On Thanksgiving evening you pass out early due to exhaustion from a game of family football and high levels of tryptophan coursing through your veins. Your head hits the pillow and there is a big smile across your face as you anticipate the next morning.
Your alarm goes off at 4:15 a.m., but in a totally out of character maneuver you pop right out of bed. You skip and whistle around the house, brushing your teeth, combing your hair, and grabbing a powerbar and your keys on the way out.
You pull your car into the parking lot of [Saks, Best Buy, Williams Sonoma, the local mall — pick your poison] and huddle up with the other patrons at the door, just waiting for the clock to hit five-zero-zero.
You jump in place, up and down, up and down, up and down. This is both to keep warm because you have left your coat in the car so you can carry more important things once you are inside, and to stay loose so you can beat these fools to the racks or aisles of your choice.
It’s almost that time and you feel a sense of calm wash over you. You become still and at peace and you connect with your higher being. You ask for protection and good fortune. You pray that the turkey still sitting in your belly not slow you down, and promise to buy a gift for a needy child while you are in there.
You look at your relatives and friends with whom you have made this journey. You have a carefully devised a divide and conquer plan, and as your eyes meet you have complete faith that they won’t let you down.
Your list is at the ready, but you doubt if you’ll need it; you are so zen right now.
Then it happens: the doors open — a bright white light — angels singing a chord. You are almost paralyzed by the beauty of this moment. You assume the position of an Olympian runner and… go!
Just remember these few things:
1. Read the circulars beforehand. Know where you want to stop and in what order. PRIORITIZE!
2. Bring those circulars with you–lest there be any confusion about pricing when you get to the register.
3. Always ask for a gift receipt. Even if its not a gift, it never hurts to have two receipts when you are impulse shopping–or just shopping a lot.
4. Wear comfortable shoes and drop bags in the car frequently. This way you won’t wear yourself out and call it quits prematurely!
5. Bring an energy drink or bar for the 7 or 7:30 hour. You will need it.
6. Never go it alone. Having friends and family to share the adventure with is what the first official day of the holiday season is all about 🙂
