Sales alert

Don't get too excited, since Black Friday is still three weeks away. Yet I have noticed that this year there seems to be an endless number of promotions that I do not remember from previous years. You can believe me, because I monitor sales (especially online ones) quite closely, and I am proud to seldom buy at full price.

The thing is that, as most other contemporary moms, I have a limited amount of time for myself, and an even more limited amount of time to dedicate to shopping. In fact I have come to almost hate shopping in regular stores, with their often small and confusing display of merchandise and their full prices. This is why I rather shop online, where I never have to wait for the item I want in my size to be transferred from another store and where I can generally find sale prices.

I never pre-order and I always wait for a promotion. This year they are quite abundant and may help you if you need to buy a coat right now, although obviously if you can wait a few weeks until Thanksgiving you are better off. Here are my highlights:

SHOPPING FOR YOUR KIDS
Yesterday I stopped by Jacadi in Milan to pick up a nice pair of shoes for my son's birthday party next week. I found a 30% markdown on most fall items, from sweaters to shoes. The sale is not online in either North America or Europe, but you may want to give a call to you local store. In any case, you can always fall back on Ralph Lauren, which has a vast online sale section for kids' clothing all year long (shipping is limited to the US though, unfortunately for me).

SHOPPING FOR YOURSELF
In Canada, Holt Renfrew has a gift card promotion this weekend (November 5-6). It is, as usual at Holt's, a bit of a lame promotion because most designer brands such as Prada and Brunello Cucinelli are excluded. Contemporary designers such as Marc Jacobs and Phillip Lim are included though.
The sales "Mecca" is obviously the US. Neiman Marcus has an online First Call sale on Contemporary designers and cashmere, and I am sure interesting sales in store as well. Saks has an online sale as well, as usual quite limited (think 12 handbags, literally), but it will have great deals in store. On the contrary, Nordstrom's half-yearly sale for women and kids is worth a visit online, but probably not much in store from my previous experience. All three stores ship worldwide very efficiently, particularly Neiman Marcus (yes, I tried!)

Did you find any good deals you's like to share?