Where to eat on Christmas Day?

Still recovering from the Thanksgiving cooking marathon? Relax. Let one of these restaurants do the cooking and cleaning for your Christmas Day meal. Reservations are essential, and the sooner the better. Tables are sure to fill up fast.

Bel Gusto
2800 Campus Walk Ave., in the Millennium Durham Hotel, Durham.
382-5024
Buffet, noon to 2 p.m.

Carolina Crossroads
211 Pittsboro St., in The Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill
918-2777
http://www.carolinainn.com/
Buffet, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Crabtree Grill
4500 Marriott Drive, in the Marriott Raleigh Crabtree Valley, Raleigh
781-7000
Buffet, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Fairview
3001 Cameron Blvd., in The Washington Duke Inn, Durham
493-6699
http://www.washingtondukeinn.com/
Buffet, seatings at noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Fearrington House
2000 Fearrington Village Center, Pittsboro
542-2121
http://www.fearringtonhouse.com/
Prix fixe, noon to 3 p.m.

Flights
4100 Main at North Hills St., in the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel, Raleigh
278-1478
http://www.flightsnorthhills.com/
À la carte, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The Grove Café
421 S. Salisbury St., in the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, Raleigh
834-9900
www.sheraton.com/raleigh
À la carte, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Herons
100 Woodland Pond, in The Umstead Hotel and Spa, Cary
447-4200
http://www.theumstead.com/
Prix fixe, seatings start at 5 p.m.

Il Palio
1505 East Franklin St., in the Siena Hotel, Chapel Hill
918-2545
http://www.sienahotel.com/
Prix fixe, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Irregardless Café
901 W. Morgan St., Raleigh
833-8898
http://www.irregardless.com/
À la carte, noon to 8 p.m.

Phi
151 Tatum Drive, in the Hotel Indigo, Durham
474-3000
À la carte, seatings start at 5 p.m.

Piney Point Grill
2515 Meridian Parkway, in the DoubleTree Suites hotel, Durham
361-4660
À la carte, seatings start at 5 p.m.

Posta Tuscan Grille
500 Fayetteville St., in the Marriott City Center, Raleigh
227-3370
http://www.postatuscangrille.com/
Buffet, 7 a.m-2 p.m. and 5-10 p.m.

Shula's 347
1 Europa Drive, in the Sheraton Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill
969-2157
http://www.donshula.com/
À la carte, 5 to 10 p.m. (note: serving the regular menu only)

Windows
311 W. Franklin St., in the Franklin Hotel, Chapel Hill
442-9000
http://www.franklinhotelnc.com/
À la carte, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. (note: serving breakfast only).

New Years at Sparians Bowling

**New Years Eve 2012**

Saturday, December 31, 2011 at 7:00 PM -

Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 2:00 AM (ET)

Event Details


General Admission includes:
- Dinner Buffet menu coming soon

- 2 Drink Tickets

- Champagne Toast at Midnight
- Live Music from The Brickhouse in our lounge and DJ Ryan from SPIN in our Private Suites.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bowling Reservations are available!

- $50 per hour, 2 hour minimum
- 8 people per lane

Make your reservation today
For VIP Lanes, please contact our Sales Department (919) 803-3718 Ext: 5003
Please keep in mind that you must purchase a general admission ticket to make a bowling reservations.
This event is 21 and up.

For more info....

Recycle Your Holiday Decorations

Before the season winds down, develop a plan to reuse as much of the holiday cheer that has made it into your apartment as possible. Whether seasonal items need to be carefully disposed of or stored for re-use next holiday season, we’ve got recycling tips for your decorations to help you start your new year in the green!

Disposing of a tree

Most cities and counties have services that will help you properly dispose of a live tree. Check your local government’s Web site, or with scouting or non-profit organizations. Often, municipal yard waste pick-up is expanded to include trees for a specific period of time. If you can’t get curbside service, look for a post-holiday chipping service, perhaps at a nearby home improvement store.

Holiday lights

Candles are a big part of holiday atmosphere. If yours still have plenty of life left in them, store them in tissue-paper-lined boxes. Place large candles inside discarded hose or stockings first. For scented candles that have burned their last, break them up into small pieces and place the shards in a tea diffuser for an instant sachet!

To keep strings of lights from getting tangled en route to next year’s festivities, wrap them around the outside of a metal coffee can. If the lights are no longer usable, label them as such and hold onto them for a light swap next year. Home Depot, for instance, may accept your broken strings of lights toward the purchase of energy-efficient LED lights.

