On-line Shopping & BOGO 8x10 Photos

Two posts in one day. Wow. I'm on a roll!

I promised I was going to do a Christmas on-line shopping post and in all the hull-a-ball-oo of the case of the little piggy flu, I still haven't gotten to it. Until now.

I love photos. It's not a secret. And while I like to incorporate them in gifts at this time of year, I also like to use them in frames around our house.

With that in mind...

Walmart has a FAB-DAB-U-LOUS deal on 8x10 enlargements right now. Buy 1 get 1 8x10 Print Free! In store or online - enter promo code online: 8x10BOGO at checkout.  You gotta hurry though, the offer ends November 15/09.  Just in case you're wondering, Walmart's regular price of a 8x10 is $2.97. Which I think is a good deal to begin with. Now you can get two 8x10's for less than 3 bucks. And pick them up within an hour or less of ordering to boot.  Whatcha waiting for?! And yes, I just placed an order...nothing like a good print sale to get me motivated to update the picture frames in my house.

I try to order as many Christmas gifts on-line at this time of year as I can. Alot of companies offer free shipping when you spend a certain amount. If I can shop at 10:00pm at night in my pj's, get the goods delivered to my front door and not have to battle crowds and yucky weather...well hey, ya can't beat that, can you?!

A few of my go-to favourite online shops for ordering Christmas gifts:

http://www.photoworks.com/.
Photo calendars make awesome gifts. I create and order mine through photoworks.  There are lots of different places to get calendars made. The reason I've stuck with photoworks is because I've used them for the past few years now and I know the quality is FANTASTIC and I also know my way around their software so it's super easy for me. They are an american company so you do have the keep the exchange rate in mind, but it's pretty good right now. At the end of November, they always have awesome Black Friday sales (in the past it's been 25% off your order & free shipping) so I always try to have my stuff ready so I can place my order then. I've ordered other products from them as well including, Christmas cards, photobooks, luggage tags and notebooks and the quality is bang-on everytime.

You can get calendars, photobooks and similar things at Walmart and Shutterfly and lots of other places...I just haven't had time to sit down and research and try any other companies.

Chapters: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/
Free shipping on orders over $39. I've ordered books, cd's, movies, kids toys and games from them. If there's an item back-ordered, they send everything else ahead and the back-ordered item arrives later - no shipping charges.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/
Free shipping on orders over $39. Last year you could only order books, movies, cd's. Looks like they're adding to the canadian website because they now have home and garden items and electronics. Gotta go check that out!

Toys R Us: http://www.toysrus.ca/home/index.jsp
Free shipping varies and changes weekly on specific items.

House of James: http://www.houseofjames.com/
This is a Christian bookstore in Abbotsford, BC. Love this store! I've ordered many things from them online as it was cheaper to pay the $5 shipping fee then driving there and back from where I lived in North Van. Check out their website for detailed shipping costs.

Just heard this from a friend - Lululemon fans (pssst Michelle!!) - they have free shipping on their website until November 15th/09!

And here's my BEST LITTLE SUPER TIP about ordering on-line: No matter what store or company you order from always do a search on promo codes before you place your order. So for example, you're going to order something from photoworks. Google "photoworks promo code" and you will be amazed at what you find. I rarely place an order online anymore that I haven't used some type of promo code. I ordered Max's school running shoes from Soft Moc online and just before I hit that enter button I remembered to google "softmoc promo code" and I found a coupon code to use which allowed me to get 20% off my order. Can't beat that!

That's all I can think of right now. I'll add to this list as I remember and think of more favourite on-line sites.

And why don't I end now with a guilty little confession. Well, actually I don't know why I feel guilty about it, but whatever. Sometimes I really miss this...

Dreadfully a lot. And I feel sad. It hits me out of the blue at the most randomest of times.

So this is what I do...

I listen to my favourite radio stations on-line. Chances are, if I'm cleaning upstairs, you'll find me listening to either JRfm, PRAISE106.5 or SunFM on my computer. And you know, it helps. It really does. But I'm also running into a bit of a problem...I kinda lose myself in the music and familiar dj's chatter that I forget that I'm living in Ontario now and the stations are still in BC. For example, I'm listening to all the announcements and ads and getting all excited because there's a fun family event going happening on Saturday morning, and I think it would be so much fun to take Max...on Grouse Mountain. Reality check. Grouse. Oh yeah. That's not here. And now lately I'm hearing all the fun Christmas events that are being announced and I get all excited thinking we should take Max and then the kicker last sentence "....next weekend at Fort Langley!"

Right.  And don't even get me started on the weather updates....

Just when I've solved my little world problems. ahhhhh!