Win a $50 gift card to BJ's

Part of the fun of roaming around BJ's Wholesale Club in December—aside from the abundant food samples, Dave's fave part of visits—is all the unexpected gifts you find. The club invited a bunch of moms in for a tour, complete with gift bag and gift card. I got the kids a sparkly lava lamp for $12.99 (until that moment, I had never realized just how much they needed a lava lamp) and a three-pack box of wine toppers made of hand-blown glass (hello, hostess gift). There was jewelry and food baskets and electronic stuff and Disney Princess and Cars 2 toys and iTune gift-card packs and cute pj's and veggie platters for parties and fab cakes and well, basically everything.

Consider yourself warned, there is a highly addictive substance at BJ's, and it is known as guacamole. I picked some up for Max's birthday party and not one but three different parents asked where I'd gotten it from. Of course, I said I made it. He, he.

BJ's is, I learned, the only wholesale club that accepts coupons. And if you buy a multi-pack of packaged items, such as toothpaste or babysitters (oh, wait, they do not sell babysitters), you can use a coupon for every single item. Rejoice!

Even more impressive: BJ's Feeding Communities program through which, every day, unsold food from clubs (including meat and produce) is delivered to a local Feeding America food bank. So far, they've donated a million meals. Until 12/31/11, for every "Like" on Facebook, BJ's will donate $1 to the program, up to $250,000.

The nice people at BJ's gave me two $50 gift cards to give away. To enter, just leave a comment below about your most-purchased items at wholesale clubs like BJ's. We buy a ton of paper towels (Max is one messy eater) and chocolate milk (the kids can put that stuff away).

Not a BJ's member? Not a problem. You can sign up for a free trial membership (note, it expires on 12/31).

Bonus entries:

• Like BJ's on Facebook

• Like Love That Max on Facebook

• Follow Love That Max on Twitter

• Tweet about this giveaway (one a day). A tweet: Win a $50 gift card #giveaway from @LoveThatMax & @BJsWholesale, ends 12/19, http://tinyurl.com/7lys4a9

The giveaway is open until Monday, December 19 at 11:59 EST, and is for U.S. residents 18 and older. I will randomly pick the two winners at random.org, alert you by email and announce them here. Note, to enter you must leave your email below if it is not visible on your blog as my ESP is kaput.