Black Friday Bargains

Last week, my boyfriend and I hit up the Black Friday bargains. And although we planned to leave home around 3AM to beat the crowd at some stores like Wal-Mart and Target, we didn't end up leaving the house until 6AM. I thought that the alarm never went off... Turns out, it did. And the boyfriend shut it off and went back to sleep! The booger! But don't you worry, I still got my full day of shopping in. We didn't get back home until 8PM that night!

I love Black Friday! Whether or not you are shopping for yourself or you are actually buying some Christmas gifts, it always is a great day of shopping. Even if you hate shopping and hate crowds and hate spending money, you have to experience it at least once! But it's true! I always spend too much. I get home and open up all my bags, evaluating my purchases, and then I fall into a deep depression and develop a huge case of buyer's remorse. The nice thing is, I usually regret the purchases I made for myself, not for others. Needless to say, like many years before, my boyfriend and I got up again on Saturday, and I took some stuff back! Haha...

What were some of my best buys? Well, I always swear on the DVD deals posted on Black Friday. Some of the year's best movies go on sale for around $3.00. I usually spend close to $100 on DVDs the day after Thanksgiving, and usually they are all for myself. But I usually end up with close to 25-30 DVDs, and I don't buy any throughout the rest of the year. So there's my case! :) Some of the movies I got this year were Harry Potter, 500 Days of Summer, The Hangover, and Remember Me.

Some of my other great deals this year were... a Black and Decker Family Size Griddle for $19.00... which I took back... a Perfect Pillow Memory Foam Pillow, originally $80.00 for $19.97... which I also took back! Yikes!... a Weight Watchers digital scale... which I returned on Saturday...Man! I am horrible! (My sister's always say, "You know you bought a great gift, when "reALIty" keeps it and doesn't take it back!) But now for some items, I actually did keep...

...a Hydraulic Plaid Winter Coat for $39.99... a Shark Steam Mop for $49.99... a CHI hair straightener and a CHI blow dryer for a total of $159.99, as opposed to $129.99 each!! (My boyfriend got these for me for Christmas, making up for not waking me up on time!)

So overall, it was a very productive day! And we got a lot of our Christmas shopping completed! And if you've never gone out on Black Friday, see ya next year?

Whether It's Nerdy or Not...

Whether it's nerdy or not... my sister and I are continuing our tradition of going to every movie in the Harry Potter series at midnight on the day that it opens. (Much like a million other people in the world... ) Thus, the first part of the seventh book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1." is officially being released tomorrow, November 18th at 12 AM.

My sister and I actually started this tradition when the second film in the series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" came out in 2002. I, having not read the book series by J. K. Rowling, was not in a rush to see the first film but was quickly intrigued by the writer's vivid imagination and creativity. Rowling's series was definitely a case of, "Who comes up with this stuff!?" because there is always a meaningful twist that leaves you both shocked and puzzled. But the world seems to love it, as do I. So wish me luck as I head to the theater tonight, along with the tons of other "nerdy" folks who have drawn lighting bolts on their head and are wearing all too perfectly rounded, wire rimmed glasses.

P.S. And if I asked which Harry Potter movie/book is my favorite... I really don't know if I could pick just one!

Missing the Moments

I have a really hard time leaving people. It's as if deep down I have this feeling that my world will somehow come to a crazy halt without them in my life. Even if they will only be gone for a day or a week, I can't help but get emotional when I think about their absence in my life. Saying this now, it sounds really selfish.

I can remember this one time, when I was about eight or nine, and my family was visiting relatives who lived in the state of Washington. It was the first time I had ever flown in an airplane. And since it was such a long way away and we hadn't seen our family in a while and we'd never been to Washington or an ocean, and my parents were paying for six round trip air flights, we decided to make it all worth our while and stay for a week and a half. So we did. We went kayaking in the ocean, ate amazing food, saw orcas and dolphins flipping out of the water, and rode ferries around the islands. We drove up mountains and hiked to waterfalls. And I learned to ride a bike with no hands. I had such an amazing time with my aunt and uncle and cousins, and I saw them every day and night for ten days that I was overwhelmed with sadness when the trip was over. I can remember bawling as we drove our rental mini-van to the airport. I remember thinking that my life just wouldn't be the same if we left. I would miss my family too much. I wanted to live within the memory of our trip forever, because there was no possible way that the future could be any better than our time in Washington.

And just this past weekend, the same thing happened again. I had such an amazing time with my boyfriend, visiting his family, playing with my puppy, going out for meals, and shopping, that I started to cry as he drove me home, because I knew that in an hour, we would be apart. And I know this sounds like a sappy-girly-emotional-love problem, but it's all true. I just think that so much of my life is spent stressed and over thinking things and worrying, that when I finally slip out of that routine and let myself enjoy life, I just don't want it to end. Because for those moments, I am truly truly, springing from my head, seeping out of my toes, happy.

It's like I want to live within the memories of these moments forever, because I am scared that the future might not be as great as the present. But mostly I think I am scared that I might lose the people I love before I get the chance to share those future moments with them. And that... I just don't think I can bare.