Best of 2007: The 77 Best Shopping Sites You Should Have Gone To For Christmas Shopping.

Yea, you heard me. You should have gone to these places for your Christmas shopping. Oh well. There is always next year-and birthdays-and anniversaries-and for fun! This is a great list if stores you know, stores you have never heard of, and of places that simply have cool stuff.

(And just for the record...none of the links are affiliate links...I did not make this list to make myself money...I make it because there needs to be places where you can get everything you want and need all in one place--so Digg it, Stumble it, Delicious it...whatever you need to do to get back to the best shopping of the year!)

Now...on with the fantastic shopping.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

• Amazon


• Ebay


• Buy


• Beauty


• Overstock


• Target


• CafePress
  
  

FOR THE LADIES

• J.C. Penny


• Macys


• Steamworks Coffee & Tea Co.--I worked there in my younger days and they still are the best coffee I have ever had! Try the Sumatra---AWESOME!


• Dreamin of Beadin--beaded jewelery


• Red Envelope--neat stuff


• Scribbit's shop--all sorts of crafts.


• Julian & Co.--custom jewelery with your own child's face on it


• Chickpea Designs--postcards


• Shana Logic--all sorts of stuff


• Polkadot Platypus--mom, kids stuff


• See Jane Work--cool office/organizing stuff


• Baby Style


• Pier 1--home stuff
  
• Takashimaya--very nice things for everyone


• Jafra--best make-up on earth


• Zappos--shoes


• L.L. Bean--clothes for the family


• Flip Clips--turns your videos into flip books


• Chandler 4 Corners


• Hazel--all sorts for everyone


• Room Service Home--cool stuff for everyone


• Unbuttoned Maternity


• Torrid--fashion for the larger ladies


• Glamajama--cool stuff for everyone


• Goodies Handmade Candies--THE BEST CHOCOLATE AND CANDIES YOU WILL EVER HAVE


• Company C--stuff for the home
  

CALLING ALL GUYS

My hubby helped me with these sites. There are several Land Rover shopping sites-- because we own one. And yes...it is always broken and we are very addicted (if you have a rover, you will so understand...love it but it is a pain in our butts and pocketbook). There are a couple of manly-men forums but, like my hubby said, men don't shop for clothes online so I need to put something in here. But they are great sites for all those hubbys out there.

• Sears--all sorts of tools and work clothes and stuff


• J.C. Whitney--car stuff


• Car Part--used and cheap car stuff


• Summit Racing--car stuff


• Harbor Freight Tools--tool stuff


• Northern Tool & Equipment--more tool stuff


• Jegs--car and tool stuff


• Pirate 4x4--off road stuff and forum


• D.A.P Land Rover --land rover stuff


• Rovertym--land rover stuff


• Atlantic British Land Rover & Mini Cooper parts--land rover and mini cooper stuff


• Les Richmond Automotive--car stuff


• Rover Tracks--land rover stuff


• Extreme Gear Off road--off road stuff


• Tire Package--tire stuff


• Truck Add Ons--just what it says


• Muddy Oval--land rover forum


• Off Road Tuff--off road stuff


• Thorne Brothers--fishing

FOR THE KID IN ALL OF US--mostly toys

• Kid R Us--toys


• Fisher-Price--toys


• HaPe--kids stuff


• Company Kids--all sorts of things for kids


• Modern Tots


• Oompa Toys


• Brain Candy Kids


• Levels of Discovery


• Little Tykes


• Educational Insights


• Eco Tots


• Eeboo


• FAO Schwarz


• Bla Bla Kids


• Maukilo Toys


• i golfini della nonna--toys and stuff


• Warm Biscuit


• M & M--yes the candy...who can resist chocolate--no one I tell you--NO ONE!


• Wow Wee
  

FOR YOUR LITTLE BABY

• Twilite Moon


• Baby Genius


• Baby Legs
  
• Serena & Lily


• Giggle


• Busy Mommi--baby, mommy, and daddy stuff

CALLING ALL READERS...CALLING ALL READERS...

I am getting my blogging butt out of my chair and am re-vamping my blogs. I will still be on them but not really blogging on them very often.

I need your input. I have 6 blogs (I know, can you believe it) and I am doing an audit of all of them. I would like all my readers...and anyone who just comes across my blogs in the next few weeks to give me your:

• comments
• questions
• concerns
• advice

Just click on the picture below to be taken to a list of my blogs.

Any and all comments you have to improve on my blogs are welcome. I have had them going for almost 6 months now and with the new year, I am going to be doing more with my blogging.

