What Janelle had to say on Monday, November 30th, 2009
I’m talking about holiday gift shopping. For some, it begins on Black Friday, and I have to admit that I’m one of those people who stays far, far away from any kind of store on the Friday after Thanksgiving. 
There is NO DEAL good enough to tempt me to step into the crazy insanity that is Black Friday. But for some, Black Friday is THE day to go and shop. 
So, I’m curious . . . how many of you braved the malls and stores for a great deal on Black Friday? Did you get what you wanted? Was it a phenomenal deal? And was it worth your time (and the frustration, IMO 
) to head out on the busiest shopping day of the year?
Janelle Denison finds it hard to believe that it’s been nearly 20 years since she first started writing romance novels. At first, it was a way to pass idle time while her husband worked swing shift, but before long it became an obsession to get published. Luckily, she kept at it (it took her over 5 years to get that first book published!) and is now a Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and USA Today Bestselling author! Now, after selling over 40 plus novels, she finds that her Plotmonkey pals help to keep her stories fresh and unique, and she can’t imagine writing a story without their input. Janelle lives in Oregon with her husband, Don, along with two teenage daughters that keep life interesting.
3 Seductions and a Wedding
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I had last week off and didn’t do much, except for Twitter *g*
Nope I did not brave Black Friday, except to go to the grocery store. I can’t imagine any reason to camp out or ot get up that early just to get shoved around. I’d rather sleep.
Me, too, Stacy!
I did any shopping I was going to do on Thursday while the parade was going on and after. We hit our fave photo store on the way out of town late Fri morning but that place is always a zoo anytime we are there.
I have to work today, no internet either, so I can’t even cybershop today. sucks.
:santabag: :wreath: :walksnowman: :treecut: :snowman: :reindeer: :santalights: :present2: :happychan: :hanstar: :hann2: :decor: :ccane: :bigtree: :bigxmas: :SmallSanta: :Han1:
did i miss any of the new icons????
LOL, Ev. You’re like a kid with a new toy!
I added the new Xmas icons this weekend. Glad you like them!
I love toys. It doesn’t matter what they are. I just like to plaaaay.
I am going to go today tho… :santalights:
No way! You couldn’t pay me to go anywhere near a store the day after Thanksgiving. Besides, I’m mostly an Internet shopper. And because of the flu I’m crowd shy. It’s much easier to sit at home in my jammies and shop then have it delivered to my door.
Love the new icons :reindeer: :bigxmas:
Have a great day,
Cher
I’m with you there, Cher! I do a lot of my shopping by internet — and usually end up getting BETTER deals than going into the actual store! Hard to imagine life WITHOUT the internet anymore!
So, who already has their Christmas tree up? :bigtree:
Not this chick… no way… no how. I did do some on Saturday though and found our local Target relatively deserted. It was quite enjoyable!
Is this the same Cindy Martin that I know???
My sister and I do Black Friday every year, but after this year we might stop. Toys R Us opened at midnight. We got in line at 11:30 and the line was around the building and all the way down the shopping complex to another building. We finally got in around 12:25 or so. They let way too many people in the store and you couldn’t even walk. We found everything we wanted and then got sent to 3 different locations to get in line to check out. We ended up leaving the store at about 3:50 am only to have to head to Walmart to get my 2 older nieces gifts. We were home by about 8 am, but at that point we had both been awake for over 24 hours and really didn’t ever want to go to a store again. Luckily we were able to get prettey much everything my sister need to buy, but I’m not sure that it was worth it no matter how much money she saved(and she probably paid less than half the regular price for everything).
Wow, now that’s Black Friday dedication!
Liza, you are braver than I. I got great deals online (don’t tell hubby when all of the packages arrive this week….ack!!!).
It’s kind of fun when all those packages arrive, isn’t it Katie? Like pre-christmas, LOL! :ccane:
especially when I put something in there for me (yes, I still do that and hubby I am sure has caught on…but I do the ordering/buying/wrapping)! I do have to sneak the boxes when they come in, though this week. I think I might have gone a bit overboard (just too good of deals!). :bigxmas: :bigtree:
:Han1: :hann2: :hanstar: :santabag: :santaguy: :meepcold: :wreath: :walksnowman:
:santalights: This was my first Black Friday, and I had a fantastic time!! Went with my BFF and got some great bargains. Had my list ahead of time of what I wanted and where to go. Then we went out for a leisurely breakfast – It was just some girl time. Believe it or not – her husband watched all our kids!!! What a great guy.
That sounds like a fun time, Kara. I say anytime spent with a BFF is worth even braving the Black Friday crowds!
My mom and my brother’s GF Deena and myself went to Target. It was crazy but fun. Deena saved about 200 bucks at Penney’s that day. I know my mom was shopping for me at Target. I think we did pretty good that day.
Wow, $200 is a GREAT savings!!! :santalights:
I had to work, and I didn’t go to one store except the Scrapbook store which was pretty much empty. I enjoyed not waiting in any lines and not bump into anyone. I did pass a Walmart on the highway and saw the line out the door. Not me… I have never done shopping on Black Friday. Today is Cyber Monday, anyone shopping from home and found a good price online?
Elisa — before you buy anything online, be sure to Google for a “coupon code” for whatever store you’re making a purchase at. Such as, “Target Coupon Code” — usually there is some kind of extra savings to be had out there for online stores!
I have gotten a “black friday’ deal from most every store I shop at (seriously). If you are on their list, then they have a deal….even small companies.
Cool thanks! Great advice…
Hello Janelle!
Anyway! 
Me Shop on Black Friday?? :wreath: Not Me! No Way, No How!
I’m Crazy But Not That Crazy!!!!
