Sunday, December 6, 2009

Hungry for Holiday Headgear

At South Lake Avenue's annual Holiday Open House yesterday every other store was giving away food. Sure, you could get discounts. You could also get coffee and cookies with your complimentary chair massage at Touche Salon and Day Spa. You could munch on the free sample appetizers at Cafe 140 South while gossiping about passersby. Maybe you skipped the food and ducked in to Williams-Sonoma to get your picture taken with Santa, but I didn't. I went to Ten Thousand Villages for the refreshments.

Despite near-blizzard conditions with temperatures in the mid-fifties, Lake Avenue was lined with friendly elves who braved the cold to entertain the crowds. It seems some people stayed home by the fire, afraid to drive under cloudy conditions. They missed the fun!

The elves were nice, but no matter how I begged they would not trade hats with me. It was disappointing. The Wikki Stix at Giggle sounded tempting, but you can't eat them and all I really wanted--besides food--was a hat.

(I know you can't eat a hat.)

14 comments:

Dina said...

Funny indeed how you describe South Californians' attitude to "winter" weather.

Shell Sherree said...

Those elvish hats are very attractive, Petrea. Take a length of felt, stapler and pair of scissors and I'm sure you can make one of your very own ~ say, you could make a matched set for the whole family, two-legged and four!

Michael Coppess said...

I knew it was cold yesterday but didn't know it actually got down to the mid 50's. Brrrrr.

Amanda said...

About your and my comments on "Paris daily photo". We do need the rain but I forgot about the station fire. I have a friend who lives in La Crescenta, so yes, that is a big concern. BTW, I love the restaurants in Pasadena and the shopping. I used to be a member of Descanso gardens. No problems when I lived in Burbank, but now being in the South bay, it isn't always a pleasant drive to go your way. But my consolation is that I can see Mt Wilson from my window. (Pasadena is my favorite city in SoCal, San Diego being second).

Virginia said...

Aww Petrea, run right over to my blog and have yourself a little "snow minute"! It's gone now but we enjoyed the heck out of the 5-6 hours we had.

These brave brave elves braving the cold!! Bless their hearts. Throw another log on the fire.
V

Petrea Burchard said...

Dina, I was bundled up but the neighbors made fun of me.

Shell, I have a glue gun and I'm not afraid to use it.

Michael, according to the web it got as high as 61 degrees.

Bonjour Nadege! Thanks for stopping in. It's great that you can see Mount Wilson from your window in Manhattan Beach. I can see it from mine, too. (It's like sharing the same moon.) Yes, around here we're all very concerned about the rain now. We know we need it, but only so much.

Ha ha, V, I will definitely stop in. I remember your lovely snow pictures from last year.

Katie said...

Those cute elves look like they just came out of Giggle! (Great name for a store.) Bummer about the weather, but I'm glad there were people out for this fun sounding event. I just heard that we're to expect a serious frost overnight Monday (temps in the 20s!). Plus we're expecting rain, so maybe we'll get snow! (Ok, I guess I'm a bit too excited about the new winter boots I bought to go to upstate NY in a few weeks.)

Anonymous said...

Near blizzard conditions? maybe you needed that hat

FA said...

I agree with Dina. After growing up in Southern California and then living in really cold weather I am especially amused by your comments.

Amy said...

Ooh, I love Wikki Stix! Thank you for that link, I always have a hard time finding them. And I can never remember the name close enough to find them on the internet. Yay!

It was blizzard like, we had to turn on the heat and everything recently.

Petrea Burchard said...

Yup, Katie, I expect we'll have some west coast cold tomorrow. Colder in SF than here, though, so I'd best stop complaining.

Yes, PA, and elf mittens, too. I hear they're warmer than what us humans can make, seeing as they're from the north pole and everything.

I went in the other direction, FA, from cold to warm. And I came here for a reason!

They have a decent selection of space heaters at BedBath&Beyond, Amy. I know because I selected one.

John Sandel said...

You'll see me in a hat when it snows—not before. And I'm talkin' serious snow.

Tash said...

They sure are cheerful. It's practically freezing - had to wear a jacket all day!
I'm sooo excited that your novel is almost complete. Way to go!

Petrea Burchard said...

Hi Tash! You've been reading AltadenaHiker. Well, "almost" is a relative term, but yes. Almost.