Yay!!

Black Friday was an interesting experience, one that I hope to participate in again next year. I was told that most restaurants would be closed on the 22nd and that we may find ourselves eating at the local gas station. That came extremely close to being our reality as we drove around for a good hour looking for the "one restaurant" that would be open according to our front desk staff at the hotel (ours did not have a restaurant). I'm not sure if it was the shoddy directions he gave me or my lack of following correct ones, but we never found "Friendlys." We did however stumble upon a Perkins after driving around......forever!!! Yay!!!

We purchased a local newspaper and headed back to our hotel room to plot and plan which deals we wanted to get first and where to go. We then tried to go to bed, with the assistance of gravol at 8:30pm. Needless to say I tossed and turned until well after midnight desperately wanting to sleep. BEEP BEEP BEEP ahhhh I love the sound of an alarm at 2:30am.


I must say we did a fantastic job of not only staying awake but staying in good spirits while utter chaos closed in around us. We expected to stand in long lines and did just that while others tried to bud in ahead much to the dismay of those around them. We shopped from 4am until 2pm sans break which is a feat in and of itself. We finally emerged from the mall to the sight of big fluffy snowflakes falling all around us which was a change from the bright beautiful sun only 5 hours before. We gave our very weary legs a break from standing and stuffed our very hungry tummy's at The Olive Garden. Of course our shopping extravaganza was not over yet, we stayed out for a good 2 hours after our meal and finally returned to our hotel room around 5:30pm. Phew!!!

We had planned to shop the following day as well, but had purchased far too much already and were over our limit for the border as well there was absolutely no room left in my friends SUV. So we relaxed that night, watched a silly movie and got a good nights sleep for our drive home. We had a good giggle at the Toll Booth the next day as the woman chastised us for paying with all of our remaining change. Last time I checked, dimes and nickles were still considered money no??? My friend apologized to her in advance and stated we couldn't use the change at home and wanted to get rid of it. She told us we had to "wait until I count this" which we obviously expected. We waited quietly while she muttered to her friend about how "they wouldn't do this at the bridge" and about how obviously horribly rude we were blah blah blah. I plan to pay with all of my leftover pennies next time I go through :)

I clearly have a penchant for shoes among other things. I mean come on now, that first pair, patent peep toe, silver healed lovelies, how could I not?? My only other "big" purchase was a camcorder and I bought a few books "Eat Pray Love" and "Love in the Time of Cholera." Did anyone else brave the crowds and pick up a few treats??