People who don't live around here don't generally appreciate the phenomenon that is Somerset Collection. (
Collection, not Mall!) It's this hoity toity place filled with mostly upscale stores. It's anchored by Saks 5th Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Macy's. I realize that those of you who are from bigger urban areas will say "So?" but you have to understand that this is suburban Detroit. We are not really cool enough for this
mall collection. A lot of people maintain that they are, though. And I enjoy laughing at them.
Santa at Somerset Collection lives in a castle with attendants that look more like something out of King Arthur than elves. You don't wait in line to see Santa, you make an appointment (day of, but still.) There are three price points for Santa. You can make an appointment for free if you don't want their pictures (though they suggest at $10 donation to charity) and take your own. Or you can get their pictures and pay for the $30 six shot package or the $60 twelve shot package.
We got the $30 package. And actually, it was less of a rip off than I expected. For our $30 we got:
No line (more accurately, no line with a toddler - it took my mom nearly two hours to secure the appointment!)
Six pictures
A copyright-free disk of the digital pictures with high res, quality images
A coupon for free prints of the pictures at the camera place upstairs (6 4x6s and 12 wallets)
Three "magic coins" in a purse that Lizzie could trade in at several stores around the mall for presents
A Santa that doesn't look like a pedophile
Not too shabby!
Lizzie did good! She didn't cry. She was very nervous, and you can tell in the pictures. She told Santa she was a good girl, and that she wanted a choo choo train for Christmas. (We coached her a lot beforehand, mostly because we already know that Santa is bringing Lizzie a choo choo train!)
And here are some of the pictures:
You can see all the pictures at my Flickr set
HERE. :)
