First day!

Monday was Shortcake’s first official day in Santaland.  She was very excited.  It was a slow day, and Shortcake caught up on everything that happened over the weekend.  Shortcake and the other strawbosses keep in touch by filling out reports in a strawboss binder.

There was a little boy so excited to see Santa that he hopped up to him, gave him a big hug, and hopped away.

Shortcake’s friend Holly came to visit Santa:

Soft Open

Today was the soft open, when Santaland is open, but we didn't tell anyone it was open.  A few school groups come through; Puppet theater has a few shows, and we encourage random people walking through the store to come visit Santa.  Shortcake's friend ARG came to visit, took her photo with Santa and said, "So pretty in there!"

There you go.  The first endorsement of the year.

Santaland officially opens on Friday, Nov. 23, and Shortcake will be there next Monday.  She will brave trials and tribulations to get Santa water.  She will traipse through snow and glitter.  She will make sure Santa has clean gloves and Tic Tacs.

In her head, the late Don Lafontaine read that last paragraph.

Shortcake is currently sitting in the Cleveland airport. (Santa needed the flying reindeer, and we try not to abuse them this time of year.  Think of it as the taper leading up to the marathon of Christmas Eve.  Except they fly farther than 26.2 miles.)  On her flight here she was assigned to row 19, but there was no row 19.  So she sat in row 13.  And she had both an aisle and a window seat.  Yes, she is that cool.  Or the plane was just that small.  There were two little girls on the flight who became very excited after take-off because they could see Citi Field, and Shortcake had to admit the views flying over Queens and Manhattan were kinda amazing.  Even if Chicago has a better skyline.

Santa Training

Shortcake had training with Santa today.  He told a lot of stories about the visits he's had over the years, and he reviewed the protocol for Macy's visits.  Shortcake had to leave training early to get to her show.

In other news, Shortcake's grandmother passed away yesterday.  Her grandmother was a good elf. Her funeral is on Wednesday, and many more eloquent, poignant things will be said, but for right now, that sums it up.  Shortcake will be with her extended family Tuesday through Thursday for the wake and funeral and Thanksgiving.  This will probably be the last time the extended family is all together (all11 kids, 19 grandkids, 14 great-grandkids and in-laws), so Shortcake is very grateful she will be able to spend this Thanksgiving with them. 

Training and Orientation

It's been a busy week.  Santaland is starting to look Christmas-y at Macy's, and Shortcake started training with Santa.  She met the two other strawbosses: Cider and Genie.  Cider has been elfing with Shortcake for the last 4 years, and Genie was a strawboss last year.  Genie is our fearless leader.

Santa came in for his fitting.  He doesn't wear the big red suit all year round, you know. There's summer, even at the North Pole, when he wears his summer coat.  We made sure the suit still fits, made sure he didn't need a haircut, etc.  Santa wants to look his best this time of year.

Shortcake had to miss Orientation because of her other job (even elves and strawbosses have to pay rent, you know).  (Insert flippant comment about the North Pole still being a capitalistic economy, which then gets complicated considering Santa gifts everyone everything, and then Ayn Rand rolls over in her grave, and Shortcake gives up.)

Shortcake will be working M-TH from open (usually 9am) to 4pm with a few changes here and there.

If you're planning to visit Santa this season, COME EARLY.  The first week is the best.  Also, avoid Dec. 8.  Early in the morning is usually pretty slow, and there's usually a lull after lunch.  If you come on the weekends, COME EARLY.  If you come at 2pm on the Saturday before Christmas, there will be a 2 hour line, and Shortcake will have no sympathy because she warned you. 

If you have any questions, remember you can e-mail Shortcake at shortcakejingleberry@gmail.com. 

Shortcake is back for 2012!

Good news, Christmas fans!  Shortcake will be back at Macy's this year!

She is going to be a strawboss.  Remember, readers, a strawboss is the person who takes care of Santa - getting him water, making sure he makes it to Macy's and events on time, making sure Santa looks the best he can. 

Unfortunately, this means she will not be in her elf uniform.  She will wear black pants and a red button-down shirt.  Boring.  BUT she has wanted this job for four years, and Santa finally trusted her enough to give it to her.

Shortcake will be at Macy's Monday-Thursday, 8am-4pm, starting the day after Thanksgiving. 

Here's a photo of Shortcake's family visiting Santa last Christmas:

Sad news for 2011

Sad news friends. Santa has informed Shortcake that, due to her other duties at the North Pole, she cannot work at Macy's at this time.

Hopefully, she will be able to pick up some days closer to Christmas, but, alas, nothing is confirmed.

Shortcake is very, very sad. Disheartened. Downcast. Distraught. She is NOT de-lovely.

But she did set up an e-mail: shortcakejingleberry@gmail.com

If you have any questions, or Christmas stories to share, please direct them to her there. She will be toiling away at the North Pole, getting ready for the big day in... 31 days.

Merry Christmas!

Here's a video from when Santa visited Kathie Lee and Hoda at the Today Show.

Shortcake is back at the North Pole. Santa successfully made his trip last night (as you know if you woke up this morning to presents under the tree). Everyone at the North Pole spent the day napping and eating, and we are all very pleased with the way the Christmas season turned out.

The last two days at Macy's were busy. It was a steady line all day, both days. Shortcake spent a lot of time back in HR or on the Front Line with the headset. She started to lose her patience on Christmas Eve Eve. She asked to be moved from the front of the train (where people take photos and hold up the line) because she was about to start snapping at people, so she moved to Stroller Alley. Which was only mildly better. Shortcake would have moved to HR if it had been open. In HR you can be sassy, but people think it's funny. Because they're in HR.

People got a little testy on Christmas Eve, especially when the line was 2 hours long, and we closed the line at 4pm (just like we had advertised we would). People were not accepting of this fact. So Big Burly Security Man came up and stood next to Shortcake to help her out. Kate, the head of Santaland for Macy's (Santa is in charge of the North Pole section) made the decision that anyone who was about to get in line just after 4pm would be escorted to the Puppet Theatre (now empty, since the last puppet theater show was at 2:15pm) and they could wait to see if there was time for Santa to see them before he left the building at 6:00pm (to get back to the North Pole, don'tcha know). The kids were given coloring books, and Santa stopped by for a brief visit, and everyone was much happier, including the woman who flew in from England with her new baby.

To end the season, here's David Sedaris' "Santaland Diaries" as read by the author on "This American Life." It's Shortcake's dad's favorite holiday story, particularly the part where David Sedaris sings "Away in a Manger" as Billie Holliday. It's on youtube, so it's in 4 parts. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

And here's a holiday Calvin & Hobbes.

Pictures below. Happy Christmas to all! Shortcake will be back next year.

This is Sequin manning the door by the Welcome Kiosk.
This is what Shortcake and Teddy Bear looked like most of the season: on headset, mocking each other.
Klondike the elf came down from the North Pole to help out on the last day.
Pippin emptied the Make-A-Wish Wishing Well, in order to take the money to the Vault.
All the stanchions were put away for the season.
Macy's gave the elves super-awesome Santaland hats. Shortcake and Sequin model them: