December Daily – Day 20

Friday, December 20

The holiday break for students in our school district began today. But it was a Work Day for the teachers, so my daughter worked and my oldest grandson spent the day with me. Later Elliott and I decided to keep the fun going with a sleepover.

Most of the day we spent at the mall, shopping before and after seeing Frozen, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The animation was beautiful; the characters were likable; and the music was pleasant. To me Frozen was reminiscent of my childhood animated films such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. I wish the snowman had been less goofy looking, but overall I was surprisingly entertained.

I rarely go to the mall and tried not to look too hard, but the sales were fantastic. As my grandson pointed out, however, "if you spend too much then a sale isn't that great." Such a wise seven-year-old!

So I ended up shopping at only four stores, making each stop a quick one. First I hit Archiver's Scrapbooking Store where Elliott picked out paper for his Cub Scout album. I was surprised to find everything was 30% off, including clearance items. I could have gone nuts! But, except for the Cub Scout items, I limited my purchases to clearance items that were already discounted 25% and escaped spending less than $30.

Next we ran into Christopher and Banks where I had hoped to purchase a Nutcracker scarf I saw last fall. But all their holiday scarfs were long gone. Instead, they were already selling their Valentine's Day scarf. I've never paid full price at C and B until today, but decided to grab the heart scarf since I have no plans of returning to the mall any time soon. Elliott's birthday is on Valentine's Day, so I felt it was a good splurge and he was happy I bought it. Later I decided I'm going to wear it during the holidays, too, since it's red and white.

We then ran into New York & Company after I spotted a red blouse from the doorway. I thought it would be great for Christmas and Valentine's day, and would look great with my new scarf. Regularly $39.95, I paid $15!

Our final stop was Bath & Body Works where I replenished my stock of Gentle Foaming Hand Soap. Of course, it was also on sale. Normally $5.50, I got six for $20. It's the only hand soap I use with the grandsons. They just make way too much mess with liquid soap.

By the time we left the mall around 2:30 P.M., the crowds were gathering. And, again, I was grateful for online shopping!