This evening, the Junior League of Raleigh will host a fund-raiser event at the Raleigh convention center. The event will celebrate 1985, the first year of the League's A Shopping SPREE! fund-raiser.

The event will feature a Saks Fifth Avenue runway show and more than 130 exhibitors.

It will run 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

I got a press release this afternoon titled, "Sue, come see geeks line up at midnight tonight for Win 7!" LOL.

Well, geek or not, you can go to CompUSA at 3131 Capital Blvd. in Raleigh tonight for the Windows 7 launch party. The party starts at 11 p.m. and goes till 2 a.m. At midnight, the store will start handing out freebies, including:

*The first 77 shoppers will get a $77 gift card.
*The first 200 shoppers will have the opportunity to win free Windows 7 installatio
*The chance to win a Windows 7 Dual Core PC (CompUSA is giving away a PC a day for 77 days)
*And additional discounts and deals

If anyone goes, send me a photo and I may post it here! 

Just a reminder that Cameron Village is hosting its big GrooveFest party today to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

The BackBeat, a Beatles tribute band, will be performing from 4 to 7 p.m. Stop by to join the festivities and visit some of the center's new stores. The Goodberry's opened earlier this week. Uncle Fatty's Drive-In (not really a drive-in) is on schedule to open Sunday.

If you have gently used children's books you are not using, here's a really cool way that you can donate those books to help our military families.

Donate your books (or new ones) at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh between now and Oct. 18. They will be shipped to soldiers overseas in Iraq, where an Army surgeon will film soldiers/parents reading those books out loud. The video and the actual book will then be packed up and mailed home to that soldier's child. So the child will be able to watch the video and read along with his or her mom or dad.

I can't imagine a cooler gift for a child who will not have a parent here for the holidays. The store is at 3522 Wade Ave, a few doors down from Whole Foods.

I know. I'm a sucker for a good cause.

If you need a car wash, pop by the McDonald's at Ten Ten and Kildaire Farm roads in Cary today between now and 3 p.m.

The Middle Creek High School Mustang Band will be out there washing cars to raise money for new uniforms and other needs.

If you are looking for a couple of bargains this week, it might be worth a trip to the Carolina Premium Outlets in Smithfield.

The center is holding a big Columbus Day sale, which runs through Monday.

Hours have been extended as follows:

Today: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Monday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

In addition, a number of retailers are offering special deals. Click read more to see the list.

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Just a reminder that the folks at Halloween and More at the Streets at Southpoint in Durham are sponsoring a repeat performance of the 'Thriller' video dance tonight.

The performance by a professional dance troupe will then be followed by a lesson, if you want to learn the dance yourself. Festivities start at 7 p.m.

Check out the video to get an idea of what it will be like:

As part of Cameron Village's ongoing 60th birthday celebration this week, there will be a special $10 offer that runs from Thursday through Sunday, when the big celebration party will be held.

Be one of the first 600 people to spend $60 at Cameron Village stores on those days and receive a $10 Cameron Village gift certificate. There's a limit of one per customer per day. And the certificates go to the first 600 people each day. You must be 18 years or older and show a photo ID to collect your prize. And, unfortunately, receipts from ABC, Rite Aid, Harris Teeter and Fresh Market are not eligible for the deal. To claim yours go to the special tent on Clark Street near The Party Shop and The Flying Biscuit.

This has just a little to do with retail, but I thought it was kind of fun. A local company called Twine Interactive sponsored a "dead drop" in Raleigh last week.

What's a dead drop? It's kind of like a scavenger hunt, but the clues are given out using a variety of social media, including text message and Twitter.

If you want to see how it works and see if you could have deciphered the clues, you can check out the photos and wrap up from the Twine Interactive dead drop HERE. The company says it may repeat the event soon.

For the whole month of October, Hungry Howie's Pizza is supporting the fight against breast cancer. All pizzas will come in bright pink boxes. And, more importantly, Hungry Howie's will make a donation for each pizza purchased to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Thus far, the only Triangle location for Hungry Howie's is the one at 1814 Oberlin Road in Raleigh, though there are several in the Greensboro and the Charlotte area.