MusicMama

Feel better soon, bigjim. That's more important than shopping and webcasts. (Well, maybe not webcasts.). :-)

Best memory is introducing friends to Panera Bread at 2:30 in the morning after hitting up the Disney Store and other outlets before heading to Target and Walmart. Worst memory is trying to navigate the "other" Walmart in town and nearly getting killed in the store and in the parking lot. Next best memory -- shopping with my daughter, because at 17 there's usually something better to do. But we've shopped together since she was 18 months old and I would be lost without her.

Since I never win anything, I will definitely want to buy this shirt (in one of the "limited" sizes, please, so that I can actually wear it).

I'll definitely be spending less this year. Hubby's class schedule has decreased and I haven't had a raise in 2 years but benefits cost more and more, so that's a salary cut. Our daughter just started college and we spent lots on getting her outfitted. I'm tired of getting things for nieces/nephews that are not appreciated and I really don't like just giving money or giftcards - I keep asking what they would like and can't get an answer. To me, that means that they have far more than they need, so I may go with the idea of a 'family gift' instead. It all depends on what I see here as deals.

I haven't seen a lot about android tablets, even though there are some of the e-readers listed as early items. Any ideas if there will be better android tablets available?

Here is a family favorite - make it up before you leave for midnight mass, so it's ready when the kiddies get up at 6am! MONKEY BREAD 1 package (Rich’s) frozen rolls 1 small package (4 oz.) butterscotch pudding ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1 stick of margarine, melted 1 cup brown sugar (1 cup crushed nuts or raisins) line an angel food cake pan with aluminum foil grease it thoroughly put the frozen rolls in; you'll have a 3 or 4 deep stack around the pan mix all dry ingredients in a bowl pour half of the melted butter over the rolls in the pan immediately pour on the dry ingredients, spreading them evenly around pour on the rest of the butter cover the pan with a damp cloth let it rise for 8 – 10 hours Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes, until a golden color

It's a trifecta: Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. Funny thing is - 2 of those are on my to 10 movie list as well.

Black Friday is a Family tradition with us - my 3 sisters and assorted daughters/nieces. My brother always works on Black Friday. We used to invite my sister-in-law, but she was always already done shopping and never seemed to have a good time. It all started with my parents, back when we were little and our mother would go out on the "morning after Thanksgiving" either alone or with my nana or my aunt, or later with my dad as I babysat. They would just say "Christmas secrets" and no further questions were asked. Somehow, magically, the things that we asked for always showed up under the tree. As we grew older - toward high school age - we were allowed to tag along. But this was in the days that the stores opened maybe at 8am or so. Then I went to college and my younger sister got married and had 2 little kids, and my little sister was in high school - and our schedule changed. My dad liked to go by himself because he hit the stores like Radio Shack and Sears that we preferred to avoid for Toys R Us, KB Toys and KMart. However, once we were done shopping we always all went out to breakfast somewhere, and talked over our "scores". As time went by, we all had kids but we still celebrated Thanksgiving together and then read the ads. Black Friday became a girls event. We were early in line for Furbies, we got great 'spend x get a Game Boy' deals, cheap kitchen appliances, super-cheap DVD players and mp3 players -- all the cool stuff. (I fondly remember pushing my now 16-year-old daughter around KB Toys in an umbrella stroller at 18 months, laughing and smiling as I got the nastiest looks from other parents. She's gone with us ever since and she's as persistent as I am.) Black Friday is still a family event. Even though we no longer have our parents, some of our kids insist upon coming. We still discuss who needs/wants what on Thanksgiving, but now we leave earlier, and we have more friends who come along. We hit lots of stores together or separately and meet up and run off again - thank goodness for cellphones!! And eventually, we eat and laugh and exchange items. What fun.

Thanks Brad and Mods. I got most of what I needed/wanted and was even able to price match at our Walmart! (if I hadn't read the post, I wouldn't have fought with the store manager) Love the site all year long - especially since I'm still searching for a laptop....

I have never ever been able to price match at Walmart, even between their own stores, let alone ToysRUs, KMart or Target! I live between 2 Walmarts - Exton, PA and Parkesburg, PA - and within another 20 miles of Lancaster, PA. Prices regularly differ between the Exton and Parkesburg stores all year long for the same item and neither will match the other's price if it is better. EVER. No matter if you go to customer service or not. Lancaster doesn't seem to PM either. They won't look at anybody else's ads, BF or not. That's why the only things I buy at Walmart any more are groceries on sale. Unless their ad has some spectacular item that I really need this year, I may even be able to avoid them altogether.

