Mother’s Day is less than a week away but it is not too late to order terrific Mother’s Day gifts and have them arrive on time. Ashleigh and I shared our first podcast today to chat about our favorite options for last minute Mother’s Day gifts.

Show Notes:

• Flowers are obviously one of the first things that people think of for mom. Be sure that you understand the difference between flowers that are delivered via carrier and those that are same day delivery by local florists. Both are still available with plenty of time for delivery. Early delivery may be cheaper. Consider mixed bouquets or tulips rather than standard roses. (Get 1-800-FLOWERS coupons)
• Food and drinks are great for the moms who have everything. Mrs. Prindables has some great deals right now (Tricia’s favorite) including free shipping on select items. Another great choice is wine. You can get Cellars Wine Club deals plus they deliver to Indiana (and most other states). Other merchants mentioned: Harry & David, Fairytale Brownies, Cheryls, David’s Cookies.
• Jewelry is another standard choice but you can go traditional or bold with spring colors. Be sure to use Ice.com coupons or MyJewelryBox.com coupons because they can save you 20-25% off and both guarantee delivery by Mother’s Day still.
• Are gift certificates an appropriate gift for mom? They might be depending on the mom. If you do choose one, be sure that it is tailored specifically to her tastes so that she knows that you put some thought into it. Merchants mentioned: GiftCertificates.com, SpaWish, Spa Finder.

Don’t forget to check for coupons as well as cashback at all of the merchants above at Sunshine Rewards.

Halloween is only a couple of weeks away, and Halloween shopping is in full swing. Besides the obvious (costumes), people are scooping up Halloween decor and treats. Cindy and Tricia review Halloween merchants and tell you where you can get some of the best deals and unique items (even places that are not known for their Halloween merchandise).

Show Notes:

• Tricia and Cindy wing it this week by not planning out in advance what they are going to talk about. That itself is scary.
• You can spend some big money on spooky Halloween decorations. Look for coupons at Sunshine Rewards!
• The Grim Reaper from SpiritHalloween.com really scares Tricia, and you can see a video of it here. Make sure that you enter to win the Grim Reaper from Sunshine Rewards.
• Congrats to BuyCostumes.com on their Commission Junction University win! Be sure to check out their deals under $10.
• Some popular costumes this year that Tricia has been working on promoting are Sookie Stackhouse, the Smurfs, and Wizards of Waverly Place. Twilight is still hot.
• A fun place to get candy for an adult Halloween party is Old Time Candy because they have candy by decades.

Click here for Halloween coupons and discounts.

Show Notes:

* Travel and Entertainment: Some great ways to save money while staying at home include Entertainment Books and Restaurant.com. If you are trying to work in some inexpensive trips, check out Go Cards from Smart Destinations and Priceline for flexible plans ($12 rental cars!).
* Outdoor Fun: Have a pool? We like In the Swim and PoolProducts.com for our chemicals. Swimsuitsforall.com is a great place for a variety of swimsuits at good prices. Stock up on suntan lotion online so you don’t get stuck paying high prices for it at the grocery store or amusement park.
* Membership Clubs: Netflix and Blockbuster are obvious, but have you heard about BookSwim? It’s a fun way to read a lot of new books for one low monthly price. Gamers should check out GameFly. If you’re into audiobooks, Audible is a good option.

Mother’s Day is May 9, and we are two moms who know the perfect gifts at the best prices. We shopped around to find some great gift ideas in different categories.

Show Notes:

• Traditional Gifts: candy, flowers, cookies, perfume, and jewelry. Some interesting ideas this year included (Cindy’s favorite) ThePerfumeSpot.com, the planters at 1-800-Flowers (after Tricia saw them on Undercover Boss), Corso’s Cookies, chocolate covered strawberries at CC Berries, Mother’s jewelry from Limoges.com, and treats from Hannah’s Caramel Apples.
• Cool Gifts for Cool Moms: Customized gifts from A Gift Personalized, affordable and “funky cute” (in the words of Jillian) jewelry from Emitations, Zip It bags, spring nail polish from Sephora, tea makers from Teavana, and wine collections from MyWinesDirect.
• Mom Who Has Everything: Custom print from Canvas Press, stationery from Expressionery, and food from Gourmet Station.
• We touched on a lot of the coupons and sales that you can jump on for most of the above if you shop soon. You should be able to find them all at Sunshine Rewards as well as most other coupon sites.

January went by so quickly that this was our first podcast of the year. Just in time for February, we decided to review Valentine’s Day merchants. Cindy led most of the podcast because she has been knee-deep in planning Valentine’s Day promotions for some of our websites.

