Tag: Black Friday

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Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites #122

Hello all!

 Happy Black Friday! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by family, friends or loved ones.

Here’s how I celebrated the day!

I started the day with our Turkey Trot 10K and hit a new PR!

I made it home to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with family and had a relaxing afternoon.

I’m not a big Black Friday shopper, I may do some browsing, but I don’t go all out. Our family typically decorates for Christmas today, which is one of my favorite traditions. I’ll be sharing some photos next week. 

Before I start decorating, I wanted to share some favorites with you today as I link up with Erika and Andrea. Just head’s up, there’s a lot of holiday favorites once again! Let’s dive in!

List of Holiday Movies and Shows– Speaking of the holidays, there’s nothing that goes better with a Christmas cookie than a hot cup of cocoa and a holiday movie. I came across this list from TVLine of all the traditional holiday movies and specials and when they will air. I can’t wait to add them to my calendar and watch them all as the season progresses. This would be a great page to bookmark and refer to through the season.

Wicked– I saw Wicked when it came out last weekend and I was blown away. I think they did a great job with the casting. I loved the costumes and the cinematography as well as the setting. I definitely think it lived up to its expectations. It was a longer movie, but the music, singing, dancing, and plot moved it along. I know I will be listening to the soundtrack for the foreseeable future.

Phone Holder– I got a phone holder to prop up my cell phone at work and it’s been a game changer. I am always on my phone at work and for years I have just had it next to me or propped up on random items, but now having something to prop it up so I can see things on my phone has been a huge help. I even got it for free at an event which makes me even happier. 

Night Agent Trailer- A lot of my favorite shows that I follow on streaming services are getting ready to return for new seasons including the Night Agent. The show is all about an overnight agent working for the government who is forced to step up and take on a new role to save the government from going corrupt. The first season was really good and I’m excited to see what the second season will bring. You can watch the trailer here.

New Starbucks Drink– Calling all Starbucks fans! Did you get your free red cup last week? I know I did! It was pretty warm, so I opted for a refresher as opposed to a warm drink. I love Starbucks refreshers in the summer, I typically drink a Mango Dragonfruit Refresher with Lemonade in the summer. I opted for the Merry Cran Orange Refresher and I loved it! It was refreshing, but also very fall-like. I love the taste of fresh cranberries! What’s your go-to Starbucks holiday drink?!

That’s a look into life lately and what I’m loving. What have been some favorites of yours from this past week? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy Friday and have a great holiday weekend!

Categories
Fabulous living

Christmas Prepping and Gift Giving Tips

Hello! Hello!

Happy Tuesday! It is finally December, bring on the shopping, gift giving, cookie baking, and decorations. I am so ready for Christmas but first I have to make it through finals. The next few weeks will be busy with classes, papers, meetings, and wrapping up the semester. Stay tuned for my semester recap and best of 2018 in the next coming weeks.

For today I’m sharing my tips for when it comes to buying gifts, staying organized and being on budget. Here are my three tips for making it through the holiday season as stress free as can be.

  • Make a list (and check it twice 😉 )

Whenever I start my holiday shopping I always make a list of who I need to buy for, whether it is family, friends, gift exchanges etc. if I don’t write it don’t I wont remember it. I always keep a running list in the notes section of my phone so I always have it with me. I write down who I need to buy for and what I am buying/bought, the status of it and where I bought it, I do this to keep track of everything. Since I am still in school for most of December this helps me keep track of everything no matter where I am at. With that being said, I always set a budget for myself and try as hard as I can to stay on budget.

Just to preface, this is a FAKE Christmas gift list. None of these gifts are real, I just made this up to show you how I set up my gift list-who to by for, what I am buying, where it’s from, and the status of it.

  • Shop when it works best for you

I always love going in the stores to browse and get all my gifts but with school being super busy I have done a majority of my shopping online. Amazon has been my best friend this Christmas season. I have really utilized the Shopping list in Amazon. I have been able to put things that I like or am interested in in my list throughout the whole year and have it in one spot. For example, I was on Amazon in October and saw something that was a perfect gift for someone, I put it in my shopping list and ended up buying it a few weeks ago. The shopping list is private so only you can see it and no one else can see what you are buying. Since I have done so much online shopping something else that has helped me is sending gifts that I am buying to school or home. For gifts that I am buying for my friends I send it to school. For gifts for family, I ship them to my home. This way I’m not bringing things back and forth and all the gifts are in the right place.

Once again, another fake look at my shopping list, this is actually my list of things I want. Haha. But it shows the things you can add and when you added them. Super helpful!

  • Take Advantage of Sales

I am a sale lover and I have utilized sales so much this year. I did a lot of my buying depending on what sales were going on. I always try to keep my eyes open for discount codes, flash sales, and cyber Monday sales in order to stay on budget and keep my costs low.

I did a lot of shopping with sales from Cyber Monday. I always love a good sale

Whew, that was a lot. Overall, my tips are: Make a list, set a budget, take advantage of sales, and stay organized. What are your favorite tips or tricks to staying organized for shopping for the holidays? I would love any insight you have! Have a great week and wish me luck on a last week of classes before finals!