Jangles! Trinket!

We're up to Wednesday, December 16... Shortcake is catching up on her blogging.  Only two days behind!

Jangles worked!  Because he's crowd control, and Shortcake spends so much of her time in the Village, she doesn't get to see him much, even when he does work.  But they did get to snap this picture with Gingerbread.

And then, and then...  Joy of joys, Trinket came to visit!  YAY!

Peppercorn was having a rough day, and Shortcake was super sleepy by 2pm, so... they (and Gingersnap) had a dance party!  To this song.  Santa joined in for a bit.

And then, and then.  Krampus texted Shortcake to let her know he couldn't make it to an event.  This exchange happened:

KRAMPUS: I'm not going to make it back to go with Santa to Ronald Mc.  Please let him know.  Thanks. 

SHORTCAKE: Copy that.

SANTA: Your face is made of poop.  Poop.  Poop.  Boob poop.  Which is milk.  Boob poop.  Poop of the boob.

KRAMPUS: I know.  I'm sorry.

So Many Things Happened!

So many things happened on Tuesday, December 15!

Everyone had a cold.  Elves, Santa, Shortcake...  Sniffles and coughs and fevers abounded.

Shortcake wrote and mailed her letter to Santa.

Look at this watercolor a boy made for Santa!

We had school groups up the wazoo, so Santa was very busy all day.  He still had time to compliment Shortcake on her technical skills.  (Shortcake thinks this means that she is very good at Tetris.  This is a fact.  Shortcake is quite good at Tetris.)  

Santa had a bro house, featuring Little Star, Jinglesnaps and Dumpling.  Shortcake still has no answer to the question "What is the difference between a bro, a brah, and a bruh?"

Krampus sang "Oh where is my hairbrush" into the walkie after Shortcake turned a hairbrush into the Lost and Found.

Santa and Shortcake had a dance party in the middle of the day.

Dumpling was Shortcake's favorite elf because he got her hot water for tea.  Jinglesnaps was all jealous, but Shortcake pointed out he could be her favorite elf on the next day.

Santa told a story of how, when he was a wee lad of sixteen, he wove a scarf out of sheepdog hair.  He took the hair, spun it into yarn, and then wove a scarf.  Santa is a multi-faceted man.

Shortcake had Santa's help taking a Buzzfeed quiz, deciding which companion to the Doctor she would be.  Santa thought she would get Clara.  Shortcake thought she would get Donna.  She got Clara.  

And then Santa had Shortcake take a quiz that he made up on the spot.  And he told her that the Strawboss she would be was... Cider.  She asked what answers she would have to give to get Freckles (Genie, from here on out, shall be referred to as Freckles).  Or even, perhaps, Shortcake.  Santa said nothing.  She was going to get Cider.

Plates and Rock Lobsters

Monday, December 14 did not have an auspicious start.  Shortcake was just about to eat her delicious breakfast when the plate fell.  On her foot.  Breakfast went everywhere.  Luckily, the plate did not break.  Neither did Shortcake's foot.  The breakfast was... unsalvageable.  So, not only did Shortcake have a bruised and swollen foot, but she had to remake her breakfast.

The bruise got purpler as the day went on.

Perhaps because of the foot, perhaps because it was Monday, perhaps because Shortcake was short of seep (as usual), Shortcake was quite sassy that Monday.  She still managed to have a dance party with Biscuits, and she hugged Jangles and Snowball (for the first time all season!).  At the end of the day, she hugged Santa, and they both leaned on each other so heavily, they started melting towards the ground in a big pile of hug.  So, be not afraid, gentle readers, Santa gets his sass in too.  Sometimes Shortcake has to stay sassy just to hold her own.

Afterwards, Shortcake headed off to have dinner with her friends at the (very fancy) Plaza.  It's a holiday tradition.  She was early, so she looked at the Bergdorf Goodman windows, which are always excellent.  These are her two favorites this year:

      

When she arrived at the Plaza, she saw a sign.

If only she hadn't just come from working with him...

Shortcake had dinner with friends, and, while there, she colored in the turtle on the kids menu.  Because they don't let you color on the adults menu.  And the Plaza does not stint on their crayons.  These were brand-new, never-used, Crayola crayons.  This is the good stuff.

Rock Lobsters!

Penguins on the subway!

