Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone! After much cleaning, cooking, baking, feasting, laughing, and appreciating, it is now officially time to prepare for the holidays; and what better way to finish up all that holiday shopping (or start, if you’re a chronic procrastinator like me) than with some of the cheapest shopping days of the year?

As I write this, it is Friday morning and I am watching my Twitter stream continuously update with little else but Black Friday-related tweets from those who are braving the chilly weather, long lines, and chaotic crowds in order to score great deals on the gifts their loved ones will receive this holiday season. While I am super happy for those who have saved boatloads of cash on their holiday shopping (saving money is always a good thing in my book) I would not trade places with anyone who is getting in on that Black Friday action.

I am not a Black Friday shopper, and because of that, I get to enjoy my cozy warm house in the wee hours of the morning while still being in reflective mode from Thanksgiving, and being so thankful for the people in my life who I am lucky enough to call mine. But while I am not out shopping this morning, I will be participating in another shopping day that I have been talking about over the last couple of weeks–Small Business Saturday.

Created in 2010 by American Express, Small Business Saturday is nestled between Black Friday and the online shopping holiday of the year, Cyber Monday. Its mission is to get people excited about supporting the small, independently-owned businesses operating in their communities. As I have talked more about the benefits of small businesses in communities, my own small business, and why I support small businesses and think you should too, I have gotten really excited to make an impact in whatever way I can by helping make November 24th the biggest shopping day for small businesses. To do that, my fiance and I will be paying a few independently-owned businesses in our small town a visit and hopefully getting some holiday shopping done since we haven’t even begun to shop for our families. Chronic procrastinator, remember?

One business in particular that I am excited to visit is a small farm and greenhouse that is located about 10 minutes from our house that has been in business since 1985. We have driven by it countless times but never actually got out of the car and looked around because we have always gone by on a whim and never when we had cash on-hand. Yeah, we’re those annoying people who never carry cash, ever. Because of the very cold nights we have had over the past few weeks, all of the flowers planted around our yard are dead, and there is a sign at the bottom of the hill you turn up to get to the farm and greenhouse advertising that they have mums, which I firmly believe are simple yet absolutely stunning flowers. I would love to get a pot of colorful mums for our house just to give us a breath of fresh, lively air that you just don’t get in the wintertime in Pennsylvania.

I will be posting updates and pictures to Twitter and Facebook all about our shopping trip on Small Business Saturday. Follow along and share your Small Business Saturday stories!

Want to help small businesses in your community? Head out to your local businesses on Small Business Saturday on November 24th. You can view a list of places to shop small that are local to you, and don’t forget to show your support and share your small business stories on Twitter using hashtag #SmallBizSat.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of American Express. I received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.