You Can Thank Me Later

I pretty much hate shopping. I told my counselor in high school that I was going to college so I could afford to mail order everything (little did I know the internet was coming!). I'll admit it can be fun sometimes, but mostly it's an anxiety-filled headache for me.

I've narrowed down my issues and mostly I hate crowds and having to make important spending decisions on the spot. So I avoid these things by living in a pretty un-crowded place, always making lists and looking at sales online so I don't have to make very many decisions at the store.

So knowing this about me, you might be surprised to know I sometimes go shopping at 3am on Black Friday. Hubs and I have made this a way-fun date, and we can have Christmas done and stashed away before 7am if we play our cards right (this is combined, of course, with all the things I bought the previous year at the after-Christmas sales and stashed away). The thing that helps us "play our cards" is this little link right HERE. You don't even have to pick up a newspaper! You just peruse the ads and make your list and your action plan and go for it. One of you can go do the actual shopping more stealthily, but if the kids sleep over with Grandma and you grab some crepes at IHOP to fuel your trip, it can count as a date.

I kind of loathe Walmart, but I have to give a special shout out here because Black Friday shopping there is awesome. It' a 24-hour store, so you can go there anytime over night, fill up your cart, and just be in line when the sale officially starts. I know it's not like this everywhere--I shudder to think what kind of craziness there would be in a populated place like San Diego or Tucson--but if you live near a nice suburban Wally like I do, it's pretty sweet. And you can get really useful things like a $3 crockpot (I use mine all the time) or nice $40 mp3 players for your kids. So just give it a whirl. Subscribe to that link up there, look at the ads, and see if there is anything worth getting up for. It could be fun, even for anti-shoppers.

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I wanted to share my secret recipe for soft winter skin with you, seein's how I just took the skin-smoothingest bath ever. Aside: My dermatologist said that olive oil is probably the best, most readily-available ointment for our skin, yet most people don't use it because of the smell and its associations with food. If you have terribly itchy, cracking skin like me, you have no pride when it comes to scent, etc...I use olive oil all the time, especially after doing dishes.

Get a little bowl in the kitchen and pour 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in it. Then pour in enough sugar to make a paste (you can do this with salt, too, but I have a lot of open skin and that can burn). If you happen to have some oils or extracts, you can add a drop or two for scent. I like my vanilla, coconut, or orange extracts the best.

Now take your little bowl to the bathroom and jump in the shower. Get yourself damp, turn off the ater, then use the paste --sugar scrub--to exfoliate your skin, giving knees and elbows and extra good scrub. Rinse with warm water and proceed to shower as usual. Use a rich moisturizer right after your shower (I just used Tree Hut Coconut Lime Shea Body Butter from Walmart & Costco and it's good!) and enjoy being baby-smooth for a few days!