Christmas Fun

Today was a really DIFFERENT day for me. For one thing I spent the day Christmas shopping with my best friend of more than 30 years. Now that should sound perfectly normal except that my best friend HATES to shop and I used to love it but no longer do. I was a solo shopper because I wanted to steep myself in the moment, she was a solo shopper because she wanted to be over and DONE with it all. Somehow, without trying, we've managed to meet in the middle.

We set out by meeting in a parking lot where she'd just run into one of my many ex-boyfriends in line at the ATM. We started to head to the local outlet mall and before we got far we agreed we were STARVING. Awesome. She had a $5 coupon for Applebee's, I had a $15 gift card I'd recently won. We NEVER eat at Applebee's. There was an Applebee's right there. WOO-FUCKING-HOO! Awesome.

We had a reasonably decent lunch for which we each chipped in $8, that's right EIGHT DOLLARS. Cool. There was a Harmon Store (that's one of those kinda health and beauty products discount stores in case you all don't have them) in the same strip mall, she needed stuff from there. She checked out and had COUPONS! We have never remembered to use coupons in our LIVES but there we were…using coupons and gift cards like we had done it forever.

I also had a Starbucks gift card I had won. I had used some of it but didn't even know how much, there was a Starbucks in said same strip mall. We don't even LIKE Starbucks…we went and each got a small coffee and a little package of chocolate covered graham crackers (one for each of us). AWESOME. It turned out that we owed 30 cents after the gift card.

The day was shaping up really well.

We headed up the highway the few miles to the outlet mall. Interestingly we actually got a parking space! Cool.

She needed a pair of brown boots for her 18 year old daughter. I had a coupon for $10 off at Famous Footwear. And there they were, the perfect brown boots, on sale and then there was that $10 coupon! And I even got hubby a pair of slippers (the coupon specifically excluded slippers).

Off we went to The Gap outlet…she had a 40% off coupon there. She did well there and even got herself a few things.

Next stop the G.H. Bass outlet. Massive sale and with my $5 rewards coupon the scarf I wanted was just over $6!

The jeans she wanted at the Levi's outlet store were only $24.99…and they had her size and style! Whoop-Whoop!

Off to the Eddie Bauer store…she found a great duffel bag for her daughter…and a super soft and comfy flannel for herself…and I had a $5 coupon.

What an absolutely exhausting, fun, coupon-filled, hilarious day with my best friend.

We're both exhausted but I have to say it was a lot more fun than I could've ever hoped for, today, TODAY was my perfect Christmas. Everything else is just icing on that cake but a few hours of coupon-crazed, giggling madness was the real joy.

Feliz Navidad!