One Week...

Until the greatest day of the year. The Black Friday Adventure!!!!

For those of you who don't know or have been living in a hole your entire life, the Friday after Thanksgiving is an amazing day for headaches and bargains for Christmas shopping. Because of that, I thought I'd share with you a little about my history with Black Friday.

A long time ago, when I was a young child, my mom and my cousin, Rhonda, would travel to the stores early in the morning before work (like at six a.m.) to gather Christmas goodies, like wrapping paper and toys. They would frequently plan their excursion as we feasted on Thanksgiving turkey and then abruptly, one year, they stopped! Work schedules conflicted and the time was never to be found...until we picked up where they left off...

In 2003, my cousin, Sera (Rhonda's daughter) and I decided to have the brilliant idea of going to Best Buy to attempt what only our mothers had tried when we were younger. We arrived at Best Buy at 4:30 a.m. to find TWENTY people already in line. It was freezing, we had virtually nothing on (no real mittens, gloves, coats), but we had made it! Luckily, my wonderful father (who not only rises early, but at the time was 6'3" and weighed close to 300 pounds) came to our rescue and shielded us from the cold. He was a great asset because once we got inside, he simply walked and people moved out of his way. We left with one desktop computer, 2 twenty dollar DVD players, and a handful of bargain DVDs. Throughout the remainder of the day, we hit various stores, stopped at my mom's beauty shop, and had breakfast when everyone else was only STARTING to shop.

In 2004, Sera had to work and so Jim became my partner in crime. We were freshly married and I decided that the mall would be the trick this time. We arrived outside the mall at 4:30 a.m. to stand in line for the Disney store (there were a TON of people there, but we found out that they were going to Kaybee toys). We had a juice to share and donut. It wasn't quite as cold, so we actually had to take our sweatshirts off!! We also borrowed my brother's van for all of our loot. We left with two discounted snow globes (I collect them), kids pajamas, toys, and the like. We also hit Kaybee toystore. As in the previous year, we hit various other stores, stopped at the beauty shop and had breakfast when everyone else was only STARTING to shop.

In 2005, the crew was back together and Sera, Jim, and I decided to go to Circuit City for a camera and discount DVDs. This time, we arrived there at 3 a.m. (We had to wake up at 2 a.m. to get ready!) We again borrowed my brother's van and tried to bundle up as much as possible. We even brought blankets to wrap ourselves in. However, none of this bundling helped. Jim went to Dunkin Donuts for coffee, but by the time the store opened, Sera and I were convinced that our feet were frostbitten. We grabbed the camera and discount DVDs and stood in line...FOR TWO FREAKING HOURS! Needless to say, we will never go back to Circuit City again!! As in the previous year, we hit various other stores, stopped at the beauty shop and had breakfast when everyone else was only STARTING to shop.

In 2006, Jim and I had to make a plan of attack. Sera was once again, working. My brother lived in Crestwood at the time and a brand new Walmart had just opened up. In the previous years, we had NEVER ventured there because of all the nightmare stories we heard, but I knew we had to try it at least ONCE! At 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening, Jim and I drove by Walmart to my brother's home to pick up his van. The plan was to sleep there, rise super early and go shopping. We were wrong! I saw people out there and asked Jim to drop me off and he went to pick up the van! Our adventure began at 10:15 p.m. Thanksgiving night. There were roughly 15 people in line ahead of us. I knew if we waited any longer it would only get worse! People almost started fighting, but the police were right there. People even tried to cut in line, but they were stopped by the police again. We left with a new television, portable dvd player, toys, and bargain dvds. It was a good haul, but not an adventure I'd be eager to make again! As in the previous year, we hit various other stores, stopped at the beauty shop and had breakfast when everyone else was only STARTING to shop.

I am excited to see where we will go this year. Our planning has already begun and I'll be sure to blog about it! We also turn on 93.9 for wonderful Christmas inspiration and watch the Elf officially every year on that day! It's an amazing tradition that I'm happy to carry on from my mom so long ago...