{"id":14737,"date":"2013-12-16T04:04:42","date_gmt":"2013-12-16T12:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/?p=14737"},"modified":"2013-12-16T04:04:42","modified_gmt":"2013-12-16T12:04:42","slug":"look-forward-to-january-to-escape-the-holiday-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/look-forward-to-january-to-escape-the-holiday-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Look forward to January to Escape the Holiday Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"img\" src=\"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/images\/p39.jpg\" width=\"649\" height=\"321\" \/><\/p>\n<p>They say Christmas season is one of the most depressing times of year. It&#8217;s supposed to be jolly and bright so who turned out the light? \u00a0Financial concerns, Obama&#8217;s new health insurance requirements, upcoming taxes, the arrival of Fukushima radiation, melting starfish, smart meter radiation, GMOs, inflation, family feuding, colds, illness&#8230;. no wonder people stress out!<\/p>\n<p>When a cashier at a restaurant asked if we were prepared for Christmas yesterday, we all just nodded and said, &#8220;Yes,&#8221; not confiding that there will be no gifts, no tree, and no mistletoe in our humble abode. While that may seem like a depressing thought, it actually eliminates stress. The one thing that has sustained our family and provided more fun than gifts is<strong>\u00a0free events.<\/strong>\u00a0 This week we&#8217;re heading for the Knott&#8217;s Crafters Village (free), the Christmas Boat Parade in Newport Beach (free), and possibly a trip to the mall to see the biggest holiday tree in Southern California at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. \u00a0California is the most beautiful and diverse destination on the planet with beaches, mountains and deserts providing variety, the spice of life. Enjoy the scenery&#8211;it&#8217;s stress-reducing, and it&#8217;s free!<\/p>\n<p><strong>JANUARY EVENTS: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>January 1, 2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/festivals\/pasadena-tournament-of-roses.html\">Rose Parade<\/a> in Pasadena &#8211; FREE<\/li>\n<li>January 17-24, 2014\u00a0San Franisco\u2019s Pier 39 \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/festivals\/san-francisco-pier39-sealions.html\">return of the Sea Lions<\/a> \u00a0&#8211; FREE<\/li>\n<li>January 17-20, 2014 NAPA Truffles Festival &#8211; FEE<\/li>\n<li>January 19, 2014 Slack Key Festival in Redondo Beach &#8211; FEE<\/li>\n<li>Jan. 24-26. 2014, 2013\u00a0Southwest Arts Festival in Indio &#8211; FEE<\/li>\n<li>Jan. 24-25, 2014 Mendocino Crab, Wine &amp; Beer Days \u00a0&#8211; FEE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They say Christmas season is one of the most depressing times of year. It&#8217;s supposed to be jolly and bright so who turned out the light? \u00a0Financial concerns, Obama&#8217;s new health insurance requirements, upcoming taxes, the arrival of Fukushima radiation, melting starfish, smart meter radiation, GMOs, inflation, family feuding, colds, illness&#8230;. no wonder people stress [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14737"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}