Holiday Gift Ideas | SoCal Savvy Mom

Dec 2
2013

Holiday Events in San Diego this week!

Wednesday, December 4

Holiday Festival @ Hotel Del Coronado – On Wednesday, December 4, The Del will feature a special event for the whole family – “Holiday Festival…A Family Celebration” from 4-7 p.m. for the Coronado community. In addition to the outdoor ice rink, kids of all ages can visit with St. Nick and his elves at Santa’s Village and enjoy holiday booths with games and prizes. There will also be hot cocoa, libations and fireworks.

Thursday, December 5

West Village Holiday Open House @ West Carlsbad – Start celebrating the Holidays at the West Village Holiday Open House, enjoy food and drinks along with Santa, Mrs. Clause and Elves! Free face-painting, cookies, gingerbread decorating, roasted chestnuts and wagon rides. Please bring an unwrapped gift to support Toys for Tots. For more information click here.

Saturday, December 7

Holiday Parade @ Encinitas – Thousands of people will be on floats and in bands with tens of thousands more cheering them on as the 2013 Encinitas Holiday Parade rolls along Coast Highway 101. The parade begins at 5:30 p.m. and it is preceded by a 5:00 p.m. tree lighting ceremony a the Lumberyard (near Starbucks coffee).

Santa by the Sea @ L’Auberge Del Mar – The Del Mar Association and L’Auberge invite you to join them for the annual Christmas Tree Lighting in the amphitheater at 5 p.m. Directly after the tree lighting will be a special screening of the movie Elf. Bring your own camera for pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus and your little ones, and enjoy the music by the Original Dickens Carolers. Other hightlights of the night are a Holiday Photo Booth, Snow, Holiday Cookie Tasting, Hot Cocoa, Cake Walk, Dance Performance, Hot Cocoa, Passport to the North Pole, Special Prizes, and Letters to Santa. For more information click here.

Sunday, December 8

Christmas Parade & Holiday Festival @ La Jolla – The parade begins at 2 p.m. and the Holiday Festival will begin at 3:30 p.m., photos with Santa will be held at the Recreation Center at 3:30 pm. as well. The day comes to a close with the Christmas Tree Lighting at 4:30 pm.

Parade of Lights @ San Diego Bay – The San Diego Bay Parade of Lights is held two consecutive Sundays each year in December. The Parade begins at 5:30 p.m. and proceeds from Shelter Island past Harbor Island, the Embarcadero, Seaport Village, and Ferry Landing in Coronado.

Nov 20
2013

Encinitas Fall Festival – Sunday 11/24/13

by Nicole Connerley

This Sunday is the 23rd Annual Fall Festival in Encinitas, there will be over 450 booths to visit, perfect to get a start on your Christmas shopping. Don’t forget to stop by your favorite Encinitas retailers too, here’s a perfect opportunity for all of your holiday shopping. Enjoy music and dance performances at two stages.

Don’t forget to stop by the Kids Zone: North County Health Services presents our first Fall Festival Kids Zone in The Lumberyard at I St. Children of all ages will enjoy a wide range of interactive booths and activities, including a giant slide and a skate park.

If you are brining your four legged kids stop by the Dog Park: Thanks to Hill’s Ideal Balance, here’s where your canine companions can take a break from the bustling festival. Our dog park in The Lumberyard at I St. will have over 1300 square feet of turf and an agility course provided by Zoom Room.

Don’t drive take your bike and check out the Bike Valet: Cyclists can leave their bike at either end of the festival, at D St. or J St., thanks to this free valet service provided by BikeWalkEncinitas.

Listen to some great music at the Lumberyard Courtyard Stage Sponsored by Yelp The Weis Guys Jazztet (11am) ~ The Bayou Brothers (1pm)

Tons of fun dance and musical numbers at the Community Stage Sponsored by Uber Ecke Dance Expressions (11am) ~ Prodigy (11:30am) ~ Dance Connection (12pm) ~ California Music Studios (12:30pm) ~ Janice Lee School of Ballet (1pm) ~ Church’s Martial Arts (1:30pm) ~ All Star Dance Company (2pm) ~ La Costa Canyon Band (2:30pm) ~ Zumba & Latin Dance (3pm) ~ Kehulili O Kailani (3:30pm)

As we all know parking is a pain so try Getting There using: The Coaster and NCTD buses all stop right in downtown Encinitas, just 1/2 block from the festival. View schedules online. We’re teaming up with Uber so you can ride with ease to and from the event! To get $20 off your first Uber ride, sign up online, or download the app, and enter the promo code FALLFESTIVAL. Questions? Contact supportSD@uber.com.

If you are going to drive the best Parking: Coast Highway 101 will be closed from D Street to J Street starting at 4:00 a.m. There’s parking in several lots on Vulcan between D and F Streets, including City Hall and the Coaster/NCTD stations, and at Moonlight Beach.

Have fun and be safe, for more information click here.

Nov 16
2013

Tiny Prints Holiday Cards $50 Giveaway

by Nicole Connerley

SoCal Savvy Mom has partnered with Tiny Prints this holiday season to introduce you to all of the new and adorable holiday cards they have to offer. Tiny Prints is so awesome they are offering $50 gift card (plus free shipping) to one of our readers! Tiny Prints has adorable photo gifts which are perfect for grandparents, aunts and uncles and well anyone who wants a cute photo gift of your children! To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment on the blog, or on SoCal Savvy Mom’s Facebook page, for extra entries share the post with your facebook friends. Good luck!

