invitation link, you will receive a $10 credit in your account! How's that for happy shopping?




4. Chances are you have at least one child on your list, right? I think everyone does. That is why you should head right over to Molly Lou Gifts. Personalized puzzles anyone? What kid wouldn't like to see their name on a puzzle? She also has the cutest shirts for children as well!




5. Today only Macy's is taking an additional 25% off clearance items! I've already got like 11 things in my online shopping bag! Ha! Plus, shop through Ebates and you'll get 7% cashback!



I should tell you that if you're not familiar with Cashbaq you should definitely check it out.
It's just like Ebates, but I've found some instances where the cashback percentage is higher, plus they offer daily deals that are often upwards of 80% off the original price! It's fabulous!


Happy Shopping!














Go

Go straight here.
Do not pass go.
Do not collect $200.

My Favorite Holiday is Black Friday

Unfortunately, they haven't declared it an official holiday, and that fact is just supported by me sitting here at work typing this.


It's 11:30am here and I've currently been up for 9 hours and only the copious amounts of caffeine that I'm ingesting is getting me through.


That's right, folks I was up at 2:30am.


I was in line at Target at 3:40 freezing my butt off.
It was so cold.
Only the promise of $3 appliances and $5 pajama pants was keeping me warm.
And barely even that.
About 4:25am we started questioning why were crazy there that early but now - knowing that I'm exactly three presents away from being done Christmas shopping - it's all worth it.


After Target we hit WalMart, Macys, Ulta, and another Target.


And then I came to work.


Check with me about 4:30pm today and I'm sure that line will read "and then she died of sleep deprivation."


Did any of y'all venture out? What did you get?








What I Love About: Thanksgiving

I think Thanksgiving is the most underrated holiday on the calendar. Generally, the stores just jump from Halloween(sometimes Labor Day) to Christmas. This year, all fall decor was on clearance on November 1st.


But I love Thanksgiving.


I love it.


There are so many wonderful things about this holiday that we miss because we've already put up our Christmas trees and lights and officially begun our Christmas season. We view Thanksgiving as just another day we get to be off work; and it wasn't meant to be viewed that way.


Thanksgiving is a day of remembrance. It's a day to think about what we have and how blessed our lives are. I think every single one of us has things to be thankful for and if you think you don't, well then please email me because I'd like to hear your story.


I make a promise every single year to not do anything "Christmasy" until after Thanksgiving. I don't listen to Christmas songs, I don't put up decorations and I don't even think about getting a tree. Because I want to first celebrate the holiday that takes us into the Christmas season. The holiday that forces us to step back and take a look at everything we have to be thankful for before we rush into the holiday of "i wants" and "gimmes."


I love Thanksgiving. I love it because I have such wonderful memories surrounding this holiday. Growing up, almost more than Christmas, I looked forward to Thanksgiving because my family instilled traditions that have lasted and will continue to last.








Every year we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. There is something magical about this program. It has really evolved over the years and seems now to include more performances than balloons, but still I watch it and love it. I worked for Macy's for a hundred years and I still am enthralled by this parade!


Every year since I can remember, after my grandparent's go home and all the food is put away my mom, dad, sister and brother and I get into our pajamas, fix hot chocolate and watch Miracle on 34th Street. It's like our gateway to the Christmas season. We always laugh at the same things, I always wait to hear my dad laugh so loudly when Kris hits Mr. Shellhammer and my mom cracks up when Mrs. Walker tells Susan that "she speaks French but that doesn't make her Joan of Arc." It might sound silly to you, but it's a tradition that I cherish.





Another is the Black Friday ads. It's not really about the shopping or the superficial material things we've got our sights set on, but rather about all the girls(my mom, Samantha, grandma and me) getting out all the ads and going through them with a fine tooth comb. The boys are somewhere watching football or sleeping off their turkey hangover and we're at the kitchen table or on the living room floor furiously passing ads around and making secret lists about what we're going to purchase.





And yes, I love Thanksgiving because it's the gateway to Christmas. It's the perfect bridge from fall to winter. It's the segway from relaxation to absolutely fabulous chaos. It's the reminder that we have a lot to be thankful for so we should give.










What do you love about Thanksgiving?




How Grandma Got Her Groove Back

Every third Monday, my grandma and I go to the library.

We've been going to the library together for years now; almost since I can remember.


I love the library. Needless to say, I love book and I love to read, but there is just something about the library that is magical to me. When I was in college and even high school, I would just go and spend hours at the library studying and reading every book that even looked halfway good to me. It was my grandma that started my library adoration.


It used to be that she would drive me. I'd sit in the front seat of her little red Mercury Tracer and I'd blab about nothing all the way to the Parkway Village branch of Memphis' public library system.


Now, I drive her. And just like clockwork, every three weeks we take our books back and get new ones.


It's these moments that I cherish.


Yesterday was library day and just like usual, we enter the library, turn in the books that are due and head for the section where you can purchase used books. My grandma always likes to look and usually ends up with at least one book $.50 book to purchase. Usually while she is looking at those I put the brakes on her wheelchair and look around in the aisles close by.


Today was no different, except for when I walked back to where she was parked, I noticed a very interesting book in her hand to buy.


Now she didn't end up purchasing it, but she was sure looking at it for a long time.

I'm thinking this might be a clue on what to get her for Christmas, no?