Cookie monster enjoying his cookie
Just like that, Thanksgiving is over now. So are Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We had a nice Thanksgiving lunch at my in-laws on Thursday, Dec 26th and got to see Aunt Harriet and Steve. It might be the last Thanksgiving that we shared with Aunt Harriet at Julie and Becky’s because she hasn’t been feeling very well and it’s too much for her to travel to J-B’s house from where she lives in Vancouver, WA. But the good news is, we can still visit her on Christmas and July 4th.
Anyway, I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving with your family and or friends.
The biggest paper of the year
Black Friday was an exciting day for me. I looked at the ads on Thanksgiving day and made a list of things that I was going to get before heading to the stores the next morning. The first store that I went to was Kmart and since they opened at 6 am, I didn’t have to get up until 5:30 and leave the house until 10 minutes before. How civilized. I had never gone to Kmart on Black Friday before and was a little nervous because they’re well known for their slow service, but we wanted to get a kitchen appliance (I can’t disclose it here in case the recipient reads this) for a gift and they had Kenmore brand on sale. And since I was only by myself, I didn’t want to drive all the way to Sears at Washington Square mall at 4 in the morning, although I have to admit that I was tempted to do it. I know my husband wouldn’t let me do it anyway, so I settled with Kmart.
I got to Kmart a little after 6 and saw the last people at the line just entering the door. Perfect timing. I parked the car and hurried up to the store, only to find that they were out of shopping carts. Hm. Okay. Since I was already there, I went and looked for the appliance and found three of them sitting on the floor and it was much bigger and heavier than I anticipated. There was no way I could carry it all the way to the check out stand. Maybe a few feet away but not all the way to the front of the store. I was ready to give up when I got the idea of using our double stroller. Aha. I remember my husband told me that he put the double stroller into the trunk the night before. So I got out of the store, went back to the car and push the empty stroller to the store. Bingo. Problem solved. Thank God he didn’t put the single stroller instead because there was no way I’d be able to carry the beast in it.
I bought a few other stuff before heading to the check out stand. I got a new vacuum for myself among other things. I saw a lady looking around at the vacuum isle and I happened to see the one that I wanted — it was the last one on the shelf — before grabbing it in a hurry. Hey, you snooze you lose, lady. She looked at it and asked me if that was the one on sale. I answered her question briefly before walking away in a hurry. No offend, lady, but there’s really no time for a chat right now. It was a serious business that I was in. Then I headed to the shoes isle where I found these boots there were on sale for $11.99. Where can you find a pair of real suede leather boots for $12? This kind of crazy deal only happens once a year and that’s why people are willing to get up early to shop on Black Friday. And I happen to be one of those people. Obviously.
Long story short, I got home after standing in line for about 20 minutes. The lines at Target and Fred Meyer move w-a-a-a-a-y faster than this one. Ugh. But I felt really happy that I got what I wanted. The boots are comfortable and cute. The vacuum is just what I was looking for; super light and works great on the kitchen floor. Our big heavy vacuum is great on carpet but too powerful for bare floor; the crumbs would fly all over the place when I use it in the kitchen floor. The battery on our cordless vacuum is worn out and we can’t find a replacement battery for it so I was really happy to find this new vacuum. Ah, my new best friend; I finally found her. And her name is Eureka.
After I dropped all of the stuff at home, I went to Fred Meyer store to get some socks for the boys and some other stuff. A lot of people don’t realize that Black Friday is also the perfect day to fill up their linen closet. I got a couple of twin sheet sets for less than $5 each and some bath towels along with the matching hand towels. And also some toys, of course. I couldn’t believe how many stuff they still had after the early morning rush.
The next store I went to is Costco and this time I brought my husband and the boys along. Every Christmas I get to pick my own presents and this year I told my husband that I wanted a Kitchenaid stand mixer. Now that the boys are older, I could spend more time in the kitchen doing what I love the most; baking, and in order to do that I need a reliable tool for it. We had a really good deal on it; with Costco’s coupon and manufacturer rebate, we got a professional series stand mixer for $199. I was thinking about getting a less expensive one with less power but after talking to my sister in-law, I decided to go with the powerful one because I’m going to use the attachments and need more power for that purpose.
Our blow up friends
After Costco, we took a break and did some decorating at home. My husband put the lights up in the front of the house while I decorated the Christmas tree in the living room. I later decided to stop what I was doing to help my husband outside.
That night we went to Target to pick up some toys. I got a Leapfrog toy but couldn’t find a Hummer car so I decided to try again the next morning with the hope that they’d clean up the mess and put everything back to the shelves (my neighbor said they scattered stuff all over the store and handed out maps for people to find them). I came back the next morning after calling them about the Hummer and was able to get two of them. The lady that helped me find them said I was lucky to get the last ones. It made me happy just to hear that. Ha ha.
When I got up the next day, it hit me that Black Friday was over, that everything wouldn’t be on sale anymore and that I still had some things to buy on my list. But I did remember that some stores, like Target and Bimart had 2-day sale instead of 6-hour like most stores. So we went to Bimart and got a pasta maker attachment for my stand mixer at a good price, although I was shocked to see how expensive the thing is even after the discount. After 20% extra discount from Kitchenaid it’s still almost $100. That’s half the price of the mixer! I couldn’t get over the sticker shock but my husband encouraged me to get it so we could eat fresh noodles. Huh? I made some fresh noodles a couple of times with the a manual pasta maker that broke on me and he couldn’t get over how good they tasted, but do they (the noodles) really worth $100?
At the end, I decided to get it anyway. My husband is happy that I got some new kitchen tools because that means I got myself some things that I like for my Christmas gifts and that he gets to eat more good food and desserts in the future. We also got a big can of cashews for Kyle at the store. $9.99 for 3.5 pounds of cashew! That boy was excited and couldn’t wait to dig his hand in it when he saw it.
After Bimart, we went to Home Depot and now it was my husband’s turn to get his Christmas gifts. He picked up some tools for his home improvement project that he’s going to do during Christmas break. We couldn’t believe that they still had some stuff left from their Black Friday sale and were excited about it.
The next exciting shopping day is Cyber Monday. I like it because I don’t have to leave the house to get some good bargains. But yesterday I didn’t find anything on my gift list although I ordered some stuff from 2 sites.
Today is Tuesday and I already found 2 bargains at 2 different sites, thanks to the deal finder site that I love; dealigg.com. I still have some gifts on my list that I need to get but am certain that I’ll be able to get them at bargain prices, even after Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over.
Tags: thanksgiving, Uncategorized