The One with All the Shopping

This past Friday was my inaugural Black Friday shopping experience. I know you all are SHOCKED, considering how much I love getting a good deal. Here were my main reasons for never partaking in the Black Friday chaos in the past:

1. I’m a pretty competitive person and do NOT like crowds. I figured this made for a disastrous (and dangerous) combination in a Black Friday shopper. Who knows what I would do to someone in a tug-of-war over a shirt or pair of shoes marked down to at least 50% off?!
2. My husband and I enjoy TWO complete Thanksgiving meals in one day, so you can imagine that the energy level and desire to shop is just as LOW as the desire to sleep in is HIGH.

Anyways, for WHATEVER reason, I decided that THIS WAS THE YEAR- I was going to shop until I dropped. Of course I needed an accomplice, so I talked my youngest sister into joining me on this adventure (also the poor sucker who was dragged into running my first half marathon with me....thanks, Megan!)

At about midnight on Thanksgiving, we began to lay out “the plan.” We planned out where we were going and in what order (based on when stores opened throughout the night/morning). We even printed off a map of the local outdoor shopping mall, highlighting the stores of interest. We don’t play around, people- this is serious business!

A wrench was thrown into the plan when we found out that a nearby outlet mall was open OVERNIGHT (GASP!!!)- they were already open!!!! Giddy at the idea of an ENTIRE night of shopping, I kissed my husband on the cheek and dragged my sister out the door.

All in all, we had a really good time! We didn’t get home until about 7am that morning, but both my sister and I walked away with a pair of boots (or two…) and a purse at at least half price. We counted the night a victory!

I have decided that the keys to a fun Black Friday experience are this (take this with a grain of salt, seeing as to how I have a total of ONE Black Friday experience under my belt…):

1. Don’t have high expectations- if you bank on getting all of your Christmas shopping done in this one mad, sleep-deprived dash, you are going to drive yourself crazy. My husband and I are about 90% finished with our Christmas shopping, so the Black Friday experience was MUCH less stressful knowing I wasn’t racing against the clock to get all my shopping done. (Sidenote: For the first time, we did almost ALL of our Christmas shopping online this year- I highly recommend it!)
2. Bring a friend, a book, snacks, and a pillow/blanket. We ended up taking a nap in the JC Penny parking lot between about 3 and 4 in the morning. We were unfortunately snack-less, and I must say this will significantly raise the cranky-ness level.
3. Unless you are DETERMINED to get a hot ticket item, do NOT go wait outside the doors of the store! (Seriously people?! It was cold outside!) My sister and I took the “stay in the warm car and just watch until the door opens” approach, and found this to be much more pleasant.
4. Have a plan- know where you’re going, what time you want to get there, and make a list of what you “need” so you don’t go overboard on spending. “Need” being a very relative term, of course….My husband knew I was on a mission for (i.e. “neeeeeeeded”) boots and a purse, so the financial “sting”/damage was much less that it could have been.
5. If you don’t bring your own thermos of coffee, knowing your nearest Starbucks location as well as what time they are going to open is KEY to a happy experience!

We had a WONDERFUL break- we relaxed, “gobbled until we wobbled” (borrowing the phrase from Larissa : )), and had a great time with family. I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Anyone else brave the crowds on Friday?