Holiday Witness

I love the holidays.  Thanksgiving is only three days away, and I am already counting down to Christmas.  I have an attic full of already-wrapped Christmas presents, and the only reason my house isn't yet fully decorated is because my husband flatly refuses for us to have lights or a tree up before Thanksgiving.  (Or, as he put it, "Show Turkey Day some proper respect!")

However, there was a time in my life when I wasn't so enthusiastic about the month of December.  This was during those bleak years of my life that I worked in retail.

Now that I've returned from the front lines of store management, I have some hard news for my fellow Christians:  A lot of you are really terrible customers, and you're not bearing good witness.

As a service to those still trapped in the service industry, I'm going to explain some common problems and how you can avoid them so that you aren't damaging your faith.  (If you can't follow these basic rules, then I recommend taking the cross of your neck or the fish off your car before you go out for Black Friday.)

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Couponing: Perfect hobby if you have OCD

My latest big obssession has become couponing.  I made one half-hearted couponing trip to Harris Teeter during Triple Coupons week, and walked out with $50 worth of much-needed groceries for $20.  That was a big thrill.

Then I started watching a couple of episodes of "Extreme Couponing" and saw the much more impressive discounts self-taught housewives were receiving.  And I thought, "I can do that!"  I worked as an accounting tech for six years.  I managed a retail store for three.  Now I work in finance for a state government division.  If anyone can take obssessive organizing and use it to maximize cost-effectiveness, it's a numbers nerd like me.

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Feature Interview: Exclusive after-hours look at Kid to Kid in Cary!

The very lovely Loretta, a Kid to Kid full-timer, was kind enough to grant me an interview and a behind-the-scenes look around the store this past Sunday after-hours. Considering how this is one of my absolutely favorite stores (my sisters can attest that 90% of the kids' Christmas presents came from here), I was obviously excited.

The first thing that impressed me was how clean and well-organized the store is. The employees are clearly very diligent in maintaining the store's appearance. The shoes you see on the left? That's how the shoe aisle looked at the end of the weekend. Anyone who's worked retail knows how impressive that is.

Being that I am an amateur journalist (well, blogger), I couldn't just ooh and aah. I had to get down to business, in this case, the interview:

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Ooh...pretty things for Mommy...

This is a paid post.

I may not be your typical material girl or shopaholic, but I do like getting good deals. (In fact, I tend to hold off on purchases until I can get a good deal.) So when I decide to make a purchase, I do what most frugal moms do: research various brands, and look around at different places until I can find the lowest price for the specific item I want.

If I don't feel like going to all that work, I can now just go to Become.com. They're a price comparison site, so they find the best deals for you. In fact, right now they are featuring some of their best deals on products that make for wonderful mom-goodies. (After all, we spoil our kids all the time. Daddy can spoil us every once in a while.)

Here are some of their products in top-demand:

Shiatsu Elite Footmassager FMS 200H. May sound space-age, but it's a guaranteed foot massage. (As opposed to one you have to nag your husband for.)

.40 Micro Pave Platinum Anniversary Band. Anniversary bands are nice because your guy can only buy you an engagement ring and wedding band once (well, ideally).

Bahai Pendants Aquamarine. They also have this truly beautiful "Mother's Embrace" birthstone pendant. (You use your kids' birthstones in it.)

Don't let the links fool you. They have thousands of more products in all categories, including some amazing deals on electronics. So if you've got some online shopping to do, Become.com is the place to do it.

I want YOUR reviews!

I've got talks in the works with a couple of places to do some reviews on Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) kid-friendly businesses here on the site. (Look for those posts coming up in the next couple of weeks.) But the problem is, as only one person, I can only cover so much ground.

So I want your suggestions. Where in the Triangle are the best places to bring kids? And I'm talking stores, restaurants, entertainment, you-name-it. Tell the place and what you like about it, and I'll try to contact them to arrange a feature. Easy as that!

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