Monday Motivation

Have a wonderful Monday!

5FF: Holiday Shopping

*5 things. About Fibro. Every Friday*

My Favorite Places to Shop for the Holidays

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  I spent many, many years in retail before becoming an educator. During my retail days, most of my holiday purchases came from the store where I worked. I was just too tired to go other places during the holidays to shop! When I left retail, I vowed to have my shopping done by December 1 so that I could enjoy the season, and avoid the crowds. Fast forward to today, my first official Christmas with Fibromyalgia. I still want to get my shopping done by December 1, but I do not have the energy to go out and hit the stores. What's a girl to do? Shop online, of course!  (For an extra fee, many will wrap your gift as well) So today I though I would share some of my favorite online retailers.

1.  North Star Bison: This fab company will ship non-GMO, grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic-free buffalo to your door! They have a great gift selection as well as buying specific cuts of meat. Don't want bison? They also carry beef, chicken and lamb.

2.  The Body Shop:  I fell in love with this store when I lived in London. As much as I would love to go to London to stock up on fair trade beauty products, they now have retail locations across the US, as well as an online presence. I highly recommend the Satsuma line of products -citrusy goodness in a bottle!

3.  Stubby Pencil Studio:  Eco-friendly art supplies and stationery for children. Well, they say it's for children, but I want these things for my personal art stash! They have kits as well as supplies. I LOVE the paste imported from Italy -a great glue for those of us who miss Elmer's paste pots.

4.  Heifer International:  My favorite charity gift! Your money helps to buy animals for communities around the world (including the USA).  These are not hand-outs. The animals not only help improve nutrition, but provide an income source. Don't worry if you don't have a lot to give -your money can be pooled with other donations to buy more expensive animals. My favorite is the llama share.

5.  Barnes & Noble:  It's not just books! Games, toys, movies, and more. You could easily buy something for everyone from here. In fact, for many years all my holiday gifts came from here  :-P

Now, go make yourself a cup of tea, get comfy on the sofa, and start shopping!

Disclosure: I am not affiliated with any of these retailers, I just love their products. I have an immediate family member who works for one of these companies, so any purchases made  indirectly affects me.

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Random Thoughts

*Have you ever had days when even though no one is home, every single plate, spoon, and glass gets used?

*How many licks does it really take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

*If  2 political candidates can raise $2 billion to run campaigns, why do schools have to keep cutting budgets?

*Someday, I would like to take a tropical vacation. Those of you who know me and my aversion to being in the sun and wearing swimsuits in public may find this shocking.

*I want to develop a line of tea specifically designed for reading the leaves. I will call it CertainTea.

Copyright (c) <a href='http://www.123rf.com'>123RF Stock Photos</a>

BTW, how does the post look? I'm reduced to using a Blogger App which limits my ability to put pictures where I want them to be. I also can't preview the page so I have no idea what this post looks like!