hopeky94

Okay, I FINALLY have more info on the CVS ad-- from the same board, but a different member (many thanks to jwil1981 for this "rumored" info)! Also, there are several coupons that will match up with items on this list, so we could be looking at some very nice deals... :) FYI- from another member there, comparing this list to the previewed ad for that week: HTH!!!

I have 2: one that I did and one my mom did! Mine: My mom and I both love eggnog and usually each enjoy a small glass of it every few evenings as Christmas approaches... Occasionally, one of us will sprinkle cinnamon on top, just to make it "pretty" (Mom keeps a cute little shaker of cinnamon out just for things like that). Well, one night about 3 yrs ago, I had fixed each of us a glass and didn't even notice that the cinnamon I sprinkled on top looked strange... But as soon as I smelled and tasted it, I knew what I'd done-- when I reached for the cinnamon shaker, I accidentally grabbed the garlic powder shaker instead! Ewwwwwww:yuck: -- talk about a hard taste to get out of your mouth!! :razz: LOL To this day, Mom teases me about it! Mom's: I was in South Korea (military) when this happened (about 10 yrs ago), so this was all told to me later... Mom had been fighting a cold for a few days, and the day that everyone was coming over for a big dinner is (of course) when it got worse! My uncle fixed her a small mixed drink, trying to help. But what no one else knew was: not long before that, she'd taken some cough syrup, apparently something with alcohol in it! Still, things were moving pretty smoothly in preparing the meal, except my mom was in an unusually cranky, irritable mood... until, one by one, people started smelling something odd, like something was burning! Mom didn't smell it, due to her cold, but finally someone braved opening the oven........... SMOKE went EVERYWHERE!! Mom had burnt the stuffing-- not just scorched on top, but burnt through and through (and my mom's always been a good cook)... That's when she spoke words that have lived in infamy (in our family at least! LOL) ever since: "I don't know what happened! I turned it DOWN to 400!!" Slowly, everyone started piecing together what had happened. By then, Mom was getting really weepy and starting to upset the little ones, so Dad quietly walked Mom to the bedroom and calmly suggested she lay down and rest for a little while, so she could get to feeling better. She wasn't at all happy about the idea, but finally conceded it was the best idea at the time... And to top it all off, shortly after that, I called from Korea to talk to Mom-- and NO ONE told me about ANY of this until months later! I had no idea my mom had been "sent to her room" (that's what she says it was- lol)! And 10 yrs later, she STILL gets teased about "turning it down to 400!"

I'm usually like that too, but I change everything around for BF! I go to bed as early as possible:g_zzz: -- shut the bedroom door, cover windows, run a fan to cover background noise, if needed. Set an alarm for midnight. My store is only about 15 minutes away, but I give myself those 2 hours to wake up:gdmornincoffee:, review my plans, etc. I can take my time getting ready and thoroughly enjoy the stillness and quiet of an early late fall morning . It's probably the only day of the whole holiday season that I'm not rushing to get somewhere! And when things do get hectic as Christmas gets closer, I can stop-- take a deep breath-- and just for a moment, go back in my mind... to that peaceful morning when life wasn't flying by so fast that I couldn't stop for a moment just to enjoy "the most wonderful time of the year! !":holiday16

I always get Wal-Mart out of the way first, so I'll get there around 2 or 2:30 (24 hr store), find ALL the things I'm pricematching (mainly movies! lol), then around 3:45 or 4, I go stand next to the wrapped pallet that another early shopper has identified as having my most-wanted item(s) and mentally plan my attack (which direction to go, which aisle, etc. to get to the other pallets as quickly and painlessly as possible)!

Could you give specific scenarios of how to make this work? Thanks!!

Also check with any local senior citizen center if you'd like to donate these. Possibly nursing homes, in-home care providers, and/or assisted living facilities would accept them-- worth checking if you have one closeby! :) HTH!!

No, still waiting! I PM'd him today to see if he was able to get the ad or not... I can tell he's been to the message board early morning yesterday and today, but he didn't post anything either time.... but I'll definitely let you know as soon as I hear anything!! :)

I got a "secret sale" mailer over the weekend, for Macys card holders, Nov 1-4. It has several $$ off when you buy $$ coupons in it, along with some sale prices-- if I did a presale today for this sale, could I also use one of the coupons? Can they figure those in for a presale, or would I only get the sale price? TIA!!!

