Someone please hold me back!

Guess what just popped up in my inbox? Good Lord, please save me from myself.



Their new spring collection is in and I was in L.O.V.E when I was there last weekend but I knew Nate was right outside, so I showed incredible restraint and just walked away with two sale items. However today, Nate is half a world away and I have an entire Saturday to myself...when the husband's away, the wife will pay.....

I've developed kind of a thing for prints lately, which is totally out of the norm for me - I am normally a solids kind of gal. Who could resist this springy poppy skirt, though? And that watercolor flowered dress will be mine before the spring is over; it's not a matter of if but when (and maybe a little bit of how much thrown in).

I need another coat like I need a hole in my head, but how can you resist this adorable trench coat? I am not much for the recent plaid trend, but I am mad for this white and black beauty. And since a return to an office seems to be in the cards for me, I could definitely use a power color like red in my work wardrobe.

See, honey, I need this stuff! It's for the job.

If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen freezing my credit cards in the ice cube trays....

But, Honey, it's for charity...

I know I'm supposed to be on shopping hiatus, Honey, but this one is for charity. You wouldn't want to deprive the poor children now, would you? Think Nate will buy that?


Join me this weekend (March 12-15) in GAP's Give and Get charity promotion. You shop at any of the GAP family of stores (GAP, GAPkids, Banana Republic, Old Navy) and get 30% off of your in-store purchase. In turn, GAP will give 5% of your total purchase amount to the charity of my choice, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Do your part for the economy and help fund the fight against blood cancers (and get some totally cute stuff for yourself while you're at it!).

Click here to print my friends and family coupon!

The weather outside is frightful....

...but the deals at Victoria's Secret are delightful!

Just in case you want need a new winter coat, check out this super coupon code over at Victoria's Secret - an additional 50% off already marked down coats! Cuddly new winter gear may be just what you need to get you through the frigid dull months ahead.


I will be exercising incredible self control and not ordering any of these beauties no matter how badly I want to.






If you need me, I will be in the coat closet reminding myself of the 17 reasons I do not need another winter coat.

My OTHER favorite time of the year

What is one of the few good things about the month of January (along with annual clearance sales and the return of LOST)? It's Girl Scout cookie time! Well, at least cookie ordering time. Now I will wait with eager anticipation for my two boxes of Thin Mint cookies to arrive in March. I always order my own from the kids who come to the door and Nate orders his own from work. If he wants Thin Mints too, he better order his own! I take great effort to make my two boxes last and have been known to go postal on Nate when he dares to lay a hand on my carefully hoarded cookies.

What is your favorite Girl Scout cookie? Check out the new poll in the sidebar!

Here I am to save the day!

Just in case you are a slacker and haven't finished your Christmas shopping, here's a little extra online savings. You can still order now and receive it in time for Christmas (or go the easy route and send it straight to Mom and Dad's, like I did!).

Shh! Don't Tell!

Well, after a total of eight hours Christmas shopping over the last two days, I am happy to say I have found my missing Christmas spirit. Apparently it was at the mall!

I found nearly everything on my list, plus a few things for myself. What's that? It's Christmas and I'm not supposed to be buying things for myself? Well, who made up that silly rule? Who can resist the amazing deals desperate retailers are putting out there, especially when you have coupons on top of the sales?

Like this dress at New York & Company for $6?


And this adorable sleep mask from Bath & Body Works for $4? (Yes, I do wear a sleep mask every night. Don't knock it til you've tried it!)


I also finally found navy blue tights at Old Navy. Well, navy-ish. They're not true navy but they'll work for the dress that I need them for.

Really when you add it all up, I spent maybe $25 on myself today, so that's not so bad. I'm afraid to add up what I spent on others - that number isn't going to be nearly as pretty! But once I finally found my Christmas mojo, I found it hard to stop. I love giving gifts and I love my family, so giving gifts to my family is especially fun!

Now for anyone who might still be shopping for me, here is what I managed NOT to purchase for myself today. (Truth be told, it's only because they didn't have my size!)

After weeks of waiting, these booties are finally on sale.


And while admiring those booties, I ran across these online too. Sigh. Almost makes the snow tolerable if I get to wear these every day.



Okay, enough lusting over my 77th and 78th pair of shoes (it's not a matter of if, but when). I am off to wrap the mountain of gifts waiting upstairs. I don't what is better - buying them, wrapping them or actually giving them? I love all of it!!

