The other day as my sister and I were testing back and forth about deals we missed on Black Friday, for the simple fact that we chose not to wake up and stand in line at 4a.m., she mentioned that Staples had a mini webcam on sale for $49. “Staples?”, I said. “Yeah, Staples”, she replied. And thus the late Black Friday deal shopping began for me on their site.

In general, when I am searching for the best tech deals and toys, I keep several things in mind:

1. Google is my first stop for a particular item. I check the results page to see what is at the top of the page and work my way from there. In general if I put in the gadget’s name and “sale”, I feel like i will be able to find the best price. More often than not, I shop for my tech gadgets on line if I want the lowest price. Most of the times, I luck out and get the cheapest price around by starting off with a Google search.
2. In general, I shy away from buying tech items as soon as they come out. I just feel like first generation gadgets have so many kinks to work out that I tend not to be a confident buyer of them. I’ve never fixated myself on being the first one on the block to have a gadget. If it so happened that way, it was because the item was unique rather than the popular new toy out there.
3. Speaking of unique, I find that magazines are the best places to find unusual items, and I’m not just talking about Wired or any of the other techie magazines. Parenting publications and beauty magazines have been great resources for unique gadgets since they too have a “new products” department.
4. I am a slave to customer reviews. I read reviews on just about everything that I purchase online, especially tech items. I probably read about 15-20 reviews on an individual item before I make my buying (or non-buying) decision. I like to read reviews on Amazon, the item’s homesite, as well as tech magazine sites for industry reviews.
5. There are several places that I will compare prices. I like Amazon, Ebay, Costco, the military’s shopping site (availability can be sporadic but if they have it, there is no tax on top of lower prices most of the times), and a couple of price comparison shops.

At times, the obvious choice for buying tech items isn’t always the most obvious retailers. Usually word of mouth, such as what I experienced with my sister, will clue you into non-obvious places to shop. This time around I scored.

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Staples blogging program, making me eligible for a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

How do you weave the hottest runway trends into your day-to-day looks?

Keeping up with fashion trends can be a costly (though fun) habit. When you travel a lot, you see all types of fashion trends which may not work for where you live. And if you don’t live in a major city, some of the things that you see walking across runways may not be all that feasible for the average mom’s day-to-day style.

I know my husband would probably look at me cross-eyed if he saw me sporting a new wardrobe every season of the year. So, instead of getting all depressed that I can’t dress like a supermodel on a daily basis (I mean, how realistic is that anyway? THEY don’t even dress like supermodels on day-to-day basis.), I get inspiration from the pages of magazines and mesh it into my own style. Here are some on my tips:

1. The supermarket is the best place to browse through fashion magazines for the latest artistic trends in clothing. I find the longest line, pick a magazine and do my best to put picture to memory.
2. Catalogs usually have less expensive derivations of what the fashion magazines are boasting. So if there is a look that I am really drawn to, I will check out the catalogs that I currently have coming to my home and if I’m not satisfied with what I see, I may go online and do a little more hunting.
3. S-A-L-E is a fashion slave’s best friend. I adore field trips to major high-end department stores. I walk directly to the back to their “SALE” rack to see if I can find a recent look there. Usually, by the time I see it in the magazine, there’s a new trend out and I can get the most recent fashion trend at a discount.
4. If my high-end department store doesn’t have what I saw on the runway, then it’s on to my less expensive department stores. Even at full price, I wouldn’t be paying anywhere near what that look costs straight from a fashion show.
5. I think that every woman needs to have classic pieces that defy the season. I know that once I learned this, it started saving me money. So instead of duplicating a new look completely, I will take the prevailing aspect of that look and pair it with something that I already have in my closet. So for instance, if I see animal-inspired prints with jeggings, I might just pair a new animal-inspired item with a pair of skinny jeans that I’ve had for a few seasons.
6. One of the least expensive parts of a look can be the jewelry. If I have to have it, there’s absolutely no reason for me to get the season’s latest jewelry from Neiman Marcus when I can probably find its “likeness” at Sears or Kohl’s.
7. The next least expensive aspect of a look is probably makeup. Makeup is easy enough to re-create in my own way. I may not be able to duplicate runway makeup artists’ looks exactly but I can certainly make it work for me and my daily style.
8. E-bay, Overstock.com, and Amazon are great places to find fashion at a great discount. If you can live with the clothes being slightly used, then you’ve hit runway fashion jackpot!
9. Trunk shows are also a great way to purchase new looks at a discount. You definitely have to have your ear to the grind to know when and where they are taking place but once you’re in the circle, you’re in there.
10. The other place where I look for the latest fashion trend that I can weave into my everyday look is at an outlet. Again, I may not be able to find an exact duplicate of a look but I will probably find most aspects of it, and at a discount.

