Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Well here it is in the very, very early morning of one of my favorite holidays--Thanksgiving. For me this holiday is all about the 4 F's--food, family, fun and football! But for all of this fun it is still a holiday which means some degree of planning and stress. Lucky for me not too much stress since I've got my mom helping me out (as usual), plus my new sister-in-law is being inducted into the holiday festivities by us making her help cook...LOL!!

We decided a couple of years ago that Thanksgiving would be at my house and Christmas would be at my mom's house, so that not one person is responsible for setting up all of the holiday dinner plans. Besides that, we've always split what needs to be done between the two of us--one person makes the ham, the other makes the turkey, and so on and so forth. So last Sunday of all days we decided to go to Wal-Mart to get our holiday groceries. All I can say is ugh....

Upside to all of this craziness is the food and the family time. I love getting together with my family on a holiday...nothing is better. Sometimes my parents drive me nuts but my little brother is there for me so we can roll our eyes at eachother and just laugh. Now I've got a new sister-in-law that I get to induct into the family and all of this craziness, which is so much fun. She's not had much experience in cooking for large groups so this will be fun! Cooking for larger parties is all about timing--as long as you know what has to be done by when then you can plan accordingly. It may sound easy but it kills me how many people don't understand that!

The one thing that I know that will be awesome every year is the football. Being a Texas girl I very much look forward to watching the Dallas Cowboys play every Thanksgiving. They are my favorite team and it is the one day of the year every year that I always know they will be playing...you can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take away her Cowboys!!

So to all of you out there I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Be sure to enjoy all of your food, family, fun and of course Dallas Cowboys Football!!

How great days get ruined...

Yesterday my main goal for the day was to get a new dress for my cousin's wedding next month. Last week I had seen one at the mall that I thought would be perfect for a Christmas wedding--a cute red dress that was flowy and was tea length. I wasn't sure if I really wanted it at the time but then I got a coupon in the mail the next day so I decided yes.

So my mother, my daughter and I get to the mall and I try on the dress. Turns out it wasn't as flattering on me as it was on the hanger! But I tried on a couple of other dresses I liked then walked around the mall to make sure there wasn't anything else I liked better...or that was a better price!

On our travels we noticed that Santa was visiting the mall that day and so Lilly got to get her picture taken with Santa. They had a really good deal with several different packages to chose from, most of them including a $10 gift card to use at shutterfly, which is perfect for me since I make calendars from them every year to give away at Christmas.

So after getting pictures taken with Santa and making a few other stops along the way, we made our way back to the store where I was trying to decide between two different dresses. I grab the two dresses that I had asked the sales lady to hold for me and try them on again. Still not sure I gather up my daughter and our stuff and go back into the store to grab two more dresses just to make sure. When I get back into the dressing room and put my daughter on the chair I ask, "Where are Lilly's pictures?" My mom, my daughter and I all start frantically looking around the changing room to see if they fell on the floor. Then we look out in the hall to see if we dropped them. My mom goes to the service counter to see if someone turned them in and my daughter and I go to one of the sales ladies and ask her to open up another dressing room that had been locked just to make sure we didn't leave them in another room--no luck.

We went to every checkout counter in the store and I even booked it down to the picture place to see if perhaps someone had seen they were Santa pictures and turned them in. Again no such luck. So after being so happy all day about trying to decide between two cute dresses and having fun with my mom and my daughter, we all got bummed over these lost pictures. I don't understand why someone would take them or find them and not turn them in. So not only am I out the money I spent on the pictures, but I have to look at the disappointed look on my daughter's face. The ride home was pretty quiet and my poor daughter saying "mommy my heart is broken"...how sad is that?

I feel bad that I didn't pay better attention to make sure we had all of our things with us at all times and that I didn't bring a bigger bag to carry all of our stuff. I just hate seeing that look on her face due to me not paying more attention and the fact that whoever found our freshly made memories didn't do the right thing and turn them in.

Black Friday Shopping

For years and years I refused to go out on Black Friday, especially after I had my daughter. Not because I don't love shopping (because believe me I do!) but because I hate dealing with the crowds. But here in the past couple of years there have just been some awesome deals available on that most infamous of shopping days that I couldn't resist.

In order to help me prepare for my Black Friday shopping day, I prepare by getting a game plan ready--this way, I spend less time dealing with the crowds. Last year I stumbled upon a couple of websites that help you prepare for Black Friday, way before the print ads come out. They are http://bfads.net/ and http://www.black-friday.net/. Both of these website are very user friendly and it's always nice to be able to get the scoop on where to go before everyone else does! If you are looking for specific items for gifts or even just because you want it on sale, going to websites such as these allow you to look for these items sooner and help you plan out where to go. This way you know what stores you need to go to first for those hot ticket items.

