Free Comforter & Wookie’s Pet-Sitter To Be

What’s better than a brand new King-sized grey/white comforter for only $40? How about a free one?

I spotted this on Groupon today and decided I was tired of our old comfortable which has always been too small and not the shade of purple I expected when we bought it online NINE years ago (where the f does the time go?)! I used our Discover cash back to get $50 in Groupon bucks so it didn’t cost us a cent out of pocket which makes me feel better in case it doesn’t look as nice as the photo. Crossing my fingers it’s great, though!

This weekend was pretty low key. Joe was in Denver again and came back late Friday night.

Saturday (11/17) we did our annual big shop at Target to take advantage of the deal where you buy $50 of groceries and get a $10 gift card. So we did that … twice! Got a turkey, cranberries, lots of other things including my favorite Vitamin water on sale, and should be fully prepared to host Thanksgiving on Friday for the kids and their significant others. I will be making some of the sides on Thursday to bring to my parents’ since the sweet potato casserole is huge and can feed many people (and I don’t think Joe’s kids will touch it which is why I’ll also be making mashed potatos on Friday). I’m pretty excited because I love Thanksgiving! I’m also excited to make homemade cranberry sauce again this year.

Saturday night we finished off the Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza we had ordered earlier in the week (I had frozen the leftovers since Joe was out of town). We got the munchies that evening though and found ourselves at Baskin Robbins buying two quarts of peanut butter chocolate ice cream for $10. Better than paying $6.50 for a single one or $3.50 for a single scoop of ice cream. Well, better for the wallet, not necessarily my waist line! We ended up stopping at Taco Bell too SMH.

Sunday (11/18) we went to K’s house to hang out a little and also left Wookie with her for two and a half hours to get used to her house since she will be our pet sitter when we go out of town. We ended up going to two different malls – Northbrook Court and Old Orchard. We didn’t spend much time at the first one because it’s all high end stores. Old Orchard was a bit better but honestly I just can’t justify the prices at Lululemon, Aritzia, North Face, and even the Eddie Bauer outlet. Plus they didn’t have what I’m searching for – fleece-lined leggings or jeans, and a long black down alternative jacket in black with a removable hood and inner pockets. Eddie Bauer did have the fleece lined jeans but they were $40 on sale (normally $80) but were so unstylish I might as well just keep wearing my Cuddle Duds under a larger pair of jeans. It’s not ideal but definitely cheaper and more attractive. Stupid Walmart no longer sells the fleece lined leggings but they do sell fleece lined jeans that may just work and they’re only $25 so I might order a pair to try out.

We had lunch at Shake Shack in Old Orchard. While good, it wasn’t all that for the price. The burgers look like In-N-Out but taste like Culver’s. Two single burgers and an order of fries was $15 whereas we could have gotten kids meals from Culvers for $6 each and they come with drinks and a scoop of frozen custard. What a deal!

Anyway, Wookie is definitely comfortable in K’s house when we are there and will even go into different rooms and look around which she was too scared to do when she was younger, but once we left apparently she sat by the door for ten minutes and then spent the rest of her time laying under K’s kitchen table. She was overjoyed when we came back and I felt bad that she seems to shut down when we’re not around. Hopefully she’d eventually chill out if she had to spend more time there. I really don’t want to her to be miserable but I also want/need a vacation! I’ve been toying with the idea of taking one for my birthday since January birthdays suck in the Midwest as it is. I wouldn’t mind going to Arizona but Joe’s dad now lives with Joe’s sister so I think we’d have to get a hotel room. If Disneyland wasn’t a) a 4+ hour flight and b) hella expensive because the hotels on property aren’t plentiful like in Orlando, I would totally book a Disneyland vacation as I’d love to go there, although I’d prefer a fall trip so we can see The Haunted Mansion done up as Nightmare Before Christmas. I just want to go somewhere warm!

Considering how cold it has been I’m shocked our current gas bill was only $45 this past month. We’re not on a budget plan either. I guess gas prices are low??? It has already snowed 2-3 times this month and I’m already over it. I’ve got a pork roast in the slow cooker right now and I hope it comes out good! Seems like the perfect meal for a cold wintery day even if it’s still fall for goodness sakes.