Saturday morning we woke up bright and early so we could attend the 2014 Lego VIP shopping event. The Little Brick was super excited to go as were we. We've never been to one of these events, so it was really nice to get the invitation... especially when we weren't expecting it at all. When we got to our local LEGO store, we were greeted by the manager with a VIP badge. There was one for all of us, but mine had my name written on it ('cause I'm special) ;) ... We were also given a bag of goodies each. Ours came with a sheet of LEGO gift wrap, a LEGO stretch bracelet, the Thanksgiving Turkey (40091) and the exclusive Christmas Train Ornament (5002813). I love the Christmas Train Ornament and am psyched we have 3 total... although I think we may just sell the other two. There were quite a few people that came in during the hour. It was neat to meet up and hear about the things they were excited about. My husband said there was lots of talk about the new Detective's Office (10246) releasing January 2015. We also got a sneak peek and first chance to purchase the new sets releasing on Black Friday. I have my eye on the LEGO Rainforest Animals (31031). Hopefully, it will find its way under our tree for Christmas morning. And of course, while we shopped, The Little Brick had an excellent time building a house with one of the store employees. Notice the "barn doors" and chimney action? Mostly her idea... I have a thing for barn doors. Don't judge me... The best part was we got to make our Black Friday purchases a whole week early. We've been planning on making a $99 purchase, the bulk of which consisted of all the LEGO Minifigures Series 12. Fortunately (or unfortunately), we also have three upcoming birthday parties, so the rest of what we picked up were birthday presents allowing us to reach our $99 goal to get the exclusive Ice Skating (40107) set. It was a nice shopping trip for sure and I hope we get included in next year's VIP event. BTW, I had a discussion with the manager on how people get picked for the VIP event. He believes it's a combination of money spent for the year with the amount of visits made to the store. This could mean that a family that makes numerous visits to pick up small items could also be considered for a VIP invitation... but this is all speculation, since LEGO Corporate picks the list of invitees per store with no real explanation for anyone. What LEGO purchases are you planning for Black Friday?