TYSONS, Va. — Hundreds of thousands of procrastinators hit Tyson's Corner Center on Friday night to do some last-minute Christmas shopping.
Anthony Young from Prince George's County is among those who waited until Friday night to get going on his Christmas shopping, but he promises it wasn't on purpose.
"Well unfortunately I work a lot and I couldn't get organized enough to get out the door from work in time with traffic," he explained.
Teneisha and Ava Henry made the trek from Baltimore.
"We love Tyson's, has a lot of different stores. In Baltimore, we don't have malls like that," they said.
Most people we spoke to were shopping for other people, but quite a few were shopping for themselves.
"So this is absolutely for me," said Sherman Singh as he opened his shopping bag, "I got this perfume."
But everyone does agree that this time of year is about more than just gifts. The Henry family says for them, it's about cultural traditions.
"We're Jamaican so we like to cook," they said, "we have our sorrel. Our traditional drink it's called sorrel and fish, red snapper. We like to eat and come together as a family. Christmas means family and enjoying everybody's presents and getting gifts. It's the happiest feeling ever."
Singh says his family will be spending part of the holiday in New York City.
"So the vibes have been absolutely wonderful," he said, "we are headed to New York City as well so ice skating on the Rockefeller is definitely something I'm excited about."
"I enjoy this time of year," said Young, "this is the commercialized part of it, but it's better to give than to receive."