The Day After Thanksgiving

*information for this post was in part supplied by Hormel Foods through their Hormel Extended Family Blogger program. No compensation was received for this post.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful (and quiet) holiday. It was just the four of us at home celebrating and one of my friends, whose husband and kids had traveled to his hometown for the week, joined us for the meal. Everything was so flavorful and it was nice just to relax at home and spend time together.

With a mid-day meal, we didn't do anything formal for dinner. I pulled out some finger foods and dessert (pumpkin cheesecake) for the group to munch on. Times like this my family enjoys snacking on cheese and crackers. A perfect time to enjoy a Hormel Gatherings Party or Snack Tray (we love the Snack Tray size - they are great for snacking with just the family!)

In fact, we kept and cleaned the tray from the HORMEL GATHERINGS™ Supreme Party Trayand actually as pictured here refilled it with the contents of the smaller HORMEL® Snack Tray Pepperoni Bites (the pepperoni, cheese and pretzels)

and served it with some crackers and dip to make it a one stop snack station.

I hadn't planned to go out shopping at all yesterday, but the family joined my friend for one quick stop so she could have others check out the furniture she was going to get - since her family wasn't there to help her. Then, after the kids went to bed, I ventured out to Target to pick up a few of the less popular Black Friday deals. It was strange, there was almost no lines and there were even some of the displays that were not on the beaten path that were still fully intact (I had to remove the little plastic disc from the end of the hanging posts that holds the items in place during transit in order to purchase the item - all but one post had the disc still there). I was able to get everything that was on my list and more - 40% off all clothes was a great deal, I might have gotten more if I didn't want to get home at a decent time. I was glad I didn't linger, as the parking lot and minor road ways were icy and it only got colder as the night went on.

This morning, again, no early alarm setting for me. When I did get moving, I made three quick stops - Target (10% off Target Gift Cards), Kohl's (assorted doorbuster deals through 1 pm) and Giant Eagle (Amazon gift cards, 20% Fuel Perks). I had planned to get to CVS, but was beat and decided I could go later or tomorrow.

We enjoyed leftovers for lunch and now, we are just relaxing and the kids are watching movies. I love long holiday weekends with nothing specific scheduled to be done. I think it is a wonderful contrast to our normally (over) programmed lives of sports, activities, school and work.

No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed are mine or those of my family. I am completing this post as a participant in the Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger program. Hormel Foods provided some product and some of the information and images for this post.

Dropps Fabric Softener Pacs

I've been doing my own laundry since high school and a family worth of laundry for several years now. In my experience, adding fabric softener to the wash provides me with the softest clothes, as well as giving the laundry a nice fresh, scent. Using dryer sheets is great for combating static and imparting a nice, fresh scent on the clothes.

For me, the biggest challenge with liquid fabric softener, since I am usually multi-tasking or starting a load of laundry before I head out for my morning walk/run, is catching the rinse. I have tried devices that are meant to release your fabric softener in the spin cycle - really a clever device taking advantage of centrifugal force if you ask the engineer in me. They work really well and allowed me to use fabric softener in my wash, but I felt like I needed to replace them too frequently because there would become a build up inside. I am not sure if it was fabric softener that wasn't released or lint or a bit of both, but it got sort of ookey after a while.

A while back, I was offered the opportunity to try the new Dropps fabric softener pacs. They have a great fresh scent - the bag that I tried is Orange Blossom. The product is useable in all washers, including high efficiency style and all temperatures.

They are so convenient and easy to use. Similar to the Dropps detergent pacs, you simply toss them in at the start of the load. No need to catch the rinse cycle. I have been pleased with the experience. I feel that my clothes have been softer than they were when I was not using any fabric softener and the fresh scent stays with the clothes. As with any of the pacs, you need to make sure that you store them tightly sealed.

You can learn more about Dropps on their webpage (www.dropps.com) and join Dropps on Facebook.

No compensation was received for this post. A sample pouch of Dropps Fabric Softener Pacs was provided for my use. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.