Black Friday Traditions

Whoa!  Who knew I could actually post a picture?  It's a pretty primitive looking one, but it is a picture nevertheless.  

Black Friday (or maybe now it should be Black Thursday) is a tradition that started [a lot of] years ago for me and my parents.  On Thanksgiving, it was early to bed.  My parents would then come and wake me up at about 4:15am.  We would hit the road by 4:30 - my dad in his Santa hat which he wore every day, everywhere he went until the day after Christmas - stop at Dunkin' Donuts for hot chocolate, and drive to the outlets which opened at 5am.  There we would split up, do some shopping, and meet up again to brag about our deals.  This was something I looked forward to every year, despite having to wake up before dawn after having put myself into a food coma the day before.  

In November 2010, my dad was in really bad shape.  He barely made it through Thanksgiving, and the cancer claimed him three days later at the age of 52.  It was the first year that there was no Black Friday, no hot chocolate, and no Santa hat.  The following year, I couldn't bring myself to go.  Last year, I tried it with just my mom.  We got to Dunkin' Donuts and it was just too sad.    

So this was really the first year that I enjoyed Black Friday since 2009, and I dedicated it to my dad.  More than anything, he wanted to be a grandpa and this shopping excursion was all about finding baby related deals - he would totally approve.  It was very different - I went with my husband on Thursday night instead of Friday morning, was too full to stop for a hot chocolate (and it wasn't cold at all), and, my biggest regret, not having a Santa hat.  I feel like someone has to wear one, right? 

Anyway, he must have been there with me just as excited as I was to see what we could find for baby because it just went too perfectly.

The outlets open now at 10pm on Thanksgiving night (which I think is crappy for the people who actually have to work but they were all overly peppy for working such a crazy night).  My husband and I got there at 9.  I expected a line of cars leading into the entrance of an overly crowded parking lot.  What we got, however, was a parking lot that was completely empty save the employee cars.  

First thing on my list was Coach (which ALWAYS has the longest line of people waiting outside) because I wanted to see if I could snag a diaper bag.  Well, I was lucky number five in the line!  They let us in at 9:45 which was awesome, and I was in and out with exactly what I wanted and didn't even wait to check out.  I scored a diaper bag for 50% off the original price plus an additional 10% off on top of that.  

The best Black Friday deal, however, was our UPPAbaby Vista stroller.  My mom had offered to buy it for us and I was making her wait until I got my 10% off registry completion coupon.  She ended up finding it on this website for 20% off with no sales tax and free shipping!  I must say, Pish Posh Baby is amazing!  Not only did my mom find this amazing deal, but she ordered it on Wednesday night, and it arrived via FedEx early Saturday morning and came with a little thank-you gift and card as well as a special "Mom consultant".  We didn't need to use the consultant, but it seems like a really great thing to offer.  I would definitely shop with them again.

Of course Black Friday also landed us some other great buys (especially for my husband who made out like a bandit at Brooks Brothers), but the baby buys were by far the greatest.  I know for sure that Dad is proud :)