Black Friday

I know I have been missing in action around here but I can't skip my world famous Black Friday post! 

Today is Black Friday!  That fun time of year where we push our credit cards to the limit! This is a great day for you to get in a workout by trying to snag that big screen TV! Try not to get into any fights! And if you want to be the first one into the store, why not camp there overnight! 

The day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday and has always been known as the biggest shopping day of the year. For retailers, it marked the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. In recent years, every Friday in November was a Black Friday Sale. This year, the entire month seems to be a Black Friday event. 

For those of you working on Black Friday, it's a crazy, long tiring day. Make sure you take those vitamins, drink plenty of water and plaster a smile on your face.  

If you are out there shopping, it can get crazy, so try to be safe. Also, be nice to the retail workers.  They don't make the rules or have control over the amount of inventory for that Billy Bass you want to purchase.  So, go easy on them! 

Of course you will need a little background music for this special day. Here is my Black Friday playlist for your listening pleasure. 

Man in Black - Johnny Cash

Paint it Black -  The Rolling Stones

Back in Black - AC DC

Black Cat - Janet Jackson

Black Magic Woman - Santana

Black or White - Michael Jackson 

Black Widow - Iggy Azalea

Black Hole Sun- Soundgarden

Black - Pearl Jam 

Blackbird - The Beatles

Black Betty - Ram Jam

 Black Gold -Soul Asylum 

Men in Black 3 Back in Time - Pitbull

Black Night- Deep Purple

Black Rain Soundgarden

The Long Black Veil - JohnnyCash

Ebony and Ivory - McCartney and Wonder

Black Dog - Led Zeppelin 

Black Velvet- Alannah Miles

Black Water - Doobie Brothers 

Men in Black - Will Smith

Blue on Black Five Finger Death Punch

Back to Black - Amy Winehouse

Fade to Black - Metallica

Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall

Two Black Cadillacs- Carrie Underwood

Black Honey - Thrice

Black Rose - Volbeat

Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress - The Hollies

Now get out there and have some fun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 In the year 1621, the Pilgrims held their first Thanksgiving feast. They invited the great Indian Chief, Massasoit, who brought ninety of his brave Indians and a great abundance of food. Governor Bradford and Captain Miles Standish were honored guests. Elder William Brewster, who was a minister,  said a prayer that went something like this;

"We thank God for our homes and our food and our safety in a new land. We thank God for the opportunity to create a new world for freedom and justice. "

Linus van Pelt

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving 

National Handbag Day

  Today is my favorite day, National Handbag Day!  A day set aside for me to celebrate all of the time and headaches effort that I put into finding the perfect a new purse.  

Handbags come in many shapes and sizes.  They can be as small as an envelope or as large as a carry-on suitcase.  Handbags also come in every solid color and a variety of prints like leopard, zebra and even stripes.  You can get a sparkly bag or a purse with rhinestones.  There is a handbag out there for everyone.

Whatever you call it... purse, pocketbook, clutch, evening bag, case or pouch, handbags have been used for thousands of years.  The earliest bags were used to carry tools or gear.  Sometimes the user decorated them with beads.  And some dyed the material to make the bag.

How do you celebrate National Handbag Day?  Wear your favorite handbag today, of course!  Or use this day to buy a new handbag.  There are so many out there for you to choose!

 We all know that I celebrate this day because of my purse commitment issues.  If you need to read up on my scary purse stories, click  HERE, HERE and HERE .  I promise these stories are quite entertaining.

As you know, I sold my house in June and was homeless for five weeks.  I had to downsize which meant that I had to get rid of some of the purses that I own.  While homeless, I did purchase a new purse.  It was quite the commitment and I needed quite a bit of encouragement from RT (thankfully he was there and fully supported the purchase).  I am quite happy with this purse.  I have noticed though that there are a few purses that I kept when I moved that I should probably part with and feel that this would be a great time to start the removal process.  Prayers are much needed at this time

Happy Fall!

  "Fall is here!  Fall is here!

It's my favorite time of year

Football games and falling leaves
I'll take mine with turkey please"

It's that time of year set aside to think about falling leaves and all things pumpkin!  Pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice, pumpkin spiced latte, pumpkin potpourri, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies and just plain pumpkins.