Paper, ribbons and bags

 Bows and other decorative items for presents can easily be recycled for next year. Adhesive bows will need tape to stick next year, but will look just as pretty, if you store them carefully. Collect them inside a gift bag or plastic grocery bag for storage.

Gift bags usually fare well through multiple gift-giving. Keep yours in good shape till next year by folding them flat and storing small bags inside larger ones. Wrapping paper is often shredded during a gift-giving frenzy, but if you have a large sheet that made it through the ripping unscathed, you can roll it around an empty paper towel spool and fasten with a paper clip on the end to save it for use next year.


Storing decorations

If you use an artificial wreath, take time to stow it away, dust-free. Wreath bags are handy and often go on sale around the holidays. For a quick and free version, use a dry-cleaning bag, making sure to tie the plastic under the bag to seal the wreath inside. Now you can hang it safely in a closet until next holiday season.

Ornament boxes are a convenient way to store delicate tree decorations. You can also make you own: start saving paper coffee cups with their tops, rinsing and fully drying them. Once the season is over, place a breakable bulb or other delicate ornament inside a cup and secure with the top. If you’ve saved a cardboard cup carrier or two, place your ornament cups inside them, and store everything inside a plastic bin. For very small decorations, an egg carton is great for storage.

This year, plan how you will pack away the holidays before the fun is all over. With a little preparation, you’ll be able to reuse much of the season’s bright accents for many holidays to come.

More things to do on New Years Eve........

By In the hustle and bustle of the holidays, don’t forget to make plans for New Year’s Eve. Give yourself an extra-special gift this year, with a local night out!

Tap your toes to the award-winning bluegrass sounds of Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road, along with Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, as the bands perform in concert on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 8 p.m., at the Garner Performing Arts Center.

Jordan, of Garner, has been performing bluegrass music for more than 20 years and formed the popular Carolina Road band in 1998. Known for her lead vocals and hard-driving mandolin chop, she’s a 2011 nominee for the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America’s Entertainer of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year awards.

Carolina Road is a 2011 nominee for the SPGBMA’s Vocal Group of the Year, Instrumental Group of the Year and Gospel Group of the Year awards. The band released its latest album, Back to My Roots, in October, and performs across the U.S., Canada and Europe.

IIIrd Tyme Out formed in 1991 and is led by Moore, three-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year award.

The band earned IBMA’s Vocal Group of the Year award for seven consecutive years, and is known for its rich vocal blends and numerous appearances on the Grand Ole Opry stage.

Tickets for this New Year’s Eve show include hors d’oeuvres; a cash bar will be available. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door, and are available by calling the Garner Performing Arts Center at (919) 661-4602 or at http://www.garnerperformingartscenter.com/ .

Looking for a different kind of party on New Year’s Eve?

Party for a cause at Sparkle with a Passion, at the Grand Marquise Ballroom

in Garner beginning at 9 p.m.

The event benefits the nonprofit Caring Community Foundation, which provides financial assistance to cancer patients in and around the Triangle for basic needs such as rent, utilities and treatment.

The party features live entertainment, a taste of the town dinner, open beer and wine bar, champagne toast and party favors.

Tickets are $75, and are available at www.caringcommunityfoundation.org, or in person at Anfesa’s Jewelers inside the Grand Marquise Ballroom, located at 205 New Fidelity Court in Garner, or at the Garner Chamber of Commerce.

Read more: http://www.carymagazine.com/triangle-east-magazine/dont-forget-new-years-eve#ixzz1h1RMiGMN

Dreidel Dreidel

By Emily Uhland

Celebrate the first night of Hanukkah at the inaugural Jewish Cultural Festival at the Cary Arts Center. The Chabad of Cary, The Jewish Federation of Raleigh-Cary and Beth Shalom are teaming up with the Town of Cary to host an evening filled with entertainment, crafts and traditional Jewish foods.

From 4 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 20, families can enjoy activities such as candle dipping, clay dreidel making, olive oil pressing and the lighting of a nine-foot Menorah.

Multiple performances of singing, dancing and a children’s skit are scheduled throughout the festival. A performance by Jewish contemporary musician Dan Nichols will conclude the evening.

Donations of canned goods are being accepted through Dec. 19 for a “can-struction” of a menorah. After the festival, the canned food items will be distributed to those in need by the Inter-Fait Food Shuttle.

