W.3rd St. Holiday Street Party: December 9th: The shops of West 3rd St. in West Hollywood will be offering great bargains & refreshments to create a holiday party atmosphere to shop in! Plan to find some pretty unique gifts in the many small shops, or just go to browse and dine at some of the yummy restaurants on 3rd (yes, they will have specials too)!

Holiday Walk on the Avenues: December 10th & 11th: Similar to the W. 3rd shopping party, the Melrose Village area of West Hollywood will also be throwing a party of their own! Even if you’re not looking to do much shopping, this sounds like a fun event to check out to get in the holiday spirit. There will be food trucks (duh), carolers, live entertainment, and refreshments for all!

Stila Warehouse Sale: December 11th: I’m a big fan of Stila Cosmetics but their stuff is just WAY too pricey for me. Luckily, the annual Stila warehouse sale is a great opportunity to stock up on some of your favorite quality make-up at crazy discounts (up to 80% off)! Sale starts at 8am but the line was a couple blocks long last year so get there early if you want the good stuff!

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Unique LA: December 11th & 12th: Check out LA’s ultimate independent design & gift show for a guaranteed way to get all your holiday shopping done in one swoop! And what’s more guaranteed is that your gifts will truly be one of a kind  and you’ll be supporting local independent designers. There will be hundreds of independent vendors to choose from! Admission is $10 but that includes free drinks (cocktails & soft drinks).

Renegade Craft Fair: December 11th & 12th: This free craft fair takes place at the LA State Historic Park and features indie-craft artists selling their goods. There will also be fun holiday themed craft workshops running throughout the day… from make your own mistletoe and ornaments to DIY shopping bags. Let’s hope the weather looks good for next weekend, because this outdoorsy event sounds like a great time!!

As a self proclaimed scavenger hunt enthusiast, I assure you I have researched quite a few of them and this will be one of the best. Aside from some amazing prizes, the registration fee is only $10/person and all that money will be donated to LA-based charities. Teams consist of 2-5 people and they are encouraging everyone to dress up in matching costumes (yes, there will be a prize for best dressed team)! The event will begin at Dodgers Stadium, where teams will get a list of 100 items to hunt for, each with a corresponding point number. Further details regarding registration, prizes, sponsors, etc. can be found on the official website.

Let me know if you decide to sign up by commenting on this post…I’ll be there!

Game on!!

Attendees will receive deep discounts at Magnolia Park retailers, the opportunity to listen to carolers and take pictures with santa, free goodies, and general holiday cheer! For more details on the fun activities, check out their website! The event takes place from 5:30pm-9:30pm tonight and starts at the corner of Magnolia Blvd. & Buena Vista in Burbank.

Cupcake Camp will feature over 30 stations – most are up and coming bakers/companies – so you know these people are passionate and pouring their hearts & souls into their delicious treats! There will be nutella cupcakes. Nutella! I was going to write about some of the other interesting ones I found under the “bakers” section of the website, but I started drooling too much… so check it out for yourself!

The "Breakfast at Tiffany's" cupcake from Sugar Babies Cupcakery!

There are a two different sessions to choose from: 12pm-2pm or 3pm-5pm. Advanced tickets are $15, but they’re $25 at the door. Remember, proceeds from the event  go to charity so you can even write off this cupcake excursion! You can learn more about the charities here.

Hope to see you there!

You may want to consider checking out Downtown Pasadena’s newest hotspot , Noor Restaurant & Ballroom. Noor features a unique menu of Mediterranean cuisine made with fresh, localy grown ingredients. The official grand opening party features complimentary champagne and hors d’oeuvres, specially prepared by four-star Chef Patrick Ramsey.  There will be live entertainment by the Afro Cuban-Jazz-Brazilian group Embellishment Music Project and celebrity DJ, Kamakaze.

The only thing I love more than grand opening parties is complimentary champagne!

It is required that you RSVP if you plan on attending. Simply email info@quintessentialpr.com with your name & number of guests attending with you.

Saturday, November 13th
7pm – 12am
NOOR Restaurant l Ballroom
260 East Colorado Blvd. Suite A209 Pasadena, CA 91101

Pillow Fight Day will occur all over the country- from Ghana to Beijing and The Netherlands! Right here in LA, the event will take place in Pershing Square at 3pm. As always, the event is BYOP and sure to help you de-stressed and have a blast.

