Black Friday

Shortcake was at Santaland bright and early Friday morning.  She actually doesn't mind working Black Friday - it's nice to open the season, and usually she gets a decent amount of sleep the night before since Thanksgiving is a holiday.

Santa was in an excellent mood Friday morning.  He was listening to Meatloaf when Shortcake walked in, which is always a sign of good times to come.  He recited "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to the elves before we opened, to great cheering.  (Side note: we have a bumper crop of new elves this year.)

Krampus made bourbon balls - which is usually a Christmas Eve treat.  Apparently he got bored on Thanksgiving and made a batch.  Shortcake had two, which slightly varied her diet.  Since breakfast, she had bacon and cookies.  And two bourbon balls.  That was it until 7pm.  Needless to say, she was hungry by the end of the day.

The cutest, prettiest, biggest smile-est six-month-old came to see Santa.  Her name was Madeline Olivia, and she had the most charming smile Shortcake has seen in years.  She sat up and didn't cry and was pleased as punch to meet Santa.

Dorkwad also came to visit.

Dorkwad asked Santa for a nap.  Shortcake asked for teleportation.  Santa didn't really know how to respond to that request.  So they took a selfie.

Thanksgiving!

Yes, Thanksgiving is an American holiday, but citizens of the North Pole are not opposed to celebrating a holiday involving food and naps.

Shortcake started the day by running a 5 mile race.  As you can see, the weather was quite different from that at the North Pole.

But!  Shortcake got a medal for running!

Shortcake's brother (remember Dorkwad from years past?) came down from the North Pole to visit.  

He did not like being interrupted while reading.  (To all young impressionable elves out there, please note Dorkwad is over the legal age for consuming alcohol, and he was not driving anywhere afterwads, or operating heavy machinery, and therefore consuming this beer was not irresponsible.)

Shortcake refused to get out of her pajamas and consumed a lot of apple cider.

Together, they took a selfie, but they refused to leave their respective chairs, so...  This happened.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Soft Opening

We had a soft opening on Tuesday (yesterday) to give the new elves a chance to practice with real people in a low pressure environment before Black Friday.

Of course, nothing prepares you for Black Friday.  Santaland is Trial by Fire, and elves either survive or burn.

And the Pin Lady came through!  She's a Santaland tradition.  Shortcake gave her a big hug and got this year's pin!

And here's a picture of Shortcake working.  We finally got the daily sheets, so the strawbosses can start working on schedules and events and things.  So many things to do for Friday!

Prep Times!

The prep continues.  Here's Cider and Genie working on the calendar:

 

And then there was the strawboss photo shoot:

the pretty shot

the confused/debating shot

the blurry/amused shot

the shot that perfectly sums us up

And finally... Santa!

The prep continues

Cider, Genie and Shortcake continued prepping for Santa's arrival yesterday.  They had their annual meeting with Krampus, learned all the changes and updates for the year and found this little gem in Macy's HR files:

This was taken in 2008.  Not much has changed in the last seven years.  Maybe it's the elf blood that keeps Shortcake looking exactly the same?

Shortcake's back for another year!

Yes, friends, Shortcake is back at Santaland for one more year!

Yes, she's a strawboss again.

She arrived in NYC today from the North Pole, and had to pretend to be a human instead of an elf for Macy's HR people.  This is how she felt about that:

She also had to go through Macy's HR training... for the eighth time.   It was fairly painless this time around, but she did have to learn all about how to properly dispose of hazardous waste.

Why?

She has no idea.

Here's the evidence that she did, indeed, watch the video:

Note how Shortcake is appropriately dressed in Macy's black, completing the disguise as human.  At least the back wall is Santa's favorite color?

More soon as Cider, Shortcake and Genie prep for Santa's arrival!