I am also looking for other bloggers/website owners:

• Mommy bloggers
• Iowa bloggers
• Family Friendly bloggers
• Arts, crafts, food, scrapbooking, sewing, etc. bloggers
• Plus sized men & women bloggers
• Multiple birth parents/bloggers
• Freelance writing & problogging bloggers
• Family Friendly websites

I am interested in any bloggers/website owners who would be interested in getting some free advertising for their blogs/websites. I am looking for people to guest post on my blogs, to interview in their chosen field, and anyone who would be willing to donate or give me a large discount on products for upcoming give-a-way contests I will be holding beginning the first of the year. Again, this is a great way for you to get free advertising for your blogs, websites, and products.

I am also looking for budget friendly graphic artists & blogger and wordpress template creators and designers. I am looking for someone to help me change the look of my blogs. I am looking for something fun, family friendly, and fantastic.

If you are interested in free advertising and helping me take my blogs to the next level, please comment on this post or e-mail me at cathicollins (at) gmail (dot) com.

I can't wait to hear from you.

Hey There Long Lost Family...

hey there Julie, Jerry, Char, and all other family we called this weekend!!!! hope you like our blog...and come back...and start your own...so we can come and visit!

Check out my kids artwork

It has been a long time since I have posted my kids artwork and what-nots. But here they are in all their glory.
The first one is all the stuff from school from when he couldn't go due to no shots...my favorite one is the one where his face is on a turkey.
















This second set is from when he was home...the doggie is mine (AWESOME)...the painted one and colored one is Corrines...and the other one is Kincaid spelling LOG on some part of the Noggin site.

wORDLESS wEDNESDAY

Look what I made.

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oNE fUN mONDAY cOMING uP

Oh...how I do love a great fun monday! They are all great but I just really love anything to do with blogging and Christmas.

So our lovely Lady K wants something related to Christmas...now what was it again:
In the spirit of the season I would like to see your favorite Christmas tree ornament. Not to be confused with the WHOLE tree. I want you to zoom in and show me one or a few(you know I can't choose just one!) of your favorite ornaments. If you don't decorate a tree, show me your menorah or dreidel, Kinara, or Yule Log. I want to see your favorite decoration for this holiday season.

Oh yea...that was it!

When I was a kid, my parents had the tradition of buying us Hallmark ornaments. I wanted to keep the same sort of tradition, but I wanted to do it craft-style.

For the past several years, I have been trying to do the craftsy ornament making but my kids either were too young or not born yet.

But this year, I am in luck. All 4 of them are around and 2 of them are old enough to

help with the ornament making--kind of.

We made cookie cutter ornaments. I have been saving these cookie cutters for 3 years now...dang it.

The Red Bell is Kincaids (5 years old)
The Blue Angel is Corrines (1 1/2)
The White Dove is Liams ( 8 months)
The Yellow Star is Connors ( 8 months)

These are going to be my favorites for some time...probably until next year.

So go now...and check out everyone's favorite Christmas stuff. I can't wait!

The Day of Shots He** is over...thank god

The day I have been dreading for weeks now is finally over...shots day. Kincaid got 4, the little lady and the twins all got 3. The appointment was at 9AM. I started to get everyone ready at 6:45 in the morning, yet we were still late. And it took almost 3 hours....yea...4 kids takes up alot of time. There was being late, paperwork, them going through the mountain of paperwork, talking about each kid, then...finally...the shots.

Kincaid, for lack of a better phrase, took it like a man. The twins screamed for about 10 minutes a piece. Corrine, on the other hand, cried for each shot in each kid. Man am I glad I have only 4. Now Kincaid can go back to school. He missed about 3 weeks due to not enough shots.

Do you have something to say?

Everyone has something to say. That is why we began blogging in the first place, right? There is a service you can take advantage of where you can get paid to blog. I found this service just a few weeks ago and I am already getting paid for blogging.

I am a stay at home mom aspiring to be a problogger. Smorty has allowed me to blog for money, money that I and my family needs.

There are many reasons to try out Smorty. The first is that you don't have to wait 30-90 days like many other blog advertising services. You can jump right in, as long as your blog is original. Another reason is that you should blog for money with Smorty is that you choose how much you can make. If you only want to do one opinion post a week, you can. If you want to do 4 a week, you can. And Smorty lets you choose the advertising posts you want to take. You are in control of your blog advertising and your income.

If you are interested in blog advertising, then go to Smorty and start today. Remember, everyone has something to say.

Family Fun Times Reminder

This is just a reminder about my Family Fun Time Meme (or my attempt at one). So click here to read the post about it. I will post it on Friday. The assignment is Holly Hobbie. Hope to see ya on Friday!

