Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. Couldn't miss this one this year.
"LA doesn't have seasons" is a catchphrase trotted out by New Yorkers and recent transplants. Of course we have seasons - I can tell by how cold and windy it's been for the last couple of weeks. Christmas in LA is a special kind of west coast magic, exemplified best by the opening scene of Almost Famous. Though the scene is set in San Diego, I've had a number of beach Christmases or holidays that felt unseasonably warm. The subtext of the "LA doesn't have seasons" bemoaning is "... the same as the place as I grew up." Well, LA is where *I* grew up, so I notice and welcome the season.
I typically am not a major holiday fiend - I get the urge to listen to Christmas music about 2 days before Christmas, and even then it's usually this new-wave classic by The Waitresses about late-breaking holiday spirit. It speaks so well to how it feels to do the holidays as an adult - the rushing, the frenzy to buy gifts, send cards, prepare food, scurry off to various holiday gatherings, see people - and how overwhelming it can be. I am someone who loves rituals, but as I get older the energy expended on Christmas seems less worth it. But still. I participate. Especially this year. LA makes it easy, because you can absorb the season without even doing so intentionally.
First - and this was definitely not intentionally a holiday celebration - Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Pantages. Shake Shack before the show. It was a fantastic night - and I snapped this picture as we emerged from the subway:
Last weekend my BFF and I went to partake in a cool new offering at Descanso Garden called Enchanted: Forest of Light. I hadn't been to Descanso since I was, like, 11 but when my friend and I found ourselves wanting to do something festive, it was between this and the LA Zoo lights. Tons of bad reviews of the LA Zoo experience led us to pick Descanso, even though it was pretty expensive at $28. However, it was a unique and enjoyable experience - very pleasant and not too crowded. Maybe we'll even go next year!
The first exhibit.
I wanted to do a proper downtown celebration so Edward and I picked last Saturday night to go downtown and check out various holiday decorations. We started in Pershing Square and grabbed some drinks from Starbucks - I had a giftcard, and something about the holidays makes me want a peppermint mocha. We spent some time at Pershing which was decorated with a lot of beautiful lights (plus their seasonal ice rink), then went to the Millennium Biltmore. Their hotel lobby/tea room on a normal day is gorgeous, and of course the Christmas decorations were on fleek. We headed past the Library Tower on the escalator, past the Broad, and ended up at the music center. By this time, we were getting hungry and decided to walk to Chinatown (through Grand Park). We grabbed a drink at the beautiful General Lee's bar (I'd been a couple of times, but only during Chinese New Year during the day - it's amazing either way) and then ambled over the Chego to share the hen house bowl and ooey gooey fries. Then we walked to Union Station and caught the train home. It was a seriously great evening and we saw so many great holiday decorations.
The Library Tower through the string lights
Union Station
Finally, my whole family partook in a fun boat outing on Alamitos Bay in Long Beach. We've done this a few times and it's always so fun to pack a picnic and cruise around the bay and in the Naples canal. It never lasts long enough, though.
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. Couldn't miss this one this year.