Hits -- SanDisk Shaker pink for the youngest niece (except that her mother lost the 3 memory cards that my daughter made specially for the her cousin) Neon guitar lamp for the 18-year old niece Books for 2 of the nieces Cash and gift cards Misses -- Cabbage Patch & Care Bear for 27year old niece who used to collect them but apparently quit and never told me Bratz lamps for 2 "middle" nieces who put them on their Christmas lists Disney SceneIt for one of the above problem nieces who asked for it specially Books for the same problem nieces - they get gift cards this year, if anything RC helicopters for the nephews; they never flew right Also a miss -- the cheap stuff that my sister-in-law continues to buy for me and my sisters from the "school sale".

How about listing Christmas songs and who originally recorded them? Or even, Christmas songs and the oddest people who recorded them. (Such as all of the songs that William Hung recorded). Otherwise, I'm out of ideas as most of what I thought of were already suggested. (Pick me, please. I never win anything. Really.)

Terrific. I even went in and got credit for the Buy2/get 1 games I bought last night! There's a "retro credit" menu selection if you have your receipt info - and since the first day of the rewards program was the day I made my purchases, I lucked out.

We usually go for the clothing specials. Daughter has gotten new sweaters and turtlenecks, get gloves for ourselves and for charity, get pjs for all. We're pretty much out of the board game range as we've got the ones we like - although we did replace Life last year with the "Pirates" version. It's a tradition with us, so even if there's nothing we need, we still usually go.

Thanks to this sale being in our local TRU, I'm DONE my shopping. My one sister and I went together this year. (Although I reserve the possibility of changing to the CC sale instead) -- Guitar Hero III Wii with guitar (one set of nieces) -- Super Smash Bros Brawl (another niece) -- Zelda Twilight Princess (DD, from my sister) -- High School Musical Sing it with microphone (littlest niece) We may decide to get the nieces getting GH an extra guitar. Or we may just let our other sister take care of that. Love this sale!

My daughter is 15 and has gone out with us since she was 1, with the exception of the year that she didn't want to get up in time - hubby had to take her to day care as he was working that day and she cried and cried til I picked her up for late breakfast. She's always been terrific - of course, when she was a baby, the pushing/shoving thing wasn't really as bad as it is now! I have 2 pictures in my mind: her sleeping in the good umbrella stroller in KBToys with toys on the umbrella lid and toys all around her; and her being in KBToys dragging a sled with all our stuff on it. Her reward for the sled dragging was the sled (and she was really happy with that). She's a great "runner", and I'd be lost on BF without her. Nowadays, she negotiates a "gift" in advance for her hard work.

1. Have a MAP of what is where instead of making you guess. And make sure the employees know and don't lie about it. (This presumes the walmart model of not having everything in the front of the store, but scattered all around instead.) 2. If it's a big ticket item and there is an extra warranty available, have the paperwork easily available. Don't make me ask about it, tell me on the display. 3. If your store has an eatery, HAVE IT BE OPEN! The best experience I had last last BF was the Target with a Starbucks. The Starbucks people easily made out by having people go down the line and take orders. Those staffers got tips too! I had just come from the Walmart and their McDs was closed. Would have bought my breakfast there but, their loss. 4. It's already been said - have enough room to move around and enough checkout aisles open. Don't make me stand in a line for 2 hours (cough Kohls cough, choke KBToys choke). 5. Bring back the "spend X, get that cool thing for less" kind of deal (KBToys used to be really good at this).

KMart at 8am .... gotta love it! Walked in 2 years ago and scored my Tickle Me Elmo! A whole pile of them by the front door. Actually, I started going the year that we hosted Thanksgiving dinner and while the turkey was cooking, we were finishing the vacuuming and the vacuum died. Off I went. Didn't care what the cost, just needed a vacuum - and there WAS one on sale! 10 years later, the vacuum still works. These days, it's usually for board games and CDs/movies.

Actually, longer than that. My eldest nephew turned 29 this year, and he might have been 2or 3 when we first started going BF shopping. In the beginning, it was me, my 2 sisters and my mom. Then it became me, my 2 sisters and a kid or 2, and my mom. My 15-year old has been going since she was a year old (except for the year that she pitched a hissy and got left at day care, only to have the teacher call me and beg me to pick her up, which I did at lunchtime). My older nieces and nephews don't come anymore as they've moved out, and my younger sister's daughters have never come along (I feel sorry for them). I especially remember being in line for Cabbage Patch Kids, Furby, and the really cheap Game Boys.