Start Your Engines

Search engines, that is. In preparation for the Most Important Shopping Day of the Year, here are a few websites to help you plot world domination your shopping course. Many of the Black Friday sale fliers can already be found online at one of these websites. Don't forget that many online retailers will start their Black Friday sales online on Thursday!

Black Friday 2008
Black Friday at Gottadeal.com
Black Friday Info

And just in case you suddenly fall deathly ill from a turkey overdose (or possibly food poisoning at my house) and can't make it on Black Friday (HORROR!), never fear! Check out the deals for Cyber Monday here.

CyberMonday.com
CyberMondaySales.com

If you just can't wait until Friday, check out this 30% off online offer at NY and Company.

You Call THAT a Sale?

So I just checked my email and was jazzed to see an announcement that Baker's Shoes is having a boot sale this weekend. Immediately, my mind was dancing with visions of wearing these babies for my Black Friday shopping adventures next week as I bopped over the Baker's website to check the sale price. Imagine my dismay to discover that Baker's idea of a rip-off sale is $5 off! What the heck? You call that a sale?

Fortunately, my favorite store was feeling a little more generous over on their website. Enjoy!

Christmas is a Time of Sharing

And you can't argue with Christmas, so here I am sharing...(You see this Santa? Make sure I'm on the 'Good' list.)


Also, through Wednesday, save 20% at Container Store (best wrapping paper selection ever!). Coupon code: CLUTTERCREW

Tis better to give than to receive

So what's even better than just giving? How about receiving while giving? Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic are letting you do just that this weekend! Thanks to Kimberly for sharing this with her blog readers; I'm going to pass the cheer on! Save 30% at any of the stores (coupon can be used multiple times!) and 5% of your purchase goes to charity.

And I promise not to make this blog all about shopping but when someone shares the love with me, I feel the need to pass it on. Some of these deals are just too good to keep to myself.



Also, here is a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase at Kirkland's. And enter promo code 20FRIENDS when checking out at Bath and Body Works and save 20% off your online purchase through November 16th.

After the week I've had, some retail therapy is definitely on my weekend agenda.

A Spade is a Spade....and now it's on SALE!

Kate Spade is having a Private clearance sale this week, and now these items are an additional 20% off today and tomorrow.

Please let me know if you can't use the link and I'll be happy to forward you the email directly.

Genius

As if one great sale posting today wasn't enough, here is another that you won't want to miss. Thanks to the stylish Kimberly over at Fab Finds under $50, I scored a bunch of great Christmas gifts at the Vera Bradley clearance sale.

I am not a big fan of VB myself but I am totally excited about this curling iron case I ordered for when I travel. It's lined inside so you can stick a hot curling or straightening iron in it without worrying about singeing your clothes or melting your suitcase. I can't count the number of times I have checked out of a hotel, hot curling iron in hand.


Word of warning to ladies in my family - you may want to check with me before you order. I won't admit to exactly how much I spent today, but some of you are going to be pretty happy this Christmas!

Will you be my friend?

I bet you will after I share this coupon with you! It's good through Sunday, in-store and online. And it's even good on accessories and sale items. You don't run across those too often! Happy shopping!

Bar maid

Some of you might recall my initial horror at the realization that our kitchen island has a breakfast ledge. I was not aware or at least never noticed that this was in the plans and was not exactly excited at the news.

However, I have made peace with it and shopped carefully for bar stools over the last few weeks. I found some that I liked at Target and, like the good shopper that I am, I have patiently waited for them to go on sale, which they did this week. While bar stools aren't on the 'approved' shopping list (per Nate) because they are not a necessity, you can't argue with a sale!

On Monday I made a special trip to Target to purchase my bar stools (really more like bar chairs, if there is such a thing), only to discover that they come in two sizes - short and tall. Well, dang. I looked at the samples and debated and looked some more before deciding to go with the taller version. I have terrible spatial skills and had I known they came in two sizes I certainly would have measured before leaving home because I am just that bad at eye-balling it.

So I put one whole chair together (ridiculously time consuming for a chair with only six pieces!), set it at the bar and immediately regret my decision to get the tall one. Shoot. I back up and look at it, walk across the room and look at it, make Nate sit on it and look at it...and I still think it is too tall.


But when I bust out the tape measure and measure what the shorter one would look like, I'm afraid it will be too short. The only way to really know? Head back to Target on Wednesday and buy one of the short ones. Which I put together last night (a little faster this time because I'm getting the hang of it). Last night I liked it but today I am not so sure; I think it might be too short. Nate of course thinks either one is fine but likes the short one better, so he is basically zero help.




