In partnership with Meridian Plumbing

Cold temps & winter weather can lead to serious plumbing problems. Here's a few tips from your local experts at Meridian Plumbing:

• Be sure to close crawl space vents, disconnect any outside hoses, and keep your garage closed. These common oversights can lead to frozen pipes & leaks this time of year.
• If your upstairs bathroom overhangs the outside of your house or is above your garage, keep that room warmer or the cabinet open to prevent the pipes from freezing.
• If you do have pipes that freeze in a bathroom or kitchen, open the cabinets to let more heat into the area. You can also add a space heater to the room to help them thaw.

And if you do run into winter plumbing issues, Meridian Plumbing will come out to your home for free to give you expert advice & multiple options to repair, replace, or upgrade – with all prices up-front.

Holiday happenings

10 days until Christmas, y'all. Holy smokes. Here's some fun holiday things to do:

TONIGHT: The Annual North End Children's Candle Lantern Parade is tonight. It starts at 6:30pm at Goody's. It's free!

TONIGHT: Make something at Handcrafted Holiday, an adult craft night at the Lake Hazel Library. 6-8pm. It's free!

TONIGHT-Sun Dec 15-18: It's the final weekend to see Ballet Idaho's The Nutcracker at The Morrison Center. Performances happening Thurs & Fri at 7pm, Sat at 2pm & 7pm, and Sun at 5pm.

Sun-Mon Dec 18-19: The 17th Annual Xtreme Holiday Xtravaganza is happening at The Egyptian Theatre. It's a holiday variety show to help raise funds for Interfaith Sanctuary. Tix are $35 & show starts at 7pm both nights.

Sat Dec 17: Check out Yule Fest, a Norse-inspired Yule festival in celebration of the Winter Solstice at Mad Swede Brewing. You can carve or burn a magical rune into a log and sacrifice it to Odin the Dumpster Firepit, make your own Yule wreath, sample mead with Mythic Mead, taste a "Braggot," (a mead/beer hybrid), eat wood-fired pizza by the fire & experience a runic reading by Loki Mischiouf. Going 4-10pm & it's free!

Sat Dec 17: Do a Holiday Workout at Loose Screw Beer Co. It's $15 and includes a beverage and HIIT class.

Wed Dec 21: Experience Trix & Chad's Christmas Sing-a-long at Mad Swede Brew Hall (downtown). It's an all-ages, all-fun Christmas carol singalong with two classically-trained (& funny) musicians.

Th Dec 22: Take the kiddos to Believe at The Children's Museum of Idaho. Craft a holiday keepsake, hear stories, play games & more. Activities free w museum admission.

Holiday shopping

If you're like me you still have many gifts to get. Here's a few places to get them:

Fri-Sat Dec 16-17: The 2C Cowboy Christmas is happening at the O'Conner Field House in Caldwell. Shop 60+ western vendors. Open Fri 12-6pm & Sat 9am-6pm.

Sat Dec 17: Check out the Last Minute Holiday Shopping Party at Vervain Collective (in Roots Market in Garden City). It's going 1-3pm.

Sat Dec 17: The 5th Annual Holiday BarZaar is happening at The Mode Lounge. Sip on a beverage & shop 14+ local artisans. 12-4pm & it's 21+

Sat Dec 17: There's a Holiday Market happening at Middleton Mill Creek Elementary from 10am-2pm.

Sun Dec 18: Procrastiganza: A Holiday Pop-up Market is 12-8pm at Mad Swede Brewery (on Cole Rd). Shop a bunch of local vendors & drink or beer. Arno Chocolates, my all-time fave chocolate, is gonna be there. It's free to attend!

Wed Dec 21: Holiday Hop & Shop is happening at Lost Grove Brewing. Shop multiple local makers & drink a beer.

Last min gift idea

I got one last shipment of From Boise tshirts in - just in time for the holidays! I have exactly 29 shirts. I'm never making these again so snag one while ya can.

Get your orders in asap & I'll make sure you get them before xmas. I'll also throw in a From Boise sticker with every order <3

​Order your shirt here!​

Sponsored by The Record Exchange​

Rock around the Christmas tree

with The Record Exchange. Located on the corner of 11th and Idaho streets in Downtown Boise, The Record Exchange carries the largest selection of new & used vinyl in the Gem State, along with CDs, cassettes, turntables, stereo equipment, portable audio, headphones, home video, rock tees, posters, incense, candles, jewelry, greeting cards & much more in the gift shop and cafe.

Visit The Record Exchange 10am-7pm Sun-Thurs and 10am-8pm Fri-Sat. The gift shop & cafe opens at 8:30am weekdays. Holiday hours (9am-9pm daily) run Dec 16-23 and 9am-6pm on Christmas Eve. Shop 24/7 for in-store pickup or shipping worldwide at shop.therecordexchange.com.

