Think about the most unique place you and your loved one could tie the knot. A roller coaster, a hot air balloon, underwater—yes, these are all unexpected venues, but believe it or not, they’ve also been done before.

But what if you were the very first couple to ever get married….on a megabus?!

That’s right—one adventurous couple will win a free wedding – on a decked-out megabus – plus honeymoon transportation and a lot of spending money.

What better way to start your life together than something as crazy (and fun!) as this?

Contestants can enter here up until Feb. 21, sharing their story and why they want to be married on a megabus. The winner will be chosen and announced via megabus social channels on March 15, 2017.

Credit: Megabus. Contest is not affiliated with SoCal City Kids.

Nintendo invites you to join us for Parents’ Guide to Pokémon, a special 101 tutorial geared specifically towards parents that will provide an overview of Pokémon and the two newest games – from the experts themselves!

The YouTube Live session is on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 2 pm ET. To RSVP, sign up here: bit.ly/2kkP4fS.

Credit: Pokemon.

megabus.com is offering 1,000 seats for $1 starting through Tues. 1/24 for the Winter Flash Sale. Please see below for the routes included in this deal. Especially with gas prices on the rise, and experts predicting that they’ll remain that way for at least the first quarter of the year, this is the perfect way to cut down on the cash they spend at the pump. With fares as low as $1, megabus.com is an affordable, ecofriendly and now cost-effective alternative to driving your own car.

Atlanta to/from:
Athens, GA
Birmingham, AL
Charlotte, NC
Chattanooga, TN
Columbia, SC
Fayetteville, NC
Jacksonville, FL
Knoxville, TN
Memphis, TN
Mobile, AL
Montgomery, AL
Nashville, TN
New Orleans, LA
Orlando, FL

Orlando to/from:
Miami, FL
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tampa, FL
Tallahassee, FL

Megabus Update! They are having another Flash Sale beginning this Wednesday through Tuesday 1/31! See below for routes!

For travel between Los Angeles and:
Las Vegas, CA
San Francisco, CA

For travel between San Francisco and:
Los Angeles, CA
Sacramento, CA
Reno, NV
Sparks, NV

Credit: Megabus.

1) Organize your workplace, school or community group. Maximize your impact by organizing a group to serve the community with an activity done at your own location in honor of Martin Luther King Day. Choose a local charity and determine the best way for your group to show support. Ideas include packing snack bags for after school programs, collecting coats and hats for a homeless shelter, planting trees, creating a mentoring program, or writing letters of support to our military abroad.

2) Teach your children. The kids are home from school. Remember, as a Day of Service MLK day is supposed to be “a day on, not a day off.” Plan an activity of service and involve your children. Show by your example that volunteerism is important to your family and help to cultivate a new generation of compassionate, community- minded citizens.

3) Raise needed goods. Support a local charity with a drive for the goods they need to serve the community. An online YouGiveGoods drive is the new way to raise food and supplies for charity. You can set up your drive in a matter of minutes and have it underway in time for MLK Day this year. Then invite your online community via email and social media to support your cause by purchasing items that will ship to your selected charity. A YouGiveGoods drive builds up your community as it offers tangible aid to local charity and it provides a welcome opportunity for your friends and family to be part of this year’s MLK Day.

4) Spread the message. Use social media (use hashtag #MLKDay) to share MLK’s ideals and inspiring words. You will find his words to be stunningly timely and relevant in today’s world. Forward this page, talk about what you will do in honor of MLK Day, and encourage your circle of friends to take action to support the community.

5) Commit to service in 2017. Use Martin Luther King’s example to plan a 2017 where you take action. If you are unable to volunteer on January 16, simply spend some time researching, choose your charity, make that phone call and find out how you can best serve them in the future. Charities need help all year long!

Credit: YouGiveGood’s President and CEO Lisa Tomasi.

zulily has launched the second installment of their#zulilycutie contest!  zulily is ALL about inspiring their fans to share the unique and special #zulilycutie in their life on social media! So in celebration of all the cuties out there, they are hosting their first-ever contest to find their second OFFICIAL #zulilycutie who will be the face of an upcoming zulily campaign!

So, what is a #zulilycutie? It’s an adorable kid with a unique style, personality and sense of fun. Above all, they are looking for a cutie who embodies their zulily spirit. At zulily, what makes them unique is their use of real people as models to tell a story around the products their customers love. Their models are every day you and me, unique in all the best ways!

The winner of The Official #zulilycutie Contest will receive:

• A trip to zulily headquarters in Seattle, WA for a photo shoot featuring the cutie, which will be used in an upcoming zulily campaign.
• Featured images and posts across zulily’s social media channels.
• A feature post on zulily’s blog, The Find, which is our daily dose of behind-the-scenes, the newest looks, and interesting content.
• A zulily shopping spree!
• The opportunity to take over zulily’s Instagram account with their photo shoot pics from the day.

You can enter at http://www.zulily.com/blog/the-find/zulilycutie-contest/

Self Disclosure: No compensation was received and contest is not affiliated with SoCal City Kids.

