A Christmas Story: Christmas movies downtown

When the snow came to Salem last weekend, my plans, like most people's around here, got all flip flopped around. Whereas I was supposed to be Christmassly meeting up with friends every day, I found myself avoiding driving and spending time in my downtown neighborhood instead. Snow/ice storms - another great reason to live downtown!

My internet sources (gosalem365.com, and probably their corresponding facebook page too) had told me that there would be the perfect Christmassy activity on Sunday - two showings of The Christmas Story at the Grand Theater! I hadn't seen that movie in forever, and mingling with other Salemites to watch it sounded festive, so I started planning to attend. I invited a couple people to come with me but they were either snowed (iced) in, busy, or not interested. That's ok. As previously stated, I don't let attending things solo deter me. It doesn't even deter me when a certain someone tells me I'm being a cat lady. For the record, I own zero cats.

So when 7pm was approaching, I tossed on my comfy hipster reindeer ugly Christmas sweater (which I love so much, btw), and headed through the snowy streets and over to the theater.

When I arrived, it was a little confusing because they have a ticket window outside, but appeared to be selling tickets at the snack register. The other patrons and I figured it out, and it was probably a nicer experience to wait inside than out in the cold. The ticket was $7, if you're curious.

There were not many people in the theater when I arrived. I guess I never really fully evaluated the crowd right before the movie started, but from what I did observe, it was a small group. I was wondering if the ice kept people away, coupled with the fact that there had been a showing at 2pm, which might have been more appealing to people on a Sunday.

Did I mention I was wearing my super cool sweater??

Pretty soon the lights dimmed and the movie started!

An older couple sat in the row next to me. I'm not sure if they had never seen A Christmas Story before, or if they just really like it a lot. They loudly gasped and laughed at all the pertinent parts, which I found to be pretty entertaining :)

I hadn't seen the movie in so long, maybe since I was a kid, that it was like a new experience for me. I think I actually enjoyed it more as adult (and grasped the sarcastic/kitschy parts)! And, I remember the dad seeming pretty scary, but now he didn't seem so scary and I understood that he had lots of levels to his personality. I mean, he's the one who buys Ralph the gun! And takes them out to dinner! He does have a heart! I really enjoyed getting to see it again and it was fun to do it with a small crowd.

I'm going to sound old here (I kinda am) but if I had one complaint about the event, it was the seats. They are not great, especially because they don't provide any back support in the way a chair should support your back. I adjusted my seating posture creatively a bunch of times during the movie. But, despite that it was still an enjoyable experience.

After it was over, I walked home in the brisk air with snow piles around me. It felt so quintessentially Christmassy and made me happy :) :).

That is until I reached my apartment complex and one of the tenants was outside smoking and loudly complaining with a bar security guy about the cold weather (bah humbug....).  Oh well, such is life.

I took my little piece of Christmas home in my heart and wrapped a couple presents under my twinkling lights in my downtown apartment with a cheesy Christmas movie playing on TV.

If you'd like to participate in a downtown Christmas movie experience, I'd suggest going Wednesday Dec 21st (which is tomorrow if you are reading this on Tuesday night). The Elsinore is showing White Christmas at 7pm and the price (according to gosalem365.com) is $6.00.  If I wasn't busy, I'd check it out myself. So go enjoy it on my behalf!!

A Snowy Walk to Capitol Coffee

Do you ever have a moment where you stumble upon something in your own city that you didn't even know existed? That happened to me recently when I drove down Court Street one day and noticed Capitol Coffee on my right in Courthouse Square. I was super surprised to see it there because I didn't even know anything currently existed in that part of the building. Awhile back there had been some businesses down there, but then the whole fiasco with the building being structurally unsound had caused everyone to move out. Now that things are sound again, it looks like the business sector is moving back in.

When I saw it, I made a mental note to pay Capitol Coffee a visit sometime. I like to try out the different coffee options around here and know what's available to me, plus it's always fun to experience a new place.  A few days ago when I walked home from work, I walked a different route than normal and it took me past Capitol Coffee. I stopped to observe their hours so that I could pay them a visit sometime, and I saw that they are only open on weekdays, and even then, only until 4:30. That put a small damper on things since I couldn't make it a weekend outing. I knew I'd have to fit it into my weekday schedule sometime.

