Black Friday, Cyber Monday or Bust?

Posted by Carolyn K under A Smile and a Story® on November 24th, 2009

A few years back, my husband and I got up at 4:30 a.m. to go stand in line at the local Circuit City store the day after Thanksgiving so that we could get some fabulous electronic gadget for one of our fabulous children.  Traffic was heavy and it was frigid that night/early morning with temps in the negative 30s Fahrenheit. 

We got there a little before 5 a.m., which is when the doors were to open, and saw a line of shoppers from the front of the store out to the street. No parking spaces anywhere.  By the time we got to the store the people in line had crushed inside already. I dropped my husband off at the door, while I went off to find a parking spot. My husband met me before I had made it halfway to the store.  Nothing was available, and he’d learned that people had begun lining up at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night.  What?! We just laughed and went out for breakfast. 

I have terrific memories of shopping the day after Thanksgiving as a teen or later with my kids and my mother-in-law, who just loved the crazy crowds.  We’d always stop for an Orange Julius® drink, a perfect pick-me-up after long morning of shopping madness.  Sometimes we’d find a bargain or two that was just right, but we never managed to finish our shopping.  I still like to go out, but now it’s later in the day, when the shops are a bit quieter and there are still deals to be had. 

What are your day-after-Thanksgiving plans?

Halloween Office Shenanigans!

Posted by Carolyn K under A Smile and a Story® on October 29th, 2009

Remember Halloween or harvest parties from your childhood?  How you spent weeks agonizing over what would be The perfect costume?  And how much fun it was to try to figure out who was behind that goofy looking mask?

 We do!  And many of us here at International Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ) haven’t yet grown up.  In the past three or four years our corporate Halloween party has become something we all look forward to.  In previous years our receptionist had embraced the fun and greeted guests in all kinds of fabulous costumes – and a smattering of other employees would don costumes for fun. Now most of the corporate team takes part in costume contests, cheering on the executivess in some kind of event, and enjoying a pizza lunch.

 Some of the fun in past years included Duct Tape Man (I am sorry no photos of that costume survived!), Lady Luck, a 401k Portfolio, Mr. Bill …  and, as you might imagine, food-themed costumes. Last year we had a contest where teams turned our executives into toilet paper mummies.

This year we’re looking forward to a pumpkin decorating contest, more costume contests, lunch, and an “Executive Fear Factor” event.  What do you do at your office?

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