So many things going on this week and my head is spinning. Here is a brief overview to help you plan out your days.
NUMBER ONE MOST IMPORTANT THING HAPPENING: The 23rd WINTER OLYMPICS IS HERE!!! -
Team USA, made up of a record 243 athletes, is so excited to be at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, which begin today in South Korea! PyeongChang is located about 110 miles east of Seoul, the capital. The 1988 Summer Olympics were held in Seoul, South Korea. PyeongChang is an alpine ski resort town and is known for its Buddhist temples about 43,000 people. They had attempted two times before to win the bid for the Olympics, but finally, beat out a number of other cities this time. Make no mistake, PyeongChang is different from Pyongyang, which is North Korea's capital city. Although these are two different countries, (North Korea and South Korea), they will be walking under a unified flag at the Opening Ceremonies.
Although the competitions begin today, the Opening Ceremonies will be held
tomorrow (
Friday, February, 9th) and the Closing Ceremonies will conclude the event on
Sunday, February 25th, so set your DVR’s for some spectacular celebrations. NBC will provide coverage so check out the
full schedule of Games here. Just remember,
South Korea is 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles, so BIG time difference.
The 2018 Winter Games will include 102 events across 15 sports
disciplines. Big air snowboarding, freestyle skiing, mass start speed skating and mixed doubles curling have been added to the roster this year by the International Olympic Committee. It is projected these Olympic games will cost PyeongChang around $13 billion. The most expensive Winter Games on record were in Sochi, Russia, in 2014 and cost nearly $22 billion. Approximately 3,894 athletes and team officials will be housed in the PyeongChang Olympic Village and another village in Gangneung will house more than 2,900 more people. I sure hope all those security people have recovered from the flu and stay bundled up in the 2 degrees, freezing, cold weather. This is one of the colder Winter Games, which is great because some Winter Games were not cold enough. It could even be possibly the coldest, surpassing Norway's freezing temps in 1994. The very first Winter Olympics happened in Chamonix in 1924. You can see a complete list and lots of Olympic Information HERE. We are so excited to start watching the competitions tonight and for the next two weeks. GO TEAM USA!!!
NUMBER TWO: VALENTINE'S DAY is next Wednesday. If you have not made a dinner reservation for you and your significant other, check out my list of romantic and delicious restaurants in and around Santa Monica HERE. There are a dozen options with different price ranges and levels of intimacy, but all are fabulous and you will not disappoint if you book one of these for Valentine's Day or any date night. Some have PRIXFIX menu options for the VD, but that won't matter if you don't get on the phone and make that reservation ASAP! We also have a few craft ideas for your little ones this week. Check out ALL of our Valentine's Day recipes, crafts, and fun ideas in this week's newsletter.
NUMBER THREE: GIVEAWAYS!!!!! There are 2 GIVEAWAYS happening right now. You can WIN 4 TIX to see the HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS at the L.A. Venue of your choice. HERE is how you ENTER TO WIN! Hurry, you only have until February 10th at Midnight. Next, ENTER TO WIN a Luxury Included® Vacation at Sandals Resorts HERE! This would be an awesome vacation for you and your family and it can be yours for FREE!
NUMBER FOUR: CHINESE NEW YEAR! More info to come next week all about Chinese New Year. We do have some crafts for the kids, so check out the articles. A few fun Lunar New Year Celebrations happening on the weekends too, so be sure to look at the CALENDAR OF EVENTS!
Have a GREAT WEEKEND and if you need a suggestion of something to do, Santa Monica Macaroni Kid loved "The Velveteen Rabbit" at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre. See our review HERE!
XX,
Chanin