This past week snow visited us in downtown Salem. It really only snowed for one day, but the temperature has been so consistently frigid every day that the snow and ice have been sticking around. It's been treacherous, but pretty! On Friday while the snow was still decorating the city, the sun came out with blue skies. I decided it would be the perfect day to take a snowy walk at lunch to go visit Capitol Coffee.

I texted my boyfriend to see if he wanted to walk over and meet me there, and I set out through the snow.  It was a pretty walk!

I dilly dallied a little on my way to check out different animal tracks I saw in the snow around the Capitol!

Pretty sure these were bird tracks.

Squirrel tracks I assume. Have you ever noticed that they don't really walk, they kind of jump/hop?  Their tracks are a testament to that.

Dog?

Human :)

After my exploring was done, I set out down Court Street.

I even saw a lonely little icicle hanging!

It got pretty icy in some patches!

But I arrived without incident!  Woo hoo!  Although my moseying had cause my bf to wonder if I was punking him.  Ooops!

When I walked in I was first struck by their huge menu board! It was almost overwhelming! I was just there for coffee, but I eventually noticed that they served a variety of foods like sandwiches and paninis. They even had a sign saying that if I wanted something that I didn't see listed, I should just ask. Nice!

I ordered my latte (which came with a chocolate) and we took a seat in some comfy swively chairs.

I took in the ambiance. Overall it seemed bright and calm. They had some nice Christmas decorations up and I believe they had Christmas music playing too (though my memory is failing me now). There weren't a ton of people in the cafe, and I wonder if it always has such a calm/peaceful feeling or if it was just a product of the snow day. My guess is that Capitol Coffee caters largely to state/government workers (especially given their hours), and I think lots of those workers probably stayed home from work because of the ice.

I also really appreciated the fact that they have pictures of old timey Salem on their walls! I love that. It was a little odd though since the space they're in doesn't have a ton of character of its own, but I'm glad that they were paying homage to the charm of old Salem.

Now onto my latte. It was only $3.00, which is one of the cheaper lattes around here. Because of that I didn't totally expect a lot, but the latte was good! The coffee seemed to be high quality and the type that I like. My only complaint was that it seemed kind of watery. Perhaps they used nonfat milk?  I'm not sure. I'm an as-full-fat-as-possible type of milk drinker, so that would have affected my experience.  Next time perhaps I should specify 2% milk at least (if not whole milk).

We had a nice time chatting for a little bit as the sunlight streamed in through the windows. Then it was time for me to shuffle off through the ice back to my office.  I checked the weather and it was a balmy 31 degrees as I walked back. It was a nice little escape from the office, a chance to take in the snowy sights, and fun to try out a new place. If you're downtown on a weekday and need a coffee or to grab a bite, check this place out!

Creativity & Cider: a downtown painting experience

***If you're on instagram, start following me!!! You'll find me under urbanlivingsalemor.  I've been instagraming stuff as I do it, some of which I won't blog about. Instagram would be a good way to find out what fun thing is available to do in downtown Salem right now with no wait time!***

A couple days ago I decided to finally partake in the trend that's been sweeping the nation:  the combination of alcohol and painting. I'd seen so many people participate in cleverly named painting parties (like "Paint and Pinot" or "Sip and Paint") and they looked both fun and scary, and worth giving a shot. One of my friends had been mentioning for awhile that he wanted to participate in one too, so when I saw 1859 Cider Co advertise a "Creativity and Cider" night in their taproom right below my apartment, I knew we had to jump on that opportunity.

I put on my most artistic looking beanie and met up with two of my friends on a cold Thursday night at the taproom where festive lights were strung and flamey heaters were blazing outside. The night was supposed to start at 6pm, but when I arrived just on time, it was still being set up. We chatted and grabbed some drinks while we were waiting. As part of the admission price for painting (which was a somewhat spendy $40), we were all given a $10 drink credit. I started sipping a glass of my favorite cider there, the Statehood.

