About a week ago, I ventured to Fashion Island one evening, primarily to see the huge Christmas tree displayed each year. True, all these pictures were taken with my camera phone, but hopefully you can get the idea: The center was really pretty. The regular trees were wrapped in lights, giant decorations were sprinkled about, and the Christmas tree had bulbs larger than my head.

Another place I visited last week was the elegant Balboa Bay Club (for an annual Christmas party). Once again, the decorations were really nice, but, my favorite had to be the giant city of candy (to the left). Everything was made from some sort of food product – graham crackers, gum drops, frosting… looked really cool.

Finally, in a momentary fit of insanity, I decided it would be a good idea to go to South Coast Plaza for some shopping. Started out ok… but got more and more crowded. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that the malls just weren’t that crowded. I guess it was because they were all waiting for this past weekend to shop!

As usual though, SCP was decorated for the holidays, complete with complimentary apple cider and hot chocolate, carolers and hords of people:

So, if you are brave enough to head out there on a weekend, be tough, get there early, and take advantage of all the free stuff you can…