The Obligatory Black Friday Entry
This past Thursday was Thanksgiving, which means my favorite non-holiday: Black Friday.
We had a big family Thanksgiving, in that Will, Lindsay, Clint and I all went down to my parents' house in Boca for the weekend. We got in around 1:30 AM Thursday, since Clint had to work until 8 Wednesday night. We pretty much said hi to everyone and went to bed. Thursday was good; there was football and turkey. Sasha and Chauncey enjoyed playing together, and we all ate too much. Will and Lindsay got a TV from my parents for Christmas, which they bought on walmart.com Wednesday afternoon. They got a 40" Samsung for $500, if I recall correctly. I was still on the fence about getting a TV for Christmas, since there are probably things we need more, but my parents wanted to be done with present shopping, and Clint was very excited about the prospect of an HDTV. I kind of wanted a TV for the bedroom, but put that on the back burner, since $250+ was too much for a small TV. I half-heartedly decided that if I could find a 20ish inch flat screen for $150 I'd get it. Anyway, we did some online shopping Thursday night and couldn't really find what we were looking for, which was a quality brand, >40" LCD 1080p 120 Hz HDTV for under $500. I scoured bfads.net and found the "doorbuster" 40" Westinghouse at Target for $298, which is a steal, but Westinghouse got mixed reviews, and I'd rather get a little bit more expensive TV that's not going to crap out 10 days after the warranty ends. There was one I was looking at at Walmart, but fighting for Walmart doorbusters is risky. I kind of decided to see what we could see Friday morning, actually LOOK at TVs in person to see what to buy online, and come home and shop the online sales if we didn't get anything.
We made our first stop Target. I had my eye on a $50 Kitchenaid knife set on sale for $25, and Will and Lindsay needed a DVD player, which Target had for $20. We woke up at 3 AM, I checked my email to see that the 5 AM Walmart doorbusters had gone live online at 3. I started shopping on my phone, only to get yelled at and have to run out to the running car in the driveway with shoes in-hand. We drove to Target and got there around 3:45 for the 4 AM opening. I shopped walmart.com while we were waiting in line, and found the TV I'd been eyeing was in stock online. I talked it over with Clint real quick, and we decided to jump on it. It's an LG 42" 1080p 60 Hz LCD for $478. We wanted 120 Hz but had to compromise somewhere, and I'd rather get a good brand with a lower refresh rate. Ad seen here: http://bfads.net/Walmart-Black-Friday-LG-42-1080p-60Hz-LCD-HDTV It was actually one of the suggested TVs in the bfads buying guide. =D So anyway, while I was buying that on my phone, in line to get into Target, Will started to pout that I got a better deal than he did, so he used my phone to buy himself the same one, planning to return the Samsung.
We got into Target at about 4:05, and Lindsay and I sent the boys to DVDs (after I grabbed a copy of The Office Season 5 and The Hangover) and we headed to housewares/electronics. I found an end-cap display with the knife set I wanted and put it in the cart. Lindsay was on the fence about whether she wanted it (I said I'd get it for her Christmas present), so we went into the actual knife aisle to see what else was there. This was clearly the best deal, so we grabbed another of the same set from the aisle. I went into electronics alone, vowing to throw elbows in order to return with a $20 DVD player. There were actually quite a few of them, but everyone was scrambling for the Westinghouse and Apex TVs. I still felt secure in my online TV acquisition, so I booked it after getting the DVD player. We met back up with the boys and started piling $1.49 towels and $5 pillows into our cart. Will and Lindsay bought a few other random DVDs, Will grabbed a 4 GB SD card, and I think that might have been it. We headed to the cash register. This is where the trouble started.