Show notes:

* Quick recap of Affiliate Summit and some of the benefits of attending this year.
* Flowers always work for Valentine’s Day and 1-800-Flowers has a lot of different options. Be sure to understand the difference between having your flowers delivered by FedEx and those delivered by local florists.
* Bath & Body Works and The Perfume Spot have good options for both men and women. I got my favorite new perfume (Pink Sugar) from The Perfume Spot. Bath & Body Works has a terrific new Godiva candle available only online.
* Crazy for Bargains is great for fun pajamas for women, men, and kids. Personally, I like the boxers for holidays. Romantic Gowns actually has some great lingerie, including some cute pink and red sets that would be perfect for Valentine’s Day. (Here the mother/daughter podcast got a little bit awkward).
* Jewelry is traditional for Valentine’s Day and May Leigh has some nice options. Women seem to be wearing more jewelry these days, including multiple bracelets and necklaces at a time and mixing silver and gold. Things Remembered has both jewelry and other items available for personalization.
* You usually can’t go wrong with food (especially if the gift is for me). David’s Cookies makes homemade tasting cookies that can be ordered through the 10th. Ghirardelli is an impressive brand name with high quality chocolates.
* From the customer standpoint, these were all merchants that we personally like to shop through.

Lots of great Valentine’s Day gift ideas today. Hopefully a little something for everyone.

Show Notes:

* Food Gifts. It’s relatively easy to find food gifts that can be shipped as late as December 22 and make it in time for Christmas. Good choices include Hickory Farms, David’s Cookies, Mrs. Prindables, Kosher.com, Wolferman’s, and Omaha Steaks.
* Non-food gifts. This category was a little bit harder for us but we did find some great deals. Check out Ice.com, magazines.com, 1-800-Flowers, Amazon.com and Vann’s.
* Gift Certificates and Gift Cards. This is the most traditional category of last minute gifts. There are some things to watch for, however, such as shipping and handling fees or delayed shipping. Look for electronic gift certificates from places like Apple iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, GameFly, and Restaurant.com.

This will probably be our last podcast of the year, so happy holidays from Cindy and Tricia!

In the absence of a good theme this week, we decided to talk about the last place that each of us shopped online. Interestingly, we had all shopped at the places that the others had last shopped (that sentence seems weird). It was our second week using the free conference calling site instead of Skype and it went well.

Show Notes:

* Cindy explained why she shopped at KraftyKid.com despite the fact that she has no kids at home. She got so caught up in the excitement of everyone else buying the craft grab bags that she ended up buying some for her grandsons. (Earn 10% cash back at Sunshine Rewards)
* We’re hoping that KraftyKid.com will be able to stay in business even though their site says that they are no longer doing the Craft of the Month clubs. The grab bags are terrific.
* Tricia talked about drugstore.com and the volumizing hairspray that she purchased there the other day. Everyone was in agreement that drugstore.com has a huge selection of different types of items as well as regular coupons and discounts. (Get drugstore.com coupons and earn 5% cash back).
* Cindy loves the “BOGO.” Angie thought Tricia’s talk about the Sexual Well Being section was TMI.
* Angie introduced Restaurant.com and everyone talked about what a great deal their restaurant gift certificates are as well as how it helps you to try out new restaurants. (Shout out from Tricia to Mudsocks in Noblesville, Indiana!) (Get Restaurant.com coupons and earn 7% cash back)

Next time we will be back to a more traditionally themed podcast. Maybe.

Father’s Day is June 21, which is right around the corner. This week on She Shops Around, the ladies reviewed three different merchants that would be perfect for Father’s Day Gifts. Father’s Day is no longer about ties for dad. It’s about gadgets and grilling and gifts that make dad feel special.

Show Notes:

• Angie reviewed Omaha Steaks, which all three of us have ordered from before and been pleased. Find out what to do with those coolers after you have received your order.
• Tricia reviewed Buy.com, her “go to” merchant for gifts for her husband.
• Cindy reviewed a merchant that is newer to the group, DiscountWatchStore.com. Learn about the different types of watches you can buy and how to be sure you are getting what you want. (Use the Sunshine Rewards exclusive limited time DiscountWatchStore.com coupon)
• Want to win a $10 gift certificate? Be sure to listen to the whole podcast and you will find out how you can be entered!

Next month we will be talking about FAMILY summer fun.

With summer weddings and anniversaries on the horizon, we took an opportunity to talk about wedding gift ideas. With about 55 years of marriage total between the three of us, we had a lot to talk about! Even if you don’t have any weddings on the horizon, you don’t want to miss this review of three great merchants.

Show Notes:

• History and tradition of June weddings (ladies…are you ready to help with the harvest?).
• Main types of wedding gifts: cash, registry, non-registry.
• Cindy walks us through the Personal Creations website and the types of personalized gifts to give for weddings, anniversaries, and wedding attendant gifts. Personal Creations offers a lot of coupons throughout the year.
• Tricia discusses MyWinesDirect and the different between it and other online wine sites. Quality wines at lower prices but they may not be brands that you necessarily know.
• Angie talks about Kohls and the Kohls wedding registry program. Great for household gifts and decor.

Check out our entire Wedding and Anniversary Gift section. Next podcast, Father’s Day ideas!