Simple & Fresh Open House

Run to the Sun

The annual Run to the Sun is tomorrow morning in NSB. Get full details here...it is not to late to participate. You can register at the run. 

Small Business Saturday

Coastal Christmas Market

Start your Holiday shopping at the Coastal Christmas Market on Canal Street this Saturday. There will be tons of shopping opportunities, food, kids activities, a train to ride around on, live entertainment and of course Santa will be in Christmas Park.

For a complete list of the entertainment check out the Christmas on Canal Street website.

Santa in Christmas Park

Santa will be rolling into town this Friday and will be hanging out in Christmas Park at various times during the Christmas season. His first visit will be during Spark the Spirit this Friday night from 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Other dates include:

Saturday, November 30th  11:00 am-4:00 pm
Friday, December 6th - 5:00 pm-8:00 pm
Saturday, December 7th - 1:00 pm-4:00 pm
Friday, December 13th - 6:00 pm-8:00 pm
Saturday, December 14th - 1:00 pm-4:00 pm
Friday, December 20th - 6:00 pm-8:00 pm
Saturday, December 21st - 1:00 pm-4:00 pm

Spark the Spirit

Kick off the Christmas season with Spark the Spirit this Friday on Canal Street. There will be a tree lighting ceremony, the window display judging, and live entertainment. The stores and restaurants will be open late for shopping and dinner. Christmas Park will be decorated, there are several places to take Christmas pictures and you might even catch a glimpse of Santa while you are there!

Samsula Tractor Parade-2013

It is time for the best parade of the year! The Samsula Tractor Parade is December 14th! It starts at 3:00 pm from the SNPJ Lodge in Samsula (421 Samsula Rd) and proceeds down Samsula Rd to SR 44. If you have never been to the parade it is well worth it to take a ride out there and watch it. Great fun!

Here is the Facebook Event Page.

Bert Fish Tree Lighting

Join Bert Fish on December 6th for a celebration! There will be refreshments, the Showdolls will perform, the lights will be lit at 6pm. Santa and our favorite, the NSB Cuda Mascot will also drop by for a visit! They are also doing a toy drive so come and enjoy some Holiday cheer and bring a new unwrapped toy for a child who may not get one otherwise!

Thanksgiving On The Town

Several local places are open and offering to do the cooking for you!

30th Street Pub & Eatery will be serving a Thanksgiving Buffet from 11:00 am - 7:00 pm. The cost is $14.95 per person.

Norwood's Seafood is also open, they will offer a traditional Roast Turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Call for priority seating 386-428-4621.


New Smyrna Steakhouse is open and will be serving Thanksgiving as well as their regular menu.

The Garlic is open for lunch as well as dinner:

 As I hear of others that are open I will post! Have a great week!

Holiday Charity Ball

The 17th Annual Charity Ball is this Saturday at Brannon Center. The ball features gourmet food from over 20 area restaurants, open bar, giveaways and a fantastic silent auction. This event provides funding to a number of local charities.  Tickets are on sale for $70.00 per person, stop by the Brannon Center Office or call Kaye at 386-846-8755 to get yours today!

W.I.N.E. Event

Come and join is for the December W.I.N.E. event at Beachside Tavern. Plenty of networking opportunities, great food provided by New Smyrna Pizza and Chef Carl, complimentary massages and wine. It is from 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm and we will be collecting new unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots!

I look forward to seeing everyone there!

Diamond Jubilee

This looks like fun! I am quite familiar with the Surfside Chorus and they are FANTASTIC! This should be a fun event.

Community Thanksgiving Dinner

The Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner will take place on Thursday, November 28th at the First United Methodist Church - Hollister Hall in New Smyrna Beach. It is from 11:30 until 3:00 pm. They have a traditional Thanksgiving menu planned including roast turkey, dressing & gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, waldorf salad, rolls & butter and apple and pumpkin pie.

