Balboa Park Offers FREE Entry to Select Museums to San Diego Residents on Tuesdays

Remember that Balboa Park offers residents FREE ENTRY to select museums on Tuesdays (the list rotates each week).  To see which museums are free each Tuesday, please click this link.

Support Your Favorite Small, Local Businesses

2017 is gone and 2018 is here and there have been a lot of newcomers on the scene lately, and we have to say goodbye to many as well. Here is a friendly reminder...if you love your local small businesses, make a decision and a commitment to support them so they can remain in business to serve you and the community. It takes ALL of us making an effort and being supportive.

Protect Yourself with Products from Damsel in Defense

Hey ladies! I do not do a bunch of advertising for home-based businesses, but this is one I wanted to tell you about. I met Karen last month and was intrigued by the products she carries through Damsel in Defense, all designed to keep you and your family safe. This is especially for those of you that jog and take walks and hikes by yourself. Take a moment and take a peek.

New Vista-Based Online Shopping Site for Creating a Beautiful Home- Charming House Market

NEW AROUND THE TOWN GIVEAWAY! Charming House Market is a new online shopping startup based out of Vista that is a company run less like a business and more like a community. Maybe you saw them on my top 10 list of local businesses I want to support this holiday season with my shopping dollars. With its mission of “#creatinghome and helping others do it, too” they know using your life and home has to be a choice despite your circumstances. That’s why they offer quality, affordable home goods, handcrafted items and are launching an inspirational blog to help you do just that. Please take a few moments to breeze through their beautiful site and look them up on instagram at @charminghousemarket. www.charminghousemarket.com

P.S. I hope you will along with me consider looking at this company to do some of your holiday shopping with. You will find many affordable options and you will be best of all supporting a new company and supporting local.

Solutions for Change is Successfully Addressing the Homelessness Problem in North County- Can You Help Too?

Solutions for Change is on a mission to solve family homelessness permanently-not contain it or manage the symptoms.  They differ from the traditional containment model that offers short-term shelter, food handouts, and other Band –Aids that perpetuate rather than solve the problem. They provide a hand up not a hand out. 

Lives are being rewritten as a result and they are breaking the cycle of homelessness for generations to come. They do this through a 1,000 day program that equips their participants with the skills, knowledge, and resources they need to gain and maintain physical, mental, and financial health.  Their work in our community is making a real impact. You might be amazed to know that of those who graduate from their program, there is a 93% success rate! They have solved family homelessness since 1999 in San Diego County for 850 families and 2,200 children. 

They also have a unique and innovative enterprise that uses their Aquaponics Farm to generate income for the programs by selling the lettuce to the local schools and restaurants and also provides job training. Teaching the parents in the program to get up, suit up, and show up.  These are just a few reasons my family has decided to partner with Solutions For Change! You can check them out at Solutions For Change and maybe you would like to partner with them too? 

Vista Farmers Market Every Saturday until 1pm

Family Fun at New and Improved Belmont Park

When is the last time you played like you were a kid? Belmont Park invited me and some friends to come play with them this week and boy did we have fun! I can't even begin to list all the things that we did but here are a few: rock wall climbing, zip lining, riding rides, mini golf, laser tag and laser maze. It was my first time to the park in decades. They have really been working on improvements and adding more fun things to the park as well as all new restrooms. Parking is free which is fantastic. If it's been a while, maybe you should go check it out! If you have even half as much fun as we did it will be worth your time. Thank you Belmont Park for a wonderful day! We all slept well after our busy day of play.   http://www.belmontpark.com