I’m Such A
Nope, never been a Black Friday fan. The past several years, the best deals have come the week before Christmas, so the financial benefits aren’t even there anymore!
I didn’t do too much shopping on black friday this year. I just went to the exchange with my mom and her friend around 11am. It was pretty packed, but they were prepared and had checkouts set up all over the store so it didn’t take too long. My dad did go to Home Depot right when it opened and loaded up on poinsettias ($0.99 each!). Last year though, my dad took me to the outlets around 3am (which isn’t a big deal because he wakes up at that time every morning) – and that was the perfect time to go because the midnight crowd was already out, there was hardly anyone there, and all the stores were restocking.
Happy Monday! :SmallSanta:
<3 J
I did black friday shopping but I did it online. I live in California and by 9:30 pm on Thanksgiving I had done my shopping at Toys R Us. Their sale started at midnight east coast time which is only 9 in the left coast. The Walmart online sale started at midnight and they offered everything that would be on sale at 5am at their stores. so by 12:30 I was done. I did all from the confort of my house and there were no lines, no waiting and most of all I did it all in my pj’s.
I shopped in my pajamas too, but next year I think I’ll go the on-line route.
:bigtree: :ccane: Cool, thanks for all the Christmas & Hanukkah icons! We will have fun using them for the next few weeks! :santalights: :wreath: Happy New Year too!
No Black Friday shopping for me! There is nothing I need or want enough to stand in line at that time of night/morning and fight crowds of people!! :decor: Since am broke,
, I can’t even shop online today!! Just remember, the merchants all want our money there will be lots of bargains to come plus there will more after Christmas!!
:santabag: :reindeer:
No, NEVER!
We don’t have Black Friday here (probably because we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving) but it sound a lot like how the stores are on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) here.
I know people who will do Christmas shopping for the following year on Boxing Day (if I do this I manage to lose the gifts) and others who don’t buy the presents until Boxing Day – especially if they aren’t seeing the person until after Christmas anyway. Personally unless there is something that I specifically want, I don’t bother shopping on Boxing Day – I’ve worked retail during it in the past and it stinks. A lot of the stores here are now making their sales last the whole period between Christmas and New Years, so the benefits of shopping on Boxing Day are disappearing.
No Black Friday for me.
It was bad enough trying to get my daugther to work that day. The mall that she works at opened at midnight for midnight madness. The traffic was enough for me. 
Great Holiday icons. :bigtree: :bigxmas: :reindeer:
I went. Didn’t get 2 of the items I wanted. It seemed really bad this year or could just be I picked the busiest stores this time! Not sure its worth it.
I wnt shopping on Black Friday but didn’t head out until around 8:30 am. Didn’t see anything in the ads to make me want to get up at 3 to be in line by 4.
Actually didn’t buy much either just a couple of DVD’s and the new Susan Boyal cd. Did get a great deal on that….$8.99 and it was the last one they had so I took that as a sign that I should go ahead and buy it.
Went shopping on Saturday too and picked up some things for the people I exchange gifts with at my office. Also got my stocking gifts for our twelve days of Christmas.
On Black Friday the power wnet out at our mall. Also went out for about a 10 block stretch outside the mall. Affected stores like Kohl’s, Target, and Starbucks I know for sure.
I go shopping on Black Friday but I don’t do the doorbuster sales. I found a few good sales but nothing I couldn’t live without I found more for myself than for anyone else. I really don’t think it was worth my time or having to get out of bed that early but it’s just something that I do with my sisters and I don’t want to disappoint them so I go.
Personally….I’m usually done Christmas shopping by the time black friday comes along….but I still always go anyway. (think I’ve missed once in the past 15 years)..I’m a people watcher…I love to watch the idiots about kill themselves to get things after they’ve camped out all night while I just calmly walk over and grab up the 2-3 dollar a piece DVD’s.Honestly…most times I pick up things for birthdays or the next Christmas. (I actually have about 9 Yankee Candle gift baskets made up already for next christmas because my mil works there and I just got a great deal of 12 of their biggest jar candles for 120.00 (YES, i KEPT OUT THREE FOR MYSELF! LOL!) I got other things to go with it like toppers for 1.00 among other things…But anyway….I go because mostly I know I’m already done so that eliminates the stress of worrying about making sure I run for the deals on black friday…if I get it…fine…if not…. it’s ok too because I’m already set for the most part and if not…there are always gift certificates.
My mom, and two sisters and I made a ladies night of it black friday… we all went to moms for the night , watched The Proposal, then at 3 were in line at Target. They needed to be there..fools…most fun I had….especially watching the weirdo’s coming in in capes and tights thinking they were part of the Twilight community…ROLMFAO.
Anyway, lifes to short, everyone should do it at least once because the experience alone is worth it.
Normally I’m not a big Black Friday shopper. I have sent my husband in past years to the store to pick up things and he is always the one to wait in the middle of the night for the kids video game systems. This year I started recieving black Friday e-mails (starting in Sept.) letting me know what would be on sale. I found a laptop my son wanted and planned to send the husband to get it sometime late Thursday or early Friday morning. OK plan set, now Thanksgiving day breakfast done, turkey in the oven house picked up, let me sit and go through my e-mails…another e-mail for black Friday sales I’m about the delete when the subject line catches me eye buy Black Friday sales today so I’m think no way lets check this out and it was true so I was able to but Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving. It was GREAT. No stress of not knowing if the item would be sold out. No waiting in the cold. I will be doing this again next year.
No way am I going on Black Friday, early. I did go about 11 or so after the crowds had thinned out. The same deals were in effect after 11, so I can’t see the point of all the insanity!!!