Pennsylvania: Black Friday Shopping

I am WAY behind on my blogging. Exams, final assignments and work have pretty much screwed me over in this department. On the bright side, I wrote my final exam on Sunday (yes Sunday, my University hates us) and I am officially done!!!! I have a lot of potential blog posts floating around in my head, so I'm planning on posting several in the coming days, including one about some possible big news going on right now (but I'm sure you have all grown used to my laziness, so none of you will be holding your breath!)

I figured I would start with another trip recap.


We left Detroit Thursday night and headed to Pennsylvania in pouring rain that would not stop. It was a very long drive, longer than I think we anticipated, but I love Pennsylvania and I think this trip made me love it more, so it was worth it.

Pennsylvania is such a beautiful state, so the drive was at least pleasant. We got to our hotel (much easier than the whole Detroit fiasco) late so we stayed in to get ready for what I expected to be a crazy Friday.

We did not go and line up at stores a 4am, much to C's disappointment. Around 2 I got a little nudge asking if I wanted to go and I not so nicely told him if he wanted to stand in the rain then he could go ahead. I'm a fan of sleeping at 4, not shopping. So we got up and headed to our first store, Walmart, at about 10. I was expecting madness and was actually a little disappointed. Walmart in Pennsylvania on the biggest shopping day of the year was nothing compared to the Walmart by my house on some random Tuesday. Nevertheless I did get some good deals and picked up First Choice by Nicholas Sparks, Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and one other book (I really can't remember the title right now). I went to the cash to pay, again expecting to wait in some hour long line up and again was shocked to see that I could immediately go to cash and pay, no waiting.

We jumped back in the car and headed to Best Buy.

Here it was busy, but not crazy, and I did some damage. I got:



As well as another memory card for my camera and new headphones because my old ones were crap. We then headed to Grove City, which was the part of the trip I was most excited for. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. I guess because Prime outlets is an outlet mall and therefore have good deals every day they didn't do the whole Black Friday thing. After dragging C around to store after store in the FREEZING cold I only walked away with one zip up hoodie from Aeropostal (which I love and pretty much wear all the time)

After a busy day shopping it was time for dinner and C was determined to go to Olive Garden. I have never been but have heard good things so off we went. I'm now officially addicted. It was SO good, but the portions we HUGE!

I ordered the stuffed cheese ravioli which comes with a starter salad. Well when they brought this salad out it was big enough to be my meal. I was only about halfway through when this came out

I am proud to say that I did finish it (not the salad, but the ravioli) but I was still very stuffed at breakfast the next morning.

Saturday morning we woke up to this

Yucky snow....

but the plan was to go to Millcreek mall, so that's what we did, as well as hitting Buybacks and Barnes and Noble. By the end of the day we had accumulated this

I would say we were fairly successful.

All in all Pennsylvania did not disappoint. I loved the state before this trip and I love it even more now.

As for black Friday, definitely not as bad as I was told or expected. I would do it again, and next time without the added stress of anticipation.

Next up football in Buffalo!

Disgusted

I know I owe you all trip recaps but after a particularly crappy week at work I felt the need to vent.

For those of you that know me, or have followed this blog for an extended period of time, you know how much I love this time of the season. I love the music, sound smells, and yes, even the busy shopping malls. Working at a retail position (which I won't name) as a cashier/customer service rep occasionally can put a damper on this mood, but it has never been as bad as the childishness that I witnessed this week.

Friday I witnessed two grown adults get into a full war in front of me over who happened to be first in line. They were the only two people in line, and the one who went second literally had to wait 10 seconds longer than the first. Even so, this caused a full melt down which resulted in name calling, yelling, screaming and me ending up bleeding from trying to rush one of them out of the store. Patience people, patience. It's very important during this time of the year. It's Christmas, we are all supposed to love one another.

This was bad enough, but really not enough to ruin my favourite time of the year. By the time today rolled around I was actually thinking back on it in an almost comic way. I mean, two adults (over 40 at least) throwing a tantrum that could give my 2 year old niece a run for her money...it's a little funny....
...And then today happened.

I have never been so disgusted in my life.

As I said, I work retail. This means that I work with a lot of teenagers, many of who are starting their very first jobs. I was working at customer service today, and one of the cashiers was one of these kids who is fairly new (only started a few weeks ago) and is 16 years old. She suffers from a medium to severe form of Acne, a problem that many teenagers struggle with. We all should be aware that having this problem in such a visible area, like the face, is hard enough to deal with without it being pointed out. Unfortunately another grown adult who apparently lives in my area has not learned this proper form of etiquette and found it necessary to point out this girls problem, on a busy Saturday, in front of a line full of customers, by giving her a card about acne and telling her that she should really have her face looked at.

All I can really say is who does that?? He intentionally embarrassed this kid and made her cry for no reason. I'm so mad.

I know people have bad days and problems at work or at home, but they really need to think before they act. A bad day is no reason to intentionally hurt someone, especially a young cashier who works a shit job, for shit pay. Even if this customer thought he was helping (which I highly doubt), all he managed to do was make an already self conscious teenage girl more upset and uncomfortable.