Fruit & Cheese Day!

Last Friday, December 11, was Fruit and Cheese Day!

You may remember this tradition from years past.  In an effort to counteract the amount of cookies and chocolate that Shortcake eats, she designates one day as Fruit and Cheese day and brings in... Fruit and Cheese.

This year was a rousing success.  Santa had been stocking up for weeks.  Shortcake brought in the smoked gouda, and a smaller tray of French cheese and dried fruit.  Santa brought in pineapple and melon and crackers and a cheese tray, and Peppercorn brought in pineapple and berries.  Everything was delicious (Especially the smoked gouda.  And the cranberry goat cheese!  Every day should include goat cheese.  Nothing is quite so decadent as chevre.).

Unfortunately, it was very hot in Macy's.  With global warming being what it is, and 60 degrees days in December, and Macy's being a very old building with steam heat...  It can be hard for the building to adjust, and thus, Santa was very, very warm.  Peppercorn had the brilliant idea of bringing him ice packs, so he could put them on his neck to cool down between visits.

Santa had an interesting visit with a baby.  The baby wouldn't smile or look at the camera, so his parents gave him a snack.  The snack fell on the ground, and the baby looked down to stare at the snack.  So, Santa says "give me a snack" and Santa holds it out, then throws it towards the camera onto the ground.  Unfortunately, the baby did not follow the snack, or look at the camera.  Instead, the baby looked at Santa like "What?!  Why would you do that?!"  Santa, Sprinkles, and the parents all started laughing uproariously.

Peppercorn also brought her ukulele in!  Shortcake still has her ukulele (although she hasn't learned to play it well in two years), but she hasn't brought it in yet this year.  So she was very excited when Peppercorn brought hers in.

Late St. Nick Day present

Last Thursday (for those keeping track, December 10), Shortcake did not work at Macy's.  But!  A present arrived in the mail from St. Nicholas!

It's fancy chocolate in beautiful wooden boxes.

Miss Denise!

So last Wednesday (a week ago, for those keeping track) was December 9.  Aaaaaaaaaand (drumroll please................) Miss Denise came!

For those of you paying attention over the years, Miss Denise always comes with about 60 people, half of whom are children, and they all want individual photos with Santa.  So we line them all up in the peek hallway and go through one at a time, and somehow we do this so it does not disrupt the Village.

And Miss Denise is always so nice, and so organized, and she lets us know she's coming, and the kids are well-behaved, and basically, Shortcake has a friend crush (you know, where you desperately want someone to be your friend) on Miss Denise.  She looks forward to her coming every single year.

Miss Denise came!

Shortcake went right up and hugged her.  And afterwards, she made sure that she and Blissful (who also works every year with Miss Denise) got a picture with her and Santa.

Santa also had some VIP visits, and, of course, they came at the same time as Miss Denise, so, of course, Shortcake did not get her lunch on time.  She was sooooooooooooooo hungry, it felt like her stomach was starting to eat her esophagus.

Also, Peppercorn starts losing her mind on Wednesdays.  She started walking around pretending to be Santa.  And it was hilarious.

And at the end of the day, we had three strawbosses!  Cider, Genie and Shortcake were all in the same place!  This almost never happens, so, of course, they celebrated with a strawboss group hug.

Let's end on a picture of Miss Denise with Santa, shall we?

Dec. 8 - The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Remember the Feast of the Immaculate Conception?  When Santaland gets super busy every year in the middle of the week because Catholics.

It happened again this year.  Shortcake said "Bring on the Catholics!"  And they came.

Of course, it's the time of year when the elves start buckling under the pressure of the schedule - not emotionally, but physically.  It is the week that colds start circulating amongst the elves, and everyone's a little short-slept.  Short-sleeped?  Tired.

Santa thanked Shortcake for always being positive in the morning.  Shortcake attributes this pleasantness to a mug of Earl Grey tea and hot chocolate.

Shortcake took her Spanish homework into the Village to get help from Jinglesnaps while he Ushered.  Jinglesnaps was super helpful and patient, but then Krampus stopped by and gave Shortcake a look.  Shortcake was all "Jinglesnap's is helping me!," and Krampus was all "You're doing your Spanish homework in the Village."  So then Shortcake took her Spanish homework and left.

Peppercorn wore a totally awesome penguin sweater!