Gobble Gobble... Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only a week away, and that "Black" Friday is one week from today. After working for 20 plus years in retail, I have worked everyone of them. When did it become a war?

I remember as a child, after a day of turkey and watching the parade. Mom and I would get up early the next morning, bundle up and go to Monmouth Mall and stand with thousands of other parents and kids waiting for Santa Claus to jump out of a plane...Yes, he arrived from a plane and the day after Thanksgiving not the first day of Fall like most malls now. I still can see it, Santa would parachute over the mall and when he landed, a ambulance would scoop him up, just to make sure he was alright. Then in just seconds Santa (the real one) would appear...we would all rush the stage ringing bells and cheering for the jolly man. One year, I was seven I think, my belief in the ole guy was wavering.

But as Santa stood on the stage telling us how excited he was to see us and what a grand Christmas season it would be, he looked out over the crowd made eye contact with me and said.."Oh look at all the boys and girls...I see Michael, and Susan and oh, look there is Sheri Nicholson" !! Well you can imagine what that felt like....I still smile and get tears in my eyes when I think of the wonder of being that little girl. Who for just one more year anyway believed in the magic of Santa. Years later in my teens my father finally admitted that the man who played Santa that day was a friend of his.

My parents were so good at Christmas, each weekend leading up to the big day was another adventure or task, baking cookies with grandparents and aunts, decorating the tree, visiting nursing homes to distribute goodies, and of course always a caroling party.

Not once did my parents ever take me to a toy store or any big box store so that I would have a chance to peek at toys. Mom and Dad never got up at 4 am to stand in line at Target (Kmart then) to maybe get a chance at grabbing a hot toy.

That is not what Christmas is about, that is not what gift giving is about. One of the things that we try to stress here at Mulberry is finding the perfect gift for someone. Not the most expensive or one you have stood in line for. Gifts should be chosen from the heart. We want to be here to help you celebrate with beautiful decorations, invitations and special gifts.

So, no lines here at 5am on Black Friday. No Doorbuster for us.

But what we will do is offer you longer hours to shop, beautiful gift wrappings, and a cup of tea or coffee while you shop.

Come visit soon, new items arrive everyday...so every time you shop its new!

Have a great weekend, as you prepare for Thanksgiving. For us, we are blessed and Thankful for our wonderful family of customers!