Finally got more *rumored* info-- check post #10 in this thread!! At another message board I'm a member of (HCW), one of the regulars is a CVS employee. Here's what he posted concerning their BF deals today (credit to Dave): (And of course, with his permission, I'll report back with any other details... but it may be Monday, as I only have really slow dial-up at home! )

Thanks for the info Brad! Did they say what the problem was with the atlas? Those looked really nice...

Great- this is wonderful info!! One last question though-- you mentioned taking the ad with you. With the exception of whoever's ad was scanned and posted here, we don't have a physical ad to take and probably won't until Thanksgiving day! Will they still do the presale if all we have is a black and white printed version of what's scanned here and/or a list of the items from the ad??

Oh wow-- thank you SO much, disneybrat!!! I wasn't planning to go to Macy's on BF (hate mall traffic and further to drive), but with this info I'll hopefully be able to get in on the good deals! Woohooo!!!!!! (Can ya tell I'm happy?? LOL) I wonder if any other stores do presales like this-- anyone know?? BTW, disneybrat-- would it be okay if I posted this info on a couponing board I'm a member of (giving credit to you, of course)? I love letting other people know about awesome deals!!

In my area, some Wal-marts actually keep (or go back to) certain Early Bird prices throughout the weekend-- especially if the items aren't selling as fast as they'd expected and they want to get them out of the way! LOL But like Brad said, most major department stores do keep the regular-hours BF prices at least thru Saturday... so you should still be able to get in on some great deals! :)

Great info, disneybrat! So are you saying you can go to Macy's like a week before BF, ask to do a presale (how do they know it's for BF? ), then come in like 3 or 4 days later and pick up your stuff that you bought at BF prices without even being there??

Is there a website for the checks from Sams Club? TIA!!

If she enjoys history-- how about movies or documentaries about national or world events that happened when she was a young adult? Maybe something about women during World War II, or an overview of the 40's/50's/60's... A collection of Bob Hope's earlier USO tours would be nice, if there is such a thing on DVD... HTH!!:)

I get names and info from my church, and my coworkers and I buy gifts for the kids (the church provides a big food basket for each family). This year we had a total of 8 kids to buy for, split between 15 people. I know we go WAY overboard buying for these kids... clothes, toys, coats, gloves, and more-- even stockings for each child and each set of parents-- and we have so much fun doing it!!:) Everyone brings their wrapped gifts in, and I take them to the church. Sometimes I do end up buying a couple extra gifts, when I can tell that one child is getting much less than their sibling(s). That's why I love that 1) we get ALL the kids' names for these families, and 2) I have a chance to find out what was bought and sneak in some extras if needed. But my favorite part is that I get to help deliver the food and gifts!! I don't always get to see the whole family (because of the "Santa" thing! lol), but I always see and have a chance to chat with at least one parent. I think buying then delivering these gifts has to be my favorite activity of the whole year! We just delivered this year's stuff 2 nights ago (12/18), and afterwards I told my mom, "I wish I could do this everyday!" So even though the weather doesn't seem very Christmassy here, I'm finally in the Christmas spirit... because I know that I was again part of something that will make a difference in some families' lives!

Since today is supposed to be the last day for this, I'm -ing this thread for those who missed it! BTW-- I picked up 2 of these meals last night (one Kentucky Bourbon, one Carolina), with the Mudslide Pie for both desserts. WONDERFUL!! :yup: Only one thing I wish I'd done differently: saved one of the desserts, so we wouldn't be so stuffed afterwards! LOL Enjoy, everybody!!

Search online and see if there are any amusement parks or other family activities in their area. If so, contact them, let them know you're out of state buying a gift for someone who lives in their area, and see if they offer tickets that can be used for any date or gift certificates that could be cashed in for tickets or other merchandise. You could have these mailed directly to them, or have them mailed to you so you can personalize the gift a little! :) Along the same line, another option is to search online and find out what stores, restaurants, etc are in the area. Then buy gift certificates from maybe a couple different ones, like a $35 one for a nice sit-down restaurant and two or three $5 ones to a fast-food place (if in doubt, stick to nationally-known and/or chain restaurants, like Applebees, McDonalds, etc). You could even include a note saying the $35 one is for the parents, and the fast-food ones are for the daughter! Or get gift cards from one or more of the larger retailers in their area. I really like the Netflix idea, too! Or if you know they love music, how about a gc from an online music store? HTH!

