November 2007 Archives

More free shipping!

Against my better judgment, I woke up at 6AM on Black Friday to go Christmas shopping. I was exhausted from spending the previous two days baking and cooking for Thanksgiving dinner, so I wasn't exactly a beaming ray of sunshine Friday morning.

We picked up a friend who was going with us and headed to the local mall. What a damn madhouse. We drove around the lot, witnessing parking-space-thievery the likes I've never seen before. There was a car backing out of a spot. One car was waiting for the car to leave so they could pass through the lane, another car (coming the opposite way) had its turn signal on to go into the spot, and there were two cars waiting behind that car with its signal on. All of a sudden, the third car in line swings out, goes around the two cars in front, and actually steals the newly vacated parking space. I thought I was going to witness a smackdown. I sure as heck know if I was the one sitting there with my turn signal on and someone two cars behind me went around and stole a space, someone would have to surgically remove my bumper from the offending person's ass. No kidding.

After finding our own spot without further incident, we proceed into the mall and marvel at a line about 150 people deep outside the FYE store, which apparently didn't open at the crack of dawn like the rest of the mall. We found that those 150 people were in line for one of 10 available Wii units, and I was glad I was nowhere in the vicinity of that store when they finally opened.

As usual, the mall was a balmy 75 degrees or so, in contrast to the 20-degree windchills outside. So that just meant I had the immense pleasure of freezing my ass off while walking into the mall without my coat (so I didn't have to carry it around), then sweating my ass off about 10 minutes later. Lovely.

We shopped for about 2 hours, and didn't get much accomplished other than buying a candle for someone on our christmas list.

So what did that experience teach me? As if I needed further education on the subject, I'll be doing the rest of my shopping online, thankyouverymuch.

If you're in the same boat, here's some good news - the free shipping promotion* at the puppytoes.net store has been extended until 11/30! That means shipping is free with an order of $75 or more - just enter the coupon code FREESHIP75 at checkout. That's a whole three more days to avoid the horrible experience of mall shopping. So avoid the crowds, avoid the maniacal drivers, and avoid sweating your ass off in overheated stores. Just plop your butt down in front of your computer and visit the puppytoes.net store!

*Shipping Details:
Free Economy or Standard shipping for purchases of $75. or more, excluding shipping charges and applicable sales tax. Delivery address must be within the United States. All orders will be Economy shipping unless, the order is not eligible for Economy shipping (e.g., order exceeds Economy weight restrictions). Coupon code must be entered at check out. Promotion starts on November 17, 2007, at 12:00 a.m. (PST) and ends on November 21, 2007, at 11:59 p.m. (PST). See Shipping Information for additional shipping options. Cannot be combined with any other offers, discounts or coupons.

Start your holiday shopping at the puppytoes.net store, and save $15 on an order of $50 or more! Sure, it's a "Friends and Family" sale, but I'm considering the internet my family for the holidays. So head on over and find stuff for the geek, poker enthusiast, dog lover, and even the dog on your shopping list!

* Excludes Gift Certificates, bulk orders, taxes and shipping fees. Cannot be combined with any other offers, discounts or coupons. Valid through November 27, 2007 at 11:59 p.m. (PST).

I don't know about you, but my holiday shopping usually consists of plopping my butt down in front of my mac, visiting a bunch of stores, and clicking "Checkout" a whole bunch of times. Sure, it seems like it's sometimes very un-christmas like to not head out to the malls and browse for hours on end. But for me, nothing gets me out of the Christmas Spirit like sitting in traffic with a bunch of morons, driving around forever just to find a parking spot, and pushing and shoving my way through crowds just to get a glimpse of the empty space on the shelf where the thing I wanted to buy would have been if the store actually HAD IT IN STOCK. And while pushing and shoving my way through the mall I end up wondering, "WHY ON EARTH IS IT SO HOT IN HERE?" - don't they get that people have to walk a long distance from their crappy little parking spot in 20-degree weather, wearing their heavy winter coats, only to come inside to be engulfed in 80-DEGREE TEMPERATURES INSIDE? With thousands of bodies bumping in to you, no less?

I've got about a 10 minute fuse on traditional shopping.

But of course, a lot of people don't want to shop online because of the shipping costs. Well guess what? Starting Saturday, November 17, NO SHIPPING COST FOR YOU! (You have to say that a'la Fez in That 70's Show to get the full effect).

From November 17 to November 21, shipping will be free with an order of $75 or more. Just use the coupon code FREESHIP75 at checkout.

Happy Shopping!

Shipping Details:
Free Economy or Standard shipping for purchases of $75. or more, excluding shipping charges and applicable sales tax. Delivery address must be within the United States. All orders will be Economy shipping unless, the order is not eligible for Economy shipping (e.g., order exceeds Economy weight restrictions). Coupon code must be entered at check out. Promotion starts on November 17, 2007, at 12:00 a.m. (PST) and ends on November 21, 2007, at 11:59 p.m. (PST). See Shipping Information for additional shipping options. Cannot be combined with any other offers, discounts or coupons.

Many people have asked where I came up with the name for the puppytoes.net store. It comes from our Shop Mascot, Cragar's, cute little feet. When he was little he'd nibble on his little toes every now and then, so I used to tell him he had the cutest little puppy toes. Yes, I'm weird, what can I say?

But the name stuck and puppytoes.net was born.

Now our shop mascot has cute little injured toes.

Last week, Cragar was out in the yard on his leash, doing his business, and his leash got stuck behind some bushes. I went out to untangle the leash from all the branches, then brought him inside. He came in, ate his food, and walked around and checked things out for a little bit. At that point I was laying down, taking a little breather before I started making dinner when Cragar comes bounding into the bed, followed closely by his Daddy.

I had a particularly difficult week this past week - too many things to do and precious little time to get anything done. On Thursday I was talking to my sister and she asked if I was cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I told her that it was too early to think about it and I'd get back to her.

Then she told me Thanksgiving was in two weeks. And then she told me I was a moron.

For some reason, I was thinking we were still somewhere in early to mid-October. That's what I get for overworking myself.

After freaking out that I have only two weeks to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner, I freaked out again when I realized two weeks until Thanksgiving means two weeks until hard-core Christmas shopping starts. So I set to work, giving the puppytoes.net store a Holiday makeover.