Santa’s Helper

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On Monday I met up with my friend Amber for coffee and chit chat.

Outside patio of coffee shop

It had been far too long since our last meetup and it was fun to catch up with her and hear about what’s going on in her world and squeeze in a little girltalk.

Thanksgiving Week will only get more hectic with each passing day and Scott, Skylar, and I are leaving next week.

So it was Monday or….2012.

I’m glad we drank coffee and shot the breeze for an hour or so

multiple coffee dispensers

And then it was off to Target to return a bag.  I bought it in the hopes of using it to transport my Macbook and camera.

Inside target with clothing racks and decorations

For $30 bucks the Target bag was a nice find, and would have saved me quite a bit compared to many other bags I’ve seen, but after I got it home and tried to put my items in it, there was no way were they going to fit.

If all you have is a laptop, it would work and there’s a protected area for your laptop inside it making it a nice little find.  Just not for me.

Black crocodile print bag

I have a bag coming that I ordered online.  I hope it works or I’ll be transporting my electronics in a reusable cloth grocery bag.  That’s about the only thing that’s roomy enough to hold them both together.

While I was at Target, I played Santa’s Little Helper.  Mrs. Claus, or shall I say that I, will be transporting these art supplies in a suitcase all the way to Aruba.  Skylar loves making artwork and doing little art projects and this should be enough Crayola to keep her busy until 2017 I am thinking.  Art supplies were on her Christmas List so Santa’s Helper had to make sure those made it onto the sleigh.

crayons, art supplies, and coloring books

And Santa’s Helper wanted fuzzy socks and gum.  Both gum flavors are highly recommend: Orange Creme Pop and Strawberry Shortcake are two faves.

Extra gum and fuzzy blue and purple socks

For dinner, Santa’s Helper made a batch of Salsa Verde Pepperjack Tofu (Microwave & Vegan) in an effort to keep dinner very low key and easy since I’ll be spending ample time in the kitchen come Wednesday and Thursday.

Salsa Verde Pepperjack Tofu in red bowl

Questions:

1. How far along are you on your holiday shopping?  Who do you have to buy for? 

I am done!

Not exchanging gifts with Scott or with our extended families.  We just Skylar to buy for and that’s a great feeling.  Other than maybe a doll or Barbie or something easy like that, I’m pretty much done with her, too.

2. Do you have any cherished gift memories from childhood that either your parents, relatives, or Santa brought you?

Barbie Dream House, Easy Bake Oven (I wanted one but never got one), Rubik’s Cube, Nintendo and Super Mario Brothers, puzzles, Esprit clothes, Guess Jeans, Cabbage Patch Dolls, I have plenty of gift memories straight outta 1984.

Thanks for the Reusable Bamboo Drink Bottle Giveaway entries!

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Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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Comments

  1. I haven’t started any shopping! I am such a last minute gal with that stuff, yes I’m out on Christmas Eve scrounging together things. But all of my friends we do a secret santa so that saves a lot of effort for all of us! That’s so great that Skylar is creative so young, i remember asking for jelly pens and milky pens growing up. And American girl dolls- loved them so much.

  2. Good job, Mrs. Clause! SKylar will love everything. I haven’t even started holiday shopping, but I really should. Oh, and for Christmas… when I was twleve I asked Santa for a kitchen torch. And I got it.

    I do try not to be a nerd. ;)

  3. I have done very, very little holiday shopping, even though I had wanted to start in October! Oh well…maybe next year! I am trying to keep things simple this year too…small gift for the husband and not going overboard on family either!

  4. progress on holiday shopping? i was very successful with purchasing all of my holiday gifts at katespade.com!!! (everything except for my father’s and best male friend’s presents). very clean, healthy, happy, shopping! and i also recommend the kate spade brown leather laptop bag! my MacBook Pro fits perfectly into it! x

  5. One of my most cherished gifts growing up was an American Girl doll (Molly) and her entire set (clothes, props, all kinds of fun stuff). I had obsessed over her in the catalog for months prior, enough to know that i was missing the yo-yo from her Christmas set and the letter from her dad in her camp set. My parents were amazed that I knew that and called the company who shipped them to us after the fact. My niece now has all the stuff. :)

  6. I am so far from done I am queasy.

    I love fighting everyone for the last slice of applesauce cake. It’s delicious!

  7. I live in those kinds of socks. I have about 5 pair of them, but they are starting to get worn on the bottom. I need a Target run, clearly!

    1. at this time of year they are cheap and plentiful in the stores…and come March, they are selling flip flops and bikinis here but it’s still winter! So i stock up now!

  8. i have done nothing in terms of holiday shopping, aside from making my own list!

    our tradition growing up was the stockings… we had presents under the tree, but the real good stuff was in the stockings and we always saved those for last!

  9. I love those fuzzy socks! I have a couple pairs that I wear all the time (much to visiting friends’ amusement) but they are seriously the best gift.

    Um… I haven’t started on my holiday shopping. I think I might make most of it, but… I haven’t started on that yet, either!

  10. I only just started thinking about holiday gifts. I have a lot fewer people to buy for this year—basically my sister and my parents this time around. Kudos to you for being done! That is so awesome.

    When I was a kid, my parents used to give my sister and I a pair of PJs every Christmas Eve. They seriously did that until I went away to college. It was really cute and it makes me smile to think of that.

  11. You can’t go wrong with fuzzy socks in my book! I am SO behind. As in I haven’t even started thinking about gifts. Well, for niece and nephew, I have a good idea. Other than that….oops.

  12. Catching up over coffee is theee best. Target is amazing, except I always spend WAY more than I intend to. I haven’t even started christmas shopping! That is awesome that you are done :D

  13. Cute bag. Too bad it didn’t work. I hate when that happens. I haven’t bought anything except plane tickets for all four of us to go to NY. I need a hotel room…now! We are only getting the boys a few small things since we are going on a family trip oh and they get a little cash to spend too.