Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving which marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. Crazy deals and even crazier shoppers will be out that day - some in line as early as before midnight to be the first in at the doorbuster sales.
If you want to be one of those (not me!), here's some upcoming sales ads that might help you plan your day.
And if you're an Apple Computers fan, Black Friday is the one and only day that Apple stores have a sale. The rumored sales at Apple are:
Up to 30% off all iPods (except iPhone and Shuffle)
Up to 25% off all Macs
Up to 15% off all accessories, Apple software, and Apple hardware
But your best bet is to make sure you pick up a Honolulu Advertiser on Thanksgiving day and scope out all the ads.
The Thanksgiving edition of the Honolulu Advertiser is the thickest newspaper of the year packed with ads. It always brought me joy to receive the Thanksgiving edition. Maybe because it marked the start of the Christmas season, or it meant that a tasty turkey meal was about to be consumed, or probably just the holiday spirit. An MLC memory that still lives on.
Mahalo to C0hiba for asking me to list the Black Friday ads.
Even if you're not planning on fighting the crowds, it's a excellent way to get great gift ideas.
So, where do you stand on your Christmas shopping? Are you brave enough to venture out on Black Friday? If you do pop into Ala Moana Center, I'll be in Apple store.
Don't forget - Triad blogger party tonight at Fort Street Bar & Grill. 6:00 pm until whenever. Come on down and meet Anklebiters IRL - as he's home for his annual visit.
Honolulu Marathon
Did any MLCer's run it yesterday? Melissa of the Urban Mixed Plate blog finished in just under 6 hours. Congrats, Melissa. Have you ever ran the Honolulu Marathon? And what's this about losing toenails?
The closest thing I did to the Honolulu Marathon is participating in the 20 mile Walk For Mankind back in the 70's. It took me about 8 hours to finish it. If I remember correctly, it started at Ala Moana park and headed to downtown. Then the walk headed on King Street in the Kokohead direction and turned onto Punahou street. From there it went into Manoa valley past the Manoa gym and through the residential neighborhood past the Chinese cemetary. Then out of Manoa and turned on Dole street to Waialae avenue. I remember everyone stopping by Chico's Pizza to eat, but I kept truckin' it up Waialae up to 22nd Avenue (I think). Then up to Diamond Head road, around Diamond head, ending up at Kapiolani park. Whew! After I finished the walk, I sat down on the ground to rest. When it came time to get up, my calves cramped up and I could barely walk. More worse, we had "social" that night!
But back to the Honolulu Marathon. If you didn't run yesterday's marathon, were there previous Honolulu Marathons that you ran in? Any stories to share about when you ran the Honolulu Marathon? Are there any MLCer's that run? Not necessarily in marathons, but just for exercise? Or how about walkers? Any walkers out there? I know my doctor is going to scold me and tell me to get some exercise. How ofter do you run/walk and for how long?
Chirstmas Shopping
Christmas is next week already. NEXT WEEK ALREADY?!? Sheesh, where does the time go?
I didn't seem that long ago that I was posting pictures of the Ala Moana Santa Claus in three pieces waiting to be put together. Remember?
When we were kids, it seemed like it took forever for Christmas day to arrive. Watching all those toy commercials during Saturday morning cartoons and after school TV. Taking inventory under the Christmas tree everyday to see what new presents might've arrived. Then shaking each one trying to figure out if it's a toy or the dreaded - clothes. Working out a strategy of which presents will be opened first and which ones will be saved for last. Oh those were the days.
Now... here it is - 10 shopping days left until Christmas and I'm only about 30% done with my shopping. This coming weekend is the last weekend before Christmas so it's going to be time to deliver the presents. That means I'll have to be hitting the stores during the weeknights this week. Or immediately after work. I love to shop - if I know what I'm shopping for. If I don't have a clue, it becomes frustrating! Last year, the cool gift we gave out was those cute Heineken beer kegs. What's this year's cool gift idea?
So how "done" are you with your Christmas shopping? What cool gift ideas did you come up with? Yes, I'm desperate for ideas. Do you have fallback gift ideas, such as food stuffs, or gift cards, or food stuff gift cards like Jamba Juice? Are you in panic-mode yet? Stressing small kine? Or all done and sitting back enjoying the season? Help us out! Ideas - we need ideas for gifts. Otherwise everyone going end up with those Danish Butter Cookies in the familiar blue can.
Now that we're all stuffed with Thanksgiving turkey, it's time to get into the Christmas spirit. KSSK radio has been playing only Christmas music for the last couple of weeks. And Ala Moana shopping center has also been prepared for Christmas some time ago. Here's some pictures takes a couple of weeks ago at Ala Moana shopping center:
The iconic Santa overlooking Ala Moana boulevard is up.
The Christmas tree in the center court is up.
The Candy Cane train ticket booth is up - Train starts today.
Santa's den is up.
And of course, Santa Claus is there!
So now it's time for me to dust off my Christmas music CD's to play in the car. Speaking of which, there is one Christmas CD that's been my favorite for a couple of years now. As you might know, I'm a big fan of George Street (that's why I was so stoked when NKHEA got Steven Min to play at the TRIAD party), and a couple of years ago - on the 20th anniversary of Gail Mack's Christmas Once More in Hawaii Nei hit, Gail released a Christmas CD.
If you can find this CD (I got mine at Barnes & Noble), you won't be disappointed. Here are a few clips:
A catchy fun song for Kelli, Shauna, Opso and all the other Korean fans
Again, if you can find Gail Mack's Christmas Once More In Hawaii Nei CD, pick it up.
So Paula and I will be hitting the mall today. Not super early - after we've had our coffee and read The Honolulu Advertiser. We don't have a list of what we're looking to buy. In fact, we're probably going just to be a part of the crowd. I know I'll be looking in the Apple store for their one and only sale of the year, but I had a sneak peek on their website and nothing really popped out at me. We'll probably end up with a few things - for ourselves.
That's the hardest part - coming up with a gift list. What to buy for that certain someone. I always felt that the best gift is getting something you wouldn't mind having, but can't see paying money for it.
How do you do your Christmas shopping? Do you have a list of what you're looking to buy or do you just browse around until you see something that you think someone on your gift list would like? If I can, I'll try to post up gift ideas between now and Christmas to help out in the gift decisions. Here's one.
I didn't seem that long ago that I was posting pictures of the Ala Moana Santa Claus in three pieces waiting to be put together. Remember?
