It’s only 9 days til my favorite non-holiday – Black Friday!! For those who don’t know, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. Retailers offer crazy deals to anyone willing to crawl out of bed while it’s still dark. The store sale ads come out in the newspaper on Thanksgiving day, but you can see most of them online now. My favorite Black Friday site is Gotta Deal. I’ve been a member for 4 years and it is a very friendly, helpful forum. You should also check out their regular forums because there are some fantastic sales already online & in stores.

My favorite thing about Black Friday is not the sales, but the tradition. Every year it’s the same for me – I hop in the car at 4:30 with a cup of steamy creamy coffee and a slice of pumpkin bread and head for the store on my list with the best deals (this year I’ll be heading to Target). Next, I head to the mall to pick up my free snowglobe at JC Penney and some yummy scents at Bath & Body Works. By now I’m starving, so I grab breakfast at Chik Fil A as I start on my quest to find cute (& cheap!) pajamas and slippers. (The pajamas are opened the night we decorate the tree, and Santa leaves the slippers outside of their bedroom doors every Christmas morning.) My final stop every year is at Walgreens for Buy 1 Get 2 Free gift tags, gift wrap & tissue paper. Jason & the kids get out the tree & decorations while I’m gone so we can continue tradition that evening with our trim-the-tree fun. I love it because it is such a fun way to kick off the season, and it’s the one day morning of the year that’s all mine!

So what are your Black Friday traditions?

Run on over to Rocks In My Dryer for tons of great tips!

Updated: Tonya brought up a tip I forgot about- many of the Black Friday deals will be available online!

Tips I Want To Remember:

Window Organizer

Give Thanks Banner

Baking Day – English Muffins

Melting Chocolate

Magna Doodle Spelling

Advent Ideas

Do you have a little boy like mine who gets distracted in the bathroom? It didn’t matter how much I scrubbed, I couldn’t completely get rid of the pee smell from the hinges of the toilet seat. Then one glorious day we found the boy-proof toilet seat at Lowes. The hinges unlock and the entire toilet seat pops off! Now it is super easy to have a sparkling toilet.

Run on over to Rocks In My Dryer for lots of great tips!

Tips I Want to Remember:

Box of the Doomed

Turn Off the Lights Game

Now that I’m in my last month of pregnancy, my Sleep Number Bed from Select Comfort really works for me. We’ve had ours for about two years and still love it! I don’t spend the entire night tossing & turning, trying to find a comfortable position, like I did with all my other kids.  I had hip pain after Little Prince was born and spent every morning sitting on the couch until I could loosen up enough to walk – the third morning after we got our Sleep Number Bed, I slid out of bed with no pain or stiffness!

I very strongly recommend going to a Select Comfort store and letting one of the associates help you find your sleep number. It can be miserable if you are sleeping on the wrong number. (My side looks like a hammock, while my husband’s is slightly softer than the floor.  LOL) The only thing that hasn’t worked for us is getting a queen size to save a few $$ – go for the king!!!

Run on over to Rocks In My Dryer for tons of great tips!

Tips I want to remember:

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Mommy Calling Card download

Bread Recipes

Chili Relleno Sauce

Passing Notes in Church

Snack Baggies

Cavatini Recipe

Best Booster Seat