Tiny Prints has tons of new cards to choose from this holiday season. We love all of the new trim options this year with square, rounded, bracket, ticket and scallop.

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Another favorite of ours is the rounded card that can be made into a Christmas ornament for your tree. There are many different colors and picture options to choose from as well.

tiny prints christmas

Many of the cards are bright and colorful and whatever style you like Tiny Prints has you covered. Contemporary, done, classic, done, vintage, done, how about all that glitters? No problem they have that too!

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One of my favorite cards I found was this tri-fold card where you can add tons of cute pictures of your family. You may personalize it with as many or as little pictures as you wish.

I love the scalloped edges to this card and the mint green polka dot back. It is simple yet elegant at the same time. I think I know which hard I will be choosing this season. Don’t forget to check out all of the matching return labels as well, just when you think it can’t get any cuter it does!

Nov 13
2013

Coaster Holiday Express 12/7/13

by Nicole Connerley

Join SoCal Savvy Mom on a magical holiday train with Santa, Mrs. Claus and The Grinch. North County Transit District’s Holiday COASTER Express is a specially decorated train ride that features photo opportunities with Santa and his friends, classic carol singing, and goody bags with activities for the children. Each 1.5-hour Holiday COASTER Express ride will travel non-stop and round trip from Oceanside to Sorrento Valley.

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, November 13 at 8 a.m. and are $6 per passenger (all ages) and must be purchased in advance. Tickets will NOT be sold on the day of the event. Monthly COASTER passes are not accepted on these special event trains.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Two COASTER Holiday Express trains will run:
Train #1 departs Oceanside at 10 a.m.
Train #2 departs Oceanside at 12:30 p.m.
Total time is approximately 1.5 hours for each trip
Price: $6 per passenger (all ages)

Buy your tickets online at GoNCTD.com/eticket

Limited tickets are available for CASH ONLY at Oceanside Transit Center prior to the event date
205 S. Tremont St., Oceanside
Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The ride is recommended for families with children between the ages of 3 and 10.

Sales are “first come, first served.” Each person may purchase up to six tickets.

TIPS

Please plan on eating before the 1.5 hour train ride as food is not permitted. Water bottles are allowed.
Bring a camera to capture your child’s meeting with Santa.
This event is recommended for families with children between the ages of 3 and 10.
The train doesn’t wait for anyone. Plan on arriving at Oceanside Transit Center at least 20 minutes before the train departs to secure parking and get to the platform on time.
Due to limited space, strollers, and bicycles will not be permitted on the train.
The COASTER Holiday Express will run rain or shine.

For more information: (760) 966 – 6500 or 511

Nov 10
2013

Buy local this shopping season with ThinkEco2

by Nicole Connerley

The holidays are upon us! There are only 42 shopping days left until Christmas this year! Have you started your shopping yet? In years past I was way ahead of the game this year however not so much. I wanted to share with everyone an amazing local company Think Eco 2. Think Eco 2 was started locally in San Diego by Jules Lavallee and Brian Behncke. One of the reasons they founded the company in San Diego was because they want to build jobs locally.

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Take a look at the unique handmade eco-friendly gifts. I of course being the wine lover that I am couldn’t believe all the great wine racks they offer. The handmade wine racks are made from 100% recycled cedar….wait they had me at wine racks! There are also liquor gift boxes, and garden planters and more. All of the products are made from 100% recycled cedar. They are everything we love modern, trendy, rustic, vintage and of course made in the USA.

We love the planter boxes and you may plant with anything, we especially love them filled with succulents, perfect for indoor or outdoor. It truly is the perfect for a gift for anyone! For more information on this great local company or to purchase some of these amazing products see the full line of Think Eco 2 here.

Nov 7
2013

This weekend in San Diego – November

by Nicole Connerley

Saturday, November 9

Christmas on the Farm @ Bates Nut Farm – Visit Bates Nut Farm either Saturday or Sunday to start your holiday shopping early at the Bates Nut Farm “Christmas on the Farm” Arts ‘n Crafts Fair. Over 80 artisans will be selling a variety of handmade crafts and fine art. Enjoy live entertainment, Kids’ Zone and food while you shop, this is an all day event. There will also be the all-you-can-eat Pancake Breakfast provided by the Valley Center Lions Club. $6 adults/$5 children. Enjoy pancakes, eggs, bacon, coffee and orange juice. Proceeds benefit local charities.

Taste of Seaside Market in Cardiff – Don’t miss the incredible holiday inspired food samples from over 20 different vendors at this delicious event! There will be special offers and great give aways. Stop by for your favorite Seaside Market items, and get great ideas for the 2013 holiday season! This event starts at 1:00 and will run until 4:00 pm, more information may be found at Seaside Market’s website here.

Sunday, November 10

San Diego Children’s Museum – (FREE) The New Children’s Museum grants free admission on the second Sunday of each month. Sponsored by Target, the free day allows all children and families in the community to enjoy the Museum, and ensure that cost is not a barrier. Every Target Free Second Sunday also includes a variety of activities for children. Open from 12-4 pm on 11/10/13.

***Don’t forget to enter our GIVEAWAY for the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum here. SoCal Savvy Mom is giving away a family 4-pack of tickets to one lucky reader!