Are you a pumpkin person?  A football person?  How about a Halloween person?

It's time to get your craft on and get into that Fall spirit!  Below are links to some of the Fall Halloween crafts and Costumes that I've blogged about in the past.  Some of these are great ideas to do with little kids and some are great to do with your Girl Scout Troop!


Halloween Crafts

Bat Pencil Cup  uses an empty can and construction paper

Extra Crafts - using construction paper, make owls, witch, ghosts and foam monsters

Mosaic Pumpkin - using paint chips

Mosaic Pumpkin - using construction paper

Owl - using construction paper

Pony Tail Craft - using ribbon (great for a Girl Scout Troop!)

Pumpkin and Ghost - using Popsicle sticks and paint

Pumpkin Magnet - using foam

Spider - using pipe cleaners and google eyes

SPIDER  using construction paper

Spider (under $1 craft)  using an egg carton, black paint and google eyes

Witche's Hat  uses foam and glitter glue

Pumpkin Soap


Have a party to go to and need a quick, easy Halloween costume?  Look no further! 

Costumes
Easy Halloween Costumes
Eye Candy Costume
Target Employee

It's also time to grab that apron and whip up some fall goodies!  Everybody loves pumpkin!  (well, at least I do!)

How about some Fall food ideas:

Vegetarian Chili
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin Pie (from a Pumpkin)

Halloween Candy Dessert 

The Great Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins 

Hope this inspires you to get into the fall spirit!  I think I'll go make some pumpkin cookies.

Enjoy!

Waffles (vegan)

Waffles are a family favorite over here.  Found this recipe (and made it vegan).  Definitely a crowd pleaser!

Donkey:  Can I stay with you, please?

Shrek: Of course.

Donkey:  Really?

Shrek:  No.

Donkey:  Please!!  I don't want to go back there.  You don't know what it's like to be considered a freak.  Well, maybe you do.  That's why we have to stick together.  You gotta let me stay!  Please!  Please!

Shrek: OK.  OK.  But one night only.

Donkey:  Great!  We can stay up late, swapping manly stories and in the morning, I'm making waffles!

Waffles (vegan)

Ingredients:

2 eggs*

2 cups flour

1 3/4 cup oat milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

Warm up your waffle iron.

In a bowl, whisk all ingredients together. 

Pour some batter into waffle iron and cook till brown and crisp.

*I use either a flax egg (1 TBSP ground flax and 3 TBSP water) or aquafaba.

* I add some ground flax and cinnamon to the batter.

*I freeze the leftover waffles.  Easy to warm up in toaster or toaster oven.

Enjoy!

National Rescue Dog Day

  Over 3 million dogs enter shelters every year.  (THREE MILLION!)  Each dog is in search of a loving fur ever home.  

Most rescue dogs overcome extreme obstacles.  Some are abused or raised in poor conditions.  Most are abandoned and left to the streets.  With training, these dogs can provide comfort to people as emotional support pets, help people with disabilities and provide comfort to elderly.  People with autism enjoy the therapeutic benefits of comfort dogs while military personnel with PTSD get relief from anxiety and depression.

How to celebrate today:

Volunteer at a shelter.  

Shelters are always looking for donations.  Old towels and blankets.  Some even have an Amazon list of needs.

Consider adopting from a shelter for your next pet.

You can use #NationalRescueDogDay on social media.

I will be spending the day (like every other day) spoiling my weird dog rescue dog, Pippen.  

Retail Problems

 More customer antics for you.

I had a customer returning a couple of candy bars.  She didn't have a receipt for them, so I had to look them up on her credit card.  It's funny because she didn't remember when she purchased them, and she was acting a little strange during this process.  I glanced down at the backs of the bars and notice the expiration dates on the bars.  They expired three years ago (no wonder she couldn't remember when she purchased them!). I mention this to her and she tries to act cool about it and doesn't respond.  I told her, "We take returns up to ninety days and I can't take the candy bars back because they expired over three years ago."  

The customer grabbed the bars and said she would be right back.  I noticed that she left her strawberries on the counter.  I wasn't sure if it was bring an expired food from your pantry day at the store (yea, I made that holiday up).  It also worried me that this woman has three year old food in her pantry.

Oh, yea.  She never returned to buy the strawberries.