Overall, I don’t like to be a complete slave to fashion. It doesn’t work for my day-to-day mommy lifestyle as much as it did when I was single. And it certainly doesn’t mesh well with my mommy pocketbook either. Fashion is all about creativity and wearing what works well and looks right on you. There is usually at least one thing that you can afford to update based off of the hottest new runway trend, whether it is the hair, makeup, jewelry, shirt, or shoes. Once you’ve identified what that is, which will freshen your day-to-day wardrobe, well baby, you’ve got the look!

Readers: “I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Kenmore blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

What makes the holidays so festive are the sights, sound and smells that we experience from November until January. I realized this the other day when I went shopping for my regular weekly groceries and was swarmed by the sight of pies and holiday cookies, the smell of chocolate, nutmeg, cinnamon and other spices and the sound of Christmas music.

This attack on my senses brought me back to the joys of being a kid and I immediately thought of the familiar chorus: “chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose”? Many of us long to recreate our childhood holiday memories for our own kids because we remember the joy we experienced. There are more than several ways that I try to create a fresh and festive holiday for myself and my family.

1. I absolutely love the smell of scented pine cones and they not only signify Fall and harvest time for me but they also do a great job of scenting the entry way to my home. Generally, I purchase them from a craft store and place them in a basket on a mantle by my front door so that as soon as we open the door we are greeted by the aroma and duplicate the scent of Fall in our home.
2. Pumpkin or cinnamon spiced candles are a December decorating staple for me. These candles are so heavily scented when you first purchase them that they don’t even have to be lit to catch a whiff. Due to the fact that I have young boys, I opt not to light the candles until they are fast asleep and the aroma tends to linger well into the next day. Not only do they permeate throughout the home, but they are also useful for setting a new mood once the kids are asleep.
3. Decorating the window frame with white lights scream festivity. The great thing about simple white lights is that a little goes a long way as far as curb appeal and you get a little more leniency taking them down as compared to red and green lights.
4. One of the easiest ways to literally walk around with the scent of the holidays is to drop a scented sachet in your suitcases and drawers or hang one in your closet. Your clothing will pick up the scent and depending on how strong your sachet is, you can carry the fragrance on you all day.
5. One of my all-time favorite activities with my children during the holidays is making gingerbread houses. I like purchasing them already baked so that our main task is simply putting them together and then eating them! It is one of the most engaging craft projects I know of.
6. The smell of fresh baked bread, no matter what kind it is, freshens the air of a house like nothing else. In the spirit of the holidays I like to stick with pumpkin and zucchini flavors as they both signify Fall and are plentiful this time of year.
7. Unfortunately, everyone doesn’t have access to street vendors and the different food smells that come from their carts. However, a trip into places like New York always make the holiday more festive as chestnuts and other roasted nuts circle their carts and invade the senses. Even if I cannot make it to the big city, I will get a bag of raw nuts and lay them on a baking sheet and put them in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes and voila, I’m on Madison Ave.
8. Instead of poaching pears or baking them, I like to make oven-baked cinnamon nutmeg apples. The apples are cored and sliced in half after being skinned. Lay them face down on parchment paper after sprinkling them with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Bake them at 350 degrees until they soften, then enjoy!
9. What is a holiday without a party? Attending or hosting a holiday party is another favorite way to bring in the season with family and friends.
10. When is it socially acceptable to start decorating for Christmas? In my opinion, whenever you want to but I think the best time is the day after Thanksgiving when you usually don’t have to cook because you have a fridge of leftovers and some extra hands around the house to help you. You can easily turn it into a Christmas decorating party. Why not?
11. Most places have a festival of lights nearby and it is a great tradition to share with the family. We like to get to a show where we can drive through it instead of walking through so that we can stay warm and gawk comfortably.
12. The other type of holiday show we like to attend to get us in the festive mood is an ice carving show/exhibit. A major resort near us features an ice exhibit for a month and a half; however, you may be able to find one at a local museum as well.
13. The hustle and bustle of the holidays requires a few days of good old fashioned do nothing family time. One of the ways we choose to do this is by sipping on hot chocolate with marshmallows while watching a Christmas family classic.
14. Christmas tree shopping is another family activity that we love to share during the season. It is one that gets us all in a festive mood. There are the normal Christmas tree lots but there are also tree farms that let you pick your own tree and in some cases cut your own as well. Talk about a good family laugh.

So, for me the holidays are about so many things that relate to our senses besides the pure joy of being with family and celebrating what the holidays stand for. Ultimately, they are about continuing traditions and creating new ones.

Readers: “I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Snuggle blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”