Black Friday?

Call me crazy, but I don’t understand the hype of Black Friday. I mean seriously, what is the point? Maybe there is something I don’t see. I hate crowds of people, grabbing things out of your cart when you aren’t looking, waiting in really long lines just to get a deal. It seems silly to me. If it is something you enjoy that is wonderful. It’s just not for me. One year we went to Wal-mart on Thanksgiving, just to go and get out for a little bit. It was like 8 pm when we left, we drove buy Best Buy and there were people standing in line already. It was cold and was weird to see people waiting for that long just to go shopping.

I haven’t really seen anything that would be worth my time to wait that long or go out period on Black Friday. I have only really done Black Friday once, that was enough for me. I went with an old friend so he could have company. I was very cranky at the end of it. I did not have any fun what so ever. I don’t think he even bought anything because the lines were ridiculously long everywhere we went. There are sales all the way up till the week before Christmas. I just don’t know why it is that big of a deal. I could see if you were buying like a TV or something that was extremely marked down that normally would cost a fortune. Otherwise, just to get a toy for your child for Christmas? With online sales and websites you can pretty much find anything online from the comforts of your own home.

It’s not like when we were kids and our parents or grandparents had to actually go to the stores to buy the hot item of the year. I think that anything I wanted for Christmas I always got, or if I didn’t it didn’t traumatize me enough that I remember now. I survived. There were not huge tears and disappointment on Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning unless you count the whole silts, Barbie bed, Cabbage Patch cradle Christmas, which started with me crying on Christmas Eve, followed by my sister crying on Christmas morning.

Black Friday has turned in to this HUGE ordeal. I mean I think I have heard a lot more about Black Friday than Thanksgiving. That makes me very sad. Thanksgiving is an actual holiday when we remember what we are thankful for and about family. Black Friday is a day of greed and sales. It’s not even a holiday yet it gets more attention than Thanksgiving.

For Black Friday I will stay home. I will spend time with my family and play games and drink hot chocolate and snack on treats and make memories with my son, because Black Friday does not matter to me. There is also a Law and Order SVU marathon on. I can still find good deals on gifts; I am not worried about that.

So what if it costs me a little more, it is too much hassle and stress for me. I might shop online, but I haven’t found anything really worth it.
If you are going out for Black Friday, I wish you luck on finding deals and hope that you have a safe and happy experience.

Swanson's Broth Great Stuffing Debate and $50 VISA Gift Card Giveaway!

I love chicken broth, especially Swanson’s Chicken broth. When I had my son, I had to have a c-section. The morning after my c-section they wanted me to eat something, I had to choose something off the liquid menu as I just had major surgery. I found that they had chicken broth listed. It was the only thing that sounded good, so I called “room service” and ordered some chicken broth. It made me feel so good inside. It made my incision feel better inside. The rest of my meals I ate when I was in the hospital were accompanied by chicken broth. For two or three weeks after my c-section, I drank a lot of Swanson’s chicken broth. I prefer the kind that is in a carton because you can close it. I had used chicken broth in cooking but I had no idea how good it was just in a cup warmed up.



I love to cook and I had the opportunity to participate in Swanson’s Great Stuffing Debate. The basic idea is that if you make stuffing with Swanson’s Broth than it will be more flavorful than stuffing made with just water. Everyone has their own favorite brand of stuffing so you can take part in the Great Stuffing Debate and share your favorite stuffing with people across the US.

My favorite stuffing is definitely Stove Top. I love how delicious it is. I am not a huge stuffing fan really but I will eat it occasionally. It is a nice holiday compliment to a meal. If I am going to eat stuffing I prefer it to be Stove Top and it has to be made the right way. Stuffing is something that my family enjoys to eat. I usually only have a couple spoonfuls because there is so much other food to enjoy and I like to sample almost everything we have on our table. The few things I won’t eat are anything Pumpkin or Cranberry relish or yams. Otherwise I gorge on Thanksgiving foods.

Thanks to Swanson Broth for providing me with a $50 gift card and providing the giveaway prize. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have a giveaway for you.

One (1) person will win a FIFTY dollar VISA gift card from Swanson to participate in The Great Stuffing Debate.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me your favorite brand of stuffing

Extra Entries:

Subscribe to my blog via email. You must verify

Follow my blog on GFC

Follow @Sheilacakes7 on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway including a link to this post. This can be done once a day.

This giveaway is open to US Residents ONLY

This giveaway will end on December 3, 2010 at 11:59 PM ET

Kodak Gallery Review

Two things I love about the holidays are the food and family. I also love to take pictures of my loved ones, especially my adorable son, Noah. I wanted to share with you a promotion on the Kodak Gallery website where you can take your pictures and put them in books. No bulky albums and pictures falling out after it stops sticking. My Grandma liked to write on the backs of her pictures, so pictures were taken out of albums over and over again to see who is in the picture or when it was taken. Her albums were in poor shape by the time everyone looked through them so many times. They even have something called SmartFit Technology that helps you create the best photo book possible. It makes it easier to arrange your photos in order, and add extra touches that make your photos just pop.

You can also make a recipe book on the Kodak Gallery Website of all your favorite Thanksgiving or Holiday foods. I know when I look at cookbooks, I love looking at the delicious photos of the food. Also if you are giving this as a gift, it will help the recipient with presentation and if it is a dip with assembly. I think that this is an easy and affordable gift. I remember when I was in first grade, my class made cookbooks for our moms for Mother’s day. My mom still has the cookbook my class made her, granted none of the recipes are actually makeable, it was more for the cute factor. It would have been nicer if it was made from Kodak Gallery and not just stapled printed pages.

I think it would be a smart gift for grandmothers to give their daughters and granddaughters with their special recipes. You can order as many copies as you want so, you can sit down once and mark off many people off your list at once. Every Grandma, Grandmother, Nana, Gram, Grammy and G-ma whatever you call yours has their own recipes. Then those books can be passed through the years to their children someday.

For more information please visit Kodak Gallery

They also have free shipping on orders of $30 or more by using the coupon code SHIP30

I received a gift card from Kodak to check out the website and create my own book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.