Black Friday Report

Hello Everyone!
Okay so as I mentioned in my last post I was planning on braving the wee morning drive to Atlanta, traffic, zero parking options, and truly crazed crowds to  not only WORK on Black Friday but also partake in the shopping craze for the very first time. Here is my report.
So Thanksgiving day I did some early online shopping to get a few gifts taken care of. I don’t know if I just never paid attention before or retailers were really trying to boost sales but there were a lot of online deals starting Wednesday and Thursday of last week before Black Friday. I also got some great deals at Talbots! I can’t wait for my stuff to come. Shirts regularly priced at over $40 for $15. Yes please! I’ll have to share my purchases for some fashion inspiration as soon as they come! Mini fashion show? I think yes!
Whilst shopping online Thursday I thought about it and there were a few things I knew I for sure wanted at a couple stores and the deals on Friday morning were going to be great{30-50% off items before 11am}. Thus I decided to get up early and be there right at opening to get what I wanted for myself and for gifts. I had to be at work amongst the madness anyway in the morning. Why not partake?

Jane and I are ready to hit the road

I got up before 5am to get ready for work, my clothes and work bag were set and ready for me to hit the door. I stopped for some Starbucks sustenance, chai latte and granola yogurt. A little caffeine to wake me up! Anthropologie opened at 7am, I got there at 6am. No one was there. I felt like a creeper sitting in my car. Where are the shoppers with that slightly crazed and sleep deprived look in their eyes? And then the cars started coming. I was first in line and out in 10 minutes. Honestly there were probably only 15 people there at opening. However, the lady standing next to me had just left another store and told me the tales of her true Black Friday experience there. People were going insane grabbing up things, trying on clothes in the middle of the store, and being overall rude people. This made me feel a little scared since the job I was heading to in a few hours was at that mall.


One of the items I was lusting for a deal on. Anthropologie’s Bake by Numbers pie platter. Sooo cute! As a former art student and overall lover of baking, art, and unique and crafty things I HAD to have this. On sale for $9.99!!! Get outta my way BF shoppers.
Mission Accomplished!

After leaving store #1 I headed to Talbots to check out the sale. Same story here. They opened at 7am for Black Friday, 30% off one full priced item. But the items I was looking at were sale items already 65% off. They had tons of clothes on sale…and I was the only one there. At first when I got there I second guessed that they were opening early. I got a lot of great items at over 65% off, a few things were only $5 if you can believe it!
Here is where things got a little interesting. I headed to the mall. I really lucked out and found a parking spot right next to the entrance I needed to be at. I had almost 2 hours to kill so I wandered the mall. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. There were a lot of people there but not quite what I expected. I kind of enjoyed myself. There were a few stores that were so crowded I just left. I don’t need anything bad enough to wait over 30 minutes to check out. Plus I’m basically done with Christmas shopping now. I must say doing some recon work the day before really helped. I made a list of the places I wanted to go and what I wanted to look at buying, which wasn’t much.
The rest of the weekend was sort of ho hum. Work wasn’t that busy, Sunday was surprisingly busy compared to Friday and Saturday which we were expecting to be super crazy.
Leaving the mall on BF, however, was another experience all together.

Umm. Can I please just get out of here and go home!?!

Get me outta here!

Overall it wasn’t a horrible experience. Plus I got a few fun pictures.

A view of the Atlanta skyline. Sunrise. Black Friday 2011.

Can anyone guess what that reflection is? The first thing I saw when I was finally reunited with my car after work.

It’s the Macy’s Christmas Tree!!

Look at all those sparkling lights!

Definitely made me feel cheery after a very long day.

How did you spend YOUR Black Friday? Did you go shopping early and snag some awesome deals? Please do share I would love to hear stories of your Black Friday experience and what you nabbed.
Have a bright day!
Bright Girl