The wintery first weekend of December found me en route to the Westfield Hawthorn shopping mall in Vernon Hills, determined, for once, to begin my Christmas shopping before the last minute. I parked my car and entered the mall through JCPenney, leaving the slush and snow behind and embracing the warm atmosphere within. Throughout the store, Christmas trees comprised of softball-sized globes in varying shades of red lent a decorative flare to the clothing displays. I browsed through the mens' shirts before a rainbow of sports penants just outside the doorway caught my eye. Moments in Sports showcased just about every type of sports memorabilia I could think of, at the same time representing every sports team imaginable. I made some mental notes of potential gifts for the sports fans on my shopping list. Outside, I came across a train chugging around a winding set of tracks. An excited-looking young boy sat at the controls, and smiled as his locomotive made its way around the crowd of onlookers. I continued on past the front of Gamestop, and decided I would stop by later on, as the store was already bursting with youngsters and their parents.
I noticed that the festive atmosphere permeated the mall as I strolled further, with warm lights and pine boughs adorning the walkways. A pleasant scent caught my nostris and led me to Pretzel Tide, a booth specializing in the Bavarian treats. Nearby, a store called Wet Seal was bustling with young women perusing the latest fashions. I noted a couple of articles that seemed to be to my girlfriend's tastes, and decided to check back. Outide, the holidays were definitely in full swing at Woody's, where trees and wreaths led the way amongst stuffed animals and ornaments. Nearby, I watched with a group of onlookers at the Wii demo station, where exuberant youth tried out games for the Nintendo Wii system. The spectators (including myself) were almost as amused as the kids, who jumped and played guitars in synchronization with the video game characters on the screens.
At Macy's, elaborately ornamented trees and wooden nutcracker dolls caught the eyes of interested mall-goers. I rode down the escalator to the lower level, where a line of children waited to sit on Santa Claus' lap at the Wish Station. The woman behind me exclaimed "Oh, a puppy!", and I looked up to see a smiling girl get off of Santa's lap with her black and white puppy in her arms. Nearby at Raceline Motorworks, a crowd watched as racing enthusiasts steered model cars around the store's elaborate racetrack. I continued over to Barnes & Nobles to peruse the magazines and buy some books as gifts, and decided to stop for a cranberry scone and some orange tea before proceeding.

Around a bend, small waterfalls in the front of a store called Home Accents caught my attention, and I stepped inside to see what else I might find. Eastern gifts of all varieties were on display, and I took a liking to some hand-carved sculptures of elephants and lucky Oriental dragons. I continued on to find Playtown Westfield, a fantasy playground where small kids climbed on giant turtles and cars, and adults rested on green padded seating. Towards the middle of the mall, I looked up to marvel at an enormous Christmas tree loaded with presents underneath. At the front of the tree, sporting their purple and yellow uniforms, the Wauconda Junior Bulldogs' Elite Cheerleaders lent their giftwrapping skills to mall customers. My last stop before heading out was Rock America, a rock n roll memorabilia store selling everything from Rolling Stones clocks to Bob Marley wallets. A lifelike,18" Freddie Mercury doll that played Queen's greatest hits struck me as something a friend of mine would like, and a collectors' item too good to pass up. It seems like we all say that the holidays aren't the same as one gets older, but I can safely say that I left Westfiled Hawthorne this weekend with a warm feeling of holiday cheer, and an armload of cool gifts to boot.

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