HanShotFirst

Part of the description on the BB website says they can be dimmed with a smartphone so I'm guessing that will work with Alexa too? I don't really know but I guess I'll find out soon.

LOL! I wasn't going to say smelly people but lord have mercy yes!!!

Just ordered the Hue starter kit and the Insignia smart plug for pickup today. Going to plug my Christmas tree into it so I can turn it on as I'm leaving work and have it lit when I come home. For $15 I'll give it a shot. Can we say lazy?! LOL

LOL. My body clock woke me up at 3:45-ish this morning even though today is my day off but something told me to pick up my phone and bam....Best Buy. I never did go back to sleep and now there's more goodies to look at, except Walmart, the one I really need to be come out.

I was just thinking the same thing. Have they ever been this far behind everyone else? I know it's all relative in the grand scheme of things but my plan of attack (online and in store) depends on Walmart. I'm impatient because I need to move on to other things like decorating the house this week. LOL

Same here on everything! I hate the way they scrunch up the aisles too. I get that it is for some amount of line/crowd control but it sure takes away my shortcuts when gathering up all our stuff. Last year we planted someone at the area where the lines would start forming for checkout (clothing) with a buggy and the others of us went and gathered up before they started blocking off the main aisle at the registers to people traffic. Our store has always been ok with the pallets being dug into early. Thank goodness. LOL

Yay! I will be getting the Phillips Hue starter kit today since It's one of the deals already available! Now if only the iPad was available early I'd be set.

I would love to wake up in the morning to the Walmart or Best Buy ad. Better yet, hows about both of them!

Congratulations! I took a trip last year for my birthday which is right before Christmas as well. It was stressful because I had to work in between getting back from the trip and then traveling to my family for Christmas. I had to essentially be ready for Christmas before we left for Florida. I wouldn't trade that trip for the world though.

All of the above!!!!!

I was so hoping to wake up to the Walmart ad. Bummer.....

Bribri25, While it’s True Dillard’s may be more concentrated in the South/Southeast they have many locations in the Midwest and even more than a few out west.

Yes! A Walmart recon mission is always done at my house too.

Well, I never knew that. Thanks!

Love Belk. Another department store resembling Dillard's and somewhat JCP/Kohls. They carry designer brand handbags, clothes and beauty products but also have a nice selection of their own brands. We have a smallish store here but the big stores are nice. I like it better than Dillard's actually.

No bake cookies: 2 cups sugar 1/2 cup milk 1/2 stick butter 3 tsp cocoa 2 cups quick oats 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter Combine sugar, milk, butter and cocoa in large saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and oats until well mixed. Drop by the spoonful on wax paper and let set. These are so good, even if they don't quite turn out right. Sometimes the weather (humidity) down here wrecks havoc on them but it doesn't stop me from eating them.

Wow! I feel so behind already. LOL. I will get started this weekend.

Got my shirt and goodies today as well. Loving the shirt and can't wait to wear it.

The 32 GB iPad for $249.99 is the thing I was hoping for here. Now, to wait and see if Walmart and/or Best Buy match or beat that price. I would like to take advantage of my red card discount though but I don't know that I will be near a Target store on Thanksgiving Day.

Thanks!! Will be getting the Paperwhite. I have a $20 credit and was waiting on this.

Thank you! Definitely intriguing. Hoping for a deal from Best Buy or Amazon so I can try this out.

Well that’s exciting! EDIT: After looking at the ad I'm hoping the iPads and Echo Dot will be available early. I'm afraid that won't happen but one can hope.

I was shopping with the "person who has everything" in my immediate family this weekend and asked her to look around and to pick something out. She did and now it's done. I will get her something else to go with it but that eliminated some stress for me. She has no hobbies, really doesn't want much and when she does she buys it herself. So at Christmas time we are left scrambling to come up with something. LOL. So if you don't mind that person picking out their own gift, then that is always a solution. I know it takes some of the "specialness" of the gift away but in my case I'm happy to e told what to buy or have her pick something out herself.

Same here! I was trying to add some things to my Black Friday wish list so it would be easy to get them to my cart when the time comes but I could not log into my account for nothing. I finally gave up and will try later this week.

I have a Dot but do not use it to it's full potential but still love it. I'll try to answer some of your questions as best I can. You do not have to have the big thing. I only have a Dot. The big thing has a better speaker for music so I understand but I listen to my Pandora and iHeartRadio on the Dot and am fine with the sound. You can order from Amazon via Alexa if you set voice purchasing up. I think there are Alexa shopping only deals daily. I don't think Prime is required to have an Alexa device but may be required for the shopping aspect. Not sure about that. It does work over your wireless internet connection. I've had no issues with mine losing connectivity. It does require the use of the Alexa app. You use the app to set it up and manage those settings. You can also browse her skills and enable/disable from there. It will link to a Google calendar, Microsoft calendar (Outlook, Office 365) and reportedly an Apple calendar. I have mine linked to my Google calendar. The music comes from Amazon music If you are a subscriber, a linked Pandora account, linked iHeartRadio account, siriusxm. It can be paired to a Bluetooth device as well. If you set up your location, she can give you weather, movie times, things nearby. She will notify you when an Amazon shipment is scheduled to be delivered and when it is delivered if you set this feature up, The main thing I use her for is reminders, weather, and timers. I'm a huge fan of the timer function, especially when cooking. When I was sick a few weeks ago and had a schedule of times for medication I simply told her to remind me in XX hours to take medication. I have apple products and Amazon prime. I felt silly talking to her when I first got the Dot last year but it doesn't bother me now. The skills I use mostly are the relaxation sound skills when I'm trying to nap during the day. My mom and dad are in their mid-70's and she is seriously thinking about getting a Dot for them. My elderly aunts both have one as well. I think the Target audience is anyone with a smart phone that might get a kick out of it really. If I am wrong about anything someone please feel free to correct me. Like I said I don't use it to its full potential but I find it very useful anyway.