I went first, and my total came to $220. I counted out the cash from my wallet (I avoided plastic this year in order to stay within budget) and handed it to the cashier. I looked back at the cart, wondering which item(s) had been so expensive, when Will said "Holy shit, what the hell did you buy?" Mind you, it was 4:30 AM and I hadn't had coffee. I saw that there was no line at customer service, and decided at this point my best move was to complete my transaction, check out the receipt, and figure it out, possibly returning the offending item(s). Turns out the knife sets (one for me and one for Lindsay) rang up at $75.99 a piece. It was clear to me then that the wrong knife set was on display, since the $25 advertised set was originally supposed to be $50. I grabbed a manager, who, when I explained the story, went back to housewares to check for the correct knife set. He said they didn't have any of those sets left (peculiar that, of all things, a knife set sells out within 30 minutes of store opening..) but that he would refund me the difference since the set I bought was clearly on display marked $25. He took me over to customer service, punched a few things in the computer, and handed me $50. I said thanks, but hold on, I bought two. He said that only one was "missing" from the display, and when I told him that's because we'd grabbed the second from the aisle, since it was the same thing, he said only one was technically marked $25 so I'd have to pay full price for the other one. I was a little pissed, but cut my losses and returned the second set. Disappointed I couldn't get that for Lindsay, but let's hear it for a $75 knife set for $25!
We then headed to Walmart which was absolute chaos. They had a midnight sale and a 5 AM sale, but were open 24 hours, relying solely on crowd control to time the sales. We had to double park (at a super walmart) and headed in. Our goal there was a 40 piece Rubbermaid tupperware set for $9. We got 3 of those, one for me, one for Lindsay, and one for my mom. I also wanted candle sets, since we burn candles a lot to make the house smell yummy and they had 5 candle sets on sale for $5. I bought 3. I wanted to get Will Madden 2011 for $35 but they were long gone, since they were part of the midnight sale.
-----Time to go pick up the TV! Will finish later.
-----Ok, take 2. TV is up and running. Back to Walmart.
For some reason, in all my Black Friday prepping, I didn't realize that Walmart had a midnight sale and a 5 AM sale. Either way, anything that was on sale at midnight was GONE by 5. Clint found a copy of The Boondocks season 3 on sale, and got it based on one really funny (and politically incorrect) episode we'd watched last week. The most hilarious purchase of the day belonged to Will. We'd gone over to the electronics section to try to find a 500 GB external harddrive for my mom (which was gone), and he saw a bunch of people going for an item, so he just jumped in the crowd and grabbed a box, having NO idea what it was. It turned out to be a TomTom; he asked me if I thought mom would like it, so he bought it. Completely random. We looked around for a little longer at Walmart and then decided to head out. Will had the genius idea of checking out in the garden center to avoid the line that wrapped around the store. Good thing we went over there, because in the middle of the garden center was a pallet of 19" LCD TVs on sale for $98. I had wanted a TV for my bedroom, but wasn't 100% sure I should spend the money. In the end I figured I could return it if I changed my mind, but once I left Walmart I wouldn't find a better deal on a TV that size. I added it to my candles and tupperware and called it a day. Luckily, our car hadn't been towed or ticketed, so we headed to Best Buy.
I'm slightly disappointed in the lack of usual carnage that Best Buy offers around 6 AM. There wasn't as much evidence of camping/mayhem on the sidewalk leading past Bed Bath & Beyond and on to the movie theater. The store was actually not that crowded. I'm thinking that since Walmart and Target kicked their ass on doorbuster deals not as many people went hardcore at Best Buy. Anyway, we went straight to the DVDs, since they usually have a pretty big selection of $4 movies. Will bought probably 20 movies for $4 a piece and picked up Twilight Scene It for Lindsay for Christmas. Somehow, with my help, she didn't see what he got for her. I ended up just asking Will which games he wanted, and got him Madden 2011 and NCAA football 2011 for $35 a piece - same price as Walmart! They had a ton of them left, it was sort of creepy. Clint found a Pink Floyd live CD that he was pretty excited about. After we finished picking through the movies and CDs we went next door to Bed Bath & Beyond since Lindsay needed a present there for L Co.
