It's beginning to look a little like Christmas

I jumped the gun and started to put up Christmas decorations last Saturday. But I thought I would spare you the sight of them until today, the day after Thanksgiving. I love decorating for the holidays, especially in a new place. My dining room/kitchen area is already super colorful: An orange wall, orange, red and blue tiles in the kitchen, and bright tiles inset into the table, so I thought bright red and green might be a little jarring in that area. Instead I went with blue, gold and silver this year. 

 Upper shelf of the wine rack.

That pretty little genius was eating the gold berries on my garland moments earlier. This troubles me. Garlands hang in all my front windows this year.

My "pre-Thanksgiving" dinner table. We were visiting on Thanksgiving Day, so we had our special family dinner with a couple friends on Sunday. Those are handmade napkin holders: A spool of ribbon and leftover ornaments from the centerpiece.

Now when to get the tree?

Media Monday: Anchorage Borders store among about 200 closing

The line extended from the front of the store to the back and began to curl around the other direction at Borders on Sunday. Tables next to the line were littered with books that people changed their minds on buying and discarded on the nearest surface. Everything is on sale at the Anchorage Borders bookstore, one of nearly 200 that are closing after the announcement last week that the company is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Borders is in financial turmoil between the pressures of slow consumer spending and expanding e-reader competition such as the Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook. A friend of mine posted on Facebook Saturday that Borders was closing, everything was on sale and "it's crazy here."

I called Sunday before we headed out to check on the deals and the sales associate who answered said the store would be operating for up to eight more weeks, depending on a variety of factors.

When we arrived, giant red, yellow and black signs screamed sale prices in all caps. Tables piled high with sale books, while some shelves had gaping openings and looked downright empty. The popular stuff seemed to be selling out fast. I'm sure the sales will get better, but it might be down to quirky, oddball stuff by then.  Go-back racks were stacked high and the staff was too busy to keep up with the high traffic filing through the store. It was harder than usual to find specific books since so many hands had dug through shelves and put books back in the wrong place, but we still found plenty of gems.

We purchased seven books, a calendar and a magazine for less than $60. Our wait to check out lasted nearly an hour. We saw friends walk in as we neared the front of the line and advised one to get in line while the other browsed and then switch.

The Washington Post reports the company is getting ready to jump on the e-reader bus:

"It hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 with new focus on e-books and products other than books. A $505 million dollar loan from GE Capital will fund its operations - with 17,500 employees - while it reorganizes."

We own Kindles at our house. So we mostly shopped for books high on visuals. A coffee table book on U.S. presidents for Josh, a photography book for me and a guitar instruction book with fret charts for Davin. Perhaps bookstores need to focus on the novelty, specialty and highly graphic if they want to weather the changing technology and consumer spending crisis.

Moving essentials

Today I have five moving essentials/tips as the stack of boxes grows higher in my living room each day. I have pretty much lived in seven different apartments in seven years, so I'm no packing amateur. That sounds like a bad rental history, but really most of it is accounted for with college and living in three different states. I guess that's just a side effect of being in your 20s.

1. MARKERS: It's easy to think, "I'll remember what's in this box," but 10 boxes later, you might have no idea. So make notes on the top and sides so you and anyone helping will know which room to place the boxes in and which boxes to crack open first when unpacking. Write fragile on those with breakable, so moving helpers (whether paid, or friends promised pizza) will know to handle with care.
2. PLASTIC STORAGE CONTAINERS: For those things you might keep packed away for a while or stay in a closet such as keepsake, crafting supplies, collections, etc. These are also great for packing fragile items because the sides aren't as easily compromised. I like ones where the lids snap on tightly and the sides are curved into handles so you can pack them full and lift them easily.
3. PACKING TAPE & BOXES This one is obvious, but it seems I never remember it until I'm ready to tape the bottom of a box. Also, I will NEVER PAY for cardboard boxes now that I know people in retail management and know how many boxes they recycle every week. Check for cardboard recycling bins in the back lots behind your favorite retailers. Stay away from places with no trespassing signs and as always be careful.
4. YOUR OWN LINENS: Resist the temptation to throw all your towels and linens in a box and seal it shut. Instead, save them for last and use them to cushion your fragile items. Dish towels make a great buffer between plates and bowls. Just be careful to make sure you know where the ones you need right away are. Don't cushion decorations you might keep boxed up with your bedsheets you'll need the day you arrive!
5. TOTES, BASKETS, ETC.: I can never have too many storage containers. I like to pick new ones out right before a move for packing in and organizing in the new place. Don't let old gift baskets and your own suitcases go to waste by packing them empty: fill them up!

Get your Group-on

Do you already know about Groupon.com? I'm not a big coupon clipper myself, but I actually love this site. It has a daily deal offering 50% or more off select items or services at local businesses. Every day I get an e-mail from Groupon with the daily Anchorage deal, but it's available in many other cities. Since joining in December I have snapped up two amazing deals:

1. 75% off a $500 wine making and bottling party at Denali Winery, a gift for my husband for Christmas. We're going to bottle our own wine with our friends Meghan and Joel, who split the Groupon with us. So basically we're going to bottle 20-24 bottles of custom wine with our friends for only $60 a couple. We couldn't buy that much wine for that price.
2. Half price tickets to the Broadway musical "Avenue Q!" When it was announced that "Avenue Q" was coming to Anchorage, I told Josh, if we went to just one show this year, that was the one I wanted to see. It's like Seasame Street for grownups with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor, including songs such as "What You Do with a B.A. in English," and "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist." I'm so excited to see it Tuesday at the opera house.

While more often than not the deals are things I don't need or necessarily want, it's worth getting that daily e-mail to find out I can do  things I've been hoping to budget in for half price or less. Plus, I'm finding out about a lot of local businesses that I haven't visited in my community and I'm all about keeping it local.

If you haven't signed up for Groupon and are thinking about it, please use my referral link which give me a $10 Groupon credit and more local business love!

Thanks and happy Friday!