Black Friday

I think this is the first time in eons that I've been shopping on Black Friday. I absolutely hate, detest, abhor holiday shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. Until today, that is. Mom and I hung out all afternoon and had the best time. We started off at Big Lots, which was a colossal disappointment since it's slated to close and was out of nearly everything. Then we moved on to her favorite gift shop. And now it's my favorite, too! It's just so dang packed with everything I LOVE - that primitive country look, pictures, candles, SHEEP! Mom bought me this gorgeous candle warmer made of speckled blue ceramic and some caramel corn tarts to heat up. They smell so yummy, I can't wait to get home tomorrow and plug that thing up. Then we moved on to Roma's, our favorite restaurant, for Italian and breadsticks. Our tummies full, we stumbled on another little primitive country store, bought a few more things, and then headed up to Phyl's to check out their toys and Christmas decorations. Again, we couldn't resist the lure of the sales! We finished our shopping at Peebles, the ONLY chain store we visited. And again, we struck gold! Mom got the boys the cutest stuffed animals, and they loved them to pieces when she gave them to them tonight. So sweet. :) I just can't say how wonderful this day was. Not just because of all our bargains, but because of the time we had together looking at the beautiful ornaments, talking about things we love and things that annoy us, eating peacefully, and just being happy to be in the same place for a change. Yes, I've missed my mom. It was good to be home again.