Happy post-Thanksgiving everyone! :) Here is my originality PSA for cyber monday-

Instead of going to the mall, wasting gas and looking at all the same things everyone else is looking at too, this holiday season- why not buy handmade?!!

I definitely urge you all to consider doing some holiday shopping with the amazing artisans and crafters on my favorite website for cool stuff and cool people- Etsy

www.etsy.com

Other handmade sites I know of:

www.homegrownmarket.com (US-made items only)
www.dawanda.com
www.lov.li
www.mintd.com

I mean, at least consider it! :)

Hope everyone had a WONDERFUL holiday weekend!

clm - thank you so much for suggesting this! I have spent the better part of the morning on esty.com checking out gifts for all my friends! I love it!

So you shop at PC and they give you a coupon that you take to any Sunoco, is that how it works? Cool!

Unfortunately, the nearest PC to me is in Worcester... I'd spend my gas savings on the extra gas to get there :) Oh well! S&S always gives me a 10 cents off coupon for S&S gas... except ours doesn't have gas, so I'd have to go to CT to use it, where gas is 20 or 30 cents more anyway. Great. Thanks S&S.

Yay! Just beware- etsy is very addictive! You can lose hours looking at all the neat stuff :) Not that that's a bad way to pass the time or anything.

if you do find your way into the malls, remember to recycle your plastic bags...and consider using stronger, more durable tote bags....

(my environmental 2 cents for the day)

clm you are right it was very addictive! I ordered some things already for my girl friends. Now I just have to get my mom's list to find out what she wants!

I purchase some of the tote bags at Stop N Shop and use them everytime I go grocery shopping now. That are awesome! Not only have a cut down on the hundreds of plastic bags, but you can fit so much more into those totes!

I have them too! The only challenge is remembering to bring them when I go to the store... :)

I am getting much better about it. I have started to leave them in the trunk of my car and some in my FI's car. I am good at putting them back in the car because I put them with my purse, but sometimes I forget they are in the trunk. I have even taken them into other stores like BBB, which is a victory when I remember.