Family Gingerbread House Fun

So I found this fantastic site by an artist who is wonderful. Click here and check out this post (yes...it is one of my other blogs but she is a great artist and it is a fun website...and besides--it includes a blog...who doesn't like finding another fun blog). You won't regret it...it is so much fun to make this stuff with your kids.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream Because of School Shots!

So as some of you may know, we moved from Minnesota to Iowa. In Minnesota, our kids shots were up to date.

So fast forward to our son starting pre-school. Here, in Iowa, his shots are not up to date...by alot...so many in fact, he has not been to school for 2 weeks. And he can't go back to school until his shots get up to date. And I can't get him in for shots until next week.

Now, I understand the reasoning behind it...so if my son get small pox or malaria, he won't give it to the other kids. But when was the last time any of your kids brought home small pox?

I thought about posting about this for the past 2 weeks and finally it made me mad enough to do a post about it. It kind of pisses me off that the people around here pressured us into starting our son in preschool...earlier than we had planned. They get him all excited about being in school, making great friends and learning alot. Then, take it away--making him wonder why he can't get on the bus when it goes by. I guess this post doesn't really have a point, except for me to crab how the laws here in Iowa are so different than in Minnesota. That is all.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

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Gotta love kids...

I love my daughter...but she is an early riser...a woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed early riser...love her to death...but she makes it impossible to read just one fun monday post...her screaming drives me up the wall....but i love her...hate screaming...love her...so hopefully her mood improves so i can finally catch up with my fun monday-ers!

eCommerce Stores Need Christmas Presents Too

Tis the season for shopping. But don't forget about your own eCommerce store as well. I found this fantastic eCommerce software for your online store.

Ashop provides great shopping cart software that is affordable for every e-store owner. They start you out with a 10 day free trial, where you can test drive their user friendly features. Some of these features include free tech support, inventory control, product reports, google checkout, multiple currency, fraud protection, hosting, and e-mail.

Once you discover that your eCommerce store can't live withouth Ashop's shopping cart, they start you out for as little as $69 a month. This is a great price for any e-shop owner who needs an all-in-one eCommerce software provider.

So check out Ashop. Start building your eCommerce store, use their shopping cart software, and get ready to sit back and enjoy your online store today.

Fun Monday

So Robin and her nest are the host this week. She would like our best...our blogging best.

It is kind of hard to choose our blogging best. I have only been blogging for a few months so, thankfully, there are not that many as of yet.

I think my favorite so far is my post about multi-tasking in the bathroom. I wrote it for the SheWhoBlogs blog but it is just so f-ing funny...I think.

Another one of my favorites is making sure your kids are ready for the computer age. If any of you have seen my Korner's blog, you will know I am all for having our kids on the computer about the same time as they are walking.

I think that should be enough...now go and check out all of our other prized bloggers and all their hard work!

First Tooth Family Update

So I have to post about this before I forget but both of our twins, Connor and Liam, both got their first tooth yesterday...the same tooth. Isn't that wierd...but they got their first tooths....they are growing up so fast. But just to update everyone! how exciting...i am so excited...and now all i need to do is get all of my kids out of diapers and in college then i can get some sleep.

Check out Gamer Thursday!

This post is just alittle self promotion but I think it is cool whether or not I am the one doing it...so I am posting about it.



On one of my other blogs, I do a Gamer Thursday--this is where I post about little video games on the internet. This week I found...or should I say my son found...a couple of fun ones.



So go and check out my Korner of Momdum--and the Gamer Thursday post. These are really fun games for everyone in the whole family!

FUNNY...FUNNY...FUNNY

Video and Code Provided by WhoIsTheMonkey.com I found this video care of our fun monday-er Anglophile football fanatic

Wordless Wednesday

Tis the season...remember...

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Family Fun Time

If any of you are fans of my other blog Kerith's Korner of Momdum, you may have noticed the Family Fun Friday as disappeared. It is still around but I had a brain storm about it. Then we kept getting sick and it kind of took a back seat.

I have so much fun doing the activities with my kids that I thought that maybe I would try to start a Meme about having Family Fun Time with stuff found on the internet.

There is so much on the internet, that most of the time, a person doesn't really know where to go for kid friendly and fun stuff. So every week or 2 I am going to give out Family Fun Time assignments, so to speak, on Kerith's Korner of Momdum. I will give a few web sites concerneing the subject matter at hand. Then we all will go and do our Family Fun Time. Then you can E-Mail (cathicollins@gmail.com) with your story and pictures and links to your blog. I will post them and then give out another great assignment.

Feel free to take any banners I post. I will make more later and post them.

