Monday, November 30, 2009

Weekend Recap

As much as I enjoyed the long weekend it is also good to get back to normalcy at least for now. The kids were out of school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday, so you can imagine the excitement around here this morning as they were all getting ready for school. NOT!

Anyway, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of food, family, and shopping. Yes, I am one of those. Those who venture out at O'dark thirty hunting for the best deals. I started my hunt at 4:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning. One of our local stores had the Wii Fit for 1/2 off! It is originally $89.99 but because of a early morning door buster I was able to get it for $45.00! Once Blake heard I was going he wanted to go so I let him and my friend's 14 year old daughter tag along. I think they were more excited that they got to wear their pajamas to the store. We got there a little after four and stood in line until six which is when the sale actually started. Blake stood in line for me while I did a little more shopping so it worked out great the Kelsie and Blake went with me. The only thing I forgot was my camera, but we had a really good time.

Blake and I were back home and in bed by seven and didn't wake up again until nine, just in time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I LOVE the parade and look forward to it every year.

While we watched the parade I finished up a dress I made for Mylee and Emma to wear to dinner at Matt's Aunt's house. The dresses turned out beautiful, but once again I forgot the camera. I will get some pictures as soon as they come out of the mountain of laundry that has been accumulated over the weekend.

We spent Thanksgiving afternoon with Matt's side of the family eating, laughing and having a great time. Once dinner was finished those of us who are crazy enough to venture out for Black Friday started going through the ads in search for the best prices. My MIL and SIL go together and then we meet Matt's Aunt and cousin for lunch to discuss what we were able to get and whether or not there were any good stories of the day.

This year I got a little crazy and was at Toys R Us when they opened at midnight. Yes, midnight. I am sure you are asking yourself what I couldn't possible do without at that hour especially since I was up at four in the morning earlier that day. Well, they had the Leapsters that are originally $59.99 for $29.99. Once again, I was trying to save some money by getting the best deal. I also had a list of stuff to get for my sister in law and Matt's Aunt. So, once again Blake, Kelsie and I set out on an adventure. We left my house at about 11 and were at Toys R Us by about 11:15 p.m. and as soon as I pulled into the parking lot I knew we were in trouble. The parking lot was full and the line was enormous. Blake and Kelsie got in line while I ran across the street to get us something to drink. Since it was a bit chilly out I decided we would just wait in our car until the doors opened and then go in. Well, as soon as the manager came out we got out of the car and headed up to the front of the store to wait for the end of the line so we could go in. Apparently everyone else had the same idea and people were coming out of no where. The store manager had a megaphone and was telling everyone to go to the back of the line or he was not going to open the doors. After about five minutes of no one moving, he called the cops. As soon as the cops showed up I decided that it was not worth it for one of the kids to get hurt so we left and went to Wal-Mart because I remembered that they were price matching.

Unfortunately I was not able to get my sister in law's stuff or Matt's Aunt's, but I was able to get the Leapster for Mylee and a DS game for Emma without waiting in line at Toys R Us. I just wish I had remembered it soon, but then the kids wouldn't have an exciting cops story to tell their friends today.

As soon as we were done with Wal-Mart I took Blake and Kelsie home (which they were not happy about) which was about 1:00 a.m. I dropped Blake off at home and since I was meeting my SIL at Old Navy at three I thought I would go ahead and go back to Toys R Us to see if I could get the rest of the stuff on my list. There was still a line outside and they were only letting people in as people left. I stood in line outside for about half an hour before I got in the store. By this point I was just so darn excited to get IN the store. I quickly spotted the items on my list, grabbed them and went to get in line only to find out that the line was all the way around the store and woven in and out of aisles. So, I set the stuff down and headed on over to Old Navy instead.

Old Navy wasn't much better although they did not have to call the cops. I met my SIL Julie there and we waited in line for about half an hour outside in the freezing cold as they like Toys R Us were only letting people in as people came out. Just as we were almost to the door we noticed several people coming out without any bags. So, I headed up to the front to see what was going on and boy am I glad. Some people were coming out saying that they only had two registers opened and that they had been in line for 40 minutes and got tired of waiting so they were leaving. I went back, told Julie this and we decided to go back later in the day so it was off to Kohls.

After Kohls we met my MIL and from there everything went pretty smoothly. We were even able to go back to Toys R Us and Old Navy and were able to get the items that we wanted.

So, after being up for over 40 hours straight I came home around six and crashed. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 8:30 a.m. the next morning. The only thing I wish I had done was taken my camera so I could share with you all how incredibly long some of the lines were.

Saturday Emma danced at the Festival of Trees and then we went to Church, and then Sunday we put up our Christmas tree and other decorations.

My creation

My creation

I found these last year and bought the red one and was very excited when I found them again this year. Mylee absolutely loves them and calls them "my Chinese." For those of you who are interested, I bought them at Pier One Imports.


4 comments:

Lori at JOY Unspeakable said...

Wow, Mandi! You are a tried and true Black Friday shopper. And it sounds like you found some amazing deals!! I didn't go out until Friday afternoon and spent all of about $14.

Hey, I tried to email you but it bounced back to me for some reason. Do you think you will be able to send the tutu you are making for Lucy before Christmas?? NO PRESSURE! But I'm planning on making her a box full of "costumes" and I think the tutu would be a GREAT addition that she will love!!

Thanks!!

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

Hi Mandi,

So glad to hear that you had a nice Thanksgiving:) And you got some nice deals on black friday too!!

Hope you have a wonderful week......love those cute little ornaments:)

Lisa

MJ said...

Wow!! Black Friday must have been crazy this year! I got out of bed at 8:30 that morning...lazy, I know. Oh, but it was nice. Congratulations on your fantastic deals!!

Those ornaments are so so so neat!! I love how Mylee calls them "My Chinese."

Melanie said...

Hi Mandi,
Love hearing about your adventures! I was also one of those crazies who waited in line at Toys R Us for the midnight opening. No cops though so it wasn't quite as exciting as your experience. I did get a leapster and a free Tsu Tsu (sp?) pet so I was pretty excited!

Love those asian ornaments from Pier 1. Thanks for sharing...I'm going to have to add that to my list!

Melanie