Day Twenty-Four: Survival
Daniel, Zoe and I braved "Black Friday" yesterday. I figure after years of being in retail, I might as well see what the day after Thanksgiving shopping is like on the other end of the register. In my opinion, it's a lot better than being the person stuck behind a register or being all cheerful to crazed, maniacal shoppers who are usually not so nice.
We went to Babies R Us and got a couple Baby Einstein DVD's since I'm getting tired of watching the same four over and over again. They were $5 off, but the rest of their sales seemed pretty unremarkable. We walked into Old Navy, did a circle and walked right back out the door. The line was too long and too many people for our tastes. Then we had a leisurely lunch to prepare for the rest of our shopping. We checked out Bombay since they are going out of business. Nothing. Great sales, but the store isn't really our style and well, it sort of freaked me out being in there after that company being my livelihood for so many years... and I wanted to help them re merchandise their store which would have been "crazy customer" of me. Anthropologie is always fun for me, but really just to look. $288 for a gorgeous sweater coat is $288 I'd rather spend on Zoe. But we did get some books at Borders with a 25% coupon. Next on the itinerary was the Carlsbad outlet. This was really the only place we faced true crowds. By the time we got there it was 2pm and the parking lot was ridiculous. Daniel got a little grumpy so I made fun of him and sang Christmas songs that I changed the words to: "'Tis the season to be grouchy. Grumble, grumble, grrr. Grrr, grrr, grrr, grrr." He suggested we retreat, but I was insistent. The outlet has a Carters store and I knew there would be good deals there.
We eventually got a really good spot that we just sort of happened on without having to be a parking space vulture and made our way to Carters. Just about everything was 50% off, some things were 70% off. We got some really cute stuff for our fashion plate and got out as quickly as we could. While Daniel sat on a bench feeding the monkey, I ran from store to store looking at stuff. Baby Gap: too crowded to see anything. Toy Store: nothing for baby's. Striderite: Baby shoes too big for Zoe, she has petite feet. As we were on our way to the car we did stop at a cart to browse some handmade scarves and pretty necklaces. Daniel got me a beautiful hand crocheted chocolate brown scarf with roses on it and a the gorgeous necklace that picks up my eyes and brightens me up. The couple running the cart are expecting a baby around the same time our good friends are (and as Zoe's birthday) so we enjoyed talking with them and contributing to their business. Also, we walked away with two lovely items for $30.
And then we went home. I felt good about not going over the top with our spending, but purchasing things that were a great deal. We didn't get any real holiday shopping done, but we put money back into an economy that desperately needs it right now AND we got out of the stores relatively unharmed and cheerful. 'Tis the season, folks!
Speaking of: today is the day we're decorating my parents Christmas tree. I bought eggnog last night to drink while we're doing it. I love this time of year now that I'm not stuck in a store. Having Daniel, and now Zoe adds to my holiday cheer a thousand times. I hope you all are enjoying the beginning of the season as much as we are.
We went to Babies R Us and got a couple Baby Einstein DVD's since I'm getting tired of watching the same four over and over again. They were $5 off, but the rest of their sales seemed pretty unremarkable. We walked into Old Navy, did a circle and walked right back out the door. The line was too long and too many people for our tastes. Then we had a leisurely lunch to prepare for the rest of our shopping. We checked out Bombay since they are going out of business. Nothing. Great sales, but the store isn't really our style and well, it sort of freaked me out being in there after that company being my livelihood for so many years... and I wanted to help them re merchandise their store which would have been "crazy customer" of me. Anthropologie is always fun for me, but really just to look. $288 for a gorgeous sweater coat is $288 I'd rather spend on Zoe. But we did get some books at Borders with a 25% coupon. Next on the itinerary was the Carlsbad outlet. This was really the only place we faced true crowds. By the time we got there it was 2pm and the parking lot was ridiculous. Daniel got a little grumpy so I made fun of him and sang Christmas songs that I changed the words to: "'Tis the season to be grouchy. Grumble, grumble, grrr. Grrr, grrr, grrr, grrr." He suggested we retreat, but I was insistent. The outlet has a Carters store and I knew there would be good deals there.
We eventually got a really good spot that we just sort of happened on without having to be a parking space vulture and made our way to Carters. Just about everything was 50% off, some things were 70% off. We got some really cute stuff for our fashion plate and got out as quickly as we could. While Daniel sat on a bench feeding the monkey, I ran from store to store looking at stuff. Baby Gap: too crowded to see anything. Toy Store: nothing for baby's. Striderite: Baby shoes too big for Zoe, she has petite feet. As we were on our way to the car we did stop at a cart to browse some handmade scarves and pretty necklaces. Daniel got me a beautiful hand crocheted chocolate brown scarf with roses on it and a the gorgeous necklace that picks up my eyes and brightens me up. The couple running the cart are expecting a baby around the same time our good friends are (and as Zoe's birthday) so we enjoyed talking with them and contributing to their business. Also, we walked away with two lovely items for $30.
And then we went home. I felt good about not going over the top with our spending, but purchasing things that were a great deal. We didn't get any real holiday shopping done, but we put money back into an economy that desperately needs it right now AND we got out of the stores relatively unharmed and cheerful. 'Tis the season, folks!
Speaking of: today is the day we're decorating my parents Christmas tree. I bought eggnog last night to drink while we're doing it. I love this time of year now that I'm not stuck in a store. Having Daniel, and now Zoe adds to my holiday cheer a thousand times. I hope you all are enjoying the beginning of the season as much as we are.
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