Update -- Thanks for the SmartParts recommendations. I've been unable to find any in-stock locally and didn't want my father-in-law to wait any longer. Ended up with the 7" Pandigital (at Staples) for a reasonable price. Easy to set up; has 128MB internal memory plus it supports his xD card! We transferred his favorite photos from the PC and a couple of CDs, and he's very happy.

We purchased a "no-name" digital frame for my father-in-law for Christmas that turned out to be a disaster. Yes, I know it was a mistake, but we were trying to save a few bucks and all but the most expensive frames were out of stock everywhere (since hubby left this a little late). For various reasons, we are returning the frame (if any of you buy from w o o t.com, then you may have heard or experienced the frame of which I speak) and now we owe him a new one. The rush is over, maybe we'll find something in stock?? But even more important is a recommendation -- what frame in the $100. or slightly less range would 'you' buy for an 86-year-old? He's pretty computer-savvy and would probably prefer a frame with onboard memory. His camera uses xD cards, and I've noticed that not all of the frames support this, which is why the onboard memory is probably better. (I don't think his PC has a card reader/writer and it might be a little too hard for his hands to keep working with an SD card and writer). All suggestions would be welcome. I've googled til my eyes have crossed and I'm dying for some help.:)

DD-14 Hits Guitar Hero Wii -- thanks to my nephew who works at a game store and told me when they got a shipment in DDR Wii -- luck of the last one at Walmart Sony Photo Printer -- clearance at Staples Iflop Penguin Misses Itunes gift card -- has a Creative Zen so she uses Walmart downloads (and we haven't been able to re-gift yet)

Disney bean bags, JCPenney snowglobes and -- Target Pokemon! The year that "yellow" came out, Target had a scratch-off for prizes. My now-14-year old daughter (then maybe 5or so) actually won a prize. Yes, everyone through the door that could walk got a scratch-off card, and hers was a winner. She was SO excited - I walked her up to the manager so she could turn in her ticket and she was allowed to pick from several things, ending up with a really nice Pokemon backpack - lasted a good couple of years and was the bag she carried her GameBoy and games in (including yellow). My little great-nephew also won a prize - he picked the same backpack, figuring that if his older cousin liked it, it had to be good. Then there was the year of the Furby. We stood in line at K-B Toys: my mom, my sister and her 2 daughters, me, my daughter in her stroller, and my other sister. We were inside the mall by 3:30 am, within the first 25 or so in line, and we got our tickets for 5 Furbys (my youngest sister didn't want one then - lucky I had purchased mine online from EBGames 2 months earlier and had one to sell her!) and got in the line to pick them up. We even got to pick out the colors! K-B was always pretty well organized, even if the lines routinely went way down the hall! They used to have great promotions if you spent a certain amount of money - we always pooled among the family and were able to get the good stuff like the GameBoys. Cabbage Patch kids - ah, the memories of the 'black market'. My sister and I went to every single KMart, ToysRUs and other store we could think of in a 30-mile radius for every rumored midnight delivery. Nada. Around here, the employees made out like bandits - and we ended up buying the must-have bald CPK from a KMart employee in her driveway! Those are good memories - and the reason that my daughter LOVES BF. She's got almost all of the snowglobes, even the Dalmations ones, and they are still part of our Christmas decorations. Getting the snowglobes became almost more fun than actual shopping! (gee, maybe that's why the stores don't do it?)

Wow, and to think I was agonizing over this being the ad I most needed to see. Ugh ugh ugh. If I were a wally marketing exec, I'd be in fear of my job for this being the most lame ad ever. 2 things out of the whole ad - the DS pack and gee, I forget the other. Both of which I can find more than 3 other places for similar prices. And as far as the 'secret specials', I won't have a computer with me and I sure as heck won't be checking back in. The WM I was at last year didn't even have the extra flyer to hand out - let alone have the items on it. Daughter will be happy - will be more time to get to the mall / Target early! Hubby might be happy - I'll just send him to Staples for the laptop (because BB is way too far away, even though the Sony is the one I really really want). And I'll be buying the GPS from KMart on Thanksgiving morning! Brad -- sorry they gave you such a hard time over such crap!

Thanks so much! Got 15 scarves for gifts for family gifts. Hopefully they'll all show up as this is the first time I've ever ordered from this company. Used to get their catalogs all the time but they are typically pretty expensive.