Attractions

Christmas is right around the corner, and the first day of Hanukkah is Saturday, December 12, 2009. Is your holiday gift list out of control? Do you live in or around Los Angeles? Well, then head over to one of the 6 Westfield Shopping Centers in Los Angeles county this weekend and make some inroads on your list through their 12 Days of Shopping promotion going on through next week.

Every Friday through Sunday, now through Christmas, Westfield Los Angeles centers are offering giveaways and contests, exclusive savings, and my favorite, the opportunity to support local charities! The Westfield Culver City and the Special Olympics are partnering to present a free holiday concert featuring Mitchel Musso, The Carter Twins, No Boundaries and Radio Disney on-air personality Jake Whetter, at the Center Court Friday, December 11 from 6 – 9 p.m.

For more information, visit Westfield Shopping Center 12 Days of Shopping.

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Everyone is always looking to find the perfect Christmas lights during the holidays, so I did the work for you and picked my five favorite spots in San Francisco!

Top 5 San Francisco Christmas Lights:

1. Union Square
2. Civic Center Plaza
3. Ghirardelli Square
4. Fisherman’s Wharf
5. San Francisco Skyline

Union Square

Macy's Tree in Union Square

Why not start off with one of the most popular Christmas trees in San Francisco? Tourists and San Franciscans alike come to Union Square to enjoy the present Macy gives to the city every year, an eighty foot Christmas tree. While you are there, grab a cup of hot chocolate from the local coffee spot and take a spin on the ice skating rink!

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San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker, photo courtesy of San Francisco Ballet

The highlight of my daughter’s holiday season last year was a trip to the San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco’s Civic Center neighborhood. A trip to the City is always special during the holidays, but this trip was even more exciting! We dressed in our finest holiday outfits, packed binoculars and enjoyed the magic of the Nutcracker.

War Memorial Opera House is not a huge venue, so even the balcony seats feel close to the action. Tickets are expensive, however, but a worthy splurge. Balcony seats start at $18, with center box at $236 a ticket. Mid-week shows are less expensive, with weekend matinees the most costly.

Be sure to arrive early, you are going to want to enjoy the beautiful Opera House. The Opera House Café, in the lower lobby of the War Memorial Opera House, opens one and a half hours before each evening and Sunday matinee performance.

Another reason to love the San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker? Local children from the San Francisco Ballet School participate in the Nutcracker, and it is always exciting to see names of friends from school in the performance!

San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker runs through December 27, 2009. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit San Francisco Ballet.

Related posts:

Holiday Lights and Events in San Francisco Bay Area
The Holidays and San Francisco = A Perfect Evening
Popular Holiday Events for Families in San Francisco

Windy Hill Entrance

This hidden hiking spot is a secret amongst locals that I now want to share with you. I realize it’s not hard to find gorgeous hiking trails in California, but Windy Hill offers more than just a decent workout. Located just fifteen minutes from Stanford University and Palo Alto, Windy Hill remains one of the most remote hiking trails in the Bay Area.

Baby Fawn

This 8-mile loop brings its hikers through secluded dirt paths, large creeks, rolling hills and, my favorite, unforgettable views of both the Bay and San Francisco. Read More »

Still looking for holiday gifts? Run, don’t walk, over to the Third Street Warehouse Sale in San Francisco on Saturday, December 5th, from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m! This annual sale features treasures from manufacturers, distributors and importers who occupy the American Industrial Center.

Check out their website for a list of all the treasures. Children’s clothes, handbags, jewelry, clothing, soap, home decorator items – you will find it all. Personally, I am going to be on the lookout for women’s fashions, including Two Star Dog and Cutloose.

Third Street Warehouse Sale
665 2nd Street (between Third and Illinois)
San Francisco, California

Photo courtesy of 3rd Street Warehouse Holiday Sale.

Related articles:

Holiday Lights and Events in San Francisco Bay Area
The Holidays and San Francisco = A Perfect Evening
Popular Holiday Events for Families in San Francisco

Macy's Christmas Tree, photo courtesy of celesteh on Flickr

If you find yourself in Union Square, San Francisco, the day after Thanksgiving, be sure to stick around for the 20th Anniversary of the lighting of the Macy’s Great Tree. An annual tradition, the tree lighting ceremony is quite a worthy attraction in San Francisco. The ceremony begins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 27, 2009.

An 85-foot Shasta Fir is brought into the middle of Union Square and over 21,000 lights are used to illuminate the tree. The evening event also includes live musical performers and a visit from Santa! You can adopt a light on the tree for $5, with all proceeds benefiting UCSF Children’s Hospital.

The Holiday Ice Rink will be up and ready for skaters, through January 18th. Visit Union Square Ice Rink for more details.

And, be sure to check out the beautifully decorated windows in the Macy’s store at Union Square. Macy’s partners with the San Francisco SPCA and presents the Holiday Pet Adoption windows. Cute and cuddly animals are featured in the windows and are available for adoption. My kids love to sit at the window for hours on end, looking at each animal, explaining to me how great it would be if Santa brought one to our house for Christmas. You have been warned!

Related Posts:

Top 10 Hotels for Holiday Shopping in USA
Holiday Lights and Events in the San Francisco Bay Area
New Delhi Indian Restaurant, San Francisco, California

Photo courtesy of celesteh.

Looking for a last minute event for Saturday or Sunday? Check out the Bridge School Benefit!

The proceeds from this annual fundraising concert, organized by Neil Young and his wife in 1986, benefit the Bridge School, a non-profit organization which supports the development of individuals with severe speech and physical impairments. The Bridge School is internationally known and recognized from their success with using augmentative and alternative communication and they continue to develop programs and train highly skilled professionals in the use of state of the art assistive technology.

Each year, Neil Young puts together a knock-out lineup. This year’s performers include:

• Neil Young
• No Doubt
• Jimmy Buffett (Saturday only)
• Chris Martin of Coldplay
• Adam Sandler (Sunday only)
• Sheryl Crow
• Fleet Foxes
• Monsters of Folk
• Wolfmother
• Gavin Rossdale

The concert is Saturday, October 24th, and Sunday, October 25th, at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View. Tickets are available through Livenation.com. Advance tickets are $150.00 and $75.00 for reserved seating and $39.50 for general admission plus applicable service charges. Four packs of general admission tickets may be purchased for $99.00.

Photo Courtesy of the Bridge School.

You have decided to spend some time in the City, but you don’t want to rent a car, but you want to see lots of different parts of San Francisco. Renting a car can be expensive, to say nothing of the hassle of finding parking. Fortunately, there are at least five alternative transportation options to help you with your dilemma:

- Take Muni and/or BART and/or CalTrain

Vintage San Francisco Muni Train

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by Gudrun Enger, of Kitchen Gadget Girl

Raging Waters San Jose

When it starts getting hot in the Bay Area, there is no better place to cool off than Raging Waters San Jose. Fortunately, during last week’s heat wave, we took our annual trip to the park and were not disappointed. Everywhere we looked, slides and water awaited us!

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Beach Train at Roaring Camp Felton, California

Want to rediscover the fun of an old fashioned Independence Day?  Roaring Camp Railroad has lots of vintage activities planned for the the Fourth.  This year they are putting on a vintage 50’s Fourth of July celebration with a sock hop and hula hoop contests.

Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton, California provides family fun any time of year.  Visitors can choose to ride an old fashioned steam train in a redwood shaded loop.  They can also take  an old diesel train to the Santa Cruz Beach boardwalk.  This has been a favorite trek of picnickers and tourists for generations.

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