Stellar New Year’s Eve Events Near L.A.

If you’re looking for an event in Los Angeles to attend for New Year’s Eve, there’s no shortage of events in the city and neighboring towns.

If You Love Disneyland

There’s no need to dress in Roaring 20s garb here.  Instead, head to the park for a New Year’s Eve celebration. For the cost of park admission ($119 on Dec. 31), you can countdown to midnight twice– once in sync with Times Square, and again at midnight PST. Both midnights will feature fireworks. There will also be DJs and other performers. For more information, visit the Disneyland website.

For a Free, Family Event

Head to N.Y.E.L.A. in Grand Park from 8pm to 1am. There will be three stages, photo booths, and food vendors like dumplings, tacos, kettle corn, Thai BBQ, and funnel cakes. There will be bag checks and metal detector wands used on patrons, so visit here to make sure you don’t bring any prohibited items, like alcohol or selfie sticks. No alcohol will be served at the event.

 

Holiday Activities: Where to Ice Skate & See Free Shows

Holiday Ice at LA Live via Buzzsmith Media

To Hit the Ice

Go to L.A. Live’s Microsoft Square for the LA Kings Holiday Ice. There, $18 gets an adult on the ice, including skate rental (or guarantee your date and time via a $35 VIP ticket). Tickets for children 6 and under are $14. Tickets are also available for groups and you can even rent the ice privately. From December 17 to January 7, the ice is open during three time frames: from 3pm to 7pm, 7:30 to 9:30pm, and 10pm to midnight. Not ready to go home after you skate? Think about hitting the LA Live Happy Hours, especially if it’s date night (Triple 8 has some great cocktails and dim sum). Location: 800 W Olympic Blvd.

To See a Show

If you’re looking for a show, but don’t want to hurt your wallet, go to the free Holiday Celebration held by LA County on Christmas Eve. See diverse bands, choirs and dance companies perform at the three-hour celebration held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at The Music Center for 3 to 6pm. This is a first come, first seated event. For the hours it will air on PBS, visit the website. Location: 135 N. Grand Ave.

 

 

Popular Restaurants with 5 Star Yelp Ratings

Looking for a place you can eat dinner this week, but don’t want to take this risk of trying something new? These popular restaurants, all with perfect Yelp ratings, should ease your mind and make it easy to chose where to go out to eat this weekend.

Mediterranean Food

If you’re in the mood for kabobs, try House of Skewers at8422 Foothill Blvd, Sunland, CA 91040. Even if you want paninis, pasta, or pizza, you can get it all here. Meals cost around $8.50 on average. House of Skewers is open 10am to 9pm Monday through Saturday.

Asian Food

If you want Thai or Chinese, why not get both? Head over to Like’s Thai & Chinese at 8702 Foothill Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 91040 for dishes like pad thai, pan fried noodles, fried rice, wontons, or various spicy chicken dishes. Like the House of Skewers, most dishes run in the $8 to $10 range. Hours of operation are from 11am to 9pm Monday through Saturday.

 

Be a Renegade with a Craft Fair & Charity Pub Crawl

Looking for something unique to do? Try these December Events!

Seek Cool Crafts

Visit the Renegade Craft Fair December 10 and 11 at Grand Park. These aren’t your grandma’s crafts. This fair, that’s been to Brooklyn, Chicago, Austin, Denver, London, and San Fransisco boasts “contemporary indie crafts” as well as DIY goods, free photo booths, and food trucks. Think about visiting to buy some unique holiday gifts, as this one will have a holiday theme. The fair opens at 10am both days.

Crawl for Charity

Hit up The Santa Monica Pub Crawl without guilt, because it’s for charity! in 2015, 6,000 visited 30 bars, and raised over $20K for the Westside Food Bank! Not only can you sip beverages, but participate in contests (like the Santa Scavenger Challenge Hunt) and win prizes, too. This event kicks off Dec, 10, but you have to sign up online, pay the $20 free, choose your route, and pick up your wristband (the color of which will coordinate with your route) and map. If you want to get in the spirit, they’ll have Santa hats at starting locations.

Thanksgiving Side Dishes Sure to Make Your Dinner Delicious

Green Bean Casserole Alternative

Forget the casserole dish. This Sauteed Green Beans and Mushrooms recipe takes 10 minutes of prep and 15 minutes to cook. Just blanch and boil your green beans while you sauté your mushrooms in butter. Top with salt, pepper, and French-fried onions.

Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic and Mascarpone Cheese

Change up the mashed potatoes from a box, that you usually serve with gravy, to this cheesy alternative. You’ll need diced Idaho potatoes, salt, milk, garlic, butter, black pepper, and of course, mascarpone cheese. This Bobby Flay recipe has 4.5 stars on Food Network after 25+ reviews. The prep takes about 20 minutes, then 25 minutes to cook up in the saucepan. If you insist on having gravy, and want to stick with Flay’s recipes, try this sage gravy. It uses the turkey’s neck, sage leaves, butter, flour, wine, and black pepper.

 

Friday Fun with Croissants and Cake Pops

After a long work week, you deserve a treat. Why not have a little fun this Friday night by focusing on dessert instead of dinner? These places are sure to make the start of your weekend pretty sweet!

Drinks & Sweet Treats

The Back Door Bakery & Cafe  serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but it also has pastries. Think about after-dinner coffee cake and coffee or tea, or even pair a glass of wine with one of the many flavored croissants (like chocolate, chocolate mint, cinnamon cream, orange almond, almond, chocolate hazelnut or custard). It’s open 6am to 10pm and located at 8349 Foothill Blvd, Los Angeles.

Cake Pops

Get creative with your Friday night stop at V-Lo’s Cake Pops & Cupcakes. The Instagram account @vlocakepops is filled with pictures of the owner’s creations, like: gold-colored dipped strawberries, as well as pops shaped like masquerade masks, unicorns, Minnie, baby animals, Ghostbusters, Jack Skellingtons, eyeballs with forks in them, monkeys, and Thomas trains. Location: 15744 Drell St, Sylmar, CA 91342

 

Groupon to Get Your L.A. Workout On

Looking for something new to inspire your workouts this November? Try looking through the Groupon offers in the Los Angeles area to find something new and exciting.

Climb

Top Out Climbing Center is offering up to 72 percent off. This facility is 11,500 square feet and offers climbing and bouldering terrain. There are three options for 90-minute lessons (after which they will offer a week-long free membership trial):

  • $20 for one (a $40 value)
  • $35 for two (an $80 value)
  • $45 for four (a $160 value)

Not into climbing, but your significant other is? Top Out also offers yoga!

Hit the Cardio Barre

Hit this Studio City location if you want a dancer’s body, but don’t necessarily want to do to a ballet studio. The point of this workout is “toning effects of barre work and light strength training” according to the Groupon. $39 gets your five classes (which normally cost $100). Just arrive 15-minutes early with a full size towel, water, and your Groupon.

 

November Events for Fans of Olde & Brides-To-Be

Not sure what to do now that Halloween is over? Consider these events to help you make it until Thanksgiving!

If you like renaissance festivals:

Go back in time with the 2016 Nottingham Festival. On November 5, 6, 12, and 13, this traditional renaissance festival will be at the Civic Center park. Tickets start at $12. Not only will you experience the times of old, but you can also drink beer, but also eat food like turkey legs, kettle corn, jerky, meat pies and more. For more information, visit here.

If you’re a bride-to-be:

Consider making the hour-long trek to Anaheim’s Wyndham Anaheim Garden Grove for the Great Bridal Expo on Sunday, Nov. 13, starting at noon. Tickets are $10 and allow you to see a variety of vendors. Consider bringing your other half, as there are prizes like free wedding bands for the first 100 couples to register online at https://greatbridalexpo.com.

Dollar Store Halloween Decor to Die For

Halloween decorations aren’t always the most affordable. However, there are some creative tricks that can make your party guests think you’ve spent more!

One inexpensive Halloween hack is to save all your toilet paper or paper towel rolls. After you’ve collected a few, cut scary eye holes into the roll, insert a glow stick, and stash the roll in a dark place—like under the couch. Your guests will feel like monsters are watching them!

Place Dollar Tree fingers, eyes, or ears in mason jars filled with water and red food coloring. It will give your décor a “mad scientist” feel. You can find an example here.

Stash faux skulls and bones throughout the apartment—like in the shower, large jars, and fireplaces.

You can also browse Handy Home Tips for a list of 20 dollar store décor ideas, such as drawing ghost mouths and eyes on the holders of white pillar candles.