This wonderful event is put on by many of our local area churches and sponsored by Morningstar Mini Storage in New Smyrna Beach. The first United Methodist Church is located at 215 Palmetto Street.

Thanksgiving List

Thanksgiving 2012

I was sitting here watching cooking shows on Food Network and pondering making a Thanksgiving grocery shopping list, which of course led me to looking through old pictures on Facebook. (yea I know, WHAT?). It occurred to me that holy crap I have to cook Thanksgiving Dinner and how much different this year is. This is the Holiday that we always go to Grandma's house. Every year she says, "I am not cooking next year." Every year she does. Granted the last few years we have helped her more but she always has it at her house.

This year she is residing in the Health Center of Daytona after having a stroke. She can't walk and her left hand won't move at all. She won't be cooking this year. We won't even have it at her house this year. Her house is empty, waiting to be sold, most of their possessions are in storage. My father(and their dog and cat) are living with us (and our dog and cat) and I am cooking dinner. (don't be scared I have done it before)

The good news is I have found a wonderful woman who is going to bring my mother to our house for the day(we are celebrating the holiday on Friday)so that she can have Thanksgiving with us. She wants to make the gravy. My gravy is notoriously bad, like terrible. I am happy that she remembers how bad my gravy is. This is a small victory in the world of a stroke patient.

So getting to the point of this rambling...although we may not be where we want to be right now, we are where we are supposed to be and there is always, always something to be thankful for. Sometimes you just have to look hard to find it.

August 2012

Beach Film Festival

The Beach Film Festival is coming to NSB on November 22-24th. Show times are 5:30 pm nightly. The full schedule and information is here. Some of the movies on the beach will be Jaws, someone has a sense of humor being that we are the "shark capital of the world", Blue Crush, Soul Surfer and Surf's Up. Sounds like fun!

Beachside Wine Boutique

My dear friend Kathy from NSB Happenings invited me to hit the Wednesday Wine Tasting at the Beachside Wine Boutique on Flagler Ave last night. Wine and Wednesday she said...that was all I needed to hear. Very nice time we had and what a nice shop, Elaine the owner has a wide selection of wine, cheese and wine related gifts. She also puts together some beautiful gift baskets, taking the thought out of shopping. I love not thinking about shopping....

Visit the Beachside Wine Boutique every Wednesday from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. for their weekly wine tasting. They are located at 217 Flagler Ave (right across from Silly Willie's).

Holiday Bazaar

The annual Holiday Bazaar at Coronado United Methodist Church is this weekend! It is Saturday, November 16th from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm.

It's sponsored by the United Methodist Women's group and all proceeds contribute to their annual non-profit ministries, such as Snack Backpacks for school children via Halifax Urban Ministries.

It is a really fun event and features handmade sewn items, baked goods, jewelry, wreaths, jams and great prices!  It's a terrific holiday shopping opportunity for unique and homemade gifts.  This year, they're opening up the beautiful courtyard and will be serving hot dogs, coffee, and treats.

It is important to get there early for this one and the good stuff sells out FAST! 

Coronado United Methodist is on the corner of Flagler and Peninsula, there is plenty of parking!

Photo Opp at the Night Swan

The Night Swan Bed & Breakfast and Elite Exposures is offering a pretty cool thing just in time for the Holidays! You can get an individual photo shoot at the Inn for a great price. They have two dates with appointments available. November 12th  and November 23rd. Great idea for Christmas and they are ofering some incredible specials on the images.Get some wonderful and special gifts for Christmas, they also are pet friendly! Take your mutt with you and get them in the action!

Get complete details here.

2013 TEARS Foundation Rock & Walk

The 2013 TEARS Foundation Rock & Walk is this Saturday, November 9th at Reed Canal Park. It is from 10:00 am- 1:00 pm. 

What is the Rock & Walk? The heart of the walk is to let bereaved families know they are not alone, raise funds to support these families and build community awareness about pregnancy and infant loss. Individuals form teams and collect pledges to walk on the path and to “rock” in rocking chairs.

