Downtown Augusta Christmas extravaganza!

These are all the events going on downtown today. I was going to just link to the Downtown Augusta Alliance, but they didn't have a description! I got this information from the Support Downtown Augusta Facebook group.

EVENTS:

Most Downtown Businesses Open Late for a Special day of Christmas Shopping - Find Unique Gifts for everyone on your Christmas List and while you are here fill out a wish list for yourself.

Holiday Market on the River 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
8th & Reynolds

Miss Augusta Christmas Parade at 2:00 pm

At 3:30 pm, join us at the Augusta Commons for the Second Annual Christmas Light-Up Spectacular. Enjoy the ice skating rink, Santa, Polar Express, children’s activities and great entertainment by local choral groups. At 6:15 pm, Mayor Deke Copenhaver will officially turn-on the lights followed by a fireworks extravaganza.

JINGLE BELL JAM:
3:30PM: Restoration Praise Band
4:15PM: The Dickens Carolers
5:00PM: Cutno School of Dance
6:15PM: Community Sing
6:20PM: Mayor Deke throws the switch to light up downtown.

OTHER EVENTS AT THE COMMONS:
1. Salvation Army Bell Ringers
2. Food Drive: please bring a canned food item to support the Golden Harvest Food Bank to feed those in need this Christmas
3. Coat Drive: please bring a winter coat to support the Salvation Army's coat drive. We want everyone to have a warm holiday season
4. Santa Claus: be sure to stand in line and tell Santa himself if you have been good or bad
5. Cookie Decorating: The Junior League of Augusta is calling all artists to decorate your own sugar cookie. take it home or eat it on the spot. Their famous cookbooks will be for sale and make great stocking stuffers.
6. Ornament Making: our christmas elves will be helping children make ornaments that look like Rudolph and his friends to take home and hang on their Christmas tree
7. Enjoy Hot Chocolate & Hot Cidar with St. Pauls Episcopal Church Youth Group. All proceeds will be donated to worthy causes.
8. Face Painting: special elves will be on hand to paint your face with your favorite holiday theme
9. Smores: Join the Exchange Club of Augusta and roast marshmellows over an open fire to make everyones favorite cookie with graham crackers and Hershey Bars
10. Dixie Pig: barbeque for sale
11. North Pole Post Office: kids heres your chance to send your Christmas Wish List before the holiday rush! Write your Christmas wish list and maild it directly from the North Pole Post. Official clocks will be updated during the day to see when Santa will leave for Augusta.
12. Elf School: your children will love solving word puzzles and other holiday games and earn an official diploma from Elf School signed by Santa himself
13. Hot drink & Snacks

Great Christmas movies

All the Christmas stuff going on lately has got me thinking about my favorite Christmas movies. Here's a list of the ones that get me into the spirit:

Home Alone - The original, of course. Quintessential Christmas.

An Affair to Remember

Die Hard - Yes, Die Hard.

Elf

The Nightmare before Christmas

The Santa Clause

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

While You Were Sleeping

The Star Wars Holiday Special - Okay, this one's a joke.

What are your favorite holiday films? Here's a pretty good list if you need to jog your memory.

Infused with Christmas spirit

The Christmas spirit is on overload here at work. There's a door decorating contest going on and all the different departments are going crazy to try and win. Today's the deadline, and all of a sudden more and more doors are being covered in wrapping or crepe paper and decorated to the hilt.

I went all out with my office, hanging tinsel and lights, setting out decorative boxes and bows, and bringing in the two little Christmas trees I bought last year. Now that I don't have a huge desk at home I really don't have a place to put them, so they're sitting on the printer table here in my office. I hung stockings from the doorknobs, and as a final touch, I hung candy canes from pretty much every handle in the room.

To complete the look, I turned off one set of lights to let the Christmas lights set the mood, and I've been playing Christmas mp3s all week.

My boss has jumped on the bandwagon, and now she has a boom box blasting Christmas songs down the hall.

I don't remember it being this spirited last year, but I'm glad for it. It's a lot of fun! I took some time this morning to run around the station with my camera getting pictures of different places in various states of decoration. I'll add pictures to this post once they're uploaded.

Christmas decorations

So I spent the day watching DVDs and putting up Christmas decorations. Here's the Christmas village Grandma Flo gave me yesterday--I love all the trees!

Click here to see the rest of the decorations. These photos aren't so great with lighting, but you can get an idea of how things look. I'm especially happy with the dining room table (although it looks a bit like a card table, being surrounded by folding chairs) and the ornaments hanging off the chandelier.

I haven't decided where to put my two little Christmas trees yet. I also have two strings of Christmas lights that I guess Mom left here, because I have no idea where they came from. Not sure what to do with those either, but I'll keep you posted.