Shopping Friends

Here’s a great offer that’s good until June 30, 2008. You can get a free Senseo Coffee Pod System for only $15 shipping and handling!

The offer includes the Senseo single cup coffee maker ($62.47 on Amazon), a package of coffee pods ($4.99 value), a coffee pod canister, a $1 Sara Lee coupon and five $20 Senseo coffee maker coupons for friends.

Mine just arrived a couple of days ago, and I really love the convenience, speed, and taste of the coffee. You just fill up the little water container, push a button to heat the water (takes seconds), then push another button and out comes a single cup of perfect coffee. It leaves a foam on the top which is kind of cool.

Senseo has all kinds of coffees and teas available. You can also buy refillable pods to save money.

This is too good a deal to pass up!

Popularity: 45% [?]

If you couldn’t find a Nintendo Wii locally to give as a Christmas present, you probably found it on eBay for a lower price than you expected.

Buyers were getting them for between $300 and $400, which was a pretty good price based on the store price of $250, considering past experience with hot, hard-to-find Christmas gifts.

Apparently, Nintendo actively tried to manage the eBay price of Wiis, according to a report on the video game blog Kotaku on Monday.

Titled “Nintendo torpedoes the Wii grey market,” the Kotaku story details the Wii atmosphere during the holidays and earlier.

Those selling Wiis on eBay thought they would be earning small fortunes.

“Rumors of chip shortages ran rampant, and I personally was certain that the eBay grey market price for the (Wii) would…meet if not surpass the highest numbers seen during the initial late 2006 release window,” Mike Fahey wrote on Kotaku. “Miraculously, that never happened. At the very last moment, in a series of moves that gained them criticism from fans, Nintendo managed to pull together enough supply to curb the often ridiculously inflated eBay demand before it was too late.”

On December 14, Nintendo held a conference call for reporters in which it talked about its plans for handling holiday demand for the Wii. It discussed many different options, including a rain-check system (as well as new stock that would be available at a series of retailers.

This seems to have worked, giving the impression that it wasn’t necessary to pay a large sum of money get a Wii on eBay. As a result, the huge number of Wiis on eBay dropped below $400 by December 17. Then major retailers got fresh shipments of Wiis right before Christmas, the number available on eBay rose dramatically, and prices dropped.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Oprah revealed her annual list of favorite things today, one of which was the Premiere Deluxe Scrabble game set. This Scrabble set must be on the wish list of every dedicated aficionado of the game, with its alderwood and birch veneer cabinet that rests on a rotating base and has a storage drawer for all the game pieces.

With its brass-colored metal accents, faux-ivory embossed tiles with leather pouch, and wood / brass tone tile racks, this is one fine looking game board. My favorite feature is the gold-toned raised grid that holds the tiles in place.

Just to add a little more luxe, the score pad and pencil are foil stamped, and it comes with a sand timer with die-cast metal end caps.

For those of us who love to play Scrabble, this game set would be a pleasure to play (and win) on.

It retails for $79.99 but you can snap it up at Sam’s Club for $70, or if you prefer to pay top price, order it from Amazon for $299.95.

Let the game begin!

Popularity: 74% [?]

My friend has the Coach Carly handbag, and I am so envious! It’s just the right size, has a great look, and costs $348. Take a look…is this cute, or what?

As much as I want it, will I ever get one? Highly doubtful…for me to spend that much on a purse, it would have to last 7 years at a minimum, and I get so bored with purses I’d want to change it out within a year.

I went to Mexico and bought a Louis Vuitton-like purse. I thought I had really scored, especially since I bartered the price down 50 bucks, until someone pointed out the initials were wrong. Damn!! It’s a really well made handbag, but I have too much pride to carry it now. The fake Dooney and Bourke is too small to hold anything, but at least it looks real.

The day I was supposed to go to my niece’s purse party I got sick - that was such a bummer. I was so hopeful I’d find a faux-Carly there.

Now I hear Marshall’s is carrying Coach at a discount. The same friend with the authentic Coach bag found a darling pair of Coach shoes marked down from some ungodly price to $100 - maybe there’s hope yet.

Popularity: 74% [?]

So, have you tried on clothes using My Virtual Model yet?

A lot of stores, including L.L. Bean, Sears, and Lane Bryant offer this option. I have to admit to having mixed feelings.

It’s pretty slow getting her all set up. In fact, the application keeps freezing on me, which is frustrating. My hairstyle seems to flatter us, but I can’t get the lips right. They look nice, fuller than mine, and since I always wanted fuller lips, I think I’ll just leave them that way.

She looks like a nice person, but my virtual model looks too damned fat. I wish she’d lose some weight - I know I don’t look that fat. Okay, fine, since she can’t seem to change, I’ll accept her that way. After all, after making her look “more mature,” obviously neither of us is in our youth.

She doesn’t understand that at our age/weight we don’t tuck our tee shirts in. No option to change that. We seem to look like hell in everything but black, which thankfully really is slimming. The dresses are bad news, so we’re limited to pants. That’s fine, I prefer wearing them anyway.

The good part of this experiment is that I now I know that I should only wear black pants and shirts, with the exception of a colorful jacket or sweater. The bad part is one of us has got to lose some weight, and soon.

Popularity: 49% [?]