What You're Doing This Week: December 24
As 2012 comes to a close, wrap the year up with a host of hot holiday events and outings. Choose from an elegant Christmas Eve dinner or a sinfully good chocolate festival. You can opt for a Grinchmas day out or a night with The Addams Family. There's also shopping at the new Design Within Reach. Finally, catch a Lakers game in your own holiday suite or head over to pre-party NYE style at Club NOKIA. Take your pick of these seven choice happenings to add to your 2012 calendar.
December 24, 2012
Antonello Ristorante
3800 South Plaza Drive
Costa Mesa, CA
(714) 751-7153
www.antonello.com
Celebrate Christmas Eve at Antonello Ristorante, the essence of Old World authenticity with new Italian flair. The acclaimed restaurant is preparing a 4-course culinary experience for guests. Choose one item from each category. Start with Antipasto choices of Carpaccio di Polipo or Cinghiale Pepato. Move on to Primi: Ravioli d'Aragosta or Risotto. Secondi courses include: Filetto di Manzo al Gorgonzola or Chilean Seabass. And you can end the evening with a Dolce delight of Torta della Nonna or Cioccolata e Zabaglione. The menu will be served Dec. 24 to 31, excluding Christmas. The four-course meal is $69.95 per person.
December 25, 2012
Grinchmas
Universal Studios Hollywood
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608
1-800-UNIVERSAL
www.universalstudioshollywood.com
It's a fun, festive way to ring in Dec. 25: Universal Studios Hollywood's Grinchmas. Through Dec. 31, the event is full of holiday cheer and you can celebrate with your little ones, friends and family and play in a winter playground of real snow. You can also sing along with the Whos as Whoville comes to life on the Backlot. After that, gather around as the day culminates around the spectacular tree with celebrity readings.
December 26, 2012
The Addams Family Musical
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
600 Town Center Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 556-2787
www.scfta.org
The Addams Family smash hit musical comedy is on stage at Segerstrom Center for the Arts on at 7:30 p.m., as well as for seven more shows Thursday through Sunday. You'll smile fondly as you see Morticia cut the petals and keep the stems. Gomez charms, goofs and cracks himself up as only Gomez can. Lurch is quite hilarious as he fast-walks in and out of scenes. And the lovely Wednesday and her new love are endearingly, sweet — in a dark, lovable way. The humor of the 60's TV show definitely entertains in 2012. The gags are many, and the audience snaps their fingers and claps in approval. The musical comedy is created by Jersey Boys authors Marshall Brickman and Mark Elice, Drama Desk-winning composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party), choreographer Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys) and Olivier Award-winning directors/designers Phelim McDermott and Julien Crouch (Shockheaded Peter) with creative consultation by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks. Show running time is approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes. More on the tour at TheAddamsFamilyMusicalTour.com.
December 27, 2012
Design Within Reach
South Coast Collection
3303 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714.427.0628
dwr.com
As the holiday decorations come down, get current for 2013. Visit SoCo's new Design Within Reach that just opened its largest showroom in the nation — 22,000 square feet of gorgeous modern furnishings. The new Costa Mesa studio is centered around a design hub with a Light Cloud lighting installation and 30-foot-long walls of upholstered tiles showcasing a variety of choices for their collections. You can explore eight "houses" of stylistically related rooms for Living, Dining, Bedroom and Workspace, which will provide inspiration for many ways to "do" modern.
December 28, 2012
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Staples Center
1111 S. Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 742-7100
staplescenter.com
Game on at 7:30 p.m. You can even celebrate the holidays with your own private event suite to watch the game in style. The Holiday Party Package includes Levy Restaurants holiday menu and Team LA gift bags for your guests. A 20-person suite is $4,000. For more info on the suites, call (877) 234-8425.
December 29, 2012
Indulge-L.A. Chocolate Festival and Pastry Show
Olympic Collection
11301 Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064
Corner of Sawtelle and Olympic
(213) 915-8003
indulgela.net
Chocoholics, this one's for you. The Chocolate Festival and Pastry Show features the best chocolate and pastry chefs in Los Angeles — along with the wines and champagnes from around the globe. Celebrity chefs include Stephane Treand, Lee Smith, Federico Fernandez, Annette Starbuck and more. The event is 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and presale tickets cost $45 per person. Admission includes all the chocolate, pastries, wines, champagnes, foods and spirits served. Indulge your senses, while also raising funds for the St. Jude Children's Hospital.
December 30, 2012
Ludacris and Kelly Rowland
Club NOKIA at L.A. Live
800 West Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 765-7000
It's Kevin Hart's 1st Annual New Year's Eve Block Party 2012 featuring Ludacris and Kelly Rowland on Dec. 30 at Club NOKIA. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m. Advanced ticket prices start at $29.50. Tickets the day of the show start at $50. To buy tickets, visit ticketmaster.com.
Debbie Lavdas is a Southern California writer who covers events and travel for CBS Los Angeles, as well as lifestyle for Laguna Beach Magazine, Bask Magazine and more. Keep up with her at @DebLavdas on Twitter.