Inspire HOPE: Families who have lost a child are invited to walk the first lap at the event allowing them to honor their child. As the community joins, families are reminded that while we walk together, we can find hope.
HONOR a child: “Rock” in rocking chairs which are placed at the event and symbolize why we are there - supporting families who have lost a baby. “Walk” in honor of a child around a path lined with hand crafted memorial butterflies, each with a name of a child loved and honored.
CELEBRATE a life: Come out to a fun, family event to enjoy great food, beautiful music, and experience an uplifting butterfly release.

To find out more or to Register Click Here

If you would like more information about having your business sponsor this event, please contact one of the Florida Chairpersons: Natalie Eisenhut (386)846-3515, or Cathy Hartman (386)490-2234.

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is Monday, November 11th.

Veterans of Foreign Post 4250, American Legion Post 17 and AmVets Post 2 will celebrate Veterans Day together. There will be a ceremony at 11:00 a.m. at Riverside Park in New Smyrna Beach. The public is invited. All three posts will be serving refreshments following the ceremony. They are located at:

VFW Post 4250 is at 2350 Sunset Drive, New Smyrna Beach
 American Legion Post 17 is at 619 Canal St., New Smyrna Beach
AmVets Post 2 is at 2111 S. Ridgewood Ave., Edgewater

All National Parks have free admission for all from November 9-11th. 

There are several local restaurant's with specials for Veteran's Day. Information is below or click the link.

Applebees -Port Orange

Chili's-Port Orange

Golden Corral - Port Orange

Hooter's - Daytona Beach

Longhorn, Olive Garden, Red Lobster - Daytona Beach

Outback Steakhouse - NSB

Bob Evans - Free Hotcakes

TGI Fridays - Free Lunch

Krispy Kreme - free donut and coffee

Great Klips - free haircut

Keep an eye on my Facebook page as I come across other specials or freebies I will post there.

Thank you for your service!!

Vision Fitness 24

I am so excited there is a new gym opening in town! Brand new and open 24 hours! The 24 hour thing is huge for me. I loved my old gym on the beach but they closed too early and had such limited weekend hours it just did not work. and nothing else was convenient location wise. Vision Fitness is under construction in the old Walmart location on SR 44. I have been in there a couple of times and it is coming along well. It is going to be fabulous and should open sometime this month! I have met with the local owners Deneen and Fred and they are super nice.

If you would like to join (I already did) or get some more information they are set up in the parking lot while construction is going on every day. Check their Facebook Page for updates, their website is under construction and should be up soon. You can also call them at (386) 506-9415. 

In the interest of fitness (and because I can) I have an awesome contest this week. In conjunction with Vision Fitness, I have a Jumpstart Package to give away! This includes a 12 month membership to the gym and three personal training sessions. It is super easy to enter, just go to my Facebook Page and follow the directions.

Support your local business!    

23rd Annual Flamingo Follies

The 23rd Annual Flaming Follies is this weekend, November 9th and 10th on Flagler Avenue. This is one of my very favorite Flagler Avenue events! It starts the holiday season off with some great shopping, food and fun. The weather is usually perfect for a stroll down Flagler and the artists, crafts and other vendors ALL come out for this event!

Volusia County Fair

The Volusia County Fair is almost here! It starts November 7th and runs through November 17th. This year Diamond Rio will play the fair on November 16th. There will be plenty of entertainment, rides, exhibits, animals and food! The Fair Food is the best! Turkey legs, fried dough, hot dogs, cotton candy....it is all good!

There are several ways to get information on the fair, their website is here. Their Facebook Page is here. You can get updates via text by Text volusiafair to 72727 - while you are at the fair you can Text funfair to 72727 and get updates on what is going on while you are there. You can find them on twitter here.

Check back later this week, I may have another set of tickets to give away!