Ah the holidays... Images of family, friends, food, and fun. What's not to love? Living in Tucson is like having the holidays all year round. Tucson is so friendly and festive because Tucsonans are giddy about the sheer beauty of the mountains, nature, and most importantly the weather.  It's not a secret, anytime you fly into Tucson, you can overhear a zealous native spewing what to do, what you can't miss, what restaurants to hit, etc. They can't help themselves, and their enthusiasm really is contagious!

I wonder if you changed the circumstance a bit, are they still as friendly? I am talking about the annual tradition of Black Friday--the day after Thanksgiving, the most extreme shopping day of the year.

With some coaxing from her, I decided to join my friend Gail, the ultimate shopper, on Black Friday this year. As I am not an early morning person, we negotiated a time to meet at 5:30am at Target (she originally wanted EARLIER- ugh!). I set my alarm in anticipation of all the deals, and headed out the door earlier than I ever thought was possible.  I get to the Target parking lot and WHOA! The entire city of Tucson must be there. It takes ten minutes to get into the parking lot and then another ten to find a spot.  I finally find a space by following some people already leaving the store with 3 and 4 shopping carts of stuff! They are starting to come out faster and I realize, yikes, I might have missed the boat! It almost looks like a bunch of looters heading out the door!

I make it into the store and I have never seen so many people shopping in my life! I immediately head to the Housewares section where a deluxe steam mop had my name on it, at 50% off, sadly at 5:30AM in the morning- the mop is GONE already. No rain checks Gail informs me, as a good friend she valiantly staked out the item I wanted - we are too late.  We find some other treasures and head into the line to check out that is now snaked around the entire store. It actually moves rather quickly and the chatty Tucsonans are having fun in line.  A smug looking Mom casually walks past me with her cart. She has the mop... sigh.  Jokingly, I tell Gail, "distract her and I will grab it out of her cart", she almost takes me seriously; I have to be careful... Once through the line, I am ready to go again. We decide to hit another store and then grab a bite to eat.

At breakfast, I realize that this adventure has been a lot of fun in a way that most people won't understand. We are nibbling on amazing coffee cake and espresso at The Village Bakery, sitting on the patio in the sunshine, trading our "war" stories of the morning. We have sunglasses on, and are people watching, as a lot of shopping is still happening. But we are done. Where else can you enjoy breakfast outside the day after Thanksgiving? I thought I would see an uglier side to Tucsonans, but they were just as friendly as ever, and I guess that I am not really surprised. There seemed to be a lot of camaraderie amongst those brave enough to be out shopping on Black Friday.

I get home before my husband has even left for work! I realize that getting up so early means you have the whole rest of the day to enjoy. I take the dogs to my favorite park, Catalina State Park, and we relish the sunshine and the bright blue skies.  I am not sure what others experience on Black Friday, but I would definitely do it again in Tucson! My only regret: not getting to Target EARLIER!