Bed Bath & Beyond had some stuff on sale, but their big thing was 20% off your entire purchase before 10 AM. I randomly found an AMAZING alligator wine bottle holder for $25 (plus 20% off) and got one for myself and one as a Christmas gift for Clint's parents. Lindsay said something about wanting a 3-tier serving platter that they had there, so I made plans to come back with Clint before 10 to get that and to get another wine bottle holder for him to give to Will and Lindsay. It was about 7 at this point, so that seemed feasible. We had been up and shopping for about 4 hours now, so we were starving and in need of caffeine. We headed to Panera in mission bay and got some bagels and coffee.
Panera is conveniently next to Office Max, so I checked bfads.net on my phone while we were eating to see if Office Max had any deals on external harddrives since I'd missed out on getting one for my mom at Walmart. They had a few, so when I was done eating I headed over there while everyone else finished up. They had possibly the most confusing system ever. I first asked someone where the external harddrives were, and they showed me, telling me to take a ticket from the price tag of the one I want up to the register to pay. I looked around for a minute and the best deal (and only one I was willing to buy) was a 1 TB for $59. The only problem was that it had no ticket behind it. I asked the nearest employee if having no ticket meant the item was out of stock. He said "Not necessarily," and told me to go to another employee at the camera section to ask for a ticket. I told that guy what I wanted, and he gave me the ticket to give to someone else. That person told me to get in line while she went to go get the item. I got in line to check out with my ticket, and the cashier radio-ed back to have the item brought up to the front. Super complicated, but I got the harddrive so I'm good for mom's Christmas present.
After we'd refueled we headed out to the mall, because Lindsay wanted $15 jeans at Old Navy and I wanted to check out a few things at Macy's, though at this point I'd spent more money than I probably should have. The boys looked around at Sears for a bit, and I used the opportunity to buy Will a really cool Gators hoodie at Old Navy without him seeing. I also found out that Old Navy "short" jeans actually fit me quite well, and bought 3 pairs for $15 each. We went to Macy's and the one thing I was sort of interested in getting (memory foam mattress pad) was heavily discounted, but still not cheap enough for me to buy.
After the mall we went home. We were tired and the car was packed full. Unfortunately, by this time it was 9:30, so Clint and I unloaded Will's car, chugged a cup of coffee, and raced back to Bed Bath & Beyond. On the way in I saw a beer brewing kit, which is one of the things on my list to get Clint for Christmas, so I got the platter for Lindsay and ditched Clint, attempting to hide the kit so he would be surprised. Backfired...I was the one surprised when he came out with the alligator thing for Lindsay and a beer brewing kit for Will! He says he doesn't know what I bought him, but I think he's just being nice and he totally knows. Either way, I think he'll like it. After BB&B we went to Petsmart, because they were selling 35 lb bins of Tidy Cats for $8.99 with a $5 coupon inside each. Can't beat that, especially when your cats poop as much as mine do. I also got a little giraffe toy for Chauncey, since his died and holiday items were 50% off.
We headed back home to grab some food and sit down. Clint napped, but I ran around town a bit more, visiting people at Boca Midtowne and Boca Greens. I don't usually stop in at Boca Greens, but it was good to see people there and I wanted to talk to Chris about setting up an externship. Apparently VCA SUCKS and she hates corporate medicine. I think it'll still be a worthwhile externship though, since all my other ones will be in shelter med. I came home and watched some football...and ate more, then Clint and I ended up going to bed at 8. We woke up early to grab a cup of coffee with Amalia (yay!) and for my appointment to get my phone replaced at the Apple store. I now have a fully functional iphone that actually vibrates. When we got back we ate cinnamon rolls and exchanged gifts for "fake Christmas," since Lindsay and Will are spending Christmas in Michigan. Everyone had a good time...until we started watching football. Ugh. After the UF/FSU game (if it can be called that) Clint and I piled in the car and headed northward. All in all a good weekend. The TV came in yesterday (in the middle of me writing this post), so we picked it up from Walmart and got it all set up. It's super fancy and nice. Happy Christmas to us.
