We're thinking there is no one in the Chronicle offices this afternoon, as they all seem to have raced over to the grand opening of the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall. Check out these amazing pictures that they're taking!

Because we clearly have nothing to do around here, people have been lining up since 4:30 a.m. this morning to see the new retail space -- and C.W. Nevius took a break from decrying moral decay to wander on over yesterday, where the line went all the way around Mission Street and back onto Market.

The one thing everyone's worried about is parking. At noon yesterday (before the sneak preview last night), all the garages in the area are jammed full. They're encouraging everyone to take public transportation -- hey, MUNI'll get you there eventually! The next few weeks should be okay, but everyone is wondering what'll happen next month, when Oracle hosts a 41,000-strong convention down the block at the Moscone Center.

It's going to be a panoply of retail options for you too -- Borders, for instance, is opening a store inside the Westfield mall -- even though they'll also keep their store three blocks up on Powell and Post, and H&M will open its third store in the Union Square area in the mall as well. H&M explains this by saying that their Powell Street store is for fun loving hipsters, the one on Post is for older women, and the one in the mall will be for kids and teenagers. Oh, okay. Obviously this is the most fun we've had around in here in years!