Black Friday Haul

       Have you noticed that over the years things take up more and more time? "Special" times of year are no longer a day but can be a week or even a month, or more? That is happening a lot with special sales (which is why "special" was in quotes above). President's day sales used to be a day and then went to a week. I have heard of them being a month as well. Black Friday used to be the day after Thanksgiving, and still is, but it also can start much earlier, and often does, and goes much later. 

      I did some Black Friday shopping this year. I usually do. This year I also installed the honey browser extension, which made finding online coupons so much easier. I started my shopping searching out my own coupons, which is not impossible, but often not super easy. I started with a pair of boots I had been seeing in my Facebook ads for months. 

      I may or may not actually be able to wear these boots. I have a lot of issues with my ankle and the less-than 2" heel height may be too much for me. But I really love these boots! They are all handmade leather, at least according to the claims of the website, and so much more colorful than anything I have bought before. Pretty much I wear black shoes. Black boots, black flats, black sneakers, black sandals. But I feel that everyone needs a pair of red shoes. And these are a nice dark red (they are not actually burgundy, even though the photo sort of makes it look like it. Not only were they already on sale on the website but I found an internet coupon that made them even less. The boots are on this website.

     And what do you have to do when you buy an awesome pair of boots and almost all of your socks are ankle socks? You have to buy new socks. Now I am a sock snob, I admit it. I pretty much only wear Bombas socks, and have for years. Not only are they incredibly high quality socks, but for every pair you buy a pair is donated to people in need. For people without a home socks can literally be the difference between life and death. 

     Anyway, I am a big fan of Bombas socks. This batch that I bought (with a coupon I found!) will last me more than a year. Typically, I have been buying 1-2 new pairs a year to supplement the ones I already have. You know that brand new sock feeling? That lasts for months with Bombas socks. So yeah, they are very pricey, but they are great quality and you are also giving to people in need. If you need/want great socks, here is their website.

     Next on my list was more Overtone. That is how I get the colors in my hair, conditioner. Yes, I do get it bleached so the color actually shows up, but the bleach is about a once a year thing. Then I condition in the color. I was all out of pink (that is not OK!) So I put in an order. Overtone was having a black Friday sale, 40% off I think, so I stocked up. I definitely like to save money. Here is the website where I buy my fun colors.

       People who know me well know that I love Ulta. They have a great mix of drugstore and prestige brands which makes it a very convenient trip. I also am a member of their club so I get points when I shop. And they send me sales emails. A lot. This time of year is usually the only time the prestige (expensive) brands go on sale. They are pretty much always excluded from coupons so it is hard for me to talk myself into some of the high-end stuff. But the skin care I use is high end, and a few of my favorite makeup items are high end. So I put in not one, not two, but three orders with Ulta in the past couple of weeks. 

     Why not just one Ulta order? Well, Ulta likes you to come back and keep on shopping. So they parcel out the sales and sale items. I found a bunch of things I wanted for myself and for some gifts and ordered them. Then I got an email about sales on some of my favorite pricey things, so I ordered them (40% off is nothing to sneeze at!). Then I got a coupon in the mail that was 20% off any single item, including prestige and fragrance. So I went and bought a perfume that I love. Usually for perfume I buy the travel size because it is so hard to spend that chunk of money on the larger bottles. But the Valentino Born in Roma is such a favorite that I have nearly run out of the travel size. That is a sure sign that buying the full size (even the small full size) is worth it. And 20% off made it a lot easier for me to hit place order. Ulta's website is here (they have stores too). 

      It turns out I am also sort of a soap snob. I started using goatmilk soap several years ago and that seems to be the best thing for me. Especially in the winter. My favorite goatmilk soap is from Sage Meadow Farm, which is actually really local to me. I can buy it at Big Y (grocery store). But when they are having a sale of 21% off for Black Friday, and you get 1 bar free with a gift box of 6, it makes it worth it, even though you have to pay shipping.  Plus I am sure that box will be great to ship something to someone. And I likely now have enough of my soap to last me most of next year. If you are not local, and want some awesome goatmilk soap (and other goatmilk products) check out their website. 

     I have too many unpainted micros. Even after selling a bunch. Which means obviously I had to buy another one. Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig shrunk her Otto resin. And he is tiny and adorable so I had to buy one. Obviously. Will I ever get him painted? Hard to say. Will he be adorable even unpainted? Without a doubt. If you want your own Bean (Micro Otto) you need to order by December 6th.

      I may have also bought an Evelyn Munday saddle. Again. It happens. But really, they are an excellent investment. They are gorgeous, well made, and definitely retain their value. The last one I bought helped fund my new camera. So, since I sold mine, I was in "need" of another one. This one will definitely be worth it. If you aren't already, make sure to check in often on Evelyn's page. She does not have a separate studio page from her personal page. And if you see something you like, maybe ask her about it. She's friendly, I promise. 

        I was late to the party for the StudioMaire sale. She had a whole bunch of her awesome English saddle pads for sale. And I didn't know about it until the next day! So I missed out on many pads that would have been perfect in my collection. I did pick up a few anyway. Because they are awesome. And because sometimes there are other colors besides pink. Sometimes. I don't know how I keep missing studio sales until after the fact, if someone has a trick to make Facebook show me important things, please let me know. For Maire's studio page click here. 

     I think there were some other odds and ends that I picked up this weekend. Did I spend a whole bunch of money? Yes, I did. But some of it was for gifts, and a lot of it is supported artists and/or small businesses. Do I think people will like this weird post about the things I bought? yes actually. For some reason people like to know what other people bought. I know I am not the only one that watches haul videos on YouTube. Not from every content creator, but from some of my favorites. Will someone be really pleased I imbedded links to all of these places in this post? Absolutely.