Retail Roundup

Well, it’s almost Halloween and what better time to throw a party? The

good people at Snapple, which makes those delicious beverages, have given

us some hints on how to make a “spooktacular” party.

For one, turn the living room into a miniature haunted house by

illuminating the room with only a static TV and candles and playing eerie

background music or spooky noises. If your visitors don’t find that

scary, jump up from behind a couch and release a helium-filled

glow-in-the-dark balloon. Of course, if you just blow up the balloon with

your own hot air and then let it go without tying it, it’ll fly all over

the room and really put a scare into people.

Another hint Snapple provides is freezing raisins in ice cubes to make

it look like bugs are in your Snapple. Also, you can mix root beer,

vanilla ice cream, gummy worms, gummy spiders and cherries to make a

foamy and bubbly drink the kids will love. Why wait till Halloween to get

that concoction going? Yum. Substitute real worms and spiders for the

younger kids who tend to eat stuff like that anyway.

Did somebody say the CD is free?

The Eclectic Orange Festival has partnered with South Coast Plaza to

distribute a sampler CD of music from this year’s annual festival.

With 11 tracks and musical genres ranging from the “Crouching Tiger,

Hidden Dragon” soundtrack to baroque opera, the disc will be available

for free at more than 35 retail locations at South Coast Plaza, including

Banana Republic, Cartier, Origins, Gucci, Victoria’s Secret and Chopard.

The third annual Eclectic Orange Festival continues with 46

performances through Nov. 11.