My Black Friday Haul

With the exception of activewear, which I buy all year, I usually do most of my shopping for the year over Black Friday weekend. I do all my shopping online, so I was up at 5 a.m. on Friday and finished most of my shopping before I even had breakfast. Here's what I got!

Vacuum Cleaner. I've had my Dyson Animal for 13 years and swore I would only buy Dysons because they last so long. This year, some of the parts broke off so that I can barely carry it up and down my steps. I knew I wanted another Dyson and figured they would have good deals this weekend. But when I started reading reviews of the different models, I was surprised to learn that Dysons now get pretty bad reviews! In one Consumer Reports article I read, the Dyson actually scored the worst. One that scored very high was also very inexpensive--the Hoover WindTunnel Pet vacuum. While Walmart had a sale on an older model for just $79, I got the newest version for $116. And I was ready to pay $300+ for a Dyson! I can't wait to get it and try it!

Blender. I've had two blenders break while I was making smoothies with frozen fruit. This year I looked into blenders that could handle frozen smoothies, which led me to the very expensive Vitamix. Reviews comparing the Vitamix to the Ninja basically said the Vitamix is better (the parts are better and will likely last longer), but the Ninja is pretty good and much less expensive. I got the Ninja, which includes a blender, a food processor bowl, and smoothie cups and lids, for $129 plus got a $10 gift card from Best Buy. When I was running a lot and needing to eat more carbs but just unable to eat so much food, I had the idea that soymilk smoothies would be a great way to get in all my carbs, so I'm excited I'll be able to make smoothies again.

Fitness Tracker. I walk a lot throughout my day and would love to know just how much I'm walking, and I'd also like to know more about my sleep patterns. I wanted a fitness tracker for those things but don't need it for running since I have my Garmin. I also don't like the fitness trackers you wear on your wrist. I found the Misfit Flash that you can put in your pocket or bra or clip to your shoe, but comes with a wristband so you can wear it on your wrist too (I'll do that for sleeping) for just $15 at Best Buy!

Skincare and Makeup. Ever since I attended a seminar a few years ago where I learned about all the toxic ingredients in skincare and makeup--from cheap drugstore items to very expensive brands--I switched to using only products with natural, organic, and non-toxic ingredients. I love the Arcona line out of LA, which has powerful formulas made of natural and non-toxic ingredients, but it's very pricey. Arcona has a 40% off sale every Black Friday, so I buy all my skincare for the year at great prices! I also restocked my mascara from Tarte at 25% off (I don't need any other makeup right now.)

I had two other big things on my list but, unfortunately, couldn't find good deals. I wanted to get a new pet bed for Django. He's a digger and dug through his old bed, and the chew-resistant fabrics in a size big enough for him are very pricey. I'm holding out to see if there are better deals after the holidays. I also wanted to get new running shoes. Last year Asics had 40% off and I got two pair, but this year they had only 30% that didn't apply to my already discounted shoes. I can usually find older models of my shoe online for a good deal, so I'll wait on this too.

Activewear. I made it through all of Friday without buying any activewear and was pretty proud of myself! Then I started checking out deals and, well, the rest is history. Revolve had an additional 20% off already reduced items, so prices were really great. I got a Toughie Tank and Clutch Tank from Alala, a tank from Splits59, and running tights from Solow, a brand I haven't tried yet. I'd also been looking at the Michi site all weekend. I love the edgy, sexy design that Michi has, but it is way too expensive. They had items up to 75% off and just yesterday posted an additional 10% off code on FB (michi_insider_fb), making the pieces I was looking at less expensive than Lululemon! I ordered the Hydra Crops, Venom Tank, and Antigravity Bra. I can't wait to get everything in to try!

While I bought a lot, I spent little time actually shopping. Instead, I've had a lovely long weekend with my family on Thanksgiving and husband and dog the rest of the weekend. We got to enjoy the beautiful weather Friday on a long walk. It was raining all day yesterday, so we took a trip to the independent pet store we shop at in support of Small Business Saturday to buy more dog food and then spent the day catching up on housecleaning.

Did you shop this weekend? What did you get?

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