26 Days Till Christmas!

Oh my, it's been a busy few days! Wednesday was the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. It was incredible. The stage was magnificent, the costumes were gorgeous, and all the performers were fantastic, especially the Rockettes. The show started off with the Rockettes dressed as reindeer and Santa preparing to fly from the North Pole to Dayton just for the show! The rest of the show was one great act after another- the Rockettes in a 12 Days of Christmas tap number, a very special Nutcraker featuring a teddy bear Sugar Plum Fairy who really loved the spotlight, the classic toy solidier number with incredibly precise lines and formations. Every scene was more wonderful than the last. The Rockettes even brought New York City to the Nutter Center, and Santa explained to some doubtful children how he manages to be so many places at once. There was ice skating, flying, camels, special effects, snow, and the best damn kickline in the whole world. It was, in every sense of the word, spectacular.


Thanksgiving was great, but Friday was absolutely crazy. The day started at 4 AM when we were off to the mall. The crowds weren't too bad, but we quickly realized that some deals were better than others.

Nevertheless, we got a ton of shopping done and found some gems along the way- like my brother in this hat, for instance:
Then it was home for some breakfast and a nap. For dinner on the day after Thanksgiving, we always go to Spaghetti Warehouse, and it was delicious as usual.

After dinner, it was on to the Dayton Holiday Festival! First we headed over to the Schuster Center to see the Rike's window displays.


Inside it was super crowded, but I still managed to get some decent pictures of the beautiful windows.


After we saw all the windows, it was back out into the cold.

And we were just in time for the countdown to the Grand Illumination. The mayor was introduced.
And so were the couple who donated the beautiful tree.

The Schuster Center Choir sang for a couple of minutes.


And then it was time for the Grand Illumination!


After the tree lighting, there was the very fun Hollylights on the Square show.

And finally, the new and improved Dayton Children's Parade. As this post is already extremely long, I'll recreate the parade with pictures in the next couple of days. All in all, it was a wonderful time and a fantastic start to the holiday season! Leave a comment if you did anything fun to kickoff Christmas time!

28 Days Till Christmas!

And only 1 till Thanksgiving! Between all the cooking and cleaning today, my mom and I are going to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular! I am so excited about this; you can expect a full report on the show in the coming days.

There are several things that always go into making Thanksgiving wonderful at my house. First among them is family and friends, of course. But also very important are the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (starting at 9 AM), the unparalleled goodness that is Mehaffie's Pies, and the annual Cowboy's game.

Thanksgiving is also the perfect day to strategize for Black Friday. Having a solid game plan before venturing out into the chaos is a must. Check all the ads in the Thanksgiving day paper and compare them to the list of gifts you plan on giving this year. Know when each store opens and which items you will purchase at each store. Plan your route based on which items are most likely to sell out quickly, and consider taking some sort of shopping bag with you if you'll be buying lots of items at every store; getting a cart can be nearly impossible. Finally, take all the ads with you so you know exactly what you're looking for. Last year, my mom and I intended to buy a remote control helicopter for my cousin that we saw in the Kohl's ad for $15. By the time we finally reached the toy section in the back of the store, everything was a mess and all the helicopters had already been claimed. But then I spotted one stuck on a shelf with other toys, and we thought it was our lucky day. We got in line pleased with our success, only to be informed by the sympathetic woman next to us that the $15 helicopters had already sold out, and the model we were holding actually cost $50! So tricky! Clearly, such a mishap could have been prevented with a quick check against the ad.

To start your planning early, BlackFriday.info and Black Friday Ads have tons of leaked ads posted and even highlight the best deals they find, so it's easy to get the best prices on everything you need. Also, if you prefer your shopping with a little more Christmas cheer and a little less cutthroat competition, DDN has compiled an exhaustive list of holiday bazaars.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

It's good to be back!

I'm finally back home in Dayton for the week of Thanksgiving, and Christmas is already in full force here! Pretty much the first thing I did when I got home yesterday was head to the Greene for their tree lighting and Christmas kickoff. It was so much fun! The Rhythm in Shoes performance was great and the lights all around were beautiful. Their Christmas parade was a little short, but hey, they're still building up this event every year. The Beavercreek marching band sounded awesome, per usual (shoutout to my cousin, Matthew, on trumpet!). After the parade, it was time for the lighting of the 50 ft. Christmas tree. There was the usual countdown to the lighting, but as a special surprise fireworks were launched when the tree was lit! To be honest, I don't think I even turned to look at the newly-lit tree until the fireworks ended. All in all, it was a very merry time. I'll have pictures up soon, but as a preview, here's one of the tree before it was lit:

In other Christmas news, Cinema De Lux at the Greene will be showing free Christmas movies starting November 29th. All that is required is that you bring a non-perishable food item to donate. The movie schedule is as follows, with all the movies being shown at 10:00 AM.
November 29th- It's a Wonderful Life
December 6th- Home Alone
December 13th- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (I assume this is the Jim Carrey version)
December 20th- White Christmas

The ice rink at Riverscape downtown opens November 29th. The full schedule of when the rink will be open can be found here. On Friday evenings and Saturdays, it costs $5 to skate and on Sundays it costs $3. These prices include skate rental. Other nights of the week it's free to skate and skate rentals cost $3. There are even various lessons on Sundays that cost just another $3 in addition to the $3 price to skate. Additionally, they will have many special skating events throughout the season. Every Saturday starting November 29th and all through December from 7-10 PM there will be a Starlight Skate with laser and music shows at 6:55 PM and 8:30 PM. Admission including skate rental is $5. Also, on December 21st from 1-3 PM you can skate with some of Santa's elves; it's free to meet the elves, but admission to the rink including skate rental is $3.

The Human Race Theatre Company will be performing A Christmas Carol this year. The complete performance schedule can be found here. All performances will be at the Loft Theatre and tickets range from $33 to $40, depending on which day you go. Buy your tickets here.

As always, all these events have also been added to the Christmas Events Calendar. For any given day, you can head over there and find loads of great things to do!

You better not pout...

That's right, Santa Claus is comin' to town. Matter of fact, he's already here! Santa arrived at the Dayton Mall Saturday and will be there 10 AM to 8 PM Monday through Saturday and 12 PM to 5 PM on Sundays. Santa will also be at the Mall at Fairfield Commons starting at 5 PM on November 23rd and be there regularly from 10:30 AM to 8:30 PM Monday through Saturday and 12 PM to 5 PM on Sundays. He'll also be at The Greene starting this Friday at 6 PM and will be there 11 AM to 8 PM Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 8 PM on Saturdays, and 12 PM to 6 PM on Sundays. Pets can even visit with Santa at the Greene from 6 PM to 8 PM on November 30th and December 7th. Santa must really love Dayton to hang out here so much. What a guy!

TubaChristmas will be happening in Dayton again this year. As the name suggests the event brings together tuba and euphonium players to play Christmas music all around the world. The event in Dayton will be happening Friday December 19th at 7:30 PM at the Masonic Temple. If you can play the tuba and would like to participate, registration will be happening the same day starting at 4 PM and rehersal starts at 5 PM. From what I understand, there is a $5 registration fee and you'll also have to buy your own copy of the music. Full information including who to contact with questions can be found here. This sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm excited to hear a tuba take on Christmas. Thanks to Keith for the info!

I talked a little about the lights Clifton Mill last time. Another great display is Woodland Lights in Washington Township close to the Dayton Mall. Every night starting December 5th through December 30th (except Christmas Eve and Christmas) from 6 PM to 9 PM they will have lots of lights and Christmas displays along a half-mile wooded path. Mondays and Tuesdays are lights and Santa nights where you can see all the lights and visit with Santa. On these nights kids under 3 are free and everyone else only pays $2. Wednesdays thourough Sundays are activity nights where you can see the lights, visit with Santa, take carriage rides, see live deer, participate in games and activities, and much more. One these nights kids under 3 get in for free and everyone else pays $5. Thanks to Emily for the info!

Have I missed your favorite Christmas event? Let me know by leaving a comment or shooting me an email. I would love to know your favorite way to spend the holidays in Dayton. And as a reminder, I'm still looking for your favorite recipe to include in December's Christmas recipe of the day.

Posting may be sporadic for the rest of this week as I have two exams and two papers due in the span of the next two days. However, the good news is that I'll be heading home for Thanksgiving on Friday so I'll be able to better investigate Dayton Christmas happenings. In the coming days expect lots of pictures and first-hand event reviews, starting with the Greene's Christmas tree lighting and parade on Friday.

Go Bucks!

Christmas Season Has Arrived!

Yes, now it's official. It's Christmastime in the Miami Valley! As of a few minutes ago, LITE 99.9 is officially playing only Christmas music. They kicked it off with Jingle Bell Rock from the Christmas Cottage at the Mall at Fairfield Commons. This is their tenth year playing the Christmas music already, and let me tell you, these people are pretty much in the business of generating Christmas spirit! If you're like me and live too far away to listen to LITE 99.9 on the radio, don't worry! You can stream their station live to your computer at their website. Also on their website, starting today you can register daily for the $10,000 shopping spree to the Mall at Fairfield Commons! You can also register at the Christmas Cottage daily, so that's loads of chances to win! I'm really thinking this could be my year...

