O Christmas Palm Tree!

I was out walking around this morning and cut through the canals to check out the bridges in the daytime. The sun was high and warm and humming Christmas carols felt a little out of place, but it still had to be done ... 'tis the Season!

At the other side of one bridge, I saw a great and creative use of dried up palm fronds - someone had made Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on a frond. Love it.

Carrying on down a different canal, there was another family making good use of the fronds. There was a Mrs. Claus type, with blonde braids I could appreciate ...

... And then there was Mr. Claus himself, in a grass rootsy display of natural Christmas decoration  ingenuity. I've never seen palm tree art done like this, and it touched me as a very Venice way of showing off your holiday cheer. Good job, folks!

Christmas decorations make me happy (my name is really Carol for a reason), and I'd love to see which ones all of you love most ... please feel free to share them with me and I'll post for all to see. It all goes by so fast, let's love it all while we can!

Ho Ho Ho!

A Snow Day For Venice!

The holiday spirit continued spreading throughout Venice last weekend, when The Brig parking lot once again hosted a winter wonderland of snow and fun for the neighborhood kids. The fact that it was around 72 and sunny as could be, only made it that much nicer. And funny.

Parents in tank tops and shorts stood in the long line to sled with (or more accurately, photograph) their kids, some of whom had never seen this crazy white stuff. I'm from Minnesota, so find it amusing that last year when back home they had to export city snow to the country just so cars could traverse the roads, here we have to import it (or make it) and hurry up to use it before it melts. Needless to say, there were a lot of wet - but happy - kids.

There was an area for kids to make holiday themed crafts, or, because these are Venice kids, to get some fake Christmas ink if they wanted.

Because this is The Brig parking lot, there were also food trucks. Of course.

As exciting as the snow was, the real thrill of the day was a visit with Santa Claus, here to warm up a bit before his big night. Most kids seemed ecstatic to see the jolly fellow ... some were possibly scarred for life, if their screams were to be believed. Santas are a really patient bunch.



It's a great thing to have this for everyone to enjoy, and kept the joy and kinship felt at the Venice sign lighting going, even as the shops nearby beckoned revelers to get on their shopping.

There were nothing but smiles (other than from the freaked out kids) and greetings shouted across the snow hill, and it really felt like an old-fashioned holiday once again - even if we were sweating.

Ho Ho HO!

Snow Day - Venice Style

The annual holiday stroll was held on Abbot Kinney last weekend, and as always, the best part was the snow hill for sledding in The Brig parking lot.

Rare rain had threatened the fun all morning, and then miraculously cleared up just in time for the arrival of friends and neighbors who brought their kids out for a much-anticipated frolic in the even rarer snow.

Snow pants in Venice are hilarious, that needs to be said. But a bunch of kids had 'em on, and I guess were kept dry, though they were not at all needed for the warmth factor.

There was a good craft booth (manned by elves) where kids (and me) made ornaments out of this cool scratch-off paper, or crowns and antlers to don as they trailed after their parents in the shops before and after the fun.

Santa Claus was there - a pretty good one, in fact - and shy, thrilled little grommets lined up to tell him what they'd like and if they'd been good. It's always cute, there's no way around that.

Fire trucks stood guard, and the parking lot was crammed with the requisite Brig food trucks - again. The sun started to set and it did get pretty cold then, to be honest. That helped the snow keep from turning into a giant puddle in one second, and my little pal, Beckett, got his first sled ride. His Dad, Shane, is from Minnesota too, so this was a big moment, though Beckaboo seemed a little iffy about it. He'll learn.

Holiday lights came on, Carolers came out and that elusive "Holiday Spirit" feeling really was in the air. Even if I was still wearing flip flops. It's great that the Abbot Kinney merchants come together to put this on for the neighborhood, and it's looked forward to every year. Snow Day!

Fa la la la la, la la la LA!

Abbot Kinney Holiday Strolling

Well, maybe it was bright, sunny and pretty warm this last weekend, but that didn't stop Venice from kicking off the Holiday Season with some good old fashioned neighborhood fun - and SNOW! The Abbot Kinney Holiday Stroll was adorable again this year, and just made me so happy and grateful that we here in Venice really do have a sense of community, and aren't afraid to have a good time together, whatever the time of year.



For the second year, the Brig filled up their parking lot with snow and let kids more accustomed to boogie boards and sand fly down the icy, snow covered hay bales that stood in for the real sliding hills that these kids have mostly never seen.


Carolers belted out a catchy tune about Christmas on Abbot Kinney, the food trucks rolled in - as usual, they covered up the infamous Brig camel-toe with a bow for the occasion ...


... there was a little holiday craft area for kids ...


... and the cutest, happiest Santa Claus ...


... listened as the kids made their toy requests and pulled on his beard.


Neighbors stopped and talked, shoppers juggled their bags and their coffee cups, dressed up dogs went on a parade up and down the boulevard ...


and wound up back at Robin's Sculpture Garden for music and aerial circus fun.


Fun, in fact, was the entire day's m.o., and it was evident everywhere you looked.

Michelle the Elf greeted you at the decked out Zingara, where we popped in to get some apple cider and look at all the great gift ideas. Firefly, Ananda, Huset, and Principessa were also tied for trying to kill me with cuteness the most. Most of the shops were decorated by now for the Season, and added to the festive atmosphere with their twinkling lights as the sun set ever earlier.


These magical times fly by in the hustle and bustle of trying to get everything done, and it's days like this that remind us to stop and enjoy it all, and indeed have some FUN.


As I stood on the corner and looked at it all going on around me, I stopped and thought the thought that I so often do ... I love Venice.


Happy Holidays!! May they be merry and bright wherever you are.