Instead of getting in line to buy a toaster oven at 4AM on this day after Thanksgiving, we slept in, had a leisurely breakfast with family and friends, and just returned from a peaceful stroll at the museum. Trust us, it was the perfect antidote to yesterday's chaos!  It also reminded us about the simple pleasures we discuss in our upcoming book Bitches on a Budget, and about an exhibit we recently visited at the National Portrait Gallery.

The year I won the San Francisco Writer’s Conference pitch conference, I had just gained some really valuable information in a morning session. (I mentioned this in an earlier WNFiN post.)  The session was taught by writing-career-coach Teresa LeYung Ryan and public relations/marketing consultant Elisa Southard.

I was hesitant. I was grumpy. I was in my PJ's enjoying some post Thanksgiving meal sloth when Megan of Undomestic Diva floated the idea. "Let's go shopping at midnight for Black Friday." My first thought? Only crazy people go shopping at midnight on Black Friday. Crazy people that get caught in stampedes and only end up saving pennies. Crazy, wild-eyed consumers who are willing to punch out mothers for that elusive fill-in-the-blank hot toy. I'm not crazy.

by Dr. Patricia Yarberry Allen