Our first Family Fun Time is Holly Hobbie. You can click here or go anywhere on the web and find family fun stuff concerning Holly Hobbie. Maybe you want to make paper dolls and play with them with your kids. Maybe you want to buy a Holly Hobbie movie and watch it with your kids. Maybe you want to make a day of Holly Hobbie with your kids. What ever you want to do....have fun with it.

Sickies are back!

So it has been awhile since I have updated. Well, there is only one thing to say...SICKIES. And we have it again. Now instead of the pukies...we have the cough and cold. Even the twins are sick. We have been sick so often for so long, I have run out of medicine. And we had tons a month ago. But that is the quick update. I will have to update on school matters later. Kincaid has missed alot of school the past month due to the sickies. But hopefully that will come to an end!

Fun Monday

Ok...all this sickness--yes...we got sick...again...now it is the cough and cold...but anyway---and the holidays is really putting a kink in my blogging world...but the show must go on...even if it is late!



So our blue momma in the fishbowl wants to see our unfinished projects. I have some ironic news for everyone. The batteries in my camera were dead so I couldn't take any pictures and my projects were unfinished, so I had to finish them...sorry.



But check out a former Fun Monday post with a laundered unfinished project. But I will just have to tell you all my (former) unfinished projects...the reason I didn't blog yesterday...cause it was driving me CRAZY!

So, I was behind on everything due to sickies and the holidays. My kitchen was a mess. The Friday after turkey day, we all got sick again just in time for the weekend. So needless to say, some of the turkey day dishes were still undone...yuk...i know. So i did those. And there were toys all over the place...picked up. The floor had kid crumbies...you know what I am talking about...vacuumed. My kids room was a disaster area...picked up--by them. Kitchen floor was yucky...now is un-yuckified. Let me see.....what have I forgotten.....oh...the bathroom...my only unfinished project as of yet. Piles of dirty clothes in there, dirty toilet, dirty sink, dirty tub...yea...it is grossing me out. I must go clean it now. But before you go, check out the other fun monday-ers. There are 50 some of us this week so we will all be busy reading and not finishing out projects this week...oh well...at least we will feel better when there are 50 more of us not finishing!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Turkey Day everybody.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

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Fun Monday

So Karisma is hosting this week and this is what she would like:

"I want you to take a trip down memory lane, and keep right on going, right back to your childhood. And I want to hear "THAT STORY". You remember the one? Yes, you do! The one your parents, siblings, extended family or friends, would never let you forget, live down or get over!"


But first...embarrassing picture.




First...me and my little brothers...as dorks.















Then me as a baby dork.















And last, me as a toddler dork...but the funny thing is now that I see this particular picture...my daughter looks just like that but with white blonde hair...wierd.


Now on to my story. I was probably 10 or so. Do keep in mind I was a fat kid so doing tricks on anything was a challenge. But for some reason, on this day, I was feeling light as a feather. I decided to do a trick on some monkey bars we had in our back yard. So I climbed out to the middle of the bars and proceeded to hang upside down. (Now also keep in mind I also had alot of hair...and it was past my butt). I tried for a dismount and my hair got caught in a screw on the monkey bars.

You have never heard screaming like that in your life.

I was hanging from that frickin' screw for what seemed forever (was told later is was about a minute and a half...still a long time). My mom was hysterically looking for scissors, but, in the meantime, my hair was kind enough to violently rip itself out of my scalp.

Now, after my "dismount", I really don't remember a whole lot. But my mom tells me that I had a very bloody and very large bald spot for a long time. No one could touch me or my head for about a day. All they could was give me kid's asprin for the pain and cough syrup to help me sleep. I do believe that was the very last time I EVER got on monkey bars. Those stupid things should come with a warning label:

"Hey you, yea, you fat chick, don't even think of climbing me. I will chew you hair off if you do. You don't believe me...try me...I am Monkey Bars...Hear me Rip Your Hair Out."

Yea...that is exactly what the warning label should say!!!!!

But now you need to go and read everyone elses...there is good long list of embarrassing stories so it should be a fun week!

Support Our Troops

Support our troops. Even if you don't support the war, it is important to support those men and women who feel they are fighting to protect freedom and liberty for humanity. The easiest way to do that this holiday season is to send them a Christmas card. You can pick different cards that have different sayings. You can even make your own greeting. You can't pick a certain soldier to send one to, but you know whichever soldier gets your card, he/she will share it with their whole camp. So, please, sign up to mail Christmas cards so our troops. They need all the support and love we can send them this holiday season.

DO GOOD ONE BLOG AT A TIME

Everyone needs to do alittle good. There are so many in the world that have nothing. We, as a blogging community, need to use our resources and freedoms to bring to light problems and solutions. So please check out the following fantastic causes!