The “can-struction” will be displayed at the festival alongside other artistic menorahs and dreidels on loan from Cary residents. The festival is free and open to the public.

Read more: http://www.carymagazine.com/social-scene/dreidel-dreidel#ixzz1h1OkxHzN

Raleigh Winterfest

Raleigh Winterfest opens this weekend


By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

Raleigh Winterfest returns this weekend with a 42-foot-tall Christmas tree, an ice skating rink, sledding and more.

The grand opening celebration on Saturday will feature all kinds of live music, activities for kids and a visit from Santa. You'll find it on City Plaza, which sits at the southern end of the 400 block of Fayetteville Street next to the Bank of America building and on top of the Charter Square parking deck.

Saturday's event runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Skating continues until 11 p.m. Activities include a Santa's Village from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Parents will be able to take their own pictures of their kids with Santa for free. From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., you'll also find sledding ramps and carousel, trackless train and carriage rides.

Most of the activities are free. There is a $1 fee for the carousel, train and carriage rides. Admission to the ice rink is $8 per person, including the cost for skates. You can bring your own skates as well, but you'll still have to pay the $8 admission.

The ice rink this year will be open through Jan. 29. Hours vary depending on the day. And I'm excited that the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, which works to put this all together, is planning some special events again this year. I think parents will be particularly interested in the Sledding Sundays, Two for Tuesdays deal and the stroller skating.

Special activities include:

Sledding Sunday: SnowMyYard.com will create a winter wonderland on Dec. 18, Jan. 8 and Jan. 15.

Two for Tuesdays: Skaters will receive one free admission to the rink with the purchase of one paid admission (includes skate rental). This will come in handy during winter break when kids are out of school.

Music Craze Wednesdays: Enjoy live music at the rink from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Stroller Skate Thursday Mornings: Parents and babies share outdoor fun. Skate and push a strollers on the ice from 10 a.m to 11 a.m. I did this last year with my baby, made a fool of myself and posted a video of it for all to see. Click here to check it out. It's a lot of fun! I might try it again, though I fear my two-year-old would be more interested in trying to get out of the stroller to get onto the ice.

Date & Skate Thursdays: Free carriage rides with skating wristband from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Rock Around the Rink Fridays (select dates to be announced): DJ Paradime from Pulse 102 will rock the rink from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Lights on the Neuse

Welcome to Lights on the Neuse - Christmas Lights Park

Lights on the Neuse in Clayton, North Carolina Opens - celebrate Christmas the old-fashioned way.

Purchase Tickets online NOW:
FOR MORE DETAILS AND TO CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE-CLICK HERE
Where Every Day Is Christmas Eve And The Snow Falls Every Night.

NO RESERVATIONS NECESSARY.

Park your car and enjoy an old fashioned hayride with your family through a magical Christmas Lights Extravaganza.

Bring your friends and family and celebrate the magic of the Christmas season at Lights on the Neuse. Events include:

• Christmas Hayride, a one-mile long, 30-minute old-time tractor-pulled hayride through a beautiful Lights Extravaganza, filled with Christmas music and holiday magic. Bring blankets in which to bundle up.
• The Christmas Barn, an enchanting 3D Christmas house.
• Santa's Sweet Shoppe - offering old-fashioned Christmas candy, hot chocolate, coffee, kettle corn and wonderful Smores kits that you purchase and cook yourself at the picnic area.
• Visit Santa - Don't miss the Jolly Old Elf himself - get your picture made with Santa! (Note- Santa will not be at the Lights on the Neuse on Christmas Eve, December 24 - he is needed at the North Pole)
• Events at Lights on the Neuse
• Contact Lights on the Neuse
• The Christmas Barn - an Enchanting 3D Christmas Journey

• Enjoy home cooked Smores!

In case of inclement or bad weather please call us to make sure we are open.

Lights on the Neuse is an old-fashioned Christmas light park celebrating the Christmas season. Located just minutes from Raleigh, Cary, Fuquay, Holly Springs, Garner, and Clayton North Carolina, Lights on the Neuse offers an old-fashioned hayride through a family Christmas park lights extravaganza.

This family-oriented Christmas lights park offers Christmas attractions appropriate for all ages - both children and adults. Celebrate the magic of Christmas captured each holiday season at Lights on the Neuse, the Triangle's holiday light festival.

With new light displays added each year, you don't want to miss the opportunity to share the magic of Christmas with your family. Grab the kids, jump in the car and come join us. Park the car and load up on the hay wagon as we travel back to a much simpler time of love, joy and thanksgiving.

