Black Friday

For someone who doesn’t like to shop, I’ve been doing an awful lot of it lately. First I would like to say Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, I hope you enjoyed your turkey and more importantly, time with your friends and family. A big thank you goes out to you as well, from all of us Canadians who took advantage of your ‘Black Friday’ shopping specials! Yes, I braved the crowds but it was sooooo worth it!

I have heard the horror stories but still chose not to heed the warnings of three-hour-long border delays and parking issues. Mind you, if it wasn’t for the fact that I was holding two tickets t the Montreal Canadiens game in Buffalo I wouldn’t have even considered crossing the border. I’ll do most anything to see my Habs play!

So, with sitter lined up, kids home from school and pizza on the table I headed for the peace bridge at 4:30pm. By 4:50 I was on U.S terrain. What about the three hour delay? I must have been in the right place at the right time. I suppose I’ll run into it on the way home. And now it was a bee-line to the Walden Galleria mall in Buffalo. 15 minutes later and I was locking my van, walking into Steve and Barry’s. What happened to the parking lot chaos that was supposed to greet me at Buffalo’s largest mall? It must have been a case of being in the right place at the right time, again.

Now don’t get me wrong, the mall was very busy. But I knew exactly what I was looking for, even mapped it all out before I left home so I knew exactly where the stores were that I needed to shop at. Best Buy and Hollister, that’s it. Since I had entered the mall through Steve and Barry’s I decided to look around there first. Twenty minutes later I checked out of there with three jackets and headed for Best Buy. It only took me ten minutes in there to learn that what I was looking for as advertised in their online flyer was sold in the first five minutes of the store opening. It came as no surprise but it didn’t hurt to try.

Now Hollister. My daughter really wanted a tote from there for school. It’s the cool thong, everyone has one. Funny thing is, they don’t sell them anywhere within n hours drive of Niagara, trust me, I’ve looked! So, apparently all Canadian parents of teens shop at the Walden Galleria for school bags. Or, just those of us that are real suckers. Fighting the mob of teens I managed to grab the tote, plus a pair of sweat pants and a tee that I will give my daughter for Christmas and was out of the store in twenty minutes. Not bad. My job was done, now to get back to my van. Dodging in and out of the crowd I was almost there when I saw it. The Disney Store! I cannot walk past this place without at least taking a little peek. It would be an insult to the Mouse. Besides, everything in the store was 25%-50% off!

Of course, a little peek would never do. My son asked Santa for a skateboard and it just so happened there was a really cool ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ skateboard as well as the helmet and skate pads, so I scooped them up. I grabbed a Mickey stocking for myself, a few sweaters for the kids and was out of there in yet again, twenty minutes. Five more minutes to get to my van. It took me less than 1.5 hours to hit 4 stores and spend $200 yet I came out unscathed and psyched for the hockey game.

Traffic was good, found a perfect spot in the parking garage, (which was definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time ‘cause that just never happens!) hid all of my shopping bags under the seats then fixed my Habs ball cap, straightened out my Habs jersey, zipped up my Habs jacket (yes, I braved the bustling American shopping mall, on a Sabre’s home game night wearing my full blown Habs attire, bringing only one negative comment from an American shopper in the Disney Store who requested the clerk charge me double), then walked into the arena.

The game was great; although we didn’t come through on top tonight it was still a fun game to watch. After filling up on my usual beef on weck and a few wings, it was time to head home. At 10:30 I hit the bridge, at 10:37 I was back on Canadian soil headed home. What happened to the three hour bridge delay? Must have been my lucky day as I seemed to be in the right place, at the right time, all day.

Seems that Homer gave the day up to help out at HSBC arena last night. I’ve posted a few pics of the game, 2 of which are the result of giving Homer access to the jumbo-tron screens!