Christmas Lights in September!

Week-ends are when I write about inspirational themes/things/times and since yesterday's post referred to Thanksgiving and an old friend, today's post will have Christmas and ease as its' themes (yes I know, it is still September).

The Westfield Mall in Century City has always been one of my favorite shopping centers; they have been undergoing a major transformation that will eventually include high rise luxury apartments and a park-like open space. The open air food court already has upscale eateries ranging from Coral Tree Cafe Express (my favorite), to Lawry's Carvery, and live music; the shops include brands like Louis Vuitton, Cole Haan, and Juicy Couture; and if you want to enjoy a movie and a nice restaurant meal, there are 15 AMC movie screens, and date worthy restaurants like Savannah.

One recent improvement has made it look like Christmas in the underground parking structure, but not with holiday decorations like wreaths and trees. They have installed a new parking system which shows the number of spaces available in every direction, along with a light above each space that lights up in red (space taken) or green (space available), so you can look down a row of overhead lights and see if there is a green light instead of having to drive down the row only to find every space already taken. There are sensors over the spaces, so as a car pulls out, a red light turns green and visa versa. Not only is it an ingenious and unobtrusive way of indicating available parking, but it is pretty!

Now when Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping season comes, you may actually enjoy going to the mall just to see the lights in the parking structure; if there aren't any green lights, remember there is always valet parking.