We had a big family Thanksgiving, in that Will, Lindsay, Clint and I all went down to my parents' house in Boca for the weekend. We got in around 1:30 AM Thursday, since Clint had to work until 8 Wednesday night. We pretty much said hi to everyone and went to bed. Thursday was good; there was football and turkey. Sasha and Chauncey enjoyed playing together, and we all ate too much. Will and Lindsay got a TV from my parents for Christmas, which they bought on walmart.com Wednesday afternoon. They got a 40" Samsung for $500, if I recall correctly. I was still on the fence about getting a TV for Christmas, since there are probably things we need more, but my parents wanted to be done with present shopping, and Clint was very excited about the prospect of an HDTV. I kind of wanted a TV for the bedroom, but put that on the back burner, since $250+ was too much for a small TV. I half-heartedly decided that if I could find a 20ish inch flat screen for $150 I'd get it. Anyway, we did some online shopping Thursday night and couldn't really find what we were looking for, which was a quality brand, >40" LCD 1080p 120 Hz HDTV for under $500. I scoured bfads.net and found the "doorbuster" 40" Westinghouse at Target for $298, which is a steal, but Westinghouse got mixed reviews, and I'd rather get a little bit more expensive TV that's not going to crap out 10 days after the warranty ends. There was one I was looking at at Walmart, but fighting for Walmart doorbusters is risky. I kind of decided to see what we could see Friday morning, actually LOOK at TVs in person to see what to buy online, and come home and shop the online sales if we didn't get anything.
We made our first stop Target. I had my eye on a $50 Kitchenaid knife set on sale for $25, and Will and Lindsay needed a DVD player, which Target had for $20. We woke up at 3 AM, I checked my email to see that the 5 AM Walmart doorbusters had gone live online at 3. I started shopping on my phone, only to get yelled at and have to run out to the running car in the driveway with shoes in-hand. We drove to Target and got there around 3:45 for the 4 AM opening. I shopped walmart.com while we were waiting in line, and found the TV I'd been eyeing was in stock online. I talked it over with Clint real quick, and we decided to jump on it. It's an LG 42" 1080p 60 Hz LCD for $478. We wanted 120 Hz but had to compromise somewhere, and I'd rather get a good brand with a lower refresh rate. Ad seen here: http://bfads.net/Walmart-Black-Friday-LG-42-1080p-60Hz-LCD-HDTV It was actually one of the suggested TVs in the bfads buying guide. =D So anyway, while I was buying that on my phone, in line to get into Target, Will started to pout that I got a better deal than he did, so he used my phone to buy himself the same one, planning to return the Samsung.
We got into Target at about 4:05, and Lindsay and I sent the boys to DVDs (after I grabbed a copy of The Office Season 5 and The Hangover) and we headed to housewares/electronics. I found an end-cap display with the knife set I wanted and put it in the cart. Lindsay was on the fence about whether she wanted it (I said I'd get it for her Christmas present), so we went into the actual knife aisle to see what else was there. This was clearly the best deal, so we grabbed another of the same set from the aisle. I went into electronics alone, vowing to throw elbows in order to return with a $20 DVD player. There were actually quite a few of them, but everyone was scrambling for the Westinghouse and Apex TVs. I still felt secure in my online TV acquisition, so I booked it after getting the DVD player. We met back up with the boys and started piling $1.49 towels and $5 pillows into our cart. Will and Lindsay bought a few other random DVDs, Will grabbed a 4 GB SD card, and I think that might have been it. We headed to the cash register. This is where the trouble started.
