Yes, I went to the Lilly for Target launch on Sunday morning.
Yes, I reside in the state that had the longest lines and the fastest sell outs.
Yes, I survived. But barely.
My girlfriend Ashley not only furnished me with a giant coffee but was holding my spot in line when I arrived. Thank god, because the line at my local Target looked like this:
and yes, it was raining. and yes, we stood there anyway. 
I wish I had the words to accurately describe the pandemonium that ensued after the doors were unlocked and the masses sprinted (yes, sprinted) towards the incredibly small section of Lilly items. 
Luckily, I was so enamored with the humanity of it all that I snapped a few shots of the action.
 It was really something to witness

 
Adult women with their children in tow were screaming, grabbing, pushing and shoving to get their hands on hot pink beach towels. I literally have never seen anything like it in my life. 
There were rumors that our Target did not receive the Lilly shipment until 4 am and therefor the selling floor was not fully stocked. So what’s a polite, Southern woman to do?
Well, bum rush a Target stock cart of course! 
and if you’re a real lady, you just camp out at the warehouse doors so that you can knock the Target employees out of the way for that illusive beach tote! 
 [a crowd loitering by the warehouse, hopping to get lucky]
We got caught in the movement of the crowd and hit the women’s clothing first (where we of course witnessed women grabbing handfuls of the same item). The section was so small that it was literally gone in seconds. I’d say we were the 20th or so people through the door and the racks were already almost picked clean. Luckily, I’m tall and could reach over people but it was, without a doubt, gone before 90% of the line made it through the door. 
Women were literally running around the apparel section yelling, “where is it?! where is the Lilly!?”. 
It’s gone, baby. 
It’s gone.

After we crawled to the safety that was the aisle, we realized that we hadn’t even seen jewelry, bags or scarves. Ashley made a dash for the accessories and I made a run for the shoes. 
Not a damn thing left.
And, oh the home goods.
By the time we made it to the far corner of the store, this is what we saw.
 
After the initial chaos slowed, things really became desperate.
Women (and some men, who I hope earned a steak dinner that night) posted up outside of the dressing rooms begging for discarded shift dresses.
Poor, innocent pre-teens loitered about the clothing section occasionally saying “extra small??” to any woman walking toward them with a potentially unloved item in her hand.
 [the barterers and beggars lining the path from the dressing room to the Lilly section]
There were trades, steals, barters, buy offs and a lot of people mumbling about how some of these women needed to head to church after their public displays of Lilly fueled insanity. 
I snagged a few things – some of which I love, some that I grabbed because it was there for the taking.
 What can I say? 
The mob mentality brings out the beast in the best of us. 
Love: the navy, long white caftan, white and gold throw
Like: the white, one piece, carafe and Barbie pink sticky lip gloss
Lilly For Target
Speaking of the beasts, let’s have just one last look, sha’ll we?

Please note the woman who appears to be crawling on the floor.
As we say in the South, bless her heart.