1859 doesn't serve dinner, but my friends decided to order from Urban Alley, which was just down the alley from us. I had no idea that they would deliver to 1859!  Awesome!  I'll have to take advantage of that sometime! When their food showed up, the delivery person even took their credit cards and went back to run them. That's pretty nice!

The night initially felt a little disorganized, but I suppose the artistic types normally operate in a free-flowing way after all. But by about 6:20, we were ready to paint. Our instructor thanked us for our patience for the bit of chaos and not being ready on time and said that she has her act together once a month and last week was it :). It also didn't help that only 4 people had RSVP'd on her website, but 8 people showed up ready to paint so she had to reorganize.

The painting of the night was called "Winter Wonderland." She showed us her sample which looked like a whimsical tree decorated for Christmas. We each grabbed a brush and started following the instructions as she gave them. 

First we started with the background where we did swirls of different colors. She painted along with us the whole night to demonstrate how to go about it. It was great to have her talk us through it and give tips, like try dipping your brush in water and going back over the colors to blend them. I also thought it was great that she told us that her instructions weren't commands; she encouraged us to listen to the voice inside of us and if it told us to do something different than she instructed, then we should go with that. Her instructions were just suggestions. That felt pretty freeing. We swirled away on our backgrounds.

After the background was in place, we each added a tree. She taught us some tips about which brushes to use, how to hold the brush, and how trees tend to fork into different limbs. After our initial trees were done, she invited us to add swirls at the end of the branches if we wanted to. My tree looked pretty serious though. When the instructor had been circulating, she told me that my tree looked like it was very intentional and like it was saying "I'm here, this is me, deal with it." I told her that my tree didn't want swirls. She said good, that I should listen to my tree :)

The next step was to add Christmas ornaments to the tree. The teacher told us that we didn't have to add them if we didn't want to, but I decided to make mine festive. I think she was surprised that I did since it was a serious tree. She cautioned us to be careful what colors we chose for the ornaments to make sure that they would stand out against the background. Good advice! She also invited us to put spirals in the ornaments, but I declined that suggestion.

The last step to the painting was to add the snow. I plopped some fluffy looking snow piles into the crevasses of my tree branches, then added spots of falling snow around the tree, as instructed.

At the end of the night, the 8 of us all ended up with very unique but similar masterpieces. It was a really fun experience, and my type of art because it involved a sample to follow (coming up with an idea can be hard!) and tips all along the way. Having cider to sip on didn't hurt either. It was fun to just give it a try and to see what happened. I wasn't totally jazzed about my outcome and wasn't sure what I'd do with my picture. Lucky for my painting, my mom asked me the next day what my plans were for it and when I answered, 'I don't know...throw it away?" she gasped and said no, she wanted to take it home and hang it in one of their spare bedrooms. I allowed her the pleasure of doing so.

If you'd like to make your mom happy with a new painting, or if you'd like to see where your creativity might take you, I'd recommend checking out Serendipities by Dena. The link there is to her class calendar. Most of her spots aren't in downtown, but on December 20th she will be back at 1859 Cider Co. for a winter solstice class where you could paint the northern lights. Sounds like a great way to celebrate the coming of winter!

Christmas at the Capitol

One of the things that I've enjoyed about Christmas in my adult years is the realization that Christmas brings us (the big community "us") together in so many ways. It's a shared experience that allows people to connect and relate to each other at a level that we don't normally experience. I think that the fact that we tend to celebrate Christmas all month long and the fact that the celebrations or even brief Christmasy encounters tend to have an intimate feeling about them (wrapped in nostalgia and peaceful tidings as they are) make all this possible.

And in the midst of all this connection and feeling at one with humanity are a lot of opportunities for fun! Don't let the Christmas season pass you by without taking time to evaluate what's available to you in your city to enjoy with the community around you. That's what I hope to do myself during this holiday season.