I went first, and my total came to $220. I counted out the cash from my wallet (I avoided plastic this year in order to stay within budget) and handed it to the cashier. I looked back at the cart, wondering which item(s) had been so expensive, when Will said "Holy shit, what the hell did you buy?" Mind you, it was 4:30 AM and I hadn't had coffee. I saw that there was no line at customer service, and decided at this point my best move was to complete my transaction, check out the receipt, and figure it out, possibly returning the offending item(s). Turns out the knife sets (one for me and one for Lindsay) rang up at $75.99 a piece. It was clear to me then that the wrong knife set was on display, since the $25 advertised set was originally supposed to be $50. I grabbed a manager, who, when I explained the story, went back to housewares to check for the correct knife set. He said they didn't have any of those sets left (peculiar that, of all things, a knife set sells out within 30 minutes of store opening..) but that he would refund me the difference since the set I bought was clearly on display marked $25. He took me over to customer service, punched a few things in the computer, and handed me $50. I said thanks, but hold on, I bought two. He said that only one was "missing" from the display, and when I told him that's because we'd grabbed the second from the aisle, since it was the same thing, he said only one was technically marked $25 so I'd have to pay full price for the other one. I was a little pissed, but cut my losses and returned the second set. Disappointed I couldn't get that for Lindsay, but let's hear it for a $75 knife set for $25!
We then headed to Walmart which was absolute chaos. They had a midnight sale and a 5 AM sale, but were open 24 hours, relying solely on crowd control to time the sales. We had to double park (at a super walmart) and headed in. Our goal there was a 40 piece Rubbermaid tupperware set for $9. We got 3 of those, one for me, one for Lindsay, and one for my mom. I also wanted candle sets, since we burn candles a lot to make the house smell yummy and they had 5 candle sets on sale for $5. I bought 3. I wanted to get Will Madden 2011 for $35 but they were long gone, since they were part of the midnight sale.
-----Time to go pick up the TV! Will finish later.
-----Ok, take 2. TV is up and running. Back to Walmart.
For some reason, in all my Black Friday prepping, I didn't realize that Walmart had a midnight sale and a 5 AM sale. Either way, anything that was on sale at midnight was GONE by 5. Clint found a copy of The Boondocks season 3 on sale, and got it based on one really funny (and politically incorrect) episode we'd watched last week. The most hilarious purchase of the day belonged to Will. We'd gone over to the electronics section to try to find a 500 GB external harddrive for my mom (which was gone), and he saw a bunch of people going for an item, so he just jumped in the crowd and grabbed a box, having NO idea what it was. It turned out to be a TomTom; he asked me if I thought mom would like it, so he bought it. Completely random. We looked around for a little longer at Walmart and then decided to head out. Will had the genius idea of checking out in the garden center to avoid the line that wrapped around the store. Good thing we went over there, because in the middle of the garden center was a pallet of 19" LCD TVs on sale for $98. I had wanted a TV for my bedroom, but wasn't 100% sure I should spend the money. In the end I figured I could return it if I changed my mind, but once I left Walmart I wouldn't find a better deal on a TV that size. I added it to my candles and tupperware and called it a day. Luckily, our car hadn't been towed or ticketed, so we headed to Best Buy.
I'm slightly disappointed in the lack of usual carnage that Best Buy offers around 6 AM. There wasn't as much evidence of camping/mayhem on the sidewalk leading past Bed Bath & Beyond and on to the movie theater. The store was actually not that crowded. I'm thinking that since Walmart and Target kicked their ass on doorbuster deals not as many people went hardcore at Best Buy. Anyway, we went straight to the DVDs, since they usually have a pretty big selection of $4 movies. Will bought probably 20 movies for $4 a piece and picked up Twilight Scene It for Lindsay for Christmas. Somehow, with my help, she didn't see what he got for her. I ended up just asking Will which games he wanted, and got him Madden 2011 and NCAA football 2011 for $35 a piece - same price as Walmart! They had a ton of them left, it was sort of creepy. Clint found a Pink Floyd live CD that he was pretty excited about. After we finished picking through the movies and CDs we went next door to Bed Bath & Beyond since Lindsay needed a present there for L Co.
