Results tagged “holidays”

Because it's Memorial Day, Phillyist is taking a much-needed holiday today. Check us out tomorrow for all your favorite content!

Barring any breaking news (or a legal agreement stating that we won't run a review of a movie until today, which is why there's one other entry dated today on the site), Phillyist will be taking December 25 off to spend time with our loved ones. We'll also be rather content-lite tomorrow.

Happy holidays, everyone. And if you're out and about in Center City today, do catch the show at Macy's. It starts every hour, on the hour.

And once you've loaded up on the fun, inexpensive pieces that Absolute POP! has to offer, step through the interior door to the owners' original store, Absolute Abstract, where you can find larger sized gilcee prints ranging in many styles, including some fabulous shots taken of Philadelphia landmarks by photographer Erin Clark for their Absolute Philadelphia collection.

There's something really magical about the Dickens Christmas Village at Macy's—even if it really is dated. (We do hope you have a better request for Santa than a new sweater, though.)

I'd like to say that I'm an easy person to shop for, but I'm not. It's not that I'm picky, or that I have everything I could possibly want—it's that I rarely get around to making a list, so nobody has much of an idea what to get me. Besides, in my adult life I've discovered that (at least where family is concerned), I usually appreciate a gift that comes in an envelope (read: check or gift certificate) more than one in a box (read: another flannel nightgown). But, sometimes, when you're doing your more obligatory gift shopping (for your mail person, for instance, or your intern or next-door neighbor—those other people who are historically difficult to shop for) it would be inappropriate to give somebody a check, and a gift certificate seems either too impersonal or too transparent (enabling the recipient to know exactly how much you think your relationship is worth), so you're stuck having to buy... something. But how do you figure out the right gift in these situations? When you're buying somebody a token rather than making a sweeping gesture, what should you do?

Foodies aren't always easy to shop for. I know this because I am one. Usually, they'd rather buy their own food-related stuff, or else they take the joy of shopping completely away from you because they have very exact lists of what their kitchens are missing. Going off-list could mean getting a pan they don't like or a knife they already have or a cookbook they absolutely do not want, nor will they use. So instead of running the risk of getting the wrong food-related gift, why not buy the foodie in your life a gift s/he wouldn't've even thought of? It's food-related but doesn't go in your kitchen and will show the giftee how fully you, too, embrace the epicurean way of life: a City Food Tour. Through December 15, City Food Tour gift certificates are 15% off for all three regularly scheduled tours: gourmet food tasting, beer tasting, and evening wine tasting. Whether your Philly Phoodie loves fine wine or good beer, decadent chocolate or rich cheese, it's a gift destined to please. And it's not even on the list!

-Dreading the Dad

Clearly, we had the wrong babysitters.

Hey, it's time for turkey, not beef!

The recent election made us wonder what we could do for our country, and PW's Holiday Guide has some suggestions on what you can do for your city, in the form of nine charities to consider helping out this holiday season, including the Philadelphia Student Union.

Looking back on a week's worth of local Craigslist hijinks...

South Philadelphia is a unique collection of narrow streets, old-world traditions and curse words. Hidden amongst the proud blue-collar glaze of cheese-whiz and Catholicism lies a number of fascinating mysteries, mysteries that have never penetrated the protective border of Washington Avenue.

Today is the last day of gophila.com's Holidays promotion. Until midnight tonight you can book a hotel room through their site, and if it’s over $150 (which, who are we kidding, it will be) you’ll get $50 off. You just have to enter the code “HOLIDAYS” when you’re checking out.

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you.

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Last week, I was invited, through Phillyist, to an RSVP-only event. The invitation indicated that there would be a 7PM reception prior to the 8PM event.

The Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia's December On Stage listings make note of four productions of A Christmas Carol (one of which, admittedly, I loved), plus productions of A Christmas Story, Christmas City Follies, Comet, the Fifth Reindeer, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, The Holiday Goose - A Musical, Holiday Show at the Swing Club, The Nutcracker, O'Henry Christmas, The Santaland Diaries, Tiny Tim's Christmas, and Winter Musicale 2007. In short, the season is saturated...

Good morning, readers, from a Phillyist on a plane, killing time on the way to Louisville via Chicago. Yeah, I know that's really out of the way. But then, so is Louisville. Air travel is generally hated by most people. Strangely, though, today's experience has been almost pleasant. Here's why: (1) Tuesday afternoons in December are apparently an awesome time to fly. Business travelers are out of town, going about their midweek business, and...

It has been brought to my attention recently that I have neglected to bring the hate over the last couple months. Something about the holidays and watching the Eagles spiral downward every week has just made me feel so warm and fuzzy! But lately some people have really been annoying me. So with respect to my “hate partner,” Pencopal—Miss Penco, if you’re nas-tee!—I am going to fly solo with some pure, unadultered hateration. If you happen to be insulted by any of these entries… then I have done my job!

The holidays kind of snuck up on us this year. Perhaps because Thanksgiving was so early. After Turkey Day was over, it was still too early to get into the Christmannakkanzaa spirit. (This Phillyist adheres to a strict "No Christmas music before December 1" rule.) And then we got caught up with other things, and we didn't really notice that, yep, we're in holiday season. It took Thursday night's WXPN Musicians On Call benefit concert...

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Paranormal State (Mon, 10PM-11PM, A&E) - The debut of a new reality show featuring members of Penn State University's Paranormal Research Society investigating reports of paranormal phenomena. During this hour, they seem to be playing two episodes, one about a boy who can supposedly see dead people, and another about a supposedly haunted house where murders were committed. Independent Lens (Tue, 10PM-11:30PM, WHYY) - It's another Penn...

This weekend, at Standard Tap (2nd and Poplar), start your Christmas shopping with one-of-a-kind gifts created by local artists. PositiveSapce hosts its annual holiday craft sale, showcasing the goods of almost 20 local artists. Forget about buying yet another DVD boxed set and choose from beautiful glass, jewelry, paintings, prints, crafts, and original artwork. Holidays are for multitasking. Get your brunch downstairs, and eye up PositiveSpace's wares upstairs. More information is available here. Standard Craft...

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! Phillyist likes a good excuse to shop, and the holidays provide that in spades. This year we wanted to stay closer to home with our gift choices, and give things that were more...

You know how we love the Reading Terminal Holiday Railroad. It's the holiday model train display that's set up annually just up the escalator from the Gallery, and when we see it going up, we know Christmas and the holidays are really on their way. You can see photos from the last two years' displays, and read us gushing about them, here and here. This year they've brought back more of the interactive elements...

Okay, so your significant other has met the parents, and things weren't a disaster. In fact, everyone got along swimmingly. When the holidays were approaching, your parents even encouraged you to bring your significant other along. One problem: your parents are normal. The members of your extended family, who will be in attendance at Thanksgiving/Chanukah/Christmas dinner... are not. If left unprepared, your significant other might freak out and, tragedy of tragedies, leave you out...

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and veggies in South Central. On the entertainment front, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are suing Showtime over the show titled Californication and Rami Kashou of Project Runway chatted with LAist about his Palestinian heritage and, of course, designing beauty.

This week's quote comes from the movie A Christmas Story, and is likely repeated in the play, opening next week at The Players Club of Swarthmore. It's what pretty much everybody tells Ralphie whenever he mentions that he wants a BB gun for Christmas. Now, on with the listings! A Christmas Carol - Marley was dead, to begin with. November 30-December 30. Tickets online. A Christmas Story - Now, about that BB gun... November 23-December...