Everything You Need To Know To Survive Black Friday Shopping

*this post is sponsored by The Shops at Montebello, as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support me!

Hi babes! Have you ever thought about going black Friday shopping but been intimidated by the crowds? That used to be me. If you had asked me to go black Friday shopping I probably would have laughed and said no chance. But never fear, it is possible to survive it!

All you need to do is follow these steps:

Make a plan:

Know what you want to purchase before you get to the store. I headed to The Shops this weekend to check out some of the stores I want to shop in. The purpose was to try on sizes of items I’ve had my eye on that I’m hoping will be on sale on black Friday. Having a plan is key because it ensures you won’t be overwhelmed once you get inside a store or a mall.

My first stop at The Shops was Footlocker. I’ve had my eyes on the adidas superstar sneakers for a while now. Adidas shoes run on the big side so I wanted to know my size ahead of time so I could just walk right in and purchase my size without the hassle of trying them on. Black Friday can get crazy so the less I have to do when I’m in the store to better. I figured out that I need to go a full size down for these shoes.

My second stop was Victoria’s Secret. Again, I went to try on sizes of clothes. If you haven’t been to VS lately, they have a ton of cute comfy clothes in the PINK section. They also usually have the 7 for $28 panties so I like to stock up on some new undies when they run that sale.

Go for big ticket items

My third stop was Zales. Black Friday is the best time to get big ticket items. We had 9 weddings this year and have 5 next year so I’ve been on the lookout for some nicer jewelry to wear. I fell in love with this bracelet so I’m hoping it will be on sale when I head back there (hint hint Matt)!

A lot of people also like to get big ticket items like TVs, home appliances etc. If you’re going to stock up on those kinds of items, do your research ahead of time and plan to camp outside to make sure you have a spot in line that’s close enough to the front that you’re able to secure that item.

Stock up on things you love and normally splurge on

My fourth and final stop was White Barn Candle Company. I like to use black Friday to stock up on things that I love because they’re usually an amazing deal. I’m slightly obsessed with candles and lucky for me, Matt shares the same obsession as me!

I headed into White Barn to figure out which scents I want to snag during a black Friday sale and hope they were on sale when I come back. After leaving White Barn I headed to lunch at the new restaurant at The Shops, Lucille’s BBQ. Sharing what we ordered at the end of this post!

Do your research before hand:

Part of making my plan is doing research. Whether it be going to the mall like I did this past weekend at the Shops, or searching online to what the hot sales will be, I always research.

For example, during my research, I found out that The Shops black Friday hours are Thursday: 6PM – 1AM and Friday: 6AM – 10PM and if you spend $200 or more at any of the following retailers at The Shops, Disney Store, Express, Hollister, New York & Company, Cotton On, Steve Madden, Victoria’s Secret, Vision Center, Zales Jewelers, Robert Wayne Footwear, Bath & Body Works and The Children’s Place, you will receive a $25 gift card to Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que while supplies last!

Research also helps you know what kind of deals are out there for the big ticket items. While most of the stores I stopped at don’t allude to what kind of sales there are on black Friday, stores like Best Buy, Walmart and Target usually run ads with deals on the big ticket items so you’re able to know ahead of time what the sale prices will be. I can’t express enough how doing research beforehand can really make or break your shopping experience.

Have fun with it:

Black Friday shopping can be intense for some people. But I wish I could tell every single one of them to calm down! My philosophy is that if you’re too intense, you’ll end up emptied handed, not getting the things you want. If you’re out there having fun with it and not putting the stress of needing to get every single item on your list, it will all be worth it!

Luckily, places like The Shops at Montebello try to incorporate fun into black Friday shopping. The MY FM 104.3 promotion team will playing music for the shoppers and hosting plenty of giveaways for everyone to enjoy. There will also be “Black Friday Fun”  where shoppers can look forward to hot chocolate and desserts, and a holiday selfie photo booth from 1-3pm. So if you’re going shopping the day after Thanksgiving, try and have some fun with it!

Take a break to refuel:

Shopping can be exhausting, especially on black Friday! Make sure you take a break to refuel by grabbing a bite to eat. You don’t want to get light headed or pass out while shopping. It’s a lot to take in, it can be overwhelming, and a break is necessary for everybody. If you’re going to do your shopping at The Shops, you have to check out Lucille’s BBQ! Matt and I went on Saturday for lunch and to say our eyes were bigger than our stomachs was an understatement. Everything on the menu just sounded so good!

We started out with some refreshing lemonade’s. I got regular lemonade and Matt got peach lemonade. They came in these super cute large mason jars and were so refreshing! The cocktail list also looked so good so we will definitely be heading back to try out some of those!

We’re very much appetizer people. So instead of committing to just one entree each, we opted for our usual order a few different appetizers to share option. Don’t get me wrong, the entrees on the menu looked amazing! I just wanted to try so many different things on the menu that sharing appetizers sounded like th best option for us.

While we waited for our appetizers to come out, we were given some fresh biscuits and apple butter. I’ve never had apple butter before but it tasted like heaven. Both of us finished those biscuits so fast because it was just so good! Matt isn’t a butter person so the fact he ate it and loved it is a major statement.

The first apps to come out were the brisket nachos and the smokey bacon deviled eggs. The nacho’s were so big that we could have just shared them as an entree and oh em gee were they so good! Matt wanted the deviled eggs and I was skeptical at first because I can be a picky eater. I made him try one first because after 9 years of knowing me, he knows if I’ll actually like something. He tried it and assured me I would like it. And he was right! From now on, I’ll only be eating deviled eggs if there’s bacon on them!

The next app to come out is one of my favorite apps, the southern fried dill pickles! If you don’t like fried pickles, I’m sorry but we can’t be friends! Normally, when you think of fried pickles, you think of the small chip sizes, but at Lucille’s they do them longways, so they’re more like french fries. I actually like that they did this because you still get that crunch of a pickle but the yumminess of the fried part.

The last appetizer to come out was the bayou spicy shrimp. Let’s just say half the plate was gone before I could even take one bite because Matt love them so much. The shrimp came out with a garlic toast and I don’t know how we could even eat after all the appetizers that came out beforehand but we somehow managed to eat all the toast because it was just that good! Then the food coma commenced lol but it was totally worth it!

The next time I’m at The Shops we will definitely be stopping back at Lucille’s because there is so much more on the menu that I need to try!

Happy black Friday shopping to all! Let me know in the comments if you plan on shopping the sales and what you plan on getting!

PS – have you seen my posts on why you need these jeans that are only $70 and my 4 tips to make sure you’re always on time?