A Venice Winter Wonderland!

Sometimes it's hard to tell what time of the year it is around Venice, with the year-round lovely weather always pretty much the same, but Christmas time is different. You know.

The halls of the houses get decked, Christmas lights show up everywhere, and one day a year there is even snow. This weekend was jam-packed with holiday cheer, although the 25th Annual Venice Surfathon took place on Saturday, making it feel all summery again. It was bright, warm, and sunny as the surfers from all different categories got into the water to ride the decent waves. It's always good to see the surfers out there every year, as it really becomes a reunion of longtime friends. It was very California to sit on the sand watching the competition while seeing snow on the mountains in the distance. I love that.

The snow day was Sunday at The Brig in the parking lot, where they truck in the snow annually to give the Venice kids a little taste of what winter is like in other places. The lines to take a spin down the icy snow were long, and everyone was in a festive mood. There were holiday arts and crafts, food trucks, and the chance to tell Santa Claus just how good they were this year.

The LAPD had a police sleigh (?) parked out front, and kids lined up to be handed up to Santa in the cop sleigh, which is both cute, and kind of funny. There was a different Santa later in the day to sit on the Santa throne, which may have confused some little ones who were there long enough to catch both, but still great. I love this little snow day every year, as it's a gift to the whole community, and people love it. It shows on their faces, and lets you know that our people are still here. Thanks, Brig!

We had a full agenda of holiday revelry on the books for Sunday, and raced downtown after sledding to see the wonderful Hansel And Gretel opera, which was a real treat. Getting our culture on meant that we were late getting back to Venice for the annual Venice Canals boat parade, but I was told that the actual flotilla was very sparse this year ... like five boats strong.

The sidewalks were full of partiers out to see all the brightly lit bridges and homes, but the actual parade participants were few. This tells me that there is either a lack of holiday spirit, which would be sad, or that many of the canal homes are being rented out for Air BNB, and no real members of the community really live in them, so the renters don't know to participate. That is a real bummer, especially for such a wonderful, special part of Venice that this annual parade always is.

The bridges were fantastic this year, maybe making up for the lack of nautical fun. There was the great VeNICE one, and the Eiffel Tower bridge was also very impressive (I like to think it's to show our solidarity with Paris, and also climate change awareness, but they might just like Paris).

Many homes were brightly lit and hosting parties, with both the lights and the sounds reflecting off of the surrounding waters. People seemed to shut it down extra early this year, which was kind of a buzzkill, but it was nice just to walk the sidewalks and see all the bright decorations. If (WHEN!) I live in the canals one day, you better believe this annual event will be made to be beyond memorable. The dark houses on this special day were sad ... and should be lived in by people that get it, and super appreciate the unique and fun place that they live. I'm working on it.

Time is flying and Christmas will be here before we know it, with everyone scattering to places all over the globe. It's great to have these little unique to Venice holiday memories to take with us and share with the world. I love it. I hope everyone got to go, and if you didn't, you should just take a walk through the canals on any night this holiday season. Your own reflections will join those of the lights, and you will feel the holiday spirit rise up inside of you, no matter how you are feeling. It can't help but cheer you up ... and to that, I say CHEERS!

A Venice Winter Wonderland

Yesterday was one of the most charming days that happens in Venice, with both the Abbot Kinney Holiday Stroll and the Venice Canals Holiday Boat Parade falling on the same day.The day could not have been more gorgeous for Sunday outside, and the snow hill piled up in The Brig parking lot was in the process of melting all day.

Local children lined up to get their annual chance to experience snow in town, with a long sledding queue stretching around the parking lot as kids ran back to get in line again the minute they hit the hay bale finish line.

Sledding was not the only attraction by far, as kids could get their faces painted all fun, sit and make holiday crafts, and most importantly, sit on Santa's lap to relay their Christmas wishes to the jolly old fellow (and this was a really good, twinkly eyes, real beard Santa!).

With all the squeals of delight and happy, laughing faces, it's hard to believe that a Scroogey neighbor complained almost enough to deny our local kids the fun.

Listen, whoever you are ... RELAX. It's once a year. Some kids don't have the resources to get up into the mountains and see real snow, and this is there only shot. It's during the day. It's adorable. You really need to get over yourself, mostly for your own good. In my experience, nobody likes the buzzkill crabby neighbor, and word spreads fast. I"d concern yourself more (and your time would be better spent) with the Bang and Olufsen pop up shop on Abbot Kinney that blasted lousy house music until 2 am on Saturday night. They're days are numbered here in Venice too.

OK, back to awesomeness! Carolers strolled the boulevard, and little stuffed elves were hidden around the boulevard in front of shops that kids could discover and go inside and get a prize. Like a neighborhood Elf On The Shelf. Fun!

It was great to see what felt like all of Venice out in the sunshine, loving every minute of it. I've never seen the kids of Venice happier, and the whole operation was simply heart warming.

The fun of the day rolled right on into the evening, as it was also the Holiday Boat Parade over in the Canals. My friends, the Revelins, were hosting a fun party at their home on the Canals, so we had a beautifully perfect vantage point to watch the boat floats sail past.

The skies had now shifted into a rather ominous cloud mass, but the Christmas carols and holiday spirits were more than a formidable match for any dampening. The Revelins had what might be the most perfect for Venice Christmas tree I've ever seen. A surfboard tree!

The parade kicked off as the sun was setting, and the first boat to pass us by was a Batmobile, with a Batman that assured us he did NOT smell, and a Robin that really DID lay an egg.

There was a crowd favorite featuring a polar bear, with a sign asking us to "Lend a paw to help the thaw." So great.

There was a menorah float, there was a fantastic igloo, there was a floating gingerbread houseboat, all paddling as fast as they could to outpace the encroaching thunder clouds.

Alas, the rain won that race, but nobody seemed to care, as it just made it feel more wintery that we were experiencing actual weather.

A beautiful sea horse led float may have been my favorite, though I did confuse them for dragons at first.

When the rain picked up steam, we retired inside to sing Christmas carols led by our host, Rick, on guitar. The best was the whole gang belting out "War is over, if you want it ... !" at the top of our lungs together. It turns out we really do want it. It was perfect.

While warming up with our holiday cheer inside, the stars re-emerged outside, and it was time to take a stroll around the canals to see how all the bridges were decorated.

There was a bridge with ships, and a bridge with a Matterhorn looking mountain on it. All the lovely bridges reflected their lights on the water, and as people were photographing each other atop the bridges, new friendships were made. Everyone was laughing so hard in every photo, it was kind of hard to get a good one. Not a bad problem to have.

A bunch of our Venice crew was in New York to celebrate the wedding of our friend, Lexi, but another big bunch of us couldn't be there, so it was perfect when we crossed the bridge that said "Kiss" across the top of it, with a sign saying that if you kissed on this bridge, it would be eternal love. I blew a kiss to Lexi and Lewis and wished them exactly that!

And really, LOVE is the whole point of this season, and for events like this. Spending time with our loved ones, letting them know how much we love them, and going big to celebrate exactly that.

Love was also ALL I felt for our Venice yesterday, with its spirit of humanity and fun and good times always buoying up the proceedings. Thanks and love to all involved for what was a complete blast of a special, memorable day!

Fa la la la la la la la LA!

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!