Coming Up: New Year's Concerts - free

The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra will make your new year's resolution for more culture come true. They're offering three FREE concerts around the new year. 

These star Jon Nakamatsu (Van Cliburn gold medalist) on piano, and this season's debut artist, 17-year old double bassist Jared Pabilona in:   

     Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Overture to The Marriage of Figaro 

     Giovanni Bottesini: Double Bass Concerto No. 2 in B minor 

     Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor 

According to the SFCO, "Mozart, Bottesini and Saint-Saëns were great virtuosi, writing themselves solo works to promote their double careers as composers and performing artists. Bottesini was considered the Paganini of the double bass, bringing that unwieldy instrument a measure of respect."

Concert dates: 

Dec 29 • Sunday at 3:00 • Nourse Theater, San Francisco

Dec 31 • Tueday at 8:00 • First Congregational Church, Berkeley

Jan 1 • Wedmesday at 3:00 • First Palo Alto United Methodist Church

Holiday gifts: The Gift of an Experience

There's a huge focus this time of year on buying gifts. We wanted to include some ideas that are the gift of experience, not just things.

Unclutterer has a good list of experience gifts, including San Francisco city tours.

I'm a big fan of museum and attraction memberships as gifts. Then you have fun together while experiencing something new. Frisco Kids has a list of most Bay Area museums on the right side of the blog. Like going to amusement parks or the boardwalk? Either buy a season pass, get a gift certificate or just make your own, so you can go together.

Entertainment - get tickets to a show! We have a list of discounted tickets you can get for mostly holiday shows here. Goldstar has a lot of shows at good deals year-round. (affiliate link)

Don't want to do any gifts? You're not a grinch. Read my friend Heather Greenwood Davis' take on why they're not doing Christmas gifts for two years running.

As a gift for your spouse or better half, get a gift through Howaboutwe for couples. Unfortunately you do have to sign up to see the offerings, but you can choose experiences (shows, tours, massages, meals, etc.)


Don't forget the other posts in this series:
-Helping others this holiday season
-Frisco Kids guide to holiday entertainment

Coming Up: Two Holiday Christmas Concerts - SF Symphony

It's not too late to get tickets for holiday San Francisco Symphony shows.

What: Peter and the Wolf with John Lithgow and the San Francisco Youth Orchestra

When: Saturday, December 14 at 1 and 4 p.m.

Where: Davies Symphony Hall

The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO) performs Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with special guest narrator actor John Lithgow in his San Francisco Symphony debut. Well-known for his work as a Tony, Emmy, and Academy Award-nominated stage and film actor, Lithgow has performed children’s concerts with the Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, San Diego and Pittsburgh Symphonies. His acting credits include roles in the movies The World According to Garp and Terms of Endearment,plus the role of the alien High Commander on TV’s 3^rd Rock from the Sun. He recorded a1999 album of children's music, Singin' in the Bathtub, and has written poetry and short stories for children. In this concert the Youth Orchestra will also perform a work Lithgow wrote with Bill Elliott entitled The Bandshell Right Next to the Zoo as well as festive holiday songs for the whole family to sing along to. SFSYO Music Director and conductor Donato Cabrera conducts.

What: 'Twas the Night (carols and sing-alongs with SF Symphony Chorus members and brass section)

When: Sunday, December 22 at 4, and Monday December 23 at 8 p.m., Tuesday, December 24 at 11 a.m.
Where: Davies Symphony Hall

This special Christmas concert offers conductor and SF Symphony Chorus Director Ragnar Bohlin leading soprano Lisa Vroman, pianist Joan Cifarelli, organist Robert Huw Morgan, members of the San Francisco Symphony, and members of the SFS Chorus in beloved Christmas carols and favorite childhood Christmas songs, plus audience sing-alongs.

Tickets: here

Christmas Craft Links

Looking for some fun Christmas crafts? Here's our list:

Star Wars Snow flakes - 19 free downloadable templates, from Matters of Grey

Make a keepsake hand print tile, thanks to our friends at Attainable Sustainable.

Okay, this is not a picture of the tile, but it is a picture of hand prints and I could use the photo without getting into copyright trouble.

Elf on the Shelf calendar - so I'm a little late with this one, but if you're looking for help with your Elf on the Shelf placement, and you can laugh at yourself and the whole concept, this is awesome, from People I Want to Punch in the Throat.


Color on your own marshmallows - this is a great one if you have leftover edible markers from those nasty cookies you can color. Use them to decorate marshmallows! This is from Got Chocolate, and the pictures are very cute.


Holiday desktop wallpaper for your computer from Apartment Therapy.

Santa for Kids with Special Needs - Sunday 12/7

Sorry to get this out so late, but here's a call-out to families with kids who have special needs. Stanford Shopping Center's Caring Santa program is tomorrow (Sunday 12/7) from 9:30-11 a.m. in the Center Pavilion. They host the event when the mall is closed to provide a more sensory friendly environment.

Caring Santa provides a more subdued environment to visit Santa and get photos taken. In addition to the mall being closed, they turn off in-mall music, dim the lights and shut down the fountains during the events. They use a numbering system to avoid queue lines. While you wait, there are special activities and stories geared toward the kids, to help them understand what will occur during the visit.

Please RSVP if you can at http://community.abilitypath.org. Learn more about the event on this YouTube video.

To learn more about the event you can also watch this short YouTube video: 

Gingerbread House Activities in the Bay Area 2013

My kids are begging me for a gingerbread house kit again this year, but every year they start and don't finish it. And then they don't clean up. So I'm looking into other options. Fortunately the Bay Area has many.

SAN FRANCISCO

The Mandarin Oriental is hosting "ho-ho-ho homes for the holiday" on Saturday, December 14, which includes gingerbread house making from 2-4. Kids get their own aprons and chef hats, decorating gingerbread houses and sugar cookies. For drinking, there's hot chocolate and spiced cider (parents can hit the bar on their own dime). Cost is $60/kid. RSVP at mosfo-events@mohg.com or call (415) 986-2020.

Westin St. Francisco castle

Not for your own making, but check out the Westin St. Francis' sugar castle, one of the country's largest. It's in the lobby through January 3. It resembles a French medieval city and weighs more than 1,300 pounds. It has more than 20 grand circular towers, around 30 rooms, glowing windows and a running train. Not that the kids will care, but you might like that they added the century's past top news makers throughout the castle. 

Coming Up: Story time with Rosemary Wells

Fans of Rosemary Wells books should head to Kepler's in Menlo Park on Sunday morning, for a reading of a Max and Ruby book by the author herself. She'll be reading from Max & Ruby's Treasure Hunt and Max's Christmas

When: Sunday, December 8 at 10:30
Where: Kepler's Books at 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
Cost: Free