Black Friday, never again

This past Thanksgiving I went up to see my family in PA. Jack was in California for work which was a bummer, but at least I didn't have to do Thanksgiving alone. While up in PA, talk about Black Friday shopping up. I was mildly interested, because I had never gone. Even after working at a mall for 5 years on Black Friday, I had always stayed away from it.

This year I got talked into it. And I got roped into driving. My mom & I, our destination? The Premium Outlets in Philly. I had been there before and gotten some SWEET deals.....esp from Vera Bradley. The outlets were having midnight madness, I mean how bad could a 30 minute drive to tons of shops be? ABSOLUTELY INSANE. The drive took 2 HOURS in bumper to bumper traffic once we neared the outlets. Parking was crazy. I saw people parked on the curb, and even hitting other people's cars and driving away! I saw on the news people fighting, pepper spraying each other, and hitting each other with tasers! Really people, is that necessary?

I was so annoyed by the time we got there at around 2am, that I didn't even want to shop. I was able to go into a few stores and get some deals on Christmas gifts. I didn't even want to shop in Vera Bradley because it was so overcrowded with people it made me claustrophobic. I couldn't even enjoy myself.

What I learned......wait till like 3am, the crowds are less, and you can find parking. Never get tricked into driving. Have a game plan, and figure out what stores you want to hit. And lastly, never go at midnight.