I did a little Christmas/Winter Solstice decorating the other night. I'm trying to get in the Holiday spirit. IDK if it's the warm weather, current world events, or just a bad attitude in general, but I'm just not feeling it this year. As a matter of fact, I haven't felt this not-christmassy since I lived in Las Vegas. However, I've always thought of Christmas/Winter Solstice as a very magickal time of year no matter where I was. I absolutely love winter solstice time.
The only time I felt the holiday vibes in Vegas was when I'd drive past the New York New York casino. I guess it would remind me of home. They always decorated the front like Rockefeller Center in NY complete with a snow machine. Although Buffalo NY, is no New York City, the culture in this town is very similar. All of New York state for that matter really knew how to celebrate Christmas. I kid you not, Skaneateles NY, looked like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting the last time I visited there in December. Things may have changed, that was almost 20 years ago. Still, it was really something to see.
My mother asked me to take her on some errands today.She had some Amazon and Macy's returns and she wanted some new decorations for the house. I decided I would search for some Christmas Spirit while we ran around. We had decent weather in the mid 40s and everything here is green, we haven't really got hit with any snow yet. Snow is definitely missing. We always had snow when I was a kid.I think that was another reason I never really felt it in Vegas, everything was green with palm trees; that's tough for a New Yorker. It always feels weird without snow at Christmas, that's probably just me growing up in that climate though.
I ended up going to 5 different stores and even... wait for it... drum roll please... THE MALL! I actually ended up in a mall. I honestly can't remember the last time I went to the mall. More on that in a minute.
So all the stores had holiday music playing. That was pretty cool. I generally don't listen to holiday music, but I love hearing it in stores this time of year. It's just a reminder that it's solstice time and puts a smile on my face.
There were NO LINES/queues ANYWHERE! Christmas is almost a week away, and most of the stores had people in them but no long lines or holiday chaos. That was kind of refreshing. I bustled through the first store (Kohls) as some pop punk band played their cute version of a Christmas song over the intercom. The return line had nobody in it. I was in and out in minutes. Great start.
As I drove around the main roads, nothing really seemed overly decorated. There were holiday decorations on the street lights of the main roads and constant holiday reminders everywhere you looked.
We stopped in Walmart for some lawn ornaments. They didn't have anything we liked or wanted. Seemed like a really thin selection. I bought some cat supplies, again no line! Lucky me, I couldn't believe it. FIRST TIME EVER, I didn't get held up in a long line of chaos in Walmart. It must have been a Christmas miracle. I'm feeling the xmas vibes now 😜
We zipped over to the Christmas Tree Store, and yup, out of business. Then off to the mall with our Macy's return. I was actually excited about this. Surely, there would be holiday hustle and bustle there. I'm actually starting to miss a little holiday chaos. Even the traffic was heavy, but flowing smoothly with no hold ups.
The mall was actually heart breaking. Parking wasn't a problem. 🤣 It looked absolutely gorgeous inside, well decorated, very festive and Christmasy. Christmas music echoed down it's massive empty halls. Half the stores were boarded up and closed with practically nobody inside. If someone would have told 14 year old me the mall would look like this one day, I would have told them they were nuts.
I really have to ask myself if we're going to miss this after it's gone? Once it's gone, it's going to be really hard to bring back the mall. I never considered shopping at the mall as shopping local. They used to be all soul-less corporate fashion outlets. All these stores used to employ a lot of people though, my mother being one of them. Being middle aged, I remember the mall as a hang out in my junior high-school years. My mother also worked at one of the jewelry stores there.
I think the movie Fast Times At Ridgemont High is kind of a great nostalgic look at mall life in the 80s. They used to not only be centers of commerce but also a gathering place and much more social. You'd always run into friends at the mall and end up with a small group of people hanging out at the pizzeria or playing video games. Anyway, that vibe was completely gone from those hallowed halls. The place didn't look dilapidated but it was obvious people hadn't shopped there in a really long time, made evident by all the empty stores.
When we returned to the car my 80 year old mother said, "That's so sad. That mall was decorated so pretty and all the businesses are gone now, and nobody was there."
I just nodded my head in agreement and mumbled, "I know, online shopping." and we headed to one last store where we finally found some decorations.
All the stores had decorations, just nothing we wanted. She wanted some solar powered ones she'd seen online. Even though she's in her 80s, my mom's pretty internet savvy. We never found those, but we ended up with some really cute LED candles for each window. Quick and simple set up and I thought they looked cute in the windows.
Besides feeling sad for the mall, it was a good day. I have to say, where I live, the holiday spirit is out there, a bit understated, but it's still there. Although Christmas may not be as ostentatious and commercial as it once was, the old holiday spirit is still out there. In some ways, it's much calmer now. Like Christmas took a chill pill or something. I guess it's up to each of us to keep that holiday spirit alive in our hearts. You won't find it in a mall, or shopping center and maybe that's a good thing.
Wishing you all a happy holiday season!
I can't believe online shopping has made places that deserted. I've been out around shopping areas in the last couple of weeks and it was really busy. Mind you, a lot of shops have shut down.
Our decorations may go up at the weekend, but I have other jobs to do. We don't get snow every year, but I guess it makes it feel festive for a few minutes before it gets annoying :)
Have fun.
!BEER
The outdoor strip malls here were busy, but no more than usual. I noticed a lot of closed stores too, outside the mall. We had several malls here, most of them are gone now. Even the Galleria which is considered the monster mall in the area is crying that there halls are empty. IDK, probably a combination of a dwindling population, the local economy, and online shopping.
Yeah, same here. If I could have snow for the month of December and be done with it. that would be awesome. I'm actually not a big fan of snow. I do enjoy it throughout the holidays though. Again, probably just because I grew up with it.
Happy holidays!
!PIZZA
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