Girls DO Just Wanna Have Fun

During a recent stop at The Christmas House, I ran across these:

Some of the greatest holiday characters of all time (I'm partial to The Bumble and Yukon Cornelius, myself). I've spent twenty-eight out of twenty-eight consecutive Christmases watching them. (Plus listening to my father's yearly rendition of "Silver and Gold.")

Ah, what the heck:

See how the transportational quality of The Christmas House makes it the kind of place you are instantly in a good mood for having visited?

This is a pretty awesome house, by the way. It's a Queen Anne Victorian Mansion, built all the way back in 1894. In 1988, it was recolored as a "Painted Lady" (in sixteen different colors), and it has been featured in this coffee table book:

Of course, what's inside of the house is pretty awesome, too. Run by Julie and Mark Delgrosso, it is filled to the brim with all things yuletide.

Its stylin' trees are inspiring me to be a more creative Christmas tree decorator - my little Charlie Brown tree might be in for a good decking this year.

Even an upside down tree!

Let's put it this way - there's an entire room devoted to holiday villages. I always like to stop and appreciate the detail that goes into these.

Including a Halloween village.

The Christmas House also manages to remedy my age-old battle with myself about which is my favorite holiday: Halloween or Christmas. (It's a pretty tough call. I always want to say Christmas, but then I remember that I can watch horror movie marathons on TV all week before Halloween. And there's no such thing as watching every Michael Myers movie ever created too many times, as far as I'm concerned.)

Don't have to choose between those two holidays here, because you get both.

My favorite part, though (aside from the consolidation of my split holiday personalities), is the ornaments. Folks, you could find an ornament for anybody. Got a brother who loves cheeseburgers?

Bam.

An aunt who loves Elvis?

Hunka Bam.

A cousin who loves to camp?

Watch Out For Bears Bam.

A mom who loves I Love Lucy?

Vitameatavegamin Bam.

A pal who loves to travel?

"London, Baby!" Bam.

My friend who stopped in with me to shop this past weekend? She'd gotten a new corgi, and picked up a corgi ornament. There's just something for everyone, or for any kind of themed tree you might want to do.

"And then, the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of TEN grinches.
Plus two."

Aside from retail therapy, The Christmas House also offers a variety of events for community members and tourists alike. Coming up this weekend is a So Long Summer Bereavement Party featuring lots of lemon-themed offerings and activities to symbolize how sour people are feeling about that.

Other events include (but are, for sure, not limited to) a 100 Days to Christmas Party, Harvest Open House Weekend, Celebrate National Bake & Decorate Month, Mummy's Martini Madness, and a Deck the Halls Weekend. You can also find a Christmas House booth at many local events including the Street Painting Festival, River Fest and Octagon Fair. (For a full schedule, click here.)

In relating my first experience attending one of these events, it's necessary to channel a little slice of 80s classic tuneage:

(A few things that rock about that video? The casting job on the father - professional wrestler Lou Albano, also known as "Captain Lou" - and that mind-blowing display of eighties graphics.)

This song served as the motto for the recent "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Weekend," where there were several activities to take part in out on the covered porch. You could get a massage, or check out some decorative glasses:

Have a wine slushie:

Enjoy some scented candles:

 Have a brownie with giant marshmallows pressed on top of it:

Try some ChocoVine chocolate wine:

Decorate a Christmas cookie! 

One of my better cookie-decoration feats, actually.

Or my personal favorite, get your craft on:

I had loads of help from the lovely ladies at the crafting table on these.

Suffice it to say, the girls who attended did Cyndi Lauper proud.

So whether you're looking to shop or looking for something to do, stop on by The Christmas House. And make sure to tell The Bumble and Yukon I said hello :)

The Christmas House

361 Maple Avenue, Elmira, NY 14904

(607) 734-9547, info@christmas-house.com

www.christmas-house.com, http://www.facebook.com/ChristmasHouse, @ChristmasHouse

Starlite, Stars Bright

So, The Starlite Room recently had some big doings! In the form of a major jazz show that took place last Friday evening.

This was two-for-one as far as new experiences for me. Not only had I never visited The Starlite Room, but I had never been to an actual jazz show. There, I said it.

I did take jazz dance lessons for a year when I was a kid, but that involved me donning a robotic-type silver wig, a truly regrettable metallic unitard, and doing some routine to the classic 90s techno tune "Rhythm is a Dancer."

I can't believe I'm even mentioning this in the company of the quality of music I heard at The Starlite Room show, so I'll stop!

The performance that evening featured Chad Lefkowitz-Brown and Kate Davis:

When I mentioned in passing to a few folks that I was going to see Chad perform, I found out pretty quickly that he's well-known around here. Turns out he's a Horseheads native.

She has a West Coast background in Portland, Oregon, but studies at the Manhattan School of Music.

Between them, they've performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Lincoln Center, The Blue Note. They've won about 1,094,233 (my crack estimation skills hard at work) awards and played with all sorts of jazz icons. They're both undoubtedly rising stars, and now Elmira can say she knew them when.

The music itself was indescribably impressive. Check out some of these samples on her website, and the samples on his, and you'll know what I mean.

On the whole, though, here's what I came away with from this performance:

One, that I should look into incorporating some jazz on my iTunes playlist.

Two, The Starlite Room has a fantastically cool, friendly vibe. There's a ton going on there, from the live music to trivia nights to dance lessons. There's Winey Tuesdays, featuring Finger Lakes wines.

You can order from a full menu or from the huge martini menu, featuring creations such as the "Affair to Remember," "Assassin," "Blue Hawaiian," "Chocolate Covered Cherry," "Lounge Lizard," "Love Shack," "Pink Squirrel" and the "Rhett Butler" or "Scarlett O'Hara."

That's just a fraction of the martini selection. (Personally, they had me at drinks named after "Gone With the Wind" characters.)

And as for three, I think a performance like this speaks to the quality of music and arts available in this area if you just take a second to look.

And I think I'll end on that note.

(Oh yeah, I did just go there. You're welcome, punsters.)

The Starlite Room

3018 Lake Road, Elmira, NY 14903

(607) 733-3333, info@thestarliteroomelmira.com

www.thestarliteroomelmira.com, http://www.facebook.com/pages/the-Starlite-Room/93536164540?sk=app_2309869772