Bed Bath & Beyond had some stuff on sale, but their big thing was 20% off your entire purchase before 10 AM. I randomly found an AMAZING alligator wine bottle holder for $25 (plus 20% off) and got one for myself and one as a Christmas gift for Clint's parents. Lindsay said something about wanting a 3-tier serving platter that they had there, so I made plans to come back with Clint before 10 to get that and to get another wine bottle holder for him to give to Will and Lindsay. It was about 7 at this point, so that seemed feasible. We had been up and shopping for about 4 hours now, so we were starving and in need of caffeine. We headed to Panera in mission bay and got some bagels and coffee.
Panera is conveniently next to Office Max, so I checked bfads.net on my phone while we were eating to see if Office Max had any deals on external harddrives since I'd missed out on getting one for my mom at Walmart. They had a few, so when I was done eating I headed over there while everyone else finished up. They had possibly the most confusing system ever. I first asked someone where the external harddrives were, and they showed me, telling me to take a ticket from the price tag of the one I want up to the register to pay. I looked around for a minute and the best deal (and only one I was willing to buy) was a 1 TB for $59. The only problem was that it had no ticket behind it. I asked the nearest employee if having no ticket meant the item was out of stock. He said "Not necessarily," and told me to go to another employee at the camera section to ask for a ticket. I told that guy what I wanted, and he gave me the ticket to give to someone else. That person told me to get in line while she went to go get the item. I got in line to check out with my ticket, and the cashier radio-ed back to have the item brought up to the front. Super complicated, but I got the harddrive so I'm good for mom's Christmas present.
After we'd refueled we headed out to the mall, because Lindsay wanted $15 jeans at Old Navy and I wanted to check out a few things at Macy's, though at this point I'd spent more money than I probably should have. The boys looked around at Sears for a bit, and I used the opportunity to buy Will a really cool Gators hoodie at Old Navy without him seeing. I also found out that Old Navy "short" jeans actually fit me quite well, and bought 3 pairs for $15 each. We went to Macy's and the one thing I was sort of interested in getting (memory foam mattress pad) was heavily discounted, but still not cheap enough for me to buy.
After the mall we went home. We were tired and the car was packed full. Unfortunately, by this time it was 9:30, so Clint and I unloaded Will's car, chugged a cup of coffee, and raced back to Bed Bath & Beyond. On the way in I saw a beer brewing kit, which is one of the things on my list to get Clint for Christmas, so I got the platter for Lindsay and ditched Clint, attempting to hide the kit so he would be surprised. Backfired...I was the one surprised when he came out with the alligator thing for Lindsay and a beer brewing kit for Will! He says he doesn't know what I bought him, but I think he's just being nice and he totally knows. Either way, I think he'll like it. After BB&B we went to Petsmart, because they were selling 35 lb bins of Tidy Cats for $8.99 with a $5 coupon inside each. Can't beat that, especially when your cats poop as much as mine do. I also got a little giraffe toy for Chauncey, since his died and holiday items were 50% off.
We headed back home to grab some food and sit down. Clint napped, but I ran around town a bit more, visiting people at Boca Midtowne and Boca Greens. I don't usually stop in at Boca Greens, but it was good to see people there and I wanted to talk to Chris about setting up an externship. Apparently VCA SUCKS and she hates corporate medicine. I think it'll still be a worthwhile externship though, since all my other ones will be in shelter med. I came home and watched some football...and ate more, then Clint and I ended up going to bed at 8. We woke up early to grab a cup of coffee with Amalia (yay!) and for my appointment to get my phone replaced at the Apple store. I now have a fully functional iphone that actually vibrates. When we got back we ate cinnamon rolls and exchanged gifts for "fake Christmas," since Lindsay and Will are spending Christmas in Michigan. Everyone had a good time...until we started watching football. Ugh. After the UF/FSU game (if it can be called that) Clint and I piled in the car and headed northward. All in all a good weekend. The TV came in yesterday (in the middle of me writing this post), so we picked it up from Walmart and got it all set up. It's super fancy and nice. Happy Christmas to us.