It's your lucky day: From Boise readers have a chance to win a $50 Record Exchange gift card to make someone's season bright (even if that someone is you). Enter here!​

Tunes & shows

​Treefort Music Fest dropped the second wave of the Treefort 11 lineup this morning and woweee! So much to look forward to. You can listening to Treefort artists here.

Also Treefort released a peek at the Main Stage schedule and put Main Stage tix ($50) & Single Day tix ($100) on sale. If you are only gonna go one day or just wanna check it out, that's the move.

Also in Boise music news: if you have the means to donate, consider helping out Boise band Magic Sword. On Monday, after their last tour show in Seattle, their van & allll of their equipment was stolen. Instruments, computers, cases, lights, merch, custom costumes, stage props & THE Magic Sword - all stolen. It's more than $50k worth of stuff! Throw them a few bucks if you can.

Some fun shows this weekend to beat the cold:

• Fri Dec 16 @ 7pm: Scott Pemberton O Theory at The Olympic
• Fri Dec 16 @ 7pm: Just Some Clown + Hadafunk + Psychache B2B Snuggle Bunny + Brooke Would + Tim Beck at Neurolux
• Fri Dec 16 @ 8pm: Shenandoah + Andy Byron at The Egyptian Theatre
• Fri Dec 16 @ 9pm: Hand Trembler at Pengilly's
• Sat Dec 17 @ 7pm: Jerry Joseph + The Dimpker Brothers at Neurolux
• Sat Dec 17 @ 7pm: The Grouch & Eligh + Pigeon John at The Shredder
• Sat Dec 17 @ 7:30pm: An Evening with Curtis Stigers & His Band at The Egyptian Theatre
• Sat Dec 17 @ 8pm: Tropical Latin Dance Party at Knitting Factory
• Sat Dec 17 @ 9pm: Aaron Golay Band at Pengilly's
• Sat Dec 18: The Original Rocketeers: Shake, Rattle & Roll Christmas Show at The Sapphire Room
• Mon Dec 19 @ 6:30pm: Traditional Old-Time Tunes & Song Session at Pengilly's
• Tue Dec 20 @ 7pm: 5th Annual Chanukah Party presented by The Moody Jews at The Sapphire Room
• Tue Dec 20 @ 7pm: Solitary Band at El Korah
• Tue Dec 20 @ 7pm: Sculpture Club + Plum Vision + Evils at Neurolux

Comedy & storytelling

• Fri Dec 16: Comedian Christopher Titus is doing a show at Knitting Factory. Tix are $30-$50 & starts at 8pm.
• Sat Dec 17: Check out the Shadow Puppet Showcase of Comedy at 9pm at Shadow Puppet wine shop. Tix are $15.
• Sat Dec 17: The Femme Fatale Holiday Comedy Show is at Mad Swede Brew Hall at 8:30pm. Tix are $15.
• Sat Dec 17: Comedian Caitlin McDevitt is at Mad Swede Downtown at 7pm. Tix are $15 or up to $70 for reserved table.
• Sat Dec 17: A Christmas Comedy Show, an improv & storytelling event, is happening at Recycled Minds in Garden City. Tix are $5-$12.

Food finds & things to drink

• Need some fresh cheese? Lactalis just opened their Nampa cheese store at 4912 E. Franklin Road. It has an array of fresh cheese and even has a "made in Nampa" section. Open on Fridays only from 12-6pm.
• Look at this cranberry pound cake from Flour & Sage Baking Co. Wowww.
• ​Trailside Bakery has new treats this week, including homemade focaccia. Yum.
• Also Fork has a new winter menu that's available now.
• Erth Bev has a new winter kombucha that looks delish
• ​The STIL's new flavor, White Elephant, is super good. White chocolate peppermint!
• And if you need a holiday app, pre-order one of Wild Plum's beautiful grazing boards.

Things to do

• Sat Dec 17: Spend a winter morning bird watching. Pause, Look & Listen is happening at the Shakespeare Festival Grounds at 9am. It's free!
• Sat Dec 17: No New Vintage Market is happening on Saturday 10am-5pm at the Linen Building. Free to attend!
• Sat Dec 17: Join Womeness In the Wilderness for a Women's Hike & Meditation at Camel's Back Park. Hike starts at 10:30am. It's free w option to donate.
• Sat Dec 17: Joy to the Twirl! A Holiday Burlesque and Drag Show is happening at The Balcony at 7pm. Tix are $15-$30. 21+
• Sat Dec 17: Check out the Exhibit & Art Talk with Ace Zappa at Surel's Place. Starts at 7pm.
• Sun Dec 18: Check out the Resurrected Art Convention at Knitting Factory. Art vendors, music, raffles & more. It's free!
• City Cast Boise recommends participating in Avenues for Hope, an annual fundraising competition for housing nonprofits statewide.*

Just trust me...

...the cutest Christmas video ever taken

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Thanks for reading! Have a fun weekend!

With love from Boise,

Marissa

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