Katie Nelson's experience: "I think we're doing it wrong."

For my first Black Friday experience ever, I decided to go with my roommate, Julia, and my sister, Aimee. Aimee and I hoped to make some Christmas purchases that we could then ship up to our family in Seattle, and Julia planned to get ahead on her shopping too.

We left Julia’s house at exactly 12:30 a.m. to hit the sales that started on “Gray Thursday” at places like Target and Kohl’s. We pulled out of the driveway trying to shake the post-Thanksgiving stupor by blasting Journey’s “Faithfully” and counting on the Starbucks at Target to give us a boost.

We arrived 13 minutes later at the Target in Santa Clarita. Expecting to battle other shoppers over parking spots, we were happily surprised to find the store at its normal pace. We cruised through the store, picking through the sales bins looking for stocking stuffers. However, our efforts were in vain, and I ended up with only two items and Aimee none. Julia did purchase a football for herself, but it was far from the bargain-busting trip we had hoped for.

“I think we’re doing Black Friday wrong,” Aimee said.

Hoping for a slightly better outcome at our next stop, we arrived at Kohl’s at 2:04 a.m. The checkout line wrapped around the interior of the store. I picked up a small item that was on sale for $3 less than its regular $15 price and joined the queue. People dragged their swollen bags of purchases-to-be along the ground. One customer behind me explained to the young couple next to her that if they needed a credit card to make their purchases, they could sign up for one at the front of the store.

“A bit late for that,” I couldn’t help but think.

Exactly 15 minutes after getting in line, Julia, Aimee and I made the mutual decision that we valued our time too much to stand in line for several hours. We left Kohl’s at 2:31 a.m. to seek better bargains elsewhere.

Our final stop was the local Westfield mall in Valencia, just to say we experienced it. Immediately upon walking through the doors, we were overwhelmed by a flurry of people and the throbbing music spun by the DJ standing in the center of the mall. It felt like we were in some weird club at which people shopped instead of danced.

This is where we hit the big sales and our luck began to turn around. New York & Company was having a 50 percent off sale on everything in the store, so I quickly purchased a new sweater and necklace for a combined price of $36, whereas the normal price of the sweater alone would have been over $50. Julia bought a new pair of $50 jeans for $25.

By this time it was 3:30 a.m., and we had been up since 9 a.m. the previous day. Despite the blasting rap music and the espresso IVs we had purchased from Starbucks, exhaustion was beginning to set in. While waiting for Julia to buy her items, Aimee actually began folding clothes at New York & Company to keep herself awake. We decided the big sale at the Gap would be our last excursion for fear we would fall asleep on the fitting room couch.

The Black Friday sale plus the already-marked down clearance prices sealed the deal on a sweater Aimee had had her eye on for months. After making one last purchase, our aching feet and lighter wallets told us our shopping trip had been a success. We piled in the car at exactly 3:59 a.m. and headed for home.

Lauralyn Koontz's experience: Midnight at the Brea Mall

After a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner put together by the more domestic ladies of the family than me, I dragged my stuffed, sleepy body to the Brea Mall at midnight with my fiancé Jeff for my first Black Friday.

As it turns out, I had misconceptions about pretty much everything. My visions of vicious shoppers ripping out each others’ throats as they reached the same 90 percent discounted flat screen TV were quickly replaced by the reality of lethargic mobs meandering around the mall with each member looking only about 60 percent happy to be there.

I was shocked at which stores were flooded and which were deserted. The Kohl's commercials featuring soccer moms pounding on the front door of department stores led me to believe I would be on the younger end of the spectrum of shoppers. Not so. This may be because we went at midnight and not 4 a.m., but the teeny-bopper stores were the hot spots on Thursday night. The longest lines I saw were to get inside Abercrombie & Fitch, Urban Outfitters and Victoria's Secret. Nordstrom and JC Penney's weren't even open!

I was even surprised that many of the savings were fantastically mediocre. Yes, 50 percent off is a huge deal no matter what. But 50 percent off of a $700 television is $350. That means people who could not normally afford such a TV are now able to because it is Black Friday. But 50 percent off of a $40 sweater is $20 — exciting, but not really any more special than a Christmas sale.

There are a lot of cynics in the world who are disgusted by Black Friday. While I refused to shop at 8 p.m. because I never want a retail worker to miss Thanksgiving dinner with their families, I optimistically disagree with those people. Black Friday is fun; it's a cultural phenomenon you can choose to be a part of … or not.

There is no reason to miss out on the savings; you can get all the sales online. Avoid the crowds, avoid the lines. Go shopping a couple of days before Black Friday, write down what you want, and order it online as soon as the Black Friday sales hit. All of the sales with no searching for parking! Jeff and I opted out of waiting in line for two hours at Express. We just snapped some pictures of the clothes and ordered them when we got home. Eight dollar shipping was a small price to pay to avoid that line.

I probably won't be doing Black Friday again. The deals were less than stellar and my personal space was violated a few too many times. Honestly? My favorite part of night was a 4:30 a.m. impromptu half-hour battle against Jeff at Best Buy on a demo version of NHL hockey for Xbox. I lost.