Letters from Santa (www.easyfreesantaletter.com), provides parents a simple way to create beautiful, personalized letters from Santa that can be printed instantly. Available in both a free and low-cost Magical Package version ($3.99) ,
Did I say personalized? That is an understatement! In addition to 16 gorgeous Letter designs, there are 13 highly personalized messages! The Letters are full of special details only Santa could know, and address a multitude of worries that little ones might have.

Create fond family memories this Christmas at Patina Catering’s Breakfast with Santa at the Los Angeles Music Center and Descanso Gardens

WHAT:           In the spirit of the holidays, begin a new family tradition and treat your children to “Breakfast with Santa,” complete with a sumptuous buffet, children activity areas, gifts, a visit from Santa and his elves, plus more.  The festivities are offered at the downtown Los Angeles landmark The Music Center and the urban retreat of year-round natural beauty,Descanso Gardens, available on December 14, 15, 21 and 22, 2013.  After breakfast, make the day even more enjoyable with the family. The Music Center features daily matinees while Descanso Gardens offers beautiful botanical collections for a family walk.

At The Music Center, Patina Catering will serve a buffet-style breakfast with highlights such as a buttermilk maple waffle station, Chino Ranch scrambled eggs, hand carved honey mustard ham, delicious Christmas desserts and cookies plus a complimentary mimosa or glass of champagne for the adults. Meanwhile, Descanso Gardens will feature Santa’s Fully Loaded French Toast Bar with buttery brioche French toast including an array of toppings, soft scramble eggs with cream fraiche and chives, honey glazed ham and a holiday cookie and cupcake workshop for children to build and decorate their own holiday treats.

THE LOS ANGELES MUSIC CENTER

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA MENU:

Freshly Baked Pastries

with artisanal jams

House Cured and Smoked Skuna Bay Salmon

Cowgirl Creamery cream cheese, pickled red onions, organic lemons, chives, bagels from the Bagel Broker

Winter Waldorf Salad

Toasted walnuts, navel oranges, red flame grapes

Heirloom Beets

Belgium endive, stilton, port wine pears

Holiday Season Fruit Potpourri

Steel cut oats, Strauss Farms organic yogurt

Buttermilk Maple Waffles

Seasonal spiced apple compote

Stewed persimmons

Hot chocolate sauce

Whipped sweet cream butter

Creole bananas

Fluffy Chino Ranch Scrambled Eggs

Crispy Breakfast Bacon

Hand Carved Honey Mustard Christmas Ham

Artisanal Sausages from Patina Catering’s House Butcher Eugen Goetz

Crispy Potato Skins

with melted sweet onions

Assorted Christmas Desserts and Cookies from Patina Catering’s Patisserie

DESCANSO GARDENS

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA MENU:

Santa’s Fully Loaded French Toast Bar

Buttery brioche French toast

Served with an array of toppings to include:

Vermont maple syrup, Chantilly Cream, fresh strawberries, toasted nuts,

whipped sweet butter, wild flower honey, powdered sugar, cottage cheese, chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, and maraschino cherries

North Pole Breakfast Station

Baker’s basket of fresh baked muffins, croissants and Danish pastries

with sweet butter and preserves

Wild berry and vanilla yogurt parfait, house made granola

Soft scrambled eggs with cream fraiche and chives

Yukon breakfast potatoes with caramelized onions and fresh herbs

Applewood smoked bacon

Turkey breakfast sausage

Honey glazed spiral sliced ham

Wild arugula, fresh Laura Chanel goat cheese, toasted almonds, balsamic vinaigrette

Baby mixed greens, roasted winter heirloom squash, toasted pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, walnut oil vinaigrette

Old Saint Nick’s Holiday Cookie and Cupcake Workshop

Build and decorate your own holiday cookies and cupcakes

Gingerbread cookies

Holiday sugar cookies

Mini vanilla cupcakes

Mini chocolate cupcakes

Mini red velvet cupcakes

Assorted frostings, candies and sprinkles for decorating

WHEN:           Available two weekends only:

                        The Music Center

December 14 & 15 and December 21 & 22

9:30a.m. and 11:30a.m.

Descanso Gardens

December 14 & 15 and December 21 & 22

10:30a.m. and 11:30a.m.

PRICE:            The Music Center

Adults, $55; Children, $25 (3 and under are free)

Family 4-pack: Two adults and two children for $135

Descanso Gardens

Members, $39; Non-Members $46; Children, $19 (ages 4-12)

RESERVATIONS:

                        Required; please contact the below numbers to reserve.

The Music Center

213.972.7565

Descanso Gardens

818.790.3663

WHERE:         The Music Center

135 N. Grand Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

            Descanso Gardens

1418 Descanso Dr.

La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011

ABOUT

PATINA

RESTAURANT

GROUP:         Patina Restaurant Group (www.patinagroup.com), a bi-coastal boutique company, is a leader in the premium segment of the restaurant industry with over 60 establishments. On the West Coast, its portfolio includes the renowned Los Angeles Times’ four-starred and Michelin-starred Patina Restaurant in Walt Disney Concert Hall, Nick + Stef’s Steakhouse, Café Pinot at the Maguire Gardens, Catal Restaurant, C+M, and Ray’s & Stark Bar, honored by Esquire magazine as one of the “Best New Restaurants 2011.” Additional West Coast establishments include three restaurants in Anaheim’s Downtown Disney District®, Leatherby’s Cafe Rouge at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Pinot Brasserie in Las Vegas, and catering and food service in museums and cultural centers throughout California.  On the East Coast, its portfolio features The Sea Grill, The Grand Tier Restaurant at the Metropolitan Opera, La Fonda Del Sol and Lincoln Ristorante, also honored by Esquire magazine as a 2011 Best New Restaurant and named “The Best New Restaurant in America” by GQ Magazine. 

