Yep, people – this is a true story and I am so proud to say I was part of it! I am a fan of Black Friday and Holiday hustle-and-bustle shopping. Call me strange, but I thrive on crowds of people and signs that say 50% off. Last year on Black Friday, I had a 3 day old, so shopping was out of the question. And, prior to last year, it had been a few years since I truly went all out and shopped on Black Friday. We decided this year would be our year. We made plans and we executed them quite well, I must say. (By WE I am referring to me, my mom, Neta and Allison Ripple, and DeDe and Aunt Samantha).
I left the house on Thanksgiving night around 11:30 p.m. – the cold front had blew in and it was rather rainy and nasty, but no bad weather was going to keep us down. I had done all my Black Friday research and preparation: Christmas music downloaded to iPhone, sunny 99.1 preset to my radio, Black Friday apps on the phone (yes – they do make those) and info sheet in hand complete w/ what time all of our favorite stores opened their doors and what I wanted at each of those places. We met at Wal-Mart and I must say that was the worst and craziest place we went. My favorite buy there was a cute little stainless steel crockpot for $2.97…
Just b/c it’s the middle of the night doesn’t mean it’s okay to shop in pajamas. Also, just because it’s a “special” shopping day doesn’t make it okay to bring small babies and toddlers to Wal-Mart at 12:30 a.m. – just thought I’d share…
After Wal-Mart, I stopped by Whataburger and grabbed a giant Diet Dr. Pepper so I could re-fuel for the night/day ahead of me. We waited for everyone to be finished w/ their Wal-Mart shopping lists and shopped a few online specials during the wait, then we were off to Rosenberg around 1:40 a.m. We took two vehicles so that we’d have plenty of room for all of our loot.
Our first stop in Rosenberg was Kohl’s.
It opened at 3:00 a.m. We arrived around 2:40 only to find a long line already awaiting their opening. I didn’t quite understand what could be sooo important at Kohl’s that people would have to make a mad dash to get in to go buy before someone swiped it up, but whatever. We waited in our cars enjoying the heat and then got out around five til to get in line. It wasn’t bad at all getting in – no crazy shoppers and fights busting out in the middle of the aisle. I found lots of great stuff. The lines were horrendous which little did I know would turn into the theme of the day – everywhere we went had long lines. You just had to be patient. We stayed in Kohl’s for almost two hours and then headed over to Target.
And, in case you were wondering –this is exactly what I looked like – heels and all – at 5:00 a.m. NOT! In fact, I took a quick potty break at Kohl’s and when I looked in the mirror I just about scared myself – I looked horrible. I looked exactly like I do every morning at four in the morning, but the difference is I’m not in public. I just assumed everyone else had their shopping blinders on and were only concentrating on what they were set out to buy and not how bad I looked…
Anyways, we went to Target, and again we found some really great things. We got an insider shopping tip from a fellow El Campo shopper and were able to check out in customer service and avoid the reallllllyyyy long line there which probably cut about 45 minutes off of our time there.
We left there between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. and made a quick stop through the Burger King drive thru so that we could get a little more shopping energy. We shoveled down our food on the way to Sugar Land – no time to sit and rest – so much more shopping to be done and so many more door-busting deals to be found. First stop in Sugar Land was Toys R Us.
Lots of good things to be found here and I was able to check off one thing after another on my list! And, much to our surprise, not too busy and not terribly picked over.
After Toys-R-Us it was off to the mall. This is where we spent the remainder of our Black Friday shopping spree. We shopped til we dropped – starting with Gap who had the entire store 50% off until 10:00 a.m.
Following Gap, there was Gymboree, Children’s Place, JC Penney’s, Express, Bath and Body Works, Victoria’s Secret and Dillard’s – maybe more but by that time I was a little delusional!
We left Sugar Land around 10:30 a.m. – arriving back in El Campo barely able to keep my eyes open by 11:30 a.m. – making it, literally, a 12 hour shopping extravaganza.
I have not had that much fun in quite some time. It is VERY rare that I ever get to go shopping childless, so to get to shop kid-free for 12 hours straight w/ some of my favorite “girls”, I was in heaven. I had so much fun – even more than expected. I can’t wait til next year, or atleast until the day after Christmas :) …
%5B3%5D.jpg "IMG_6556 (2)")
%5B3%5D.jpg "IMG_7399 (2)")
