There was no snow in Los Angeles this Christmas, but that didn't stop Jennifer Garner from embracing the festive spirit.
The 51-year-old star was spotted near her Brentwood home on Christmas Eve with a group of friends heading out for a California-style sleigh ride.
Garner and her friends, including model Molly Sims, boarded a horse-drawn carriage decorated with decorations and twinkling Christmas lights.
Jennifer Garner enjoyed a festive sleigh ride through her Brentwood neighborhood with friends on Christmas Eve
The 13 Going On 30 star kept it casual during her ride, wearing jeans, black boots and a dark top.
She was snapped flashing her million-dollar smile as she chatted with friends before driving around the neighborhood.
A decidedly more glamorous Jen later appeared on Instagram on Christmas Eve, decked out in her finest holiday attire.
“Merry Christmas and peace on earth,” Garner captioned her festive social media post.
The 13 Going On 30 star kept it casual during her ride, wearing jeans, black boots and a dark top.
Garner was spotted flashing her movie star smile after a ride on Santa's sleigh
In the snap, a glamorous Jen poses in front of a Christmas tree, wearing a 1950s-inspired green satin dress, cinched at the waist with a black belt with a delicate gold bow.
In keeping with the dress era, Garner's hair is styled in luxurious, old Hollywood waves.
This year, Garner returned to the screen in a slightly panned Netflix holiday film, The Family Switch, which was released on November 30. Jennifer stars alongside Ed Helms, Emma Myers and Brady Noon.
The film follows a couple who switch bodies with their teenage children after an encounter with a fortune teller.
A decidedly more glamorous Jen later appeared on Instagram on Christmas Eve, decked out in her finest holiday attire.
The actress was feeling Christmassy as she posted photos of some of her Nutcracker decor.
Mother Jess ends up in the body of 17-year-old daughter CC, while football star CC becomes her successful architecture mother. And father Bill, a music teacher, trades places with their 13-year-old son Wyatt, a hardworking scientist on his way to Yale.
Despite the festive, fun feel of the film, it didn't fare well with critics. A writer for the Hollywood Reporter also said, “If you're just looking to fill a movie-shaped hole in your vacation plans, that might make it reasonable enough.”
'Only twice did I actually laugh out loud during the 100-minute film. And it's probably no surprise that the emotional side of Family Switch doesn't hit very hard either.
This year, Garner returned to the screen in a slightly panned Netflix holiday film, The Family Switch, which was released on November 30. Jennifer stars alongside Ed Helms, Emma Myers and Brady Noon.
“It's just hard to feel so deeply for characters who are so flat and sweet that they might as well be gingerbread people, solving problems that barely seemed to exist in the first place.
“But it also makes the film perfectly safe as background filler.”
Variety suggested you “trade it in for a better movie,” while the Guardian slammed the filmmakers for “packing every conceivable gimmick into one feature.”