The official rules for the LA Pillow Fight are as follows:

1. “Don’t talk about [Pillow] Fight Club!” (especially to news media and civic authories)
2. Don’t be in location until the exact minute. (set your watches)
3. Hide your pillows.
4. Rush in screaming “PILLOW FIIIIIIGHT!!!!!”
5. After 15mins of excruciating fun, leave.
6. Stay off the road and sidewalk. (don’t make this a police issue)
7. Do NOT hit anyone with out a pillow! (this includes but is not limited to people with cameras, bystanders, civic authorities, cars, use common sense!!)
8. “If this is your first [time] at [Pillow] Fight Club, you have to fight.”
9. Stick around to clean up if you can, so that the event can happen again next year.

Are you excited yet?! I’m excited. And being out of town is not an excuse, simply hit up their handy website to check out when/where your local Pillow Fight will take place. PILLOW FIIIIIGHT!

The Americana’s Street Feast will be more than just food trucks though. The surrounding festivities include a DJ, raffles, and special discounts at the shops! You can also print out this handy dandy coupon for free parking!

I highly recommend you stop eating immediately and save up room for this event.

Who to Expect:
The Buttermilk Truck
The Grilled Cheese Truck (!!)
Mandoline Grill
Dimsum Truck
Willoughby Road
DOSA Truck
Coolhaus
Frysmith
Komodo

Where to Drink:

Dillon’s Irish Pub - What’s better than cheap beer? A variety of cheap beer! Dillon’s in Hollywood offers over 20 draft beers, and all of them are only $3/pint! Everything ranging from Coors Light to Blue Moon to Guinness…$3. Incredible, I know. The place is huge but it can get very popular so prepare yourself for a long line on this beer-focused holiday. The Hollywood & Vine Metro station is down the street from the bar, which may be worth considering if you plan on celebrating safely.

Rush Street - This Culver City hot spot has the largest selection of Irish beers in Los Angeles. They’ll also be providing live entertainment by a traditional Irish folk/rock band at 10pm! Rush will be serving corned beef, which you can enjoy with your pint of green beer for an awesomely cheesy Irish experience.

Howl at the Moon – $3 green beers and 2-for-1 irish car bombs are just the beginning! Howl at the Moon, famous for its dueling pianos, is by far the most entertaining bar I’ve been to in LA. If you’re looking for a good party with some great music, these guys know how to throw one!  The only downfall is parking at Universal Citywalk can be a bit pricey- so we recommend carpooling with friends.

Tom Bergin’s Tavern – This is our pick for best authentic Irish experience in Los Angeles! They were voted one of the top 10 irish bars in the country on a number of occasions and refuse to serve green beer…authentic indeed.

Non-Drinking Alternatives:

Free Redbox Rental - Become a fan of Redbox on Facebook (let’s be honest, they’ve earned it) and get a code for a free one night rental on 3/17! I’m wondering if they’ll have some Irish-themed movies for the holiday…

The Bad Arm Show - This one-woman comedy show features Maire Clerkin, who asks “what it means to be Irish, what it means if you don’t want to be, and what it means if you’re labeled an Irish Wannabe.” The show looks like a great alternative to the bar scene on St. Patrick’s Day and received rave reviews when it was staged at the Bang Theater in Hollywood recently. Tickets are $17 and available to be purchased in advance on the Santa Monica Playhouse website.

The W Los Angeles – Westwood and Yelp are teaming up to host the Spring 2010 Clothing Swap this Thursday, March 11th. This sounds like a super fun event so mark your calendars if you are looking to mix up your wardrobe with some new items!

The swap will take place at the WET pool at the W Los Angeles-Westwood, from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Guests are encouraged to bring in up to 10 items of women’s clothing, shoes, or accessories to swap. Items should be in near-new condition, but you can bring in extra items and they will be donated to Women Helping Women. Everyone wins!

The first 30 people to get there will be receiving a special gift from Junk Food Clothing. Small bites and specialty cocktails will be served (sweet!) but make sure you RSVP in advance by emailing rsvpwlaevents@whotels.com. The first 30 people to get there will be receiving a special gift from Junk Food Clothing…best shirts ever.

I’d like to think we were way ahead of the game on this one. I mean, we posted about LA Works (our fave local volunteer org) last April! Not everyone can afford to write big checks  to charities, so why not give your time and energy to working with organizations that need help?

There is no better time to jump on the volunteering bandwagon than now! And there’s no better place to start than the City Labs Community Service Fair this Saturday. The fair will help you connect with 50 local non-profits who need your help! With so many organizations in one place, you’re sure to find something that suits your interests and abilities. There will also be a DJ, raffles, and a handful of fun workshops throughout the afternoon.

The fair will take place Saturday, January 23rd from 11am-4pm at the California Market Center. There is a $5 suggested donation at the door, but that gets you a free drink ticket and a raffle ticket! You can get more info. by checking out the Yelp page for this event.