In other news, the Dayton Ballet's Nutcracker is back at the Schuster Center again this year. With a Daytonian twist on a Christmas classic, the show portrays Virginia Kettering as the young girl dreaming about the nutcracker she recieves from her uncle.
I think this pretty much seals Mrs. Kettering's status as Christmas icon, as it was also she who started the Dayton Holiday Festival so everyone in Dayton could enjoy the season. You can buy your tickets ranging from $27.00- $70.00 here for any of the following show times (which have also been added to the Christmas events calendar):
December 12, 7:30 PM
December 13, 2:30 PM and 7:30 PM
December 14, 1 PM and 4:30 PM
December 19, 7:30 PM
December 20, 2:30 PM and 7:30 PM
December 21, 2:30 PM

I'd also like to mention quickly that Clifton Mill will be starting it's holiday light display aptly named Legendary Lights at Clifton Mill on November 28th.
It'll be open every day through January 4th from 5 PM to 9 PM, though it closes an hour earlier on Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. Kids 6 and under get in free and everyone else pays $8. They put up approximately 3.5 million lights and the result is spectacular. You can find full information about the light display and other attractions they'll offer this year here.

Finally, I'd like to leave you with something that I'll call Christmas Quote Friday:

"Christmas renews our youth by stirring our wonder. The capacity for wonder has been called our most pregnant human faculty, for in it are born our art, our science, our religion." -Ralph Sockman, senior pastor of Christ Church in New York City, born in Mt. Vernon, Ohio in 1889 and graduated from OWU

41 Days Till Christmas!

Things are really starting to get exciting now!

Lite 99.9 will be having their usual Christmas music kickoff at the Buschur's Home Improvement Christmas Cottage at the Mall at Fairfield Commons tomorrow at noon. They'll be there starting at 10 AM and they'll make the switch at noon. There will be hourly contests and an opportunity to be among the first to register for their $10,000 shopping spree at the mall. If you get to be there for the festivities tomorrow, please send in pictures! Also, to get everyone excited for tomorrow they're playing the occasional "sound of the season" today, so tune in and you might catch your favorite Christmas song.

The 60 ft. Blue Spruce Christmas tree has arrived downtown in preparation for the Dayton Holiday Festival! These pictures from DDN of the tree being dragged around town are pretty incredible. Thanks to my mom for the link!

I've already talked a lot about holiday events downtown, but as it turns out The Greene in Beavercreek is a pretty exciting place to be during the holiday season too. Their Christmas tree is only 50 ft. tall, but still, that's pretty big. The holiday tree lighting celebration and parade will be happening November 21 at 5:45 PM. There will be a performance by Rhythm in Shoes and a Special Wish Foundation child will get to light the tree. Additionally, you can see live reindeer every weekend from 5-9 PM starting December 5th. They're reportedly on loan from Santa, so that's pretty cool. There will be a Live Nativity every Friday and Saturday from 7-10 PM and Sunday 3-6 PM starting November 21st through December 24th, plus special times at 7-10 PM from December 18th through the 24th. The Town Square at the Greene will also feature pictures with Santa and many musical acts and costumed characters throughout the season. Full information about all their holiday activities and events can be found here.

One of the most reliable sources of great Christmas movies has traditionally been ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas. Well, they're starting even earlier this year! Unfortunately though, the name of the event somewhat restricts that, so from the period of November 16th through November 30th they're calling it the Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas. They'll be showing lots of special movies, but starting December 1st with the actual 25 Days of Christmas is when it really gets good. Just a quick glance at their programming schedule shows almost every single one of my favorite Christmas movies! I'm so stoked for this. Their website even links to another great Christmas blog, Elfblog, that chronicles the adventures of an elf at the North Pole! Not as informative as my blog, but charming nonetheless (haha!).

Finally, I'd like to ask for anyone who reads this blog to email me at mvchristmas@gmail.com with their favorite Christmas recipe. Starting December 1st I'll feature a Christmas recipe of the day, and maybe even try a few of them myself and report on the result.

Enjoy the Christmas music tomorrow, everyone!

Christmas Music

Just a quick post before I head back to the books and my crazy busy week...

Lite 99.9, Dayton's Christmas music station, will start playing their wall-to-wall Christmas music starting this Friday at noon. I haven't heard anything about it yet, but I bet they'll have another big kickoff for it at the Mall at Fairfield Commons again this year. I will keep you posted as I find out more.

Get excited!