This is a big week for American families: Thanksgiving and the start of the annual holiday shopping season. At Ben David, we love both of these traditions. Here are a few things we’re looking forward to this season.   Thanksgiving True, this day is best known for feasting. Maybe even a little too much. We Americans love our turkey (or Tofurky these days), cranberries, rolls, stuffing, green bean casserole and just about any kind of pie you can think of. But even more important is family time. Thanksgiving is the biggest travel time of the year. And you know we love our families when we’re willing to endure long trips on cramped airplanes to see them! At Ben David, we want to put the “thanks” back in Thanksgiving by remembering gratitude. So a heartfelt thank you to all our past, present and future customers and to our loyal blog readers. We thank our husbands, wives, children, grandkids, siblings, aunts, uncles, and pets for bringing us all the joys of daily family living. And thank you, friends. We’re looking forward to a Thursday of the 3 Fs: family, feasting and football. And resting up for what starts very early the next morning… Black Friday The term “Black Friday” dates back to the 1960s. In this case, “black” refers to “in the black,” or making a profit. Because that’s what the whole economy needs come Christmas. But even before the term Black Friday, the Christmas shopping season unofficially began after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Ever since 1924. In recent years, Black Friday madness has grown as retailers offer ever-deeper discounts. This accounts for part of the reason shoppers hit the malls in droves the day after Thanksgiving. But we think there’s another reason, too. As much as we love to lay on the couch watching football and gobbling huge turkey drumsticks, a full day of that gets a little stale. We realize there’s more to life. Like shopping! So put down the pumpkin pie and come see us. Or better yet, bring it along and share. We would love to help you pick out gifts your loved ones will treasure. How about special holiday-themed charms from Pandora? You can choose from a candy cane, reindeer, winter mittens, Saint Nick himself, and many other finely crafted, whimsical charms to hang on your charm bracelet. See all the charms we’re offering for our special Pandora 12 Days of Christmas promotion here.