Freebies on Friday

It is not uncommon on a Friday night after work for me to stop for a window shop or two as I slowly make my way home. I think I do it on a Friday night because everything seems less of a hurry when you know that there are two whole days of playtime ahead. I love the weekend; in the same way a child might say recess is their favourite part of the school day. Tonight I stopped into two of my favourite stores, Chapters and Sephora. My motivation for choosing these two stores to browse in was the enticing birthday rewards awaiting me due to the fact that I was signed up for both of their free loyalty programs. Granted I didn't actually have to buy anything from Sephora to receive my birthday treat, but I felt a little bit cheeky walking up to the register empty-handed to ask for my gift. Instead, I took the opportunity to buy a durable, yet cute nail file. This eradicated any guilt and I still walked out feeling pleased with my purchase and my new mini lip treatments courtesy of Fresh, whom I was already a big fan of. When it comes to Chapters I could happily get lost in there for hours, perusing the shelves of books, magazines and gifts. Their birthday treat was bonus reward points, which you build up to hit targets to redeem for monetary amounts. I resisted the urge to take them up on their buy 2 get 1 free paperback book offer even though I would love the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my favourite author, James Patterson, as mentioned here. However, I did pick up the latest copy of People Style Watch magazine, which means I really should tackle my unread magazine pile this weekend. I love a good bargain and as such I do look in the clearance section in most stores and definitely in Chapters. I try not to make random purchases all the time just because they are at a reduced price, but sometimes or maybe many times I do throw common sense out the window, replacing my need with my want. This particular store visit saw me acquire a Christmas-themed white chocolate cocoa mix at a heavily discounted price. As I pondered over the purchase I thought I could either use it to make white hot chocolate, which would be great considering it is winter still, or I thought there was a possibility that it could be a recipe ingredient for an upcoming baking project. I had no real idea what kind of recipe, although I had a possible inkling of using it in a similar capacity to cocoa powder. Regardless, it too was purchased and with that both my bank account and my heart were a little bit lighter.