Snow Day

It's snowing again, which reminded me of the pictures I captured a few weeks ago when it snowed. Here's my favorite one!

Black Friday & Cyber Monday

Were you brave enough to shop black Friday? Did you get any amazing deals?

I have a confession, I did not shop either of those deal packed days!

To me Black Friday seems like torture (I don't like shopping, especially in crowds). I love a good deal, but I also place a value on my time, and I personally feel that if you average the time you spend shopping and standing in line and charge yourself for that, then the deals are just average. However, for the first time in my adult life, I felt a twinge of remorse yesterday. I complimented one of the girls I work with on her shirt. She said she got it shopping at Kohls on Friday, and then she showed me the cutest coat ever and said it was only $7.99 and...it was reversible!

Cyber Monday could be a shopping alternative for me, but I work, have an 18 month old to take care of, and have a husband that is back in school. The Mondays after Thanksgiving are frequently chaos...both personally and professionally (Yes, it's hard for a girl to drag herself out of bed and into the office after a 4-day weekend, and since this is my busy time at work who has time to check out deals online). I wouldn't even know where to begin.

That really cute $7.99 jacket is making me rethink my lack of participation in Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Would you help prepare me for next year? My questions to all the Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping veterans out there are...

• What was your best deal?
  
• What are you tips to a newbie Black Friday shopper for how to survive?
• With the plethora of emails and advertisements, how do you get the very best Cyber Monday deals?
  

I've added a McLinky below. If you have a post that answers one of these questions, feel free to link up (use the title of your post as the link). If you didn't blog about your deals, then leave a comment.

The Best Christmas Parade I Never Saw!

Over the weekend, we drove up to Estes Park. They always do an amazing Christmas lights parade on the Friday after Thanksgiving (or so I have heard). I have wanted to see this parade since I first learned of it. I thought it would be fun, and that Baby Boy would enjoy it. I talked hubby into going, and we called some friends and all trekked up the mountain.

We arrived in Estes at around 3:45. Plenty of time to park, grab a quick bite to eat, and find a seat (or so we thought). Turns out this is a really, really popular parade, and all the restaurants were packed (Starbucks had the longest line I've ever seen!). All the spaces on the curb along the parade route were claimed.

So we grabbed a bench at the best place we could see...and waited...and waited...and waited! 5:30 came, and no sign of the parade, but Baby Boy was getting fussy (and hungry). 5:35 came, Baby Boy was even more fussy and there was still no sign of the parade.

We decided that we must have been at the end of the route, and that we should have time to go in and grab a quick bite to eat and then catch the end of the parade. We went inside our favorite pizza place, and got seated immediately. We ate, and then we went back outside at exactly 6:30. What did we see? Lots and lots of red tail lights!

We completely missed the parade! What a bummer! I guess there is always next year for the parade in Estes! Luckily this parade was early enough in the season that we can always catch another one in the area.


*Picture borrowed off the Estes Park Visitor Bureau website.

Great Offer: JCPenneys Coupon

This coupon is almost too good to be true! $10 off any single purchase at JCPenney totaling $25 or more! You can use it from November 18 to November 23 (online, in the store, and through the catalog). This coupon is a great excuse to get a jump start on your Christmas shopping!

Recipe Swappin' Saturday: Afternoon Snacks

I'm getting Recipe Swappin' Saturday up a little late today. We decided to go to IHOP for breakfast and then we ran some errands. We didn't get home until late this afternoon.


The theme for this week was afternoon snacks. Link up your favorite afternoon snack recipe.


I made a Peanut Butter & Apple Butterfly for baby boy today.

To make this you need:

• 1 apple
• 1 -2 TBSP of peanut butter
• 1 baby carrot
• 2 small slivers of celery

Assembly:

1. Slice the apple, and lay the slices in the shape of a butterfly wings.
2. Put peanut butter down the middle of the apples.
3. Top peanut butter with a baby carrot.
4. Stick the celery slivers in the top to make the antenna's.

Optional: sprinkle apple slices with cinnamon sugar.


Now for the Recipe Swap Party.

Here are the rules:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post with a afternoon snack recipe, not your general blog address.
2. Link back to the party from your post so that your readers can join in the fun!

The theme for next week is a free for all! Plan to link up to any recipe you want!