I'm sorry for such a downer post, especially during this time of the year but I am seriously disgusted.

On a more positive note we are going to cut down out tree tomorrow, hopefully this can help bring back my Christmas spirit!

I hope everyone else is having a better weekend!

Trip Recaps: Detroit

I'm Back!

We got back late Sunday night, and yesterday was spend recovering, sleeping and unpacking. Today it's back to real life.

We had a lot of fun, ate WAY too much and spent more money then I probably should have. I figure I will break up the posts into three, by state, to make them smaller and not give you posts with a million pictures. First up Detroit!

We left around 1:00 on Wednesday and began the 4 hour drive to Detroit. We took our time stopping to eat and pee often. I didn't drive at all (I'm not a fan of driving, C drives pretty much 98% of the time) but I found even being a passenger in Detroit impossible. The lights were confusing, the street signs were no existent and figuring out where to turn was not easy. So naturally, we got lost looking for out hotel. We passed it a bunch of times, which we figured out when C pulled into a gas station, cracked out the Iphone and looked up direction, noticing that the White Castle that we were currently staring at was directly across the street from the hotel. We finally got there and checked in about 7 and at this time I was tired and hungry and perfectly willing to order pizza and go to bed. C....not so much. He was determined to get to Pondarosa. So we broke out the computers, went to Google maps, wrote down directions and headed out again. And again got lost. Repeat the pulling over, looking at the iphone, searching landmarks and finally getting dinner about 8:00.

Needless to say once we ate (sooo good) and finally made our way back to the hotel all we wanted to do was sleep.

Thursday morning we were up early to eat breakfast, get showered and ready to get to the Detroit Lions game. I am proud to announce the we DID NOT get lost! (no need to mention the thousands of cars ahead of us going to the same place). This was my first football game ever, in Detroit, cheering for the opposite team (New England Patriots) and of course my loving fiance had to dress himself entirely in Patriots gear, so there was no way people would ignore us. The game was actually really fun and the Patriots won!. Ford field is beautiful with spacious, comfy seats and a roof! I'm not going to lie, I still don't totally understand the sport, but I'm trying and I think I'm doing much better.

We left right after the game with the intention of hitting The Melting Pot for dinner. It was closed (very sad) along with Burger King (not so sad). This is SO different from Canada. Here, on Thanksgiving, restaurants are open, especially fast food places, but you live and you learn. We managed to find a 24 hour Arby's and didn't starve so it was all good (and I experienced Diet Mountain Dew for the first time ever....I may have an addiction....). We ate, got back on the road and started a long journey to Pennsylvania.

And, of course, I will leave you with some pictures

Kid Rock's awesome half time performance - Born Free

The only picture I have of C and I from the whole trip

My New England fan

So that was Detroit. Up next, Black Friday shopping in Pennsylvania!

Black Friday

So that trip that I was hypothetically talking about here has arrived. We leave tomorrow and head to Detroit until Thursday, then off to Pennsylvania, and finally Buffalo, arriving home on Sunday. I'm not going to lie, I suffer from slight travel anxiety. I don't like to venture outside of the box I have created for myself at home (unadventurous I guess). I worry. I have spent the better part of the last month worrying. I worry about getting sick, C getting sick, getting lost, getting robbed, getting stuck, the border....pretty much anything that one can worry about. Good thing C is starting me out slow and not forcing me on a plane.....don't even want to think about the kind of stress that would cause.

As all of this worrying has been moving through my mind and new issue has developed....Black Friday.

Here in Canada we have boxing day and I used to LOVE boxing day shopping. Great deals and lots of fun. The last couple of years my opinion has changed. We still go out but the crowds, lines and craziness all bother me.

From what I have heard boxing day does not hold a candle to Black Friday. I'm terrified. I have heard several horror stories from many people. I have spent the better part of the last couple of weeks deflecting claims about my craziness for even attempting to shop on this day. C isn't phased, he's actually really excited and talking about fighting the crowds for a t.v......are you kidding me?

So I have to ask. Is it honestly that horrible? or are Canadians blowing this whole event way out of proportion. Please be honest, I can take it.

It has almost been...

Two weeks since my last post!! What have I been doing???? Here's a list:

1) Essay: I had a paper due today, so the better part of the last week has been spent stressing over that

2) Getting Sick: I currently feel awful. I am living on Apple Cinnamon tea from Tim Hortons, and the fiance has been wonderful about going to get it whenever I want. As I type this I am in my PJ's (yeah it's 4:00 in the afternoon...so what?), in bed and watching "Save the Last Dance." I become rather pathetic when I'm sick.

