Shopping Like It's My Job

The only thing I love more than running is shopping, so I played hooky today so I could do some Christmas shopping.  Ok, I didn't really play hooky.  I actually used up my last vacation day for the year before I lost it.  It was kinda fun to sleep late in the middle of the week, and I went for a 7 mile run this morning.  Then I got to have a long, chatty lunch with Courtney before we hit the mall.

First thing I did was visit the Salvation Army Angel Tree in the mall and I adopted an angel.  This is my first time to buy Christmas presents for my very own angel.  Years ago, when I was in high school, my parents participated in a toy drive that was organized by a local Harley shop.  For several years, my mom and I would go buy Christmas presents for kids they had drawn in a process similar to adopting an angel from the Angel Tree.  Those kids were usually residents at St. Mary's and Wilmer Hall.  We had a lot of fun buying the presents and then Mama would tell me about their trip to deliver the presents to the children.  Since then, I've participated in similar projects at school and work, where we would adopt angels or needy families and collect gifts and/or money to help make their Christmas a little brighter.  But this year, I wanted to do something on my own.

(I redacted the name because I don't know the rules about privacy and stuff.)  

I looked at the angels on the tree and I picked this little girl because she wanted Barbies.  Then I hit up Target because they were having a pretty good sale on toys this week.  It was a lot of fun and I realized that Barbies have changed a lot since I played with them.  You know, in the last 5 years.  ;)  I also realized that toys are crazy expensive.  To all my friends with kids, I say God Bless You.  I also got her a few clothes too.  This is what I came home with:

It's kinda hard to tell from the picture, but I got her a jacket, a dress and leggings, a two-pair set of jammies (with a giraffe hugging a monkey - so cute!), a super cool ballerina Barbie (her feet move!) and two Barbie dresses.  I am so excited!  I hope she likes it and I pray she and her family have a good Christmas.

I was also able to make a lot of progress on my Christmas shopping for my friends and family, too.  I'm not done yet but I feel good about how much I got accomplished.

Also, I don't by any means fancy myself as a couponing/savings expert, but I got a few good (non-Christmas present) deals today at Target that I'm pretty proud of.  I had seen that Target had a $5 gift card with purchase on Olay Pro-X Brush Heads.  http://www.target.com/p/Olay-ProX-Brush-Head-Refill-For-Cleansing-System/-/A-13109604  Plus, I had a $1 off coupon from Walgreens, and Target honored it!  Target also had a $5 gift card with purchase on Starbucks coffee. http://weeklyad.target.com/mobile-al-36606/categories?sort=title Coffee?  Yes, please!  Now I can send in for the $5 Starbucks gift card rebate I read about here: http://starbucks.rewardpromo.com/  So, that's $10 from Target and $5 from Starbucks that I earned today.  Go me!!!