Finally! The Cricut Imagine is in my house!

So I was able to catch a great sale on the Cricut Imagine machine today.  Last night I waited until 9:45 to catch the 10pm Black Friday sale at Walmart where the Cricut Imagine was going to be on sale for $187.  That deal was just too good to pass up, considering I've been waiting for over a year to get this puppy.  I could not believe the crowds when I got there.  I nearly had a panic attack trying to find a parking spot.  Had I known that I could have just gone to Walmart much earlier than 10pm, I could have had a much easier time trying to navigate the store without the gridlock.  I spent a good 30  minutes trying to find this machine only to give up and go home.  Apparently my Walmart did not have this machine and I did not see anyone with it in their carts either.  I wanted to have it that night so I could play with it the next morning. Sad panda.

I drove my disappointed self home wishing I never decided to brave the cold to go out in the crowds.  I searched the Home Shopping Network's website trying to justify doing the flexpay option (5 payments of $99) but just could not wrap my mind around spending $500 on a machine when my heart was already set on paying less.  After all, if I had that kind of money I would have bought it last year when it debuted.  I told myself that I'd sleep on it and would try another Walmart 10 minutes away in the next town the next morning and if I didn't find it, I would get it through Home Shopping.  

I left the house at 10am this morning and for good measure, scoped out my Walmart one last time for the Imagine.  Nada.  So I went to the Walmart in the next town and looked around.  All I saw was some Cricut Lites and a few Cricut Personal Cutters and Create machines.  I picked up the Block Party cartridge after resigning that it would be all I was going to get this Black Friday since it looked like no Imagine for me!  On the way to the front of the store was an Imagine staring right at me.  It was the last one left!  I'd hoped that since most folks weren't scrapbookers and only a niche audience knew what this machine was and what it is used for, I'd find one today.  I put the Block Party cartridge down, put the Imagine under my cart, paid for it and high-tailed it home.  Now I can finally say I own an Imagine.  My machine came with the Imagine More, Industrial Glow and the Elise cartridges.  All I need now is to find a good deal on the Buccaneer cartridge and I'll be good to go.  After all, Buccaneer is the cartridge that sealed the deal on whether I really needed this machine or not.   I still can't help thinking that had I known that I would find my new toy today by 11am, I could have gone to bed earlier last night.

The Imagine in the spot where I imagined it would be

The cartridges that came with my machine

This cart is now officially on my wishlist.