Maybe I am over-thinking it. Is the short one a good height? Or should I scrap them both and look for something in between?

For Ladies Only!

Special bulletin: Must drop everything and run to Victoria's Secret's Panty Party sale! (Boys, I warned you this post was for ladies only!)

If you love the Pink and VS Cotton series, they are currently having a 'Panty Party' - you can get seven pairs (instead of the usual 5) for $25. This works out to $3.57 per pair which is even better than during the Semi-Annual Sale. Unfortunately it's only in-stores; I couldn't find the same deal online. I will definitely be making some time to swing by this weekend!

The Cost of Saving Money

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love, love, LOVE to shop. Well, ladies and gentlemen, mark this day in history because I, Sara Carrington, am officially tired of shopping.

I have spent the last several weeks thoroughly researching the various big ticket items we need for the house - refrigerators, blinds, home owner's insurance, mattresses, etc. The Shopper in me was totally jazzed at the thought of new furniture and decorating the house. But the Saver in me dragged that Shopper right down in the mud and beat the enjoyment right out of her! I just could not stand the idea that I might be paying a penny more than absolutely necessary, so I shopped, shopped, shopped until that Saver was ready to drop. By the time this weekend came and we were ready to make some of our purchases, I was just ready for the shopping to be over!

Yesterday we marked four big things off the list - home owner's insurance (thanks to Dad's advice), the fridge (thanks to Grandpa's Consumer Reports), the mattress and new bedroom furniture.

We rolled up to HH Gregg all ready to buy our black refrigerator, meticulously researched and $300 less than anywhere else. And then we saw the same fridge in Titanium. And we were basically three steps back, not quite at square one, but certainly thrown back into debate. The titanium fridge is sharp looking and doesn't show finger prints as much as the smooth black finish does. But all the appliances in the kitchen are black and we just weren't sure it would mesh well. So we decided to hold off on the purchase until we had a chance to go look at the kitchen again and give it some thought.

Next stop was Haverty's Furniture to buy the bedroom of my dreams. I am really bad about getting a vision in my head and then trying to hunt down my 'dream' item back in reality. After weeks of visiting every furniture store in Indy, I found exactly what I had been looking for at Haverty's. I took Nate to see it last weekend and after thinking about it for a week, we decided to pull the trigger during their Labor Day sale.


After five years of sharing a queen we decided to upgrade to a king. The master bedroom is huge and really needs a big piece of furniture to anchor it anyway. This of course meant that we had to mattress shop too. We hit several stores last weekend and were overwhelmed by all of the choices - pillow top, Euro top, soft, firm, medium firm, Serta, Simmons, Sealy. YIKES! After several fruitless stops we decided we'd just buy the exact same mattress we've had for five years, only bigger. Back at home, I hop on the trusty internet and guess what? They don't make it anymore! So much for that plan. Further internet research proved only more frustrating as there are thousands of mattress options and a bad review for every good review out there. We eventually decided just to work with what Haverty's offered and hope for the best. And somehow, we ended up with (what we think will be) the best! After about three minutes testing mattresses, I spotted a king size Serta by Vera Wang on clearance for $600 less than retail which just happened to be at the top of our price range! It's about two levels above what we thought we'd be getting, so my faith in bargain shopping was slightly restored. What an incredible score!!

So two hours later and slightly poorer, we headed out to the house to check out the kitchen situation. Unfortunately the appliances aren't in yet, but Cameron happened to be showing the house while we were there (it's very popular lately!) and we mentioned our dilemma. He said he has all black appliances and a titanium fridge himself and it looks just fine. Once we heard that, we both felt good with it and back to HH Gregg we went to purchase this awesome LG fridge in Titanium.


All in all, it was a slightly stressful but very productive day. I am glad to be able to mark these big ticket items off my list. I will take a break from the internet hunt for a few days and give the Shopper in me some time to recover from the beating the Saver put on her!

Ladies, get out your credit cards

The Limited summer clearance sale starts in stores today! AND they are giving away bonus bucks for every $50 you spend. Think I'm going to do some damage to my credit card balance. I am in desperate need of some retail therapy.

It's no Secret!!

For those of you who have not already been there, the Victoria Secret Semi-Annual Sale started in stores yesterday! I, of course, was there as soon as I could get there. Got a pile of stuff and managed to spend only $50! WOOHOO!

And for those of you who have trouble finding your sizes in the store, check out the website. Through June 19, you can get free shipping on all bra purchases (including clearance!) by entering the code SHOPBRAS at checkout. Happy shopping!