yummy mummy

my go to idea for the little kid who has everything or just as a cute keepsake is a personalised book. you can get disney themed ones, christmas themed ones etc...when ordering you give the company the name of the child the book is for, the city they live in, 2 of their friends names (i use my 2 boys' names for that) and they personalise it accordingly. it turns out AMAZING and you can write a loving message for them to add for the child inside the front cover. the company i buy mine from is located here in Canada where i am, but i am certain there has to be something like it in the US. they are always very well recieved and cherished :)

i have absolutely NO issue making or giving requests, especially for kids. my boys for example are HUGE lego freaks and collectors and everyone knows this so it's very likely if a person were to gift them with a set that we would already have it. it's just all around SO much easier on everyone involved to ask for specifics sometimes. same goes for my monster high crazy nieces! i can't tell you a darn thing about those toys and i know they have a ton of them already so i ask my sil which ones to get them and done, provided i can get my hands on them of course maybe it's just me, but i've had lists cc'd to me by a family member a few xmas' ago that i thought were on a whole different level and entirely rude. requesting certain items is fine with me (like clothes, especially for toddlers!) but when you start saying certain brands ONLY such as gap etc...that is a little much.

Niagara Falls & Buffalo NY

it seems that the playbook is having a price drop again, so i don't believe it is an *exclusive* staples sale. from what i've heard, the price drop is supposed to happen here (in Canada, i would assume the US is the same) on the 16th.

Hot Topic? do they usually do a good sale? does anyone know what a typical or past bf sale for them looks like? thanks!

i'm about 99% sure that you are correct. i'm in Canada but our BF sales at Disney store mirror yours except our prices on similar toys are usually a couple $'s higher. i ALWAYS go and it has always been items on sale for (here, at least) super low prices with an additional 20% off before 10 am :) here's hoping for another great sale this year! i've got some disney freaks to buy for!

mine is up! goes up Nov. 1st every year! mine & dh's little tradition...well, mostly mine

just started wrapping this morning!! it usually takes me a few several hour sessions. i doubt this year will be any different based on what i've already picked up so far and what i still plan to buy. my list is a little smaller though this year, so who knows?!! i also did the wrapping obvious gifts (dvd's and video games!) inside of different boxes. thank goodness i'm close to a hallmark outlet, i have a ton of gift boxes now to hide things in from my snoop of a dh :) i didn't realize until this morning though how low i was on xmas wrap! 6 rolls?! eeeep!!

i don't really have a problem with doing rebates per se, but as a Canadian who comes down to the U.S. to shop for BF, i'm not eligible for them. so for someone like me and the tens of thousands of others like me who come to shop, it stinks!

oh my goodness, you just summed it up perfectly! the decorations and lights at night time just seem to bring a calm, warmth and happiness to my heart that i can't even describe. it's that "christmas" feeling! too bad they can't put it in pill form, it would probably sell better than prozac lol!

Nov. 1st!!! every. single. year!!! dh & i haul out the decorations & the tree and up they go! everything down to the chair covers! as fun as halloween is, for us the REAL enjoyment is knowing that the xmas season begins the next day

the flyers are available on redflagdeals.com if anyone is interested or planning on making the trip up here to shop! unfortunately the deals are pretty cold this year though with the exchage rate on your side though, Americans would get a pretty decent deal while shopping on boxing day in Canada!

the so called "sales" are pathetic! in fact we cancelled our bf trip down from Canada...i had to have surgery plus the ads are AWFUL so it's a no brainer for me. we've even been having better sales than you guys up here which is unheard of!!!

i'm from T.O. heading down to Buffalo (most likely)...we'll be looking for deals on toys, clothes and pretty much just anything that catches our eye :)

about 400 kms or so i would guess? round trip that is....

LMAO try living in Ontario, Canada! not only do we pay FAR, FAR more for everything than you guys do, we also pay 13% sales tax on top of everything! i think you guys are getting a deal compared to me lol! oh and that just went down in the last couple of years, it WAS 15% !

big toy book?? what is it? like a big catalog type thing of the hottest toys of the year??

my god i want your budget lol!!! the $2000 is just the bf budget, i have finally gotten off my arse and picked up 2 gifts so far, so i have started my shopping finally! also since we are coming in from Canada if i spent much more than $2000 in the time that we will be gone, well lets just say we would most likely be paying that much to customs when we bring our purchases back with us lol! we'll just have to finish our shopping over here i guess!

Yes, i know we haven't seen the ads yet, but judging by years past, or just by your shopping list, what do you think you will spend?? i am *hoping* not to go over $2000 on BF. we won't buying any big ticket items, just buying for a fair amount of people and picking up a few things here and there for ourselves how much are you setting aside?

oh man, that would stink! i feel for you! shopping online is one thing, but the atmosphere of bf is something else completely! here's to a speedy recovery!!

we're in Canada but used to live literally 5 mins away from the MI border and i used to LOVE meijers! it was one of my fave stores! used to do almost all of my grocery shopping there! now that we moved, the closest border town to us is buffalo, NY and no meijers to be found in that part of the country

yep! we do stockings! we leave them hanging out from the day i decorate (usually the day after halloween LOL) but they don't get filled until xmas even night when santa has been by.

if i had anything to wrap, or even any wrap i would be wrapping lol! but seriously! even ONE ad would be nice!!!!

we will most likely be in NY so sadly, no Meijers big lots sounds good though!!! haven't been to one of those in awhile!

how much (if anything) other than Kmart is even open on thanksgiving??? we're trying to make our travel/hotel plans and dh has to work the weekend after bf so we were wondering if there was any shopping to be had or really anything to do on thanksgiving day, other than line up on concrete LOL any suggestions??