Last year I actually got up early early--which for me is anything before 7am. My mom and I got to Wal-Mart at 6 a.m. last year with the plan for getting specific items on sale that we figured wouldn't be flying off the shelf, but hoping that maybe, just maybe the huge 52" TV I wanted would actually still be there. Alas, it flew off the shelves before we even got there. My girlfriend had gotten there at 5 a.m. when the store opened and those TVs were already gone. I'm all about a good sale but I'm not going to camp out for a TV...lol!

So if you are looking for a little help before stepping out the door on the annual kick off day of the shopping season, check out these websites. Not only can you visit them and look over all the secrets they've uncovered, but you can also sign up for email notifications of new ads that will be coming out. Check them out....they will help you get the edge on other shoppers!

Halloween is almost here!

Okay, so I know I've made a post on here a month or so ago about Halloween, but I just wanted to remind everyone it is coming up fast!

Tomorrow is October 1st and that means the countdown to Halloween is underway. So far Lilly has decided to be a pink fairy for Halloween, but knowing how things went last year that could change three more times before the actual holiday :-)

A great place to look for the stuff you need is http://www.buycostumes.com/. Last year we had a Halloween party and I bought a ton of stuff from them--costumes, decorations, and other party supplies. Not only did I purchase a fair amount of Halloween supplies, but I also received a very good deal. The prices on everything were the best I could find from one place, plus they have a nice 110% price guarantee that I personally know they honor. When I purchased my costume from them last year I ended up finding it cheaper from another company about a week later. I emailed http://www.buycostumes.com/ and I quickly received the refund--no hesitation, no problem!

For the customer service alone I would highly recommend using this company--not only for your Halloween needs, but also for any party you are going to have. Buycostumes.com definitely can fill your party supply order!

Happy Halloween!





P.S. Right now they have $0.99 economy shipping on orders of $40 or more!

I love Old Navy!

I've always loved shopping at Old Navy, but it seemed like years ago whenever I would go there (which was rare) it just so happened that there wasn't any good deals going on at the time. So back then I decided that it was going to be one of those stores that I loved to shop in but couldn't really afford it.

Well a couple of years ago the built a new shopping plaza closer to where we live and guess what they have....Old Navy! Last year right before Christmas I went with my mom and her friend out on our annual shopping trip. We went into Old Navy and they had all these sales, that as a woman I could not ignore. I ended up with a ton of stuff for myself, my daughter, and even my husband--for cheap! To top it off they had a promotion going on that if you opened an account with them you would get 20% off your purchase. That made my great day even better! Years ago I had an Old Navy card, but since there wasn't one close I didn't use it enough and ended up closing the account. However, there was a store closer to me now, and 20% off was a great deal that again, as a woman, I could not pass up.

This has got to be the one department store credit card that I've had that has actually been worth it! After spending (I think) $200 I received a $10 off coupon in the mail. Ever since then I have received several other coupons as a result of shopping there. The coupons have ranged anywhere from $5 to $20 off a purchase, to 20% purchases on Tuesday during the summer (a temporary promotion they were running this year). Just the other day I received another coupon in the mail where next week I can receive a free Old Navy tote and 20% off everything I can stuff into the bag....how awesome is that!

A couple of days ago I went out with my my daughter, mom, and sister-in-law because I had a $10 off coupon burning a whole in my pocket. I wasn't sure if I was going to get anything, but figured I might as well look. If not, the coupon was still good for another two months. Well, the coupon didn't last that long. I found two cute 3/4 sleeve shirts that were $5 each, which with the coupon meant I got 2 free shirts! Heck yeah! I walked around the store to see if there was anything else on sale. Over in the kids section they had cute stuff that was an extra 50% off the already low sale prices. I bought my daughter two t-shirts that were on sale for $3.49 each, and with them being half off they were $1.25--you can't beat that! These plain white shirts are going to be perfect for some of the iron-ons I have for my daughter. I also got her a pair of white soft cotton capris for the same price.

There is one more good deal that I got a couple of months ago I have to tell you about. Right before Father's Day Old Navy had a sale where all men's clothes were half off! I bought my husband two pairs of reversible shorts (which is actually like getting four pairs of shorts), 3 polo shirts, and 2 v-neck t-shirts for only $40. Without the sale all of this would have cost me over $120, but everything was 50% off, plus I had a $20 off coupon (thanks to my Old Navy card). I brought it all home to husband and he about went through the roof when he saw how much stuff I bought. But when he saw the price he couldn't believe what a good deal I had gotten and was absolutely thrilled, not to mention relieved I didn't break the bank!

Now I'm not saying you should rush right out and open up an account with them, but if you are ever looking for a credit card that you will actually benefit from, this is the one I recommend. I use the credit card so I can get the points needed to receive those love coupons and discounts, and then just pay it off anytime there is a balance on it. Since I'm cheap this isn't hard for me to do :-)

You can see a reflection of my love for this store in my closet....most of my tags now say Old Navy on them :-)