Retail therapy and Christmas, here we come!

It's been bucketing it down with rain like only Vancouver rain can manage. (Nope, I'm sorry but Oxfordshire rain pales in comparison.) So on this dreary, cold day, mom came over to my side of town and we decided to have a little lunch, run a few errands and check out some of the stores.It's November 2nd, and this means it's fair game for Christmas decorations in the Vancouver stores.Fair enough. I only really have a problem if the Santas and sparkles and lights come out before Halloween, but then that's probably just me.But bring on November and bring on the Claus...it's all good. So, what follows are a few of the best of the best that I found:I wanted to show you these critter pillows. I LOVE THEM...OMG! Immediately I'm thinking of how I can make my own version for my bed. I could paint them, have some photos printed on canvas, or embroider them. Painting will probably win out. It's easy to paint on fabric. I have a dress. It was made for my mother, and my aunt painted the bottom of it for a Halloween party in the 70's. The dress and painted design of white spiderwebs and thistles is still fine despite being folded in the Halloween box and worn to parties by me or my daughters for years. Also loving that fake fur pillow.How cute is this little deer next to the tree trunk vase. I loved these little deer and they are made from bits of bark. How hard can that be to make around a piece of Styrofoam roughly carved into a deer shape? Not too hard I think. Bet there could be 13 deer on the fireplace mantle in no time. :)I also loved these place mats and, actually, the modern dishes looked great on them too. I'm beginning to see a theme of clean, white, natural, wildlife for my Christmas this year. :)I found these two wreaths I liked very much. I liked the natural, snowy look of the pinecone wreath, (which I could make in no time), but I also loved the look of this silver twinkly wreath. I was thinking twigs sprayed white and glittered with silver glitter might look nice.My last photo is from one on my favourite stores called Lulu Lemon. You might know it, and yes I know, the company is very good at putting their foot in their mouth now and again...no I'm not talking about yoga either...but I'm a fan of those clothes and the company would have to do a lot more than just come up with a stupid comment every once in a while to make me fall out of love, (because as every one knows, true love lasts for ever). Anyway, I'm coveting one of these gorgeous big gym bags. Wouldn't that be the ideal thing to fly to England with? I think so. And also am coveting a couple of the hoodies and a new pair of yoga pants. (sigh) Maybe if I'm a really good girl...Hey, my 31 days Nester challenge for October went well and I think I produced 31 posts in 31 days...please don't go back and count and tell me I didn't, let me live with my delusions of grandeur...lol...and so I've joined BlogHer and my friend Rarasaur for Nano Poblano, :)  Rara's name for the November daily post challenge. So I think I'll just keep going. :)   But then, we all know how good I am at keeping schedules and following rules.