Science, fun and learning collide with Ravensburger’s debut collection of Science X^® activity kits!  The toymaker that’s celebrated around the world for its high-quality, beautifully-designed puzzles, games and playthings this year introduces a sci-sational assortment of hands-on biology, chemistry and physics sets, designed to draw out kids’ natural curiosity and encourage countless hours of exploration and discovery.

Ravensburger’s first ever science-based collection includes ten kits in three different sizes and price points: four “minis” (SRP $13.99 each), four “midis” (SRP $34.99 each) and two “maxis” (SRP $44.99 each).  All of the sets feature richly-illustrated manuals and easy-to-do, success-based projects that encourage kids to become active scientific explorers.

The Science X maxi kit assortment, designed for children ages 10+, includes:

• Electronics and Circuitry – Aspiring electrical engineers can delve into eight different science activities to produce real working gadgets such as an alarm to protect their things, a loudspeaker for their music, reading lamp and flashlight.  The kit also lets kids create and send Morse Code messages.  Contents include an array of equipment such as resistors, transistors, LEDs, loudspeaker, battery terminal, printed circuit boards and more.

We received the Electronics and Circuitry to try out for ourselves and this one is, as my son(age 10) says “so cool!”He really liked being able to create Morse Code messages! If you have a child that loves gadgets, putting things together and science this is a must-have this holiday season!

• Crystals & Gemstones – Future gemologists can perform 20 different activities such as growing druse crystals (calcium oxalate) and checking the composition of real gemstones.  The kit includes five different crystal salts and real gemstones to introduce kids to this shimmering world of science.  Also included are a magnifying glass and various chemicals and accessories for conducting the experiments.

Ravensburger’s midi Science X offerings include:

• CSI: Crime Scene Investigations – Sleuths in training can dive into a dozen different science activities with this kit that lets them identify fingerprints, analyze evidence and isolate DNA!  The package includes: tips to help young investigators learn how to use scientific methods to examine clues along with a magnifying glass, safety glasses, fingerprinting cards and crime scene cards, among other items.  Ages 8+

• Nature’s Energy – With 25 different activities to facilitate learning about the origins of wind power, solar energy and more, this kit puts the whole world into the hands of kids to explore.  Experiments help them discover wind power, utilize hydropower and create a wind-powered plant.  The kit’s contents include a sail-car chassis panel, solar disc, sundial, water cycle model and hand-heated wind wheel.  Ages 10+

• Simulating Nature – This activity set contains everything young scientists need to accomplish 15 activities that zero-in on bionics and how technologies are designed to resemble the process animals and plants use to solve problems.  Explorers can construct a stable bridge, create the Lotus Effect and discover analogies.  The set comes equipped with: simulation cards, nasturtium seeds, model components and more.  Ages 8+

• Exploring Careers – Children can be anything they wish – and this kit contains all the elements they need to conduct 15 activities that immerse them in possible future careers.  They can study aerodynamics in their quest to be a pilot, discover the solar system like an astronaut and build a bridge like an engineer.  Contents include: a cardboard solar system mobile, water wheel, camera obscura case, heart rate chart and more.  Ages 8+

Science X mini kits open the door for kids to engage in six different activities each in four different areas of study.  They are:

• 3D Optics – Kids can discover the secrets of the third dimension and find out how 3D optics really work.  They’ll learn how to use 3D glasses and make a stereoscope that turns two flat images into a 3D object.  Among the included materials are: 3D glasses, magnifying lenses and stereoscope.  Ages 8+

• Secret Codes – Tween secret agents will learn the basics of cryptology by deciphering hidden codes, mirror writing and secret messages with this “top secret” kit.  Contents include: knot holder, decoding discs, code templates and more.  Ages 8+

• Crystal Magic – Becoming a mineralogist was never so much fun!  With this incredible kit, mineralogy comes to life via a host of mineral- and crystal-growing experiments.  Equipment includes: safety glasses, wooden spatula and potassium aluminum sulfate.  Ages 10+

• Magnetic Magic – Floating paper clips, the inner workings of a compass and other fascinating aspects of the invisible force will “attract” explorers to this “powerful” set.  Contents include: ring and bar magnets, compass and galaxy maps and more.  Ages 8+

About Ravensburger

Newton, NH-based Ravensburger is the U.S. subsidiary of Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH, a German toy and game manufacturer with a 130-year history of tradition.  Founded in Ravensburg, Germany in 1883, Ravensburger is a leading producer of toys loved the world over and celebrated for its meticulous commitment to detail, high production standards and superior quality control.  In addition to Ravensburger-branded puzzles, games and arts & crafts sets, the company is the exclusive distributor of WOW preschool toys and holds licenses for such well-known brands as Chuggington^™, Thomas and Friends^™, Tinga Tinga Tales^™, The Hobbit^™, Moshi Monsters^™ and more.

We have teamed up for a Holiday Giveaway! One winner will win the Electronics and Circuitry set. You must be a subscriber to enter! Next, leave us a comment below telling us who you would give this to this Holiday season! Deadline to enter is December 10th, 2013 at midnight. One winner will randomly be selected from all entries.

Self Disclosure: I received a free product to facilitate this feature but any opinions expressed are my own.

Check out How to Throw a Festive Sweater Holiday Party by Goodwill Industries International on Snapguide.

Here is the link: http://snapguide.com/guides/throw-a-festive-sweater-holiday-party/

Don’t forget to visit Goodwill’s store locator and to donate items to Goodwill for that last minute tax deduction!