On my walk into work a week or two ago, I saw a flyer posted in the Capitol Mall advertising some Capitol Christmas events, especially the tree lighting ceremony. I had wandered over there one other year, but I'm pretty sure it was after the lighting had happened and that I've never seen the big event. It was scheduled for the perfect time (right after work) and seemed like fun, so I took a picture of the flyer and mentally penciled it into my calendar.

When that Tuesday night rolled around, I walked across the street from my office building and joined the others who were also arriving a few minutes before the 5:00 start time. 

I got a program and noticed that all the chairs were taken, and the steps were filled up as well. Luckily I found an out of the way spot next to a Christmas tree display where I could stand without being in anyone's way and where I'd have a good view of the big tree that would be lit. Note to self:  If I come again, arrive earlier!

By the time the program started, people were jam packed into the rotunda. They were smooshed together in the small spaces left to stand, and a bunch of people, especially those with kids, even grabbed a seat on the tile floor. Thinking back, something about that makes it feel more Christmassy, doesn't it?  Everyone all close together to celebrate the night.  (Ok yes, it was somewhat claustrophobic at the time, but I'm allowed to look back and romanticize it, yes?) And, there were a lot of kids in attendance! My guess is that the draw of Santa, Mrs Claus, and cookies had something to do with that :)

The night started off with South Salem High School's symphonic choir who performed a variety of songs, some of which were traditional Christmas tunes, and some that I had never heard before. The music was pretty and they did a nice job.  However, the children next to me got a little antsy/rambunctious. At the end of their performance, the choir decided to come out in the crowd and sing among us. It was much too crowded for that to work very well, but I think the idea was that they wanted to encourage the audience to sing along. The choir director had passed out some song sheets a bit haphazardly and the audience was invited to join in for two songs. I was surprised to hear so many voices sing out. I'm not sure why I was surprised, it was a Christmassy crowd after all.

Their performance ended with a rendition of Silent Night. It started out in sort of a round so that the melody wasn't exactly clear. But towards the end when they got to the traditional version, the audience began to sing along. And I know this probably sounds cliche, but it's true:  When the whole group of Oregonians squished there in the rotunda together started singing Silent Night, a calm really did come over the crowd. Almost all of the kids almost immediately settled down. It felt peaceful.

After the choir exited, it was time for some words from Oregon's dignitaries. Each person who spoke was first announced by trumpet fare before they descended the steps! I thought that was a nice touch. 

Through the speeches I learned that this was the 35th anniversary of the tree lighting ceremony, that the tree on display is a 30 foot noble fir, and that it came from the Clatsop State Forest. The last speaker was our Governor, Kate Brown, who was accompanied by her husband. I thought it was pretty cool to get to see her.

After she said a few words, Santa and Mrs. Claus got their own trumpet fare, then politicians and fantasy characters worked together to throw a switch (which I can only imagine was fake...unless we have some sort of fancy blue tooth/wireless tree lighting system..) and voila, the tree was lit!

As the crowd thinned out to go make their wishes known to Santa or partake in some cookies and punch, I wandered around the rotunda a little to get a closer look at some of the decorations - the big tree, the train set beneath it, other Christmas trees each decorated with a theme, and a Christmas covered wagon (gotta love Oregon :)).

So here's my recommendation:  The tree lighting ceremony might not be worth it. It was a little long, a little boring, and a little crowded. I might have had a better outlook on it if I had found a seat though. But, here's what I do recommend:  Go to the capitol! Wander around! Check out the decorations!  You'll enjoy taking it all in.  And, as they announced at the ceremony, every Monday-Saturday from now until December 23rd, there are musical performances at the Capital from 10:00am-2:00pm. That might be a nice way to spend part of your lunch hour and get a bit of the community-wide Christmas spirit.

AND - be on the lookout for other fun downtown Salem Christmas activities! A great way to find them is at the Go Salem 365 website. Just a quick perusal of the site shows Christmas movies at the Elsinore every Wednesday night, various Christmassy things at Willamette University, a craft social at Bush Barn, the Children's Nutcracker, and more!  

Merry month of Christmas!