Saturday, November 24, 2007

Black Friday deals...

I'm one of those crazy people who gets up at the crack of dawn to start my Christmas shopping on black Friday and Joe (aka...my holiday shopping assistant) was actually up before me to feed and walk the girls before we went out.

I rolled out of bed about 3:15am and shortly after we were on our way to Kohls, which opened at 4am. At Kohls we were to meet up with my friend Christine along with her daughter and cousins. The place was wall to wall people just grabbing things right and left. By the time I made it to the display I needed, the door buster deal I was there for was already gone! At that moment, my cell phone rang and it was Christine telling me she already had the item for me. Thankfully, she got there a few minutes before me and grabbed the last one.

After battling Kohls, we headed over to Starbucks for a caffeine pick-me up and then off to Target to stand in line for the 6am opening. There were two BIG deals I needed to get. We waited in line for about 45 minutes...it was chilly, so the hot drinks were definitely a good thing. While in line we tallied up what everyone wanted and came up with a plan to each run to a separate item and grab as many as we needed. My job was to battle the electronics department, Joe was to head straight to luggage and Christine was heading straight for the DVD's. Then we would meet up and head for the toys. As soon as we cleared the doors, we sprinted to our sections and got everything we went for....score!

All our shopping the entire day was gifts, except for this 8 piece luggage set we picked up at Target for the China trip. We've been wanting "disposable" luggage since we've heard how beat up and smelly the luggage gets by the time we get home from China. I figure we wanted a single use set that we could donate to Goodwill when we get back, and this one was ONLY $49. Here it is...



The set includes:
  • 29" rotating wheel suitcase
  • 25" rotating wheel suitcase
  • 20" rolling upright
  • backpack
  • duffle

It also includes these three packing organizers, which I think will come in pretty handy for a medical kit and other small items that need to stay together.

All in all, between yesterday and today, it's been a very successful shopping weekend. We pretty much got all our gifts, except a few. I love to have all the shopping out of the way and to be able to concentrate on other things.

Our fubaby, Addy, is never too sure about change and her new Costco doggie bed was no exception. She couldn't quite figure out how to lay on this bed. Here's how I found her when I got out of the shower this morning...

14 comments:

Middle-Aged Moi said...

I honestly can NOT imagine getting up that early. And NO STORES here in Canada are EVER open that early! The earliest is 7:00, and THAT'S early for here! Wow. Brave woman.

Colleen said...

I actually faced a little bit of Black Friday ... just enough to hop over to Walgreens to pick up the outside holiday decorations. I strolled out the door at about 10:00, casually drove the mile or two down the street, spent some time in the holiday aisle, picked out what I wanted, walked right up to the cash register and paid. Back home in less than half an hour. However, dad went out later to get lunch at Quiznos and said the traffic to get to the new In 'N Out Burger was horrendous. We'd been waiting for three years for that store to open. Now I need to wait til the furor calms down so I can go.

Lisa and Tate said...

You are a genius shopper!!! Why to score on black friday!

Lisa and Tate said...

Ooops meant WAY to score on Black friday!

Elise said...

Glad you scored all that good stuff!!!! I wish I was a morning person so I could take advantage but unfortunately when the alarm goes off, sleep seems like a better deal;)

Joannah said...

You are one brave lady! I have never been out for early shopping the day after Thanksgiving. It looks like you scored some good deals though.

M3 said...

Ok, your 3-man Black Friday team and that divide-and-conquer plan of attack was GREAT! You guys are so good.

(That pic of Addy and the new doggie bed cracked me up)

Catherine said...

Great shopping! I've never been in the US for a black Friday shopping day but would like to give it a try sometime. Looks like lots of fun and an adventure to boot. Like your divide and conquor tactic. Sounds like it worked perfectly.

Ava Baby said...

Good call on the luggage. I bought a really expensive Samsonite set that now looks like crap from the China trip. I would have normally been out there with you on black friday but didn't have the heart to drag Ava out of bed that early this year- maybe next year. ;)

Shelley said...

OMG - you are crazy, girl. But more power to you. You and your posse obviously have done this before. :) Congrats on your progress.

I love the pic of Addy. Aren't dogs just a hoot? Hah!

Deb said...

Awsome deals!

Alyson and Ford said...

You guys planned this out so well and the luggage was a sweet buy! And to think we haven't even started our Christmas shopping - ugh!!!

btw: love the new header...

Shannon said...

Addy is sooo cute! Tell her that Bernie & Gracie have costco doggie beds and after they circle around on them and scratch them a few times, the beds are just dandy! =)
Just reading about your shopping is exhausting! 3:15? Oh my goodness! Way to go on the deals though!

Carol said...

Great idea about the luggage. Ours came home all beaten up. I am glad we didn't carry anything fragile.