3) Wedding: I have a few updates, but I'm hoping to actually do a Wedding Wednesday post on Wednesday and update then. We shall see

4) Trip: We leave in a week and a half! Passports are here, hotels are booked, tickets have been purchased. I'm slowly getting really excited. I need a vacation

5) Birthdays: My beautiful niece K turned 6 on November 10th (insert a pouting auntie here). Yesterday we had her birthday party at a play place by my sisters house. Yes, I was sick. No, 10 screaming children did not help. I do have to share the awesome cake the my sister's friend made. This is the same friend that made B's circus cake for her 2nd birthday here. This cake was Barbie's Corvette

I failed at taking this photo, but the inside of the car came complete with seats, a steering wheel and gear shift

and of course one of the birthday girl herself. Happy 6th Birthday K!!

7) Readings, readings and more readings!

8) Spending time with friends: We went to a small house party on Saturday. We had a great time catching up with good friends

9) Working!

I think that is pretty much everything. Hope everyone else had an awesome weekend

Halloween Weekend Update

So I blogged here about my um....LOVE for the Halloween season, and how I was doing everything in my power to be a total b!tch about buying a costume.....And then I never gave a recap! So here goes!

Friday I went to Halloween Haunt with C, my brother, his Girlfriend and some friends. For those of you that don't know Halloween Haunt is something that our local amusement park Wonderland hosts every year. The park opens at 7 and stays open until about midnight and they have a bunch of haunted houses set up throughout (This year there were about 10). The rides also stay open so there are tons of things to do. I'm not a fan of being scared, so I normally make a fuss about being forced to go but I always lose, suck it up and go anyway....this year was no different. I have to admit (and this will be held against me) that I actually had fun this year. It was cold, but not freezing (like last year) and we did a good mix of houses and rides so I didn't have to suffer to much. I have also made a great system for dealing with these things: I plant myself in between C and one other person (this year my brother's GF, the lovely pinkbilly was the winner) and I refuse to give the actors any reaction that will force them to come after me. This worked fairly well, I messed up once when I didn't see the guy in the corner so he jumped in my face. I, of course, screamed Oh My God and he, of course, chased me. Other than that I survived to suffer for another year.

Saturday was costume day! I can't say I was the most pleasant person to buy a costume, declaring several times that I was not buying one, giving up, or that I was missing Vampire Diaries for this, but in the end (thanks to C) we found something. Saturday we headed to a pup with my sister, her husband, my brother and his girlfriend. Pictures tell the story better so here they are:

C and I all decked out in '80's wear. My mom has no clue how to use my camera so this is the best photo that I have of the two of us

My brother attacking Miss Pinkbilly (He was Teen wolf)

My awesome shoes. I think from now on I'm going to make sure my costume comes with a new wonderful pair of shoes. Makes Halloween so much more fun!

My baby brother and big sister. Older but never grown ups!

Sunday we spent the evening taking these monsters trick or treating

Monday officially marked the end of Halloween/fall and the beginning of Christmas!

I'm not kidding, the fall candles are away and the Christmas ones are coming, I'm ready for Christmas music and if it were up to me the house would be decorated. Bring on MY favourite time of the year!

This Post May Lose Me Some Followers.....

I have a confession.....

.....I hate football.

C and I are in the middle of planning a mini vacation. He has the weekend of the American Thanksgiving off of work, so it was decided that I was going to take it off as well, and we were going to do something. Initially, C and my brother were talking about going to the cottage for a weekend again with some friends. Realistically, this was a really bad idea. My cottage is small, like 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and living room small. Going in the summer means people sleep in tents. Going in the winter means sharing rooms, and sticking 10-12 people with enough drama on a normal day in the same 4 rooms for 5 days.....not going to happen. So I told Chris as much, and expressed that I would prefer to use my vacation time on spending some quality time with just him (we both still live with our parents, so privacy is not something we currently enjoy.) He agreed, and then came home with an elaborate plan.....I had NO idea what I was getting myself into....

So here's the plan: We leave Wednesday November 24th and head to Detroit. Keeping in mind that this is on my insistence, the boys original plan was to leave at 3ish Thursday morning, drive to Detroit for the football game, then leave Detroit that night, saving us spending money on another hotel. I made it quite clear that if he wanted a pleasant girlfriend at said game he better make sure I have a good nights sleep and a shower in the morning. I won. So we will be in Detroit from Wednesday night until Thursday afternoon, for a football game (don't ask me who is playing...I have absolutely no idea....I would assume Detroit???) Thursday we are driving to Eerie Pennsylvania. This part I'm actually really excited for. I have been to Pennsylvania before and I know it has amazing shopping. We are leaving Eerie Sunday morning and driving to Buffalo for yet ANOTHER football game, after which we will drive home for me to be in class on Monday.

Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against football fans. In fact, I find them very passionate people who love their sport. I just don't get it. Hockey is much more simple. Shoot puck, puck goes in net, 1 point.

There are SO many rules to football and I just can't follow it. Believe me I've tried. C watches football every Sunday. I typically fall asleep or read a book. Don't hate me.

I'm not sure how I got roped into all of this, but apparently at the end of November I will not only be attending my first football game, but my first two. Any tips to make me like or understand this sport would be greatly appreciated.

Oh and I'm very excited because my wonderful fiance (yes he's still wonderful even if he tricked me into attending his stupid sporting event) surprised me with this yesterday night:

The boy definitely knows what I like!!