Christmas Tree Lighting at Freedom Park

I can walk to Freedom Park, so when I passed the sign that said there was a Christmas Tree Lighing Celebration there, I was totally in. There was a really great band there playing Christmas songs all rocked out, my favorite way. As an aside, if you've never heard the Sister Hazel Christmas album, it's awesome... anyway... A group was there collecting coats, hats & gloves for the homeless, and, I guess they are the ones who sponsored the band. They are trying to get one of each for every homeless person in Charlotte, so if you can help, they will continue the collecting at any Omega Sports location, I believe until December 21st. Santa, of course, was at the tree lighting, and a radio station sponsor. It was a great little Christmas spirit kind of event, I'm pretty big into having the Christmas spirit. The best part is that the park looks great! There are beautiful lights going around the lake, so if you need to catch a little bit of the spirit, take a fun jaunt around the lake. You'll be hearing subtle "Ho, Ho, Ho"s in your ears before you know it.

Challenge Day 8- Movie Time

Today, the eighth day of my challenge, I went to one of my favorite Charlotte summertime activities, Movies in the Park. This happens once each month, May-August, on the first Friday of the month at sunset in Freedom Park. Watershed Charlotte sponsors this family and dog-friendly movie showing, and any and all are welcome. People brought blankets, chairs, picnics, dogs, kids and more and spread out in front of the amphitheatre for tonight’s showing of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. There is a great energy at this event, and it’s hard to describe it exactly, but everyone just seems happy. It’s such a pure and wonderful good time sitting outside on a blanket watching, my favorite genre of movie, children’s movies with many references intended only for adults.

After the movie in the park, I was still in the mood for more movies, so I swung by Blockbuster to rent a movie. I do think that at $4.99/rental, Blockbuster is a bit pricey. But, there’s a little hidden secret. Next time you go there, look closely at your receipt. Amongst all of the words is a survey request. Put your thoughts about your visit into the website and you will be emailed a coupon for a $1.99 rental. Now, that isn’t expensive. You can do the survey once each month per email address. And, the survey request will even be listed on the receipt for your $1.99 rental, so if you keep filling out the survey, you can never pay that $4.99 again.