DH & I went into Chicago - our new years tradition. We go into the city - where it's eerily quiet, parking is plentiful, and the streets aren't overly crowded. This year, the tree at Macy's on State Street was beautiful - decorated in silver. Each year we go to see the tree, and like most year - I absolutely adored this one. Afterwards, we typically grab lunch in the city, though instead of an over-priced pizza place, this year we went to an old family favorite's of my husband, Nuevo Leon. This is the only restaurant I will wait in line for. The enchiladas in mole sauce are amazing. Best in the city, hands down. And a huge bargain, $6 a plate for salsa and homemade tortilla chips, 3 enchiladas with beef, chicken, or cheese and your choice of homemade sauce, beans, rice, and an appetizer. Where else can you eat that cheap in Chicago? Not even McDonalds. Total spent on lunch/dinner: $18.03 - and that includes tip!

We even popped into Avenue (clothing store) who was having 80% off select stuff, and I found jeans for $1.96! I can't tell you how happy I was about that. They were originally $35.90. A savings of $33.94! I can ring in the new year with that!!

After that, rather than spend $$/time on things we didn't need, we went home and DH helped me organized anthoer portion of my pantry. Little by little, things are getting whipped into shape. 2 shelves organized, 2 more to go. I'll tackle one today and the other tomorrow and by Monday, I'll start making my list of "endangered/extinct species" - all the that items I'm running low on or completely out of and need to desperately hound deals on. I'll post my list by the middle of next week - once I've got a good handle on everything we've got.

Any tips, hints, ideas, and suggestions for getting the deals are always appreciated - it takes a village to empty my pantry, and it'll take all the help I can get to refill it!