“Olive, the Other Reindeer” Pop-Up Advent Calendar

Christine and I got this rocking advent calendar as a gift last Christmas and have seriously been counting down the days till we could use it. So, even though we haven’t mailed a single Christmas card yet and just put up our beautiful, fake tree last night, we eagerly cracked open our “Olive, the Other Reindeer” Pop-Up Advent Calendar at the stroke of midnight on December 1st! Yay!

Unlike other advent calendars, where you gradually build towards something cool on Christmas day, this Olive calendar is fun the minute you crack it open. Vivid, colorful, and just as insanely cool as the illustrations in the kick-ass book by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh, the moment you break the seal, the pop-up calendar unfolds into a beautiful Santa’s Castle scene.

And if you thought the book and super cute, animated movie were packed with cool characters and imagery, the 3D version of the story is even more fun.

Not only are the little paper characters almost painfully cute, but the details seriously rock! Aside from a helicopter landing pad on the ceiling of one of the buildings, there is a little workshop for the elves under one roof and a reindeer barn under another…awesome!

So, while I know it’s too late to pick one up for this year, I highly recommend snapping up an Olive advent calendar now for use in December, 2009. And if you have kids, forget about it, they’ll love it!

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, we haven’t figured out how to put the little paper people back in their number slots for next year, so, this might be a one-time-use advent calendar…but, either way, it rocks!

Go, Olive!

Griffith Park Festival of Lights

The giant Christmas trees at The Grove and The Americana at Brand aside, there are two things that make Los Angeles the coolest place to be at Christmas time. The first is the rocking, month-long Christmas-only playlist on KOST 103.5, and the second is the Griffith Park Festival of Lights.

Sure, other towns might have festive tree lighting ceremonies in the town square or whole neighborhoods festooned with twinkling holiday cheer, but only L.A., the epicenter of car culture, has a drive-thru Festival of Lights. Yay!

Sponsored by the Department of Water and Power, the Festival of Lights has been an L.A. tradition for the past 13 years and I’m happy to report that Christine and I have yet to miss a Festival.

We’ve found that the best time to visit the Festival of Lights is in mid-December, right before closing time at like, 9:45 or so. The Thanksgiving crowds have died down by then and the Christmas rush hasn’t really peaked yet, so there is usually way less traffic. Emphasis on the word usually.

But, hey, what’s a little traffic when you’re winding through Griffith Park at night looking at pretty Christmas lights? Oh, and did I mention that the lights are timed to music? Yep, you guessed it, the folks at KOST 103.5 pipe in kick-ass Holiday jams from speakers in the trees and bushes all along the Festival route.

And even though the cold and the exhaust fumes are a killer, we crank up the heat every year and roll down our windows to experience the Festival of Lights in all its glory. We call this tradition the “cold maker” as inevitably one or both of us will have the sniffles afterwards, but, wow, what a way to get sick!

This year, the Festival went green by including an entire week of Vehicle Free Nights (which we sadly missed!) but there is a walking lane at the Festival as well, so, not having a car is no excuse for missing the Fest!

As you can see from these pics from last year’s Festival, the light displays offer super cool depictions of L.A. landmarks and traditions, celebrating everything from the ships at “America’s Port” in San Pedro to the spanking-new Griffith Observatory just a short jog uphill.

And though all the light displays are awesome, I think my favorite is the LAX display with the miniature towering light pylons changing colors to the music behind the iconic Theme Building. So cool!

So, if you happen to be in the L.A. area in the next couple of weeks, set your dial to 103.5, crank the volume way up and make your way towards Griffith Park at nightfall. You might freeze your ass off, and you might catch a wicked seasonal cold, but you won’t be disappointed!