<body>
LIVING in LIVINGston and surrounding towns of New Jersey

Life in Livingston, Short Hills, Millburn, Summit, Madison, Chatham, East Hanover, West Orange and the surroundings of NJ/NY

 

Santa's first name is FRED?

Here's commercialism at it's worst. The Santa picture taking area at the Short Hills Mall in Short Hills, NJ has gotten bigger each year -- even including an actual walk-through with snow falling down!

But this year, the tie in is with the Fred Claus movie, and it's SO integrated that little kids are sure to be confused between the two. Surely a marketer's dream for hijacking the American Christmas and turning it into one big advertisement for a movie.

Anyway, if you want to plunk $50 down for a picture with Santa, head on down JFK Parkway to the Short Hills Mall for holiday shopping with FRED - Santa's official first name according to the mall.

Monday at 10:32 AM | | |

Not for the tired, cold, or weary.

We went to the Essex County Holiday Festival Lights at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange. It was ok -- 50,000 lights and more as they claim.
But you have to walk around the zoo to see all the lights -- not drive and it gets really chilly in the evenings when it's open.
I'm wondering how many people are going to drag their families around on a cold winter night to see the lights.
You do get to see some animals in the "barn" at the back of the zoo which is neat for the little ones. And the new indoor reptile exhibit is open to see, but it's not big, so you're not indoors a long time).
And at $6/person, it's definitely not for anybody who's cold, tired and weary or walking around in the cold winter weather...
If they do it again next year, they should really add about another 100,000 lights or so to light up ALL the walkways to the back of the zoo. And they should have free hot cocoa or something else to warm you up for the walk.

at 8:54 AM | | |