Skip to main content

Special Christmas Gifting

Yep, it's official... the Christmas shopping season is well underway.  Right now there isn't a single major chain out there that isn't COMPLETELY decked out in Christmas cheer, but while they are all gearing up for their holiday profiting, I'm reminded that supporting our small business folks is probably the greatest gift we can actually give to our struggling economy this Christmas.  I believe it is the greatest gift we can give OURSELVES!!!

And the Institute For Local Self-Reliance agrees with me.  As published in their December 24th article from LAST Christmas, Top 10 Reasons To Support Locally Owned Businesses, they site some pretty great reasons that benefit us all!  My favorites on the list are building community prosperity and creating competition to ensure innovation and lower pricing over the long term.  I also feel pretty good about supporting someone's kid going to school rather than supporting some no-name "CEO purchase a 3rd vacation home" as I heard it put on facebook.  The other benefit that I'm JUST NOW understanding is the quality you get from someone who puts their love and care into a business they NEED to survive.  If it's one thing that drives me crazy about putting hard-earned dollars back into the economy is the lack of service and quality I receive for those dollars.  Small business owners are trying to survive and typically give you far better service and quality at far better pricing.

So, in the spirit of supporting my own local small business owners, I want to give a shout out to a couple of local East Valley businesses (in Chandler, AZ) who have given me AWESOME products and services this week:

First up I would like to thank Kevin and Christy of Baldwin Brother's Automotive who saved me THOUSANDS on my car repair.  My car dealership quoted me $3000 to repair my car, Baldwin Brothers did it for $750 and had my car back to me the same day.  They also inspected my whole car, finding a couple of issues the dealership didn't include in their $3000 estimate.  I have WAY more confidence in my mechanic (Kevin) and am SO MUCH happier with my service.  If you live in the area, I HIGHLY recommend Baldwin Brothers Automotive!!!  Click HERE to check them out.... not to mention I think they have the COOLEST website I've ever seen with the COOLEST logo!!!  Seriously, check them out just for that!!!

NOW.... I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST!!!  CHECK OUT MY NEW BLING!!!



Aren't they GORGEOUS!!!  I just bought them from my crafty friend Patty who, by the way, just opened a new Etsy shop!!!  She makes incredible jewelry (be sure to check out her soldered pendants) and is selling it at an incredible price!!!  Honestly, I've been eyeballing jewelry JUST LIKE THIS at the mall for 10 x's the price AND she customized it for ME!!!  I am so thrilled with this set.  RUN, don't walk, to Patty's Etsy store HERE!  Bling just doesn't get any better!!!

Really everyone, in both of these cases, not only did I support a local business, I ended up making out "like a bandit"!!!  I got SOOOO much more for my money and from people I call friends.  Could shopping this holiday season be any better than that?!?


Comments

Unknown said…
Thank you so kindly my friend. You'll look like a Queen wearing them as well. Enjoy!

etsy.com/shop/DesignbySimplydv9
November 10, 2012 at 3:47 AM
Julie Tucker-Wolek said…
I totally AGREE!!! We especially shop on "Small Business Saturday" :) PS ... can you email me??? bmwgirl@cox.net ... want to set up arrangements for Thursday!! Was hoping my friend could give me a ride??? Pretty please with a gluten-free cherry on top??? :) Of course when I tell you HOW early we are gonna be there ... lol... you might be running away from me!!! LOL!!!!!!
November 10, 2012 at 6:45 AM
Alison said…
This is a great post, and I totally agree with what you've said. And I think it's awesome that you gave a shout out to some of your favorite local small businesses!
November 10, 2012 at 8:46 AM
Post a Comment

Past 7 Days....

Quick Tip and Treat!

So I was on my group message board at P eertrainer.com and someone made a recommendation that I thought was wonderful! So wonderful in fact that I spent the afternoon balancing my checkbook to see if I can afford it!!!! Apparently the Magic Bullet is quite the go-to gadget for trainers and athletes! Why? Isn't that just another piece of garbage that they are trying to push on those infomercials??? Well, that's what I thought, but I've gotta say that more than one person in the discussion said that this piece of garbage is invaluable in keeping them on track with their nutrition. Here's what I heard today about the Magic Bullet: It's got a really powerful motor It really is quick and easy to use (the infomercial didn't lie) The handy single servings make it quick and easy to whip up a power shake for a quick "treat"! If you drink more than one a day, you can make many different types of shakes without continually dirtying up an entire unit! NICE! A co...
Post a Comment
Read more

You Can Thank Scandalous

Alright, this is a long story that I'll sum up right here: I'm giving away one of my bottles of Gun Metal Pink FLASH (also known as My Private Jet by OPI). That will leave me with only two bottles, so it's almost as important as giving one of you a kidney... if I had three kidneys. Ok... so.... one day I posted a blog about my all-time favorite nail polish My Private Jet , after seeing someone else's post of the same polish that didn't look anything near the polish I have. The one I saw was a holo and mine WAS NOT. Mine was an AWESOME gun metal pink! So I posted a question as to why my My Private Jet looked so different. Well, I got some VERY helpful responses from some VERY helpful bloggers informing me that there are MANY versions of this particular polish and that no one had yet heard of MY version. I even got a request from Scandalous over at Scandalously Polished to let her know if I find another one, and I did find another three, so I sent one to her. Now my ...
21 comments
Read more

HUGE Halloween Give Away!!!

Ok folks.... I promised another Halloween give away!  This one's HUGE!!!  One of my lucky followers is going to win FOUR (count em 1-2-3-4!!!) Tickled Pink Lil Haunt stamps.  Tickled Pink was kind enough to donate these brand new, unmounted rubber stamps and I've been ITCHING to give them away!!!  This give away includes the stamp used to make the beauty above (well, not THE stamp... hahahahahha)... Lil Haunts Lolita Vampire Lilith, I LOVE this one!  It also includes Lil Haunts Lolita Witch Lylah, Lil Haunts Lad Frankenstein Frankie and Lil Haunts Lolita Ghost Willow.  To see all these wonderful images in action, check out Tickled Pink's blog HERE ! So now, how to win these awesome images?!?  1.  Be a follower or become a follower. 2.  Share this blog post with your peeps either in a Facebook shout out, on a forum or in a blog post. 3.  Leave a comment here with a link back to where you linked this blog post and an email address ...
15 comments
Read more