Black Friday

Friday Nov. 29, 2013

It has been a tradition since I was a little girl to get up and go shopping on Black Friday.  When I was little, my grandma, mom, and aunt would take me to downtown Seattle and we would have lunch at Fredricks and Nelsons and do some Christmas shopping.  I always got to pick out my "Christmas outfit" that would be wrapped and put under the tree.
     As my grandma got older, my aunt and I would still take her Black Friday shopping.  We would leave the house around 7 am and head to Northgate Mall (later years it turned into Alderwood Mall) and once there, we would split up.  I would take a couple hours to do my Christmas shopping and find my "outfit" that Grandma would still buy and put under the tree.  We would then meet for lunch and when we got home, we would show Grandpa all our purchases.
    When Grandma passed, I still kept the tradition alive.  My aunt lives three hours away so she didn't go anymore, but I would get up around 7 and go and do my Christmas shopping.  7 am is a perfect time to go because all the 5 am crazies are done and tired and the later crew usually starts about 10/11.

  This is my girls first Black Friday and despite being 7 weeks old, we are keeping the tradition alive.  Mom arrived at my house at 7 am and we gave the girls a quick feeding to tie them over.  We loaded up the girls and took off for the Alderwood Mall.  Sure enough, there was plenty of parking and there were not that many people at the Mall...don't get me wrong...there was still a significant amount of people at the mall on a Friday at 8 am but not so many that would drive you bonkers.
    Mom and I had our lists of people to buy for and set off to accomplish as much as we could before the girls demanded we go home.  We actually got a lot done...well Mom did;  we got a lot of people checked off her list while I stood with the stroller to the side of everyone's way.  Apparently double strollers are not the easiest to maneuver in skinny shopping aisles.  It was ok.  I get stressed when I am in people's way anyway so I stayed to the side while Mom checked people off her list one by one.
     After the first store, Adelyn just didn't want to go to sleep so I put her in the Baby Bjorn and carried her on my chest.  It worked out great actually because she loves to look around!  She is such a people watcher already.  Clara was fast asleep and shortly after Adelyn was as well.  It was a good thing that I took Adelyn out because it gave us room to put all the bags that Mom was buying.  Is it sad that we had to remove a baby just to find room for purchases?  Aunt Mary Jane would be proud tho...all discounted purchases :).
    At 10 am Mom had most people checked off

and I got a couple people taken care of so we headed to the car to feed the girls and change them.  We waved a couple cars off that were hoping to get our spot.  We weren't leaving until AFTER the feeding.
    Once the girls were fed, changed and back in their car seats, we set off for our final destination.  We finished our Black Friday at Fred Meyer's and got a couple great deals there as well.  By 12:30 pm, I was home and the girls were ready to be fed again.  It was a great day and I am excited to continue this tradition with my girls as they get older.  :)