What about using a school folder? You could get one in a Packers color or may be able to find a nice one with the Packers actually on it! If there is too much to fit into one folder, you could get a small spiral notebook and folders that fit in the middle of it. And of course, you could decorate those up as little or as much as you want! A folder or notebook can be stored and accessed easily, and it would also be something she could use for other papers she may need to keep together (like bills, letters, pictures, recipes, etc)... HTH! Let us know what you decide to do!

Do either or both of your parents enjoy spending time in the kitchen and/or at the grill? A couple years ago, we shipped my uncle a basket of herb and spice mixes from a local herb grower (he'd tried them at my parents' house and loved them!), then added in a couple little cookbooks, towel, trivet, etc. He still orders spices from that place, he loves them so much! LOL Another kitchen-related idea (if you live close enough to them and can be a little sneaky ) is to collect favorite recipes that they've written down, cut out of magazines, etc. and compile them into either a recipe box or cookbook (I've seen some premade ones with sleeves like photo albums, so an actual photo album should work too, just add your own tabs/dividers). Something I did for my mom, sis, and sis-in-law 2 years ago was made up a basket full of several different homemade "mixes"-- such as homemade biscuit mix (like Bisquick), individual mug-sized cake mixes, soup mixes, hot chocolate mixes, spiced instant tea mix, and chocolate-covered plastic spoons (for stirring and flavoring hot beverages). You can find TONS of these type recipes on the web, and they don't have to look all fancy like the overpriced mix in a jar things you find in stores! :) I tried to customize them somewhat, like gave the chili mix to the one whose family likes spicy stuff and made individual serving size containers of some "just add water" soups for ones that work in an office so they could take them for lunch. Yes, it was more work than I'm used to putting into gifts, but I know I put more thought and effort and heart into those gifts than all the others combined! [if you don't have the time to make your own mixes though, you can gather up a small collection of store-bought foods you know they like but would rarely buy for themselves.] I too have trouble buying for my dad, but every year, I try to watch for something that he hopefully wouldn't think to go out and buy for himself, but that would help him. My dad fishes also and doesn't need any fishing stuff-- but what about stuff that would make it an easier/more comfortable fishing experience for him: a comfortable seat, a small cooler to keep his lunch or drinks in, his fishing license for next year (if applicable), a gas card if he has to drive a long distance to his favorite fishing spot, maybe even information about a new fishing spot you think he'd like to try.... I'm sure there are other fishing-related things, but these were off the top of my head! HTH!! Let us know what you end up doing! And BTW-- I did the sundae basket for my niece, her hubby, and 2 young kids last year, and it was well recieved, too! :)

When I search for the local ads using my zip code, why do some of the stores listed say "No Current Weekly Ad items At This Location" (instead of a link to "View Weekly Ad items at this Location")?? Does that mean those particular stores are NOT doing the prices advertised in the ads, even though other stores just minutes away ARE?? Or does it mean these locations just aren't advertising these particular sales for some reason?? Anyone else ever dealt with this? I also wonder if these stores would still take the coupons from the ads for the other nearby stores (seems like they'd have to)... :confused:

Have you ever heard of the Vermont Country Store? My mom LOVES to look at (and occasionally buy;) ) their stuff, as a lot of it is nostalgic stuff from decades past... I've even found a few things in there that I remember as a kid that aren't around anymore! But they sell other fun, more modern things, too (like the "Tired Old A** Soak" shown on their homepage! LOL) And even if you don't decide to order from them, sometimes seeing stuff like that can remind you of other things he might enjoy!

I found a BB&B 20% off coupon by my friend's apartment building today, but it expired 11/27-- are you saying I can still use this coupon at BB&B (or Linen N Things)??? If so, I am SO glad I didn't throw it away yet!! :) Oh-- and how long can they be expired and still be accepted??

When does the Friends and Family thing end?