Can you believe there are only a few days left before New Year’s Eve? With such little time left, it’s easy to feel pressured and miss the things that make the holiday truly special. For the remainder of the week, take time to smell the roses (or Christmas tree this time of year), share stories of Christmases past, and relax with loved ones. Then, when it seems like this busy time will never end and all you really need is to catch up on lost sleep, set aside the presents and treat yourself to a well-deserved nap. With some of these helpful napping tips from Casper, find yourself some warm blankets and a cozy mattress to recharge your restless mind.

Note: For the most productive nap, and to help improve your mood, you should nap for 20 minutes. Napping for more than 45 minutes is not suggested and will result in feeling tired afterwards.

Imagine the fun of stepping into a larger-than-life Nintendo adventure.  Gigantic Piranha Plants spring to life.  Question blocks, power-ups and more surround you.  And Mario and all his friends are there to pull you into a brand-new world.

You will enter an entire realm filled with iconic Nintendo excitement, gameplay, heroes and villains.   And it is coming to three Universal theme parks around the globe.

The creative visionaries behind Nintendo’s legendary worlds and characters are working together with the creative teams behind Universal’s blockbuster theme park attractions.  Their goal: to bring the characters, action and adventure of Nintendo video games to life within Universal theme parks.  And to do so in new and innovative ways that capture what makes them so special.  All of the adventure, fun and whimsy you experience through a screen will now be all around you – in breathtakingly authentic ways.

• Nintendo-themed areas are coming to Universal Studios Japan, Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood.
• These will be expansive, immersive and interactive.  They will be highly themed and authentic environments filled with multiple attractions, shops and restaurants.
• Guests will feel as if they are playing inside their favorite games – this time in real life.
• There will be something for everyone – regardless of their age or gaming experience level.
• Planning and creative work on these areas is well underway; they will open separately over the next several years.

The new themed areas come as the result of a global partnership between Universal Parks & Resorts and Nintendo – two icons of the entertainment world.  Universal theme parks create incredibly popular family entertainment experiences for millions of people based on compelling characters, stories and innovative technology.  Nintendo creates remarkable and imaginative games filled with captivating stories and beloved characters.

Each Universal theme park will announce details of its specific Nintendo areas.  The first such announcement will come soon.

Credit:

About Universal Parks & Resorts
Universal Parks & Resorts, a unit of Comcast NBCUniversal, offers guests around the globe today’s most relevant and popular entertainment experiences. With three-time Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg as creative consultant, its theme parks are known for immersive experiences that feature some of the world’s most thrilling and technologically advanced film- and television-based attractions.

Comcast NBCUniversal wholly owns Universal Studios Hollywood, which includes Universal CityWalk Hollywood. It also owns Universal Orlando Resort, a destination resort with two theme parks (Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure), five resort hotels, and Universal CityWalk Orlando. In addition, Comcast NBCUniversal owns a 51 percent majority interest in Universal Studios Japan, in Osaka and has a license agreement with Universal Studios Singapore at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore.  The company has also announced plans for a theme park in Beijing.

About Nintendo
The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™and Wii™home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™and Nintendo DS™families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.4 billion video games and more than 696 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™and Pokémon™.

California Feetwarmers Perform Dec. 16.

This Christmas season, Union Station’s majestic south patio will be transformed into a hub of holiday entertainment with three distinctive and diverse “Coco Concerts” from beloved L.A. performers held beneath the glow of the station towering Christmas tree and the iconic clock tower.

From 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on Fridays December 9^th, 16^th and 23^rd, Angelenos can enjoy a festive, family-friendly holiday celebration featuring free concerts, a “Cocoa Bar” with Elftenders, an “Ugly Christmas Sweater” contest, holiday crafts and cookie decorating, a Naughty & Nice photo booth and selfies with the most popular guy in Tinsel Town (Santa).

The Cocoa Concert series features:

Friday, December 9^th – A Classic Holiday Sing-A-Long with the Music Companie

Friday, December 16^th – A Swinging Holiday Performance from the California Feetwarmers

Friday, December 23^rd – A Very Salsa Christmas with La Picante

Guest are invited to wear their most colorful, cleaver, kitschy and itchy Christmas jumper and vie for the title of “Downtown’s Ugliest Christmas Sweater.”  Santa, the king of “dated duds,” to moderate the contest and dole out prizes.

A rollicking sing-a-long will kick-off the concerts series on Friday, December 9^th as carolers from the Music Companie lead guest through an evening of Christmas classics. On Friday December 16^th, visitors can swing into the holiday season with a joyous performance from the renowned California Feetwarmers, masters of ragtime, Dixieland blues and early swing.  Finally, La Picante heats up the night air on Friday, December 23^rd with salsa lessons followed by a Christmas centric salsa party.

In addition, Southern California Fire Fighters’ “Spark of Love Toy Drive” also pulls into the station with its annual holiday campaign to collect new, unwrapped toys and sports equipment for under-served children and teens.

For additional information check out “happenings” at unionstationla.com

Credit: Union Station.