Watching your Greenwich neighbors don their beach garments and run into the freezing waters of Long Island Sound on New Year's Day is always a good time. Joining your neighbors as they do this - and braving a few minutes of exhilarating fun to help support a VERY worthy cause - is even better!

At high noon on New Year's Day, crowds of Greenwich residents started their year with a quick dip into the water at Tod's Point for the benefit of Kids in Crisis!

Mild weather, with shining sun and an air temperature in the 40's, helped keep spirits high as the countdown occurred, followed by running, splashing, and the joyous cacophony of laughter and chilly vocalizations filled the atmosphere.

START THE YEAR HEALTHY!

Ring in 2017 with the Y Running Club at the 2nd Annual New Year’s Eve Midnight Run/Walk in Central Greenwich!

Join the group and give yourself the gift of an energetic and brisk Greenwich memory during the first few moments of the New Year!

Warm up with the celebratory group of local residents at the YMCA, pass the ceremonial threshold into 2017 by watching the ball drop on the corner of Mason St and Putnam Ave, then get your heart pumping with an on-foot journey heading out from the YMCA and down Greenwich Ave to Indian Harbor, through Bruce Park, up Milbank and back to the YMCA for the delicious off-hour pancake breakfast.

Living Greenwich and its partner Entrée Nous have chosen the winner for their $200 Last Minute Shopper Holiday Cash + 2017 Entrée Nous Restaurant Passport contest!

Thanks to all who entered our festive contest we ran as part of our 2016 Living Greenwich Holiday Gift Guide extravaganza! And be sure to stroll down the page here to learn more about some of your favorite local merchants including: Outdoor Traders, Celia B. Skin Care, Manfredi Jewels, Entrée Nous, Raleigh & Co. Fine Pet Goods, Jolie Gotique, Willa, and Paper + Stitch

We were happy to partner with Entrée Nous for this contest -- and now we're excited to announce the winner...

As we reach “peak holidays” here in Greenwich and the crescendo of the Christmas season is upon us – all of us at Living Greenwich thought it would be apropos to showcase some of the incredibly festive local decorations and street scenes created by our local – and seasonally spirited – business owners, residents and volunteers throughout our town.

So, as families and friends come together around the hearth for jovial conversations, glasses of eggnog and bountiful, home-crafted dinners, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone who played a part in bringing such a bright holiday spirit to our community – the place we all call “home”.

As you can imagine, the holiday weekend is an exceedingly quiet time for Open House activity. So, this week we'll be solely focused on the few recent real estate sales that occurred last week! Including our most recent Living Greenwich Featured Recently Sold Property: an 'Enchanting One of a Kind' Cotswold located at 15 Brookside Park in Greenwich.

The 1.27 secluded acres the home is set on are astoundingly idyllic. Walking the property, the new owner is certain to be soothed by the relaxing and restorative sounds of the babbling brook and waterfall that their large custom designed deck (with a bronze cable system) overlooks. The perfect place to meditate and free one's mind from the workaday routine.

The tastefully designed and attractively gated pool/spa area with a stone terrace is also certain to garner attention - a true focal point of the property, inviting boundless notions of warm-month recreation and entertaining opportunities.

If you're in the market for a new construction in the heart of Old Greenwich - then you'll definitely want to have a serious look at this week's Living Greenwich Featured Open House Property.

Billed as a '2017 Colonial Construction On Level Property With a Seaside Lifestyle' - this 5 bedroom and 4.5 bath residence is so fresh to market, it's still got that 'new home scent' you've been actively searching for!

Walk through the open house and you'll be exposed to a luxury property ready and willing to serve as the ideal blank canvas for all of your future family memories. A picture perfect home just waiting for you to endow the joyful moments of your life upon it.

The new owners of this week's Featured Recently Sold Property just picked up an early Holiday present they definitely won't be able to wrap up, tie a ribbon on, and place under the tree until Christmas morning!

These fortunate purchasers are now in possession of 7 Cobb Island Drive - one of the largest waterfront properties that's recently been available in the Greenwich market.

Say you were in a similar situation, with a lot of spare change burning a hole in your Greenwich pants pocket... What types of amenities do you think you could expect to get in exchange for your investment? The answer's right here!

First, gaze in wild wonder at the 10 sprawling acres of waterfront property on Long Island Sound. But not just any old 10 acres - this parcel of land is truly magnificent and remarkably private, with an ample 440 feet of of direct water frontage. Think: fishing, paddle-boarding, or grabbing a lawnchair and watching the day melt away as rowing teams, fishermen and sailboats float on by.

For the past eight years, the winter holiday season in Greenwich has been heralded by the arrival of reindeer.

On November 25, the town tradition continued with the 8th Annual Greenwich Reindeer Festival & Santa’s Village -- only this time at a new location: Sam Bridge Nursery & Greenhouses, 437 North Street, Greenwich, Connecticut.

The reindeer will be on location at the 'North Pole on North Street' from now until November 23 (when they have other VERY IMPORTANT work to do). A great time to visit is when the reindeer are fed daily at 9:00 am and 3:30 pm. Stop by with the children and help bring the cherished Christmas stories to life for them.

The day to day of modern life - with our building, packaging, purchasing, consuming and discarding - results in piles upon layers of used stuff and material primarily destined for landfills and incinerator fires.

With their “Reclaim, Reprocess” exhibition (at the Flinn Gallery until January 18, 2017), five contemporary artists have engaged in the alchemy of transforming trash to treasure (or at the very least: some works of art definitely worthy of making a visit to the gallery to consider).

Art often emerges from unlikely places and through unexpected mediums. It occurs when the creative stirrings of a singular human perception envisions a finished product emerging from an available supply of raw material. The bubbling up of artistic impulse gives momentum to the process of channeling thoughts into the closest possible approximation possible of their physical form - and we are confronted with something new in our presence: an artwork capable of conveying a feeling, an emotion, a message, an image, a truth.

Article Contributed by The Local Vault.

For Linda Hoffman, designing a client’s home is not just about making it look picture perfect (though even a quick peek at her portfolio reveals that any of her projects would be at home on the glossy page of a magazine), but rather about tailoring a style unique for each home. To create a one of a kind home for each of her clients, Linda puts into practice her philosophy that “every room should have something unexpected.”