Join us as we celebrate the meaning of the Christmas season at Lights on the Neuse! We are convenient to Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Cary, Apex, Fuquay Varina, Holly Springs, Zebulon, Smithfield, Benson, Dunn, Coats, Angier and Selma - Lights on the Neuse is the only Christmas Lights Extravaganza in the area.

The Lights on the Neuse magic begins the day after Thanksgiving (November 25) and continues through Saturday, December 24th.



First Night Raleigh

Line-Up Announced for Twenty-First Annual First Night Raleigh Celebration

Raleigh, NC – Michael Lowder, Artsplosure’s executive director, today announced the programmatic lineup for the organization’s annual First Night Raleigh celebration. First Night Raleigh 2012 will feature comedy, dance, spoken word, interactive art installations, and live music from a variety of performers including rock, blues, jazz, gospel, opera, singer-songwriters and more. The 21st annual New Year’s Eve arts festival will take place on Saturday, December 31, 2011, in a 20-block area of downtown Raleigh.

This year’s First Night Raleigh festival takes on a French-inspired theme. Many of the celebration’s dozens of performances and activities have been designed to reflect French influences, including the planned installation of a giant 90-foot Ferris wheel, dubbed “La Grande Roue de Raleigh,” in the 100 and 200 Blocks of Fayetteville Street. Since the early twentieth century, a Ferris wheel has been installed in Paris’s Tuileries Garden leading up to the New Year. Perennial First Night Raleigh favorites like the African American Dance Ensemble, Transactors Improv Company, Comedy Worx and the Lenny Marcus Trio plan to adapt their First Night performances to reflect this year’s French theme.

First Night Raleigh 2012 begins at 2:00 PM on December 31 with the Children’s Celebration at the North Carolina Museums of History and Natural Sciences and on the Bicentennial Plaza. Children are invited to participate in hands-on craft activities including creating impressionist paintings, making miniature sailboats, and decorating their own versions of the Eiffel Tower. “The Owl Tree,” an interactive sculptural installation by Massachusetts-based artist Pam Golden, invites revelers to make a wish for the coming year. Cirque performances, storytellers, musicians, giant puppets and various other artists will be featured throughout the afternoon. A mini French film festival will take place all day inside the NC Museum of Natural Sciences auditorium.

The People’s Procession down Salisbury Street and an Early Countdown at 7:00, preceded by a performance by Onyx Club Boys, will kick off the evening entertainment. Performances and activities will take place in over two-dozen venues throughout downtown Raleigh. Venues will span from the Edenton Street United Methodist Church (with performances by North Carolina Opera and organist Josh Dumbleton) to Marbles Kids Museum (featuring Broadway veteran Lisa Jolley’s one-woman cabaret show) and the Long View Center (with three performances by blues artist Cedric Burnside) and from the NC Museum of History (featuring Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Brown) to the Progress Energy Center’s Fletcher Theatre (with three shows by the Transactors Improv Company). A French-inspired festival would not be complete without accordion music, and accordionists may be found in multiple indoor and outdoor venues throughout the festival footprint. Headlining the Main Stage on City Plaza will be New York-based fusion-funk band The Pimps of Joytime. First Night Raleigh concludes with the Countdown to Midnight, the descent of the Raleigh Acorn, and fireworks.

A complete list of performers can be found on the First Night Raleigh Facebook page (facebook.com/firstnightraleigh), and full festival details will be available via the festival’s website (firstnightraleigh.com) in mid-November. Admission passes (buttons worn by festival attendees) will go on sale beginning December 1 for $9 in advance and will provide full access to all First Night Raleigh venues and activities. For more information, visit http://www.firstnightraleigh.com/

First Night Raleigh Admission Passes On Sale

First Night Raleigh 2012 "All Day Passes" are now on sale! Click "Buy A Pass" on the top right of any page for more information about how to get your passes to join your friends at First Night Raleigh!

The admission pass (aka "button") is the ticket into EVERY venue and EVERY performance all day and all night at First Night Raleigh. All patrons ages 6 and over require a pass. Children 5 and under are admitted for free and do not need a pass.

All Day Passes are available for $9.00 in advance from Triangle area Harris Teeter stores, Rite Aid Pharmacy locations and from the following local retailers:

Auntie Anne's Pretzels at Crabtree Valley Mall


Beleza... A Fair Trade Boutique


Marbles Kids Museum


North Carolina Museum of Art 



North Carolina Museum of History Shop



Quail Ridge Books & Music


Raleigh City Museum


Sosta Café


The Museum Store at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences


Wilmoore Café

You can also purchase an All Day Pass voucher online from Etix.com, and exchange your voucher for a button on site on December 31!

At the festival, passes will be available at 6 on site Information and Merchandise tents located throughout the festival. On December 31, admission passes will cost $12 for adults and $10 for children 6 to 12.

Looking for a good cause to Support?

Bowl-A-Rama

By Nancy Pardue

Art meets community service this Saturday (12/10/11), as the seventh annual Empty Bowl Project takes place at Vandora Springs Elementary School in Garner.

Handcrafted ceramic bowls created by fourth-grade Art Club students at the school will be bartered off on Saturday in exchange for local food pantry donations.

Art teacher Jim Hunt leads the student effort; he’s been involved in the international Empty Bowls Project for 20-plus years, and says schools all over the world take part.

“The projects may differ from school to school, but the goal of all of them is to gather food,” he said.

This year’s handmade ceramic bowls — numbering more than 80 — are painted in metallic and iridescent hues, with some boasting a mother-of-pearl sheen.

The “exchange rate” is one bowl per 20 non-perishable food items, which will be delivered to nearby Garner Area Ministries’ food pantry, serving local families in need.

The project is important to both the students and the Garner community, Hunt says.

“It gives the students a chance to use their talents to reach out to help people. And all the food donations go right back into our community, to the shelves of Garner Area Ministries,” he said.

New this year, all bowls will be showcased in the Vandora Springs Elementary cafeteria for the convenience of guests, who can choose a bowl and drop off their food donations in one stop.

Students will sort and box the food donations, which Hunt notes can go beyond canned goods to include pasta, cereal and more.
Bowl-a-Rama will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or until all the bowls are gone.

The school is located at 1300 Vandora Springs Road in Garner. For more information, call the school at (919) 662-2486.

Read more: http://www.carymagazine.com/triangle-east-magazine/bowl-a-rama#ixzz1g2u1xNy1

What to do on New Years Eve in Raleigh

Every year we wonder where we will get our kiss to start the New Year! Check out a couple of links below to get some ideas about where to go in the Raleigh area.

Sparians Bowling Boutique
Live music, bowling, champagne & food....a great combo for a great night!

New Years Eve Extravaganza

New Years Eve Party Planner
Take a look at what is happening at local businesses & venues on New Years Eve.

It's Snowing in Garner

It's Snowing in Garner
By Nancy Pardue

The holidays officially kick off in Garner this weekend, with a little snowy something for everyone!

The fun begins with real snow on Friday night, at the

Light Up Main tree lighting celebration.

Set for 6 to 8 p.m. on Main Street in Downtown Garner, this family-friendly event features paint-your-own ornaments, local entertainment and food, and visits with Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.

New this year: The tree lighting will be held at the start of the event, so don't miss it!

On Saturday, the Garner Christmas Parade steps off at 10 a.m. from Main Street complete with floats, marching bands and more.

After the parade, head to Polar Ice House at the end of Main Street for free skating admission and skate rental from 1 to 3 p.m. (Pick up your ticket at the Friday night tree lighting or during the parade.)

Get all the details on the tree lighting and the parade, plus parking notes, at http://www.downtowngarner.com/.

Then, on Sunday, tap your toes to the tunes of the Raleigh Concert Band, taking the stage at 2 p.m. at the Garner Performing Arts Center for an afternoon full of holiday music and favorite Christmas carols.

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door or by calling (919) 846-1944. For more information, visit www.garnerperformingartscenter.com.

Read more: http://www.carymagazine.com/triangle-east-magazine/its-snowing-in-garner#ixzz1fJgRaUFg

Holiday Express

Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department and Crabtree Rotary present

Holiday Express!

Celebrate the season as Pullen Park is transformed into a Holiday Wonderland. Enjoy holiday lights and displays, a lighted train ride, local entertainment, carousel ride, crafts, visit with Santa and more!

Tickets are now available for purchase through Reclink


When
December 8-11, 2011 4-9pm

Where
Pullen Park - Amusements
520 Ashe Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27606

Contact Information: (919) 996-6468

Cost
Advanced tickets may be purchased on Reclink through December 6th for $7/person. Day of event tickets may be purchased at Pullen Park for $10/person. Children under 2 years are free with a paying adult.