Our Black Friday came early this year. Last weekend, we went to brunch at emilymr's house. It was delicious, and really fun to catch up. On the way home, we drove through fancy Atherton and there was a garage sale. (If one ever goes to a garage sale, I suppose one should definitely stop at a garage sale in Atherton.) We stopped, partly because I was curious what 'rich people' had to pawn off, and partly, the house was on the market and I wanted to grab a flyer.
We bought two things: a little phone and a set of paper plates/napkins/table clothes (not used, still in original packaging- I draw a line at buying used paper plates). All for $3.
The house, as it turned out, was ginormous, which wasn't actually obvious since the front of the house looked like a 'regular' house. Whatever a 'regular house' looked like. The asking price was close to six million greenbacks and the guest house was probably bigger than my real house.
Interesting though, that even people who could afford (to buy or rent) such a home, still wanted a few bucks for their old stuff. I imagine it is quite a hassle to put on a sale. But I suppose they probably pay the AMT, and so even giving stuff away to Goodwill would not generate any tax benefits. Might as well make a few bucks.
Here is Zoe loving her new phone.
I, of course, had to participate in the madness earlier this morning. While it is absolutely ridiculous what people do to save a few bucks, I find it rather entertaining. Before A&Z's arrival, Hubby and I made a sport of this and it was always really fun. We would compare the organization of each store, the people shopping, and make fun of ourselves. Since their arrival, we started to take turns since it would be wrong to leave our sleeping kids home alone, and hiring a sitter would make it a rather expensive expedition, not to mention what sane sitter would want to come over at 4:20?!
Anyway, I got up at 4:20, and it reminded me of my surgery rotation days and also the days when I used to moonlight. The first destination was Toy's R Us, and the main goal there was this Lego droid transporter, 40% off. Thankfully, all the people were very orderly while we waited until 5, and I managed to snag EVERYTHING on my list. The store, however, was not very organized. For all the suburbanites out there, you know how Toys R Us all have one entrance and one exit, and so it would make since to have a counterclockwise path for all the shoppers, to lead up to the registers. But no. They set up the maze that one would have to go back, against all on-coming traffic to get in line. This other guy and I just started to dismantle this barricade they had set up using candy canes. They tried to stop us, but I said, "There is NO WAY I am going to go against all those people getting into the store!!!" I guess that guy realized that a mother on a mission was not to be messed with and let me go.
My next stop was Sports Authority, a very quick stop, although I guess I had missed the cash cards they were handing out. Oh well. You win some and you lose some.
I decided to forgo the waiting line at Target (opening time: 6) and made a dash for Home Depot: They had 99 cent poinsettias! Home Depot was AWESOME. Even though the store wasn't suppose to open until 6, since they were stocking things anyway, they opened shop early! I was in and out.
Then I went to Macy's (cheap stuff!), Gymboree ($14.99 jackets!), and Michael's (25% off entire purchase- Hubby needed more ribbons for his Phat Baby Photography packaging.)
By then, it was 7:10, I figured Hubby and kids would be getting up soon and it was time to go home. I crawled back into bed for a few minutes and then A&Z summoned us.
After breakfast, we headed back to the mall. It was time, for Aidan, who had diligently saved all his allowance for the past few months, to buy his prized walker set from Lego. Really hard to believe, but the man had $100!!!
Hubby is going to connect all the snippets of